My husband and I were watching an interesting documentary on the state of education in the U.S. (depressing) when I could not stop myself from screaming out loud. An otherwise very nice earnest family was sitting around the table (yey family meals!) but on their table was a dish of hot dogs, some white buns and a pot of Kraft dinner, each family member had a can of pepsi or Mountain Dew and the kicker, the part I really could not get over was the giant, and I mean Costco-sized tub of Miracle Whip. What was the Miracle Whip for? The hot dogs or the KD? And this was a meal they put on the table when they knew they were going to be filmed for TV. The sad part was that this was a nice family trying to do the best for their kids. And it just made me think, we have a lot of work to do.
But before I get all high-and-mighty, it did make me think about how do I sabotage my kids and our family meals? Is it the focus I put on one child while the other is flying under the radar? Is it the energy in finding the perfect steak? Is it the steaming of the same veggies over and over because I can’t be bothered to put some energy into it, knowing I will be the only one eating them? The problem is that I have fallen into a rut, it’s not a hot dog and KD rut, but it’s still a hole that I have to do some work to get out of.
I have been underestimating my kids, allowing them to take the easy way out. It happened slowly, the casual ease of summer, turning into the “I-don’t-want-to-cause stress” fall. But that’s over. So tonight I am making scallops rainbow trout with fennel, Isreali cous cous and some kind of veggie. Isreali cous cous you ask, what is that? It is a larger form of cous cous, so instead of those tiny little bits that get everywhere it is larger balls (sort of the size of barley). The kids love it and I feel that I am giving them some international flavour, even though the boys just eat it with olive oil. The rest of us have it with goat cheese, basil and some tomatoes and if I have any roasted veggies I chop them up small and throw them in too. You can find Isreali cous cous at some supermarkets (it is in a orange bag) and bulk stores. I’ve got some work to do too. And I am throwing in the scallops in desperation, since they all love shrimp can scallops not be far behind?
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