Toddler Food Critics

My daughter is picky, I've mentioned it before. However, I did not know that her palate was so refined! You'd think the hot dog, salami, cracker, pancake diet would have dulled the senses at this point. Au contra ire.

My husband is out of town on business (any boogie men reading, I have four large dogs, a baseball bat and a secret desire to be a sniper...... only two of those are true, but I wouldn't suggest figuring out which one.) So when you're playing the single parent card you feel kinda sorry for yourself (maybe that's just me, but whatever). It's like finishing the 2nd job of the day (getting out the door on time in the morning is the first job and it sucks) and getting ready for the third.

I had planned to have the house favorite 'green pasta' for dinner. A winner every time. It's a packet of Knorr Creamy Pesto Sauce and penne in which I hide, I mean add, as much chopped up spinach as I can. I'd been telling the kids all day 'it's green pasta night!'.

Well that filing cabinet I call my brain where I shove all the stuff I'm supposed to remember, yeah, that didn't work. As the noodles are boiling and the very end of the olive oil is in the pan I open the cupboard and you guessed it - no green pasta. I cannot panic. I can do this. I DO have some Alfredo sauce mix.....so I add this and that and put the spinach in it so it turns green and I'm feeling good about how awesome I am. Crisis averted. Pasta made.. no problem.

I ding the bell and call order up for the waitress (yes, I have a bell and yes I really do that....). Immediately my daughter says suspiciously "this isn't very green". Damn. I'm caught. How they hell do they do that? Since when did the judges from Iron Chef start living at my house? I know she won't fall for some line about how it is too green pasta.. so I sort of tell her the truth. "Well I tried another brand of green pasta.. it's the same thing, just a little different." And then throw in the desperate silly story approach, hoping one of the two will work "That or I think maybe the guy at the Green Pasta factory forgot to put the green part in." She gives me a look and she's not buying what I'm selling.

At least she tried a bite before she told me "it doesn't taste good". Meanwhile her younger sister is on round two of sort of green pasta.

Fine, this chef quits. A round of hot dogs for everyone.