Much like his father used to at his age, Ben tends to latch onto a phrase and overuse it until it has run its course. His current response to offers that don’t match his increasingly narrow idea of what he wants to eat or do is that he is “not interested.”
Last week, he picked chicken fajitas to make with me, but found our tortillas unreasonably large. Not interested. We used them anyway. The cookbook (Hope’s Table) suggested serving them with a bean and rice dish. Not interested. We made it anyway. Of course, selecting fajitas was a way to secure corn chips as a side dish. “Fine,” I said, “but they will have to be the ones you and Dad picked to take to the family reunion.” (When I questioned Phil on Ben’s selection of Halloween chips in June, he said they were a good bargain. I guess his reading glasses caught the sale price, but not the “Best If Used By” date. Having no takers in Michigan, they traveled all the way back home unopened. One taste from Ben with the fajita meal, and he declared he was not interested in those chips.)
The next day, when Ben tried to mine out all the tastiest parts of the meal to pack in his lunch, leaving us with an imbalanced leftover load, I told him I was not interested in that plan.
While I am not interested in ruining his life (as the inclusion of large tortillas, beans, and rice have ruined the lives of so many young people before him) I am trying to help Ben live a balanced life. His needs are balanced with those of the family. We try to consider a balance of social, emotional, and physical needs. We design meals including diverse food groups. We enjoy old favorites, but try new things, too. If all you have are treats, they aren’t really treats anymore, are they? Sure, eat the chicken, but also eat the beans and rice.
The fajita preparation was non-traditional (slowly cooking/steaming chicken pieces in marinade) and included a drizzle of homemade ranch dressing. We also cooked red peppers, and onions, and added cheese and pico de gallo to our giant tortillas. Delicious!
In case you are interested, here is Hope Helmuth’s recipe for rice and beans as we made it:
Rice and Beans
1 tablespoon oil
1 1/2 cup uncooked rice
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cream of coconut
1 (15 1/2-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups water
Heat oil in a pot. Add rice, salt, and cream of coconut. Sauté until rice is a bit toasted. Add black beans and water, stirring well. Cover and bring to a boil, turn to lowest heat, and cook, covered, for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork and serve.
While I didn’t end up with any decent pictures of the weekend, we are always interested in a visit from college friends! The last time Randy was here, we didn’t have kids yet. The last time Darrell was here, he and Phil took Sophia and Grant to Reptiland while Lenna and I went shopping. Apparently, there was a misunderstanding and the kids ate the turtle food.
