Do your kids really eat that?

Wheat spaghetti, fresh spinach with garlic and artichokes, caramelized onions, sweet corn

I am frequently asked if my children really eat the "family dinner" that I make. Well, sometimes they do, especially if it's not touching too much. Children are notoriously picky eaters but I am not a short-order cook. Who the heck has time? I am a firm believer in physics: it is pretty darn hard to see -- or more importantly, taste -- something if it's not physically on one's plate, so yes, I serve them the same food we're having.

I've decided to begin showing some of my various plating strategies more regularly, in hopes of inspiring those among you who think it's impossible to cook for everyone without making special meals, especially on a Monday! Besides, then you can see a better representation of how we eat, which tends to be a hodgepodge of local + canned/frozen and pretty simply prepared most of the time. If you are curious, the pasta and spinach are locally-sourced in this meal.

Monday evenings mean fiddle lessons for my four-year-old. We are blessed to have The Fiddle & Pick (home to the Middle Tennessee Musical Heritage Center) just down the street for budding musicians of all ages. On the way home he asked what we were having and I told him some wheat spaghetti, spinach with artichokes and corn. He noted that bread and butter would go nicely and asked hopefully if we could have "some of yours, mommy" which just is the best thing for a mom who makes bread to hear. Sadly, I did not have dough in the fridge as usual, so the storebought wheat had to suffice.

My plates has pasta, onions, spinach and corn, one piled on top of the other (aka "mixed"). As you can see the kids' plates have all of those components, but separated. I toyed with mixing the corn and pasta, but was honestly just too lazy to bother. I did pull out a large-ish piece of artichoke in case they wanted to try it and, yes, they do have bread and butter. Parmesan cheese is on the table for anyone who wants some.

It is my experience that kids will be more willing to try things if they have "safe" foods to sate their hunger. Interestingly, they both loved spinach before they had teeth and I've often wondered if they just don't like the way it coats your (my?) teeth. They did try everything this night; the four-year-old wrinkled up his nose, made a funny face and said, "yummy" after his artichoke bite, but didn't ask for more.

I just need a catchy name for my plating series. Feel free to share any ideas!