Torture Your Family Tonight!

As a mom I grew so tired of my weekly dinner menu consisting of some arrangement of spaghetti, pizza, fish sticks, mac-cheese etc. because that's what my kids "would eat". Not only is it basically a pasty blah menu, it's not good for you, it's boring, and it was totally my own fault and doing. NO MORE I SAY! Now I cook what ever sounds good. I can pretty much guarantee my kids won't like it. You know what? Too bad! Mean mom you say?

Well, this is how it goes. I tell my kids they must take at least one bite. They wrinkle their noses, beg, complain, and insult. If Afton is feeling particularly dramatic, she'll even conjure a juicy gagging sound. After all this they will take one microscopic bite, proclaim it the most vile sustenance ever created in their own way such as "EW! Keck! Pblbllbbbll! Then refuse to take another bite. Fine. But they must stay at the table until everyone is done eating.

So Nic and I sit and talk and enjoy fresh vegetables, new flavors and actual real food while the kids scowl and contemplate their pile of apparently inedible sludge. I make it clear that this will be the only food served tonite and express my hope that they eat enough to fill thier tummies til breakfast. If I'm feeling very kind I will leave their plates til bedtime and almost always they will get hungry and nibble a bit more while complaing and glaring at the evil devil chef, me. But you know what? They get used to it and slowly but surely, they are expanding their repetoire of foods they like.

So here's one of those recipes I just tried and it was DELICIOUS and fragrant and easy and healthy and Evan thinks I literally put dog turds on a plate. So torture your kids tonite with this...

Sausage Tortelini with Carmelized Veggies.

This recipe takes about 30 minutes start to finish.

You will need:
olive oil
thinly sliced onion
one red and one yellow pepper thinly sliced
2 tsp finely chopped garlic
One 9 oz package of sausage tortelloni prepared from package instructions
1/4 cup fresh basil chopped or 2 tsp of dried basil
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
salt, pepper, and red pepper if you like spice

1. Heat Tbsp or so of oilive oil in pan, add onions and peppers. Cook on Med low for 20 min stirring occasionally till tender and slightly brown. Add garlic, cook for 3 min.

2. Add pasta, basil, s&p, red pepper if you feel like it and 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar. Cook for 3-5 minutes to let the flavors marry and the tortollonis brown a smidge. So delish. Serves 4.