Introducing the Next Great Chef
The kids loved that TV cooking competition when it aired–Canada’s Next Great Chef contest. The participants were students and graduates from chef schools, seeking professional recognition in their field.
This evening, I cooked a "different" meal. It involved frozen vegetables–winter mix (broccoli and cauliflower). I used a pack of instant noodles–fettucine alfredo, with a mix of spinach noodles and a parmesan-flavoured sauce. I took a chicken breast and sauteed it with random amounts of salsa and taco sauce, plus a couple of pared apples. There would have been some asparagus spears, but they were done cooking early, and I kind of ate them while I was doing the chicken.
To make it more appealing, I said to the kids, "Let’s play Next Great Chef!" Three out of four said, "Yayyy!!!" The oldest sulked and muttered, and was banished from the kitchen.
We laid a bed of winter mix on a Corelle serving platter. We made a hollow in the middle where we placed the pasta. Then we used tongs to lift the chicken pieces from their mushy-apple-and-salsa sauce and arranged them in a sun pattern.
This sparked much creative imagination. "It looks like a sun." "It looks like a sundog!" "It’s spring, and there’s snow and grass, and the sun is coming out." "Mommy, what’s a sundog??"
We then took pictures of our bee-yoo-tee-full creation, amid admonishments not to ogle it too long, or it would be cold. The oldest walked through and muttered disgustedly, "That’s weird." He was consigned to wait to eat until everyone else had finished.
The girls were disappointed that we had to make it all ugly in order to scoop it onto our plates. However, they liked the taste of it very much. Score one for Mommy–much more successful than Monster Soup.
This evening, I cooked a "different" meal. It involved frozen vegetables–winter mix (broccoli and cauliflower). I used a pack of instant noodles–fettucine alfredo, with a mix of spinach noodles and a parmesan-flavoured sauce. I took a chicken breast and sauteed it with random amounts of salsa and taco sauce, plus a couple of pared apples. There would have been some asparagus spears, but they were done cooking early, and I kind of ate them while I was doing the chicken.
To make it more appealing, I said to the kids, "Let’s play Next Great Chef!" Three out of four said, "Yayyy!!!" The oldest sulked and muttered, and was banished from the kitchen.
We laid a bed of winter mix on a Corelle serving platter. We made a hollow in the middle where we placed the pasta. Then we used tongs to lift the chicken pieces from their mushy-apple-and-salsa sauce and arranged them in a sun pattern.
This sparked much creative imagination. "It looks like a sun." "It looks like a sundog!" "It’s spring, and there’s snow and grass, and the sun is coming out." "Mommy, what’s a sundog??"
We then took pictures of our bee-yoo-tee-full creation, amid admonishments not to ogle it too long, or it would be cold. The oldest walked through and muttered disgustedly, "That’s weird." He was consigned to wait to eat until everyone else had finished.
The girls were disappointed that we had to make it all ugly in order to scoop it onto our plates. However, they liked the taste of it very much. Score one for Mommy–much more successful than Monster Soup.
Labels: HomeEc, LifeSkills, Unschooling
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