What's for dinner?

This is a question I get on an hourly basis from the boys. At first I played along, telling them of my plans and thoughts on the matter- god knows why! After a few months I finally caught on to the game. 

Basically, if the question gets asked in the morning they have all day to find reasons NOT to want beef satays with lime and peanut sauce and will continue to tell me the reasons on the hour, every hour until I loose my mind.

 If they ask me straight after lunch it gives them the rest of the afternoon to wonder what I will be doing to the peas and beans so they will like them or why can't they just have a seaperate meal like Jo down the street. The earily afternoon generally goes along the lines of 'if I eat everything, can I have dessert?'

If I get asked 'what's for dinner' around 5 when they are starving, exhausted and looking like they could eat half a cow- they can't seem to wait the last 60 minutes of the day and barely look at the food in front of them let alone taste it!

This is why I decided to take the approach of cooking the food my husband and I love to eat instead of wondering what my children would like. It took some getting use to on their behalf but I have to say it wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. The fact that the boys will scoff down lima bean dip, olives, and rabbit to name a few makes my life SO much easier in the kitchen. It doesn't stop them wining about 'what's for dinner' but it does make me a happier cook at home.

My husband decided to make this delicious Ethianopean chicken dish we discovered in Saveur last night. It is a wonderful blend of ginger, onions, chili, egg and chicken. Absolutely delicious every time he makes it. Of course there were left overs of the juice, a whole boiled egg and warmed pita so I served it to the boys for lunch today (had dinner guests so boys went to bed earily and we could converse without all the interuption). 

They love rice and eggs however I was a little sceptical about the chili for Alex seeing as he isn't quite 3.  They were up for the testing. Max (6) loved it and wanted to eat it all. Alex enjoyed but a little hot so I whipped out the old faithful plain yogurt and then the fight was on to see who was going to finish it.

 

Kids can eat anything and will be willing if they see their parents getting excited about food. They might not love it at first or you may need to tailor it to their needs (plain natural yogurt is my loyal and best friend when it comes to getting the kids to try spice) but it is fantastic when you see them enjoying all the flavors of the meal you are licking your lips over- now I just have to try and work out a way to reduce the nagging!