The dinner debacle...

I am a good cook. I used to be a great cook, then I had a bunch of uncultured food critics move in to my home (aka I had kids) who throw fits and scream when served delicacies such as beef stroganoff, and soup other than Campbell's chicken and (shaped) noodles, and any vegetable but broccoli or corn.

But I still manage to make delicious things most of time(at least the majority of us, and by majority I mean me and  Mr Hollywood, think so) , there was that meatloaf issue last October that resulted in the Dairy Queen Debacle, but well at least that ended well.

Granted we have our fare share of hot dog and mac and cheese nights and LOVE a good mediocre $5 pizza as much as the next family.

But this story begins about a month ago; I had made spaghetti for dinner. The jarred sauce, same brand I'd used many times before, looked almost like straight tomato paste coming out of the jar, it tasted odd too, too tomatoy. It was thick and weird. No one had 2nds that night, but most of us managed to eat a serving. I had a LOT of left overs since I like to cook 2 meals instead of one when ever possible, so I decided to put it together in a casserole as a baked spaghetti planning to add some plain sauce to thin it out and then top with cheese.

So when 1/3 of the family turned up sick it seamed like a GREAT day to use it.

After I'd cut it and served most of us, but look at those noodles
and sauce and cheese!!!
the CHEESE 

The events unfolded as follows:

4:30pm Return home from Orthodontist appt for B2, g2 tagged along(we had all recently had a snack since B2 hadn't eaten since 11 and needed to take motrin, so he got to have some KFC mac&cheese and well so g2 and mommy got a small something too)

4:40 feel relief that I didn't have to cook, just pop something in the oven, so get on FB instead of starting it.

5:10 realize I'd just wasted a half an hour pursuing the wonders of everyone else's lives and so NOW I really needed to make dinner.

5:11 discover that the spaghetti was still slightly frozen, so it would take longer to bake than expected
turn the oven on and stick it in covered in foil

5:15 sit down feeling accomplished and confident that I am making a delicious dinner but have NOTHING to do for about 40 minutes!!

6:15 check the baked spaghetti to discover that it looks dry on top.... realize I don't have a can of tomato sauce... decide the seasoned canned tomatoes will work just fine! spread them on and bake a few more minutes to warm through.

6:20 add 1/2lb mozzarella cheese to the top to add a layer of supernal deliciousness!!!

6:25 get in the fridge to make the salad only to discover that the hubby (who must have been in a confused feverish state and we didn't realize it yet) had actually bought a head of CABBAGE not ice-burg as he'd thought.

6:30 sit down (or rather attempt to) to dinner
-dish up b3's plate just before he comes to the table so it can cool
-listen to B1 explain to B2 and g1 that they have to TASTE dinner before they say they don't want it because that's the polite thing to do
-dish small 3-4 bite servings on B1's and B2's plates.
-have g1 and g2 completely refuse to allow any of THAT to be put on their plates

6:32 b3 comes to his place and upon seeing his plate announced "NO, I want a HOT DOG!" in an extremely adorable little voice.
B2 pushes it around with his fork commenting on how he probably won't be able to eat it since he just got his braces adjusted (think he was LOVING having a good excuse!!)


6:33 as the AMEN is said b3 tips his plate of food onto daddy's saying "no want it, daddy have it" again in that adorable little voice that children that age have that can make ANYTHING they say sound super sweet

6:34 expectantly put first bite into my mouth, begin to gag instantly as the overly tomatoy combination of soggy and dried out angel hair touches my tongue, so text husband, AS I am working on getting it down
text reads  "I want a HOT DOG TOO"
-B1 very politely says after having eaten an entire bite "mom, I'm sorry I just don't like it, may I get something else for dinner?"
Mr Hollywood  chuckling at my text asks "shall I read this allowed?" as I shake a fervent NO he takes his first bite, makes a rather distressed face then announces "I don't think my stomach can handle something this rich."

6:35 I manage to swallow the much too large bite I've been working on, then bust into hysterical laughter and ask "your stomach? or your mouth?"
He sweetly tries to play it off for a minute "no since I'm sick, nothing tastes right, and it's awful rich, I should probably have something a bit more bland"

At this point EVERYONE is relieved, you can see it in their eyes and hear it in their grateful sighs and gasps,  that they don't have to eat it!!

The realization: If mom doesn't like it then NO ONE has to eat it!!! sinks in and they all begin to discuss what else they're going to eat.

I think this may be the first time this has EVER happened,that none of us could eat dinner, at least with the meatloaf there were side-dishes to eat and the adults had managed to get it down,

It was very sad, as I had high hopes for this dinner, it smelled and looked delicious, but well LOOKS can be deceiving!  But hey NOW we have a family bonding experience, in 20-30 years when my kids get together with their own families and someone has made a new recipe that doesn't turn out right they can say, "HEY, remember that night mom made dinner and it was so bad she wouldn't even eat it?" Then they can all laugh and enjoy their childhood memory.

So for that bad dinner I say YOU'RE WELCOME MY LOVES!!!!

8:30 PM enjoy this delicious caramel peanut butter cereal treat

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm so  yummy when it's still warm!!!!
and BONUS we've got a (pretend) healthy snack for the next day too!!!