Mommy, What Are We Having for Dinner Tonight?

One of my guilty pleasures is watching the food network.  When I get the chance, I love seeing what Giada, Ina or Rachael are making for a meal.  Last week, I caught one of Giada’s shows and I saw her making a hearty meatball stew that looked so good and was very healthy.  Last night, I decided to make it.  My two year old daughter was taking her nap in the afternoon and my son was playing with some new toys he got for his birthday; a perfect opportunity for me to prep dinner.  I found peaceful solace while cutting the vegetables and making the meatballs.  While I was immersed in dinner prepping, my son came into the kitchen and asked if we could have macaroni and cheese for dinner.  My first thought was to explain to him that I was making a healthy dinner and I didn’t want to hear him complain that we weren’t going to have macaroni.  But as I peered into my dutch oven that was quickly filling with an assortment of vegetables, I realized a pasta side may work well with this dish.  I turned to my son and told him I thought that would be a great idea for dinner along side my yummy meatball stew I was cooking.  And it was!!  The cheese from the macaroni married well with the liquid in the stew.  Sometimes when we are racking our brain trying to figure out a healthy meal that our children will eat without whining, it may make for a more pleasant dinner to step back and compromise. 
My children had a wonderful dinner full of vegetables along side a small
portion of one of their favorites, macaroni and cheese. Halleluiah!  One pleasant dinner down, now to think of one for tomorrow…….