Snider Rule #3 - Let's Have a Food Fight - No Thanks!

How to Ruin a Good Meal

My favorite time of the day ==> eating dinner with family and friends.  Lingering for over an hour eating, talking, discussing, sharing, and laughing. Time spent with people while sharing food is refreshing physically, emotionally and spiritually.

On the really good days, a wonderful aroma is lingering in the front yard and I catch it as soon as open the car door.  The sun is still up, the sky is blue and it is almost dinner time.  I'm getting hungry just typing this.

One thing that detracts from a pleasant meal is grumbling at the table.  It brings everyone down and deflates the person who spent time preparing the meal.  On the very rare occasion that Gina is too sick to cook, I can get apprehensive about planning a meal that everyone will like.  Back in the day with 11 people being fed each evening it was impossible to please everyone every night.  Most nights there was at least one person who wasn't going to enjoy the food as much as the rest of us.

Here is how Gina solved much of the angst and conflict around meals and children who could be picky eaters:

• Only prepare one meal that is shared by everyone
• You must taste every item on your plate. We want to develop an openness to new foods. Plus you learn that your taste change over time. What you once hated, you may enjoy when you get older.
• Only eat what you want and how much you want.  This is the number one way to avoid conflict at the table. With all our kids we rarely had any leftovers.
• Prepare a much loved dessert on nights we are testing a new recipe or it is challenging meal for several kids.  Gina was careful to put reasonable portions on the kids plate.  If she knew it was something they didn't like the portion would be small.  They had to finish their entire meal (or receive special grace) to get dessert.  This was an amazing way to motivate people to try something new.
• You don't have to eat anything you paid for!  Ok, ok I know what you are thinking but it was accepted by everyone. This was a special rule I came up with on the spur of the moment when being questioned by the kids about why my plate didn't have every item on it. I didn't use it very often but there are a couple things I hate, so I pulled rank on the kids.

I can't wait for dinner tonight!

Everybody Loves Waffles

On a typical Saturday morning pancakes are the meal of choice (which I wrote about here and here). But sometimes a change up is called for and that means waffles.  Now waffles meet even more of the Dad Cooks criteria than pancakes which is always a good thing.  Plus anytime you can use a gadget it is a bonus.  

So I love to get up early, take the waffle iron out of the closet (yes, I store it in the coat closet), mix up the batter, and let Gina sleep in or take a long morning shower before anyone else uses the hot water.

My recipe is based on this cookbook.

 The Loved and Well Used King Arthur Cookbook

 It is so easy to make from scratch I'm not tempted to use a box mix. Also, I enjoy the satisfaction of crafting a meal from the simplest ingredient list possible.

Recipe:

          4 Cups Whole Wheat Pastry Flour

          1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
          1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
          1 Teaspoon Salt
          3 Tablespoons Sugar (Add more or less per your taste)
          Milk + 1 large spoon of Yogurt so that entire amount equals 1 Quart
          4 eggs
         Half to Whole stick of butter melted (depending on how much you like butter)

• Mix the Flour, Baking Powder, Baking Soda, Salt and Sugar in large bowl.  Make sure to mix well.
• In another container scoop one large spoonful of yogurt and pour enough milk so that together they measure 1 Quart (you can skip the yogurt if you don't have any)
• Add 4 eggs and stir well
• Add melted butter and stir again
• Slowly pour liquid into the Dry Ingredients while stirring.
• Do not over mix. Mix well enough to leave no dry ingredients and then stop.  Lumps are good!
• Let sit for 15 minutes
• Now you are ready

*If you or your family are very sensitive to whole wheat's sometimes assertive flavor, try substituting 2 tablespoons orange juice for 2 tablespoons of the milk in this recipe. The orange juice tames whole wheat's potentially tanic taste, without adding any citrus flavor of its own.

The critical part of cooking waffles is making sure the iron is hot. So I turn the iron before I even begin gathering ingredients.  That way it is plenty hot and ready when I'm ready.

My waffle iron is a cheap one and has worked well for many years.  I don't recommend spending a bunch of money on a tool that you don't use often.  

Pour one cup of batter onto the hot iron. 

Batter on the iron, ready to cook.

The waffle doesn't fill the entire iron but I like it this way since there is less mess and the clean up is quicker.

Waffle ready to eat!

While Peter and Hanni are waiting for the waffles they lounging around in anticipation.  The noise I make in the kitchen getting ready is just load enough to get them out of bed.  For some reason it doesn't seem loud enough to get anyone over the age of 13 out of bed.