Dining In

We've had quite a few surprises with our dining-in efforts. Yes, there have been the expected responses of whining and/or complaining about vegetables or chicken or whatever. But there have been a few meals where I was totally expecting complaints and resistance, and instead, got compliments and requests for seconds.

For instance, I made a vegetable venison stew... was TOTALLY expecting that one to crash and burn. Instead, both of the boys really liked it, and have even requested to have it again since then. ??? The other one that was a surprise was meatloaf. I made little mini meatloaves in muffin pans. I was really not expecting a good response to that either, but Sebastian said, "Mom I just love it when you make this kind of stuff that tastes like meatballs" and Isaac ate seconds.

The last one that surprised me was chicken alfredo & veggies pasta. Although Meagan (and Lucas... he is NOT a fan of chicken) both kind of wrinkled their noses at it, the boys ate it up. Isaac (again) ate seconds. Sebastian's comment was, "Meagan, stop crying and just TRY it. It might not look like it tastes good, but it actually really does." LOL! Nice.

I still get frustrated because it seems like no matter what I make, inevitably someone doesn't like it. I'm not sure what there is to make that everyone will like, other than maybe spaghetti or lasagna... but you can really only eat that so many times in a month, can't you? Like Lucas said, though, there are five people in our family; it's going to be hard to please everyone. I figure if I'm doing the cooking, I can at least be sure that I will like it! If someone else wants to take over cooking duties, then THEY can decide what we're having. :)