A Successful Dinner!

Hurrah!  Dinner was a success tonight!  That's a huge feat given the fact that M insists on being picky even though The Doctor and I are trying our hardest to raise the girls with the same foodie pallets we have.  B is a very adventurous eater and she'll try anything and everything.  She relishes in telling people she loves duck confit and creme brûlée.  It's rare for her to turn anything down.  L claims she hates everything but cheeseburgers with ketchup and lettuce, but after a few bites of my cooking, she quickly changes her tune.  M, however, is a very different story.  She is as picky as they come and I can't figure out why.  

I made the best meatloaf tonight.  The recipe calls for it be wrapped in bacon, but since we don't eat bacon, I used Facon (beef fry AKA beef bacon).  What could be bad?  OMG. . . I kid you not, this was THE BEST meatloaf I have ever made.  Ever.

I've made a bunch of different meatloaves before without huge success.  The Doctor, B and I have liked them, but M would take one bite and cry and complain and L would take a bite and claim it yucky. Tonight, though, after the initial turning up of her nose, L scarfed her entire portion down in record time.  I thought I'd had a winner when I asked M how it was and she said, "I like it!"  I was so thrilled that I'd finally found a meatloaf that M will eat too.  After I'd finished and was starting to put away leftovers, I looked over at M to see all of her meatloaf, all of her green beans and some of her mashed potatoes on her plate.  

"I thought you said you liked the meatloaf, M," I said.

"Yeah," she replied, "I thought I did, but I decided I didn't."

"OK.  Well, I'm proud you tried it," I said calmly.  "Eat your green beans and mashed potatoes."

"Mommy!," came the whine, "You know I don't like green beans!"

I told her these weren't ordinary green beans (they weren't, they were sautéed with crushed tomatoes and cinnamon and were DIVINE!).

She took one little bite and claimed it disgusting.  She actually said, "This is DISGUSTING!!!"  Fine.  I told her her choice was to either eat part of the minuscule piece of meatloaf I gave her or all of her green beans.  She chose the meatloaf, but then must have hoped that it would somehow get into her system by osmosis.  She sat at the table for nearly an hour, doing- uh, I'm not really sure what she was doing.  Every time I saw her, she either had a piece of meatloaf on her fork or was just sitting there, but the meatloaf amount never got smaller.  She kept asking when she could have dessert (grapes) and Mean Mama said, "If you're hungry, eat the meatloaf.  After you've eaten this tiny, minuscule portion, then you may have some grapes."  I got a groan, a whine and a sob.  Finally, towards the end of the hour, I told her the kitchen was closing in 8 minutes and if she wasn't finished in that time, she'd be finished eating for the night.  Let me tell you, I've never seen anyone eat "disgusting" food so quickly before.  I guess the trick is to tell her closing time is approaching earlier.

I am going to leave you with the super yummy recipes.  Hopefully you and yours will love them as much as we (minus M) did.

Bacon (Beef Fry) Wrapped Meatloaf and Smashed Potatoes

2 lbs extra lean ground beef

1/2 lb white mushrooms, grated

1/2 C old fashioned oats

3 egg whites, lightly beaten

3/4 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 C ketchup

1 tbs brown sugar

6 slices bacon/beef fry

Smashed Potatoes

2 lbs yukon gold potatoes, unpeeled and cut into 1 in chunks

3/4 C chicken broth

2 tbs olive oil

1/4-1 tsp salt (to taste)

1/8 tsp nutmeg

Preheat oven to 375.  Fit a baking sheet with a rack and grease.  In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, mushrooms, oats, egg whites, onion powder, oregano and 1/4 tsp pepper.  Mix and form into loaf.  Place on prepared pan.  Combine ketchup and brown sugar and spread 1/2 on to the meatloaf.  Arrange bacon (beef fry) over meatloaf in a crisscross pattern.  Bake for 1 hour.  Spread on remaining ketchup and bake for another 30 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 160.

Meanwhile, place potatoes in a pot and cover with lightly salted water.  Bring to a boil; lower heat and simmer, partially covered for 15 minutes or until fork tender.  Drain and add broth, oil, salt, 1/4 tsp pepper and nutmeg.  Mash to desired consistency.

Green Beans with Tomatoes

1/2 onion, chopped

3 tbs olive oil

1 1/4 lbs green beans, trimmed

15 oz crushed tomatoes

1 1/4 C water

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

pinch of cinnamon (optional)

Saute onion in pot with olive oil, about 5 minutes.  Add green beans, tomatoes, water and seasonings.  Partially cover and simmer, 35 minutes.  Season with more salt and pepper.