Dinner Impossible

Not for us!! Tonight I had one of those moments as a mom when you just feel like shouting from the rooftops 'I DID IT!!' You can visualize the supermom cape flapping in the wind and you feel like a million bucks. Yes, these moments are usually immediately followed by an event that makes you wonder why they let you have a kid int he first place, but whatever, tonight I am a superstar! (said while lunging in Mary Catherine Gallagher pose)

Why??? Well because tonight I have won a mental challenge with my one year old! I got my son to EAT HIS DINNER. And not just any dinner, but the SAME dinner that we ate. Little C was given the green light to eat whatever we now eat at his one year check up. Thank the Lord! No more baby food and fixing separate meals! Right?? Notsomuch. I try to be a pretty healthy cook, and chicken breast, brown rice and steamed broccoli got thrown in our faces (or on the floor) long before he would put in near his mouth. And because I couldn't just let my one year old go to bed hungry, I always ended up fixing him a separate meal of turkey, cheese, mixed veggies, fruit, etc. Yes he's still eating healthy I realize, and yes I understand that a one year old probably needs more calories than a chicken breast dinner can offer, but still, it got annoying always fixing another plate for the munchkin. So I started menu planning things I thought he might like a little more...spaghetti, casseroles, chicken pot pie, that kind of thing. But honestly, there were going to be some nights when we needed a lighter dinner and tonight was one of them.

The menu? Broiled chicken thighs (more calories and moisture than chicken breast so the kid's got to love 'em right?) steamed broccoli and brown rice (his rice had butter). We sat down, put a few pieces of chicken, a few pieces of broccoli and brown rice on his tray, then waited with baited breath. First thing he tried was the rice...didn't love it. Next the broccoli, spit it out. And sadly the chicken never even got tasted because by now (seriously it took three seconds to go from zero to 60) he was throwing a full blown temper tantrum and the bulk of his food was on the floor. I was furious. I REFUSED to fix him a different meal. HE was going to eat this food if it killed me. So I scraped everything he hadn't pitched on the floor off his tray, put it back on the plate and proceeded to get him down. Yes, I was going to let my child go hungry (at least for an hour or two then we'd try again).

BUT before I got him down, I looked at his plate with all the broccoli and rice mixed together and had an (BRILLIANT) idea. I grabbed a small creme brulee cup, mashed as much broccoli and rice down in it as I could with a fork, tossed a slice of colby jack cheese on top and nuked it in the microwave for a minute. Viola! Broccoli and cheese casserole! As soon as it cooled I gave him a few spoonfuls and he (drum roll please) ATE THEM. It was the perfect consistency for balling up into little meatball-sized pieces...kinda sticky but mushy. Yes, he gobbled up the whole thing and then happily devoured his chicken. So yes, I realize there was a little extra prep involved, but this is a huge step. HUGE. Yes, I am mom, hear me roar!