Beets

Cooking for a family of six can be challenging. I’m still finding my way. The frustrating thing about cooking for our family is not everyone likes the same thing. And I can hear the older generations chime in here to say when they were kids they ate what was served or they went hungry. I am aware some of this is self induced. Next challenge is scheduling and logistics due to after school activities, but we are committed to eating dinner together most nights. That is how I grew up. As much I didn’t always understand or appreciate this routine as a kid, I totally get it now.

The dinner table is a special place in our home. It’s where we talk about our day, tease and encourage each other, and where the occasional complaining about what is being served takes place. Which leads me to this month’s topic. One night for dinner I made sheppard’s pie. Hamburger, green beans, cream of celery, and shredded cheese mixed together with tater tots on top. Served hot out of the oven it’s a great hardy meal for the cold days we have here in the Midwest. This particular night we had three out of our four kids here and it was a hard pass for all three. They thought it was gross and proceeded to voice their complaints with the chef. I now know how my parents felt after working all day, preparing a meal only to hear complaints, and then dinner becomes a battleground and a timer gets set. My adult self would like to apologize to my parents.

This particular night my husband gets the idea he’s going to bargain with our kids. The deal was the kids could ditch the dinner and dump their plates with no consequences in exchange for their agreement to eat a mystery vegetable the next night. They were curious and we have a couple competitive kids in our home so they all agreed to take the deal. So…what was the mystery vegetable being served the next night? My husband revealed the surprise…BEETS. Omgeee – I quivered. I strongly dislike beets in addition to mashed potatoes, stuffing, pineapple, and coconut. I wasn’t sure if I could step up to the plate and stomach it. He reminded me we are a team and we’re all in…I was secretly hoping he’d forget to buy a can of beets on his way home the next day.

He did not forget. Beets were served for dinner. Our oldest wasn’t even home the night before, but she agreed to suffer the consequences with the rest of us. The deal was each of us had to eat two beets from the can. I swallowed mine whole and almost puked. Others cut them into tiny pieces and chased them with water. There were pleas and tears. I think 5 out of 6 of us successfully completed the challenge.

I’m not sure our kids truly learned a valuable lesson that night as I still hear the occasional complaint about the dinner menu, but this night was one for the memory books. We laugh about it now, and I’m pretty sure they’ll share this story with their kids someday. I did ask my husband to consult me first about a consequence next time, because I would prefer not to go green in front of our kids in the future (don’t let em’ see you sweat). No more beets for me, please!

And in the wise words of my sister, Michelle, when the kids ask what is for dinner tonight…tell them “food.”