Greek Week ... and So Much More ...

My children don't like to eat.  I don't get it.  Ben likes to eat.  I like to eat.  How did I produce two MALE offspring who find eating ... well, such a chore?  

My solution.  To find a solution.  Good plan, huh?

I made my weekly trip to Costco where Eli eats anything  if it's in a plastic cup and comes with a small fork.  Last week, he ate cottage cheese with dried blueberries on top.  Seriously?  The kid passes on chicken nuggets and fries but will eat cottage cheese with shriveled up fruit?  

I'm not sure I was liking what that said about my cooking skills.  I settled it in my brain that he ate it only because of the plastic cup.  I was a fabulous chef!

On my way to the checkout line I found it.  I could hear the choirs singing ... the gal who wrote the baby food cookbook I used ... now writes a bookazine.  (It's a real word).  Annabel Karmel saved the day ... once again!  I flipped through that magazine (oops, bookazine) and got super excited.  (I, for one, do not typically get excited about cooking food but Annabel makes it looks SO YUMMY!)  

At home, Joshua snagged the book and made his first request.  Soup Au Pistou?  Chicken Tagine?  Not in this lifetime.  No.  Joshua requested the candy train.  And made even more clear demands that we go to the store IMMEDIATELY to find all the ingre-gi-ants.  I obliged.  How could I deny my firstborn a killer candy train?

So ... here he is ... laying the tracks - with a delicious lemon filling, I might add.
And this one ... taking his taste testing ever so seriously.
For the record, I suggested mini-Oreos for the coal but How insisted that they didn't look right.  So, raisins made a last minute appearance.  I admit, they did look PERFECT!
This is my child.  This is my child on too much SUGAR yelling, "CHOO, CHOO!" ... any questions?
After the train ... it was onto more serious cooking endeavors.  GREEK WEEK!  I even made my own chickpeas.  (And by made ... I mean ... no can opener here.  I bought them in bulk and gave them an overnight bath).
Greek Week required participation amongst all members of the crew.  Joshua got the job of salad spinning ... 
My first meal.  Falafel ... Greek salad ... Hummus ... Tzatziki ...    
My second meal ... Greek spinach rice with sausage and feta cheese.  (This one was a crowd favorite!!!)  There were more meals that week just so you don't think I only fed my family twice.  I just stopped snapping photos ... 
But I did capture this one.  Sneaking into the pantry.  Dumping most everything on the floor and opening a bag of veggie sticks.  Perhaps this is why he finds himself resistant to food at mealtime??
And ... in other non-cooking news ... while the mouse is away ... it's time to finish projects!  I spent the boy's nap time working on some fabric covered initials. 
And this is why the laundry doesn't get done and the floors don't get mopped.  Oh well!