Thursday, December 5, 2013

Should We Eat This?

I cannot be the only...who has slaved away in the kitchen, with multiple pots on the stove top, the oven a'baking, and even the BBQ smoking away outside, to finally sit down at the dinner table, look at the food and think, "is this cooked enough?"

As a mother of a finicky eater, the persnickety Sonny Boy,  I threw in the towel a long time ago on the idea that our family would all consume the same meal every evening. With this resolve I have managed ways to produce meals that are half leftovers of definite "will eat" foods, you know the Mac and cheese or slice of pizza, mixed in with my planned main course.  This method has been working for some time, but every once in a while, when the moon is full or maybe I am just distracted, the meal doesn't work out according to my plan. After placing all the plates on the dining room table, chasing Sonny Boy down to get him in his seat, and making three trips back to the kitchen for hot sauce, juice, and ketchup, I realized the chicken looked slightly under cooked. Faced with the immediate dilemma of forcing feeding possible salmonella or scrapping the main course and we all eat left overs (Sonny Boy's dream come true), I had to face the facts. The facts are that one night of re-heated pizza won't ruin all of my attempted brainwashing, that is the explanations of how eating healthy will help Sonny Boy grow to be six feet tall and invisible (don't snicker, I had to tell him something he would actually care about), and tomorrow is another chance to make a healthy meal.

As much as it angered me to not serve the questionable chicken, and wasting all that time standing in the kitchen tirelessly working over the hot stove, choosing to not play Russian roulette with the possibility of projectile vomiting was the right choice. I am sure many of you have had a "should we eat this" moment and have also served your family an exquisite meal of dinosaur chicken nuggets, butternut squash, and fresh green beans, after all learning to go with the flow can be as important as a eating a healthy meal sometimes.

10 comments:

  1. :) On nights like those it's oatmeal zapped in the microwave. Then I wonder why I don't serve that easy to cook, makes everyone happy, meal more often.
    Glad Sonny Boy didn't vomit.

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    1. I too was very glad the Sonny Boy didn't vomit and your right about the easy to cook meals, maybe I'll start incorporating and easy breezy meal night during the week.
      Thanks for the comment!

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  2. Thanks "Old Fashion Mom"!
    I checked out your blog and thought it was great too and we have also had leaning Christmas tree tribulations in our home!

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  3. Ramen or Mac and Cheese is always the best back up. I will never ever be accused of being Rachael Ray that is for sure.

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  4. My husband tends to like most food "overcooked" the way I would call it--extra tough or crispy. Which is easy in a way. If I'm not 100% sure it's fully cooked, I'll leave it a few extra minutes because he'll never complain as long as it's overcooked!

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    1. Preferring meals on the "crispy" side does help eliminate the "is this cooked enough" question, sort-of makes life a bit easier actually :)

      Thanks for stopping by!

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  5. Great post! I'm glad to see I'm not the only one this happens to! :)

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    1. You are definitely not the only one that this happens to...hopefully less often than it happens to me, but either way your in good company.

      Thanks for commenting!

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  6. You should invest about $9.00 in an insta-read thermometer! You can get one on Amazon, or any restaurant supply store. Then you should check out my e-book on Food Safety for the Home Cook!

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    1. Yes, yes, yes! I need an insta-read thermometer! Thanks for the tip...goodbye under cooked chicken.

      Thanks for stopping by!

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