August 2nd

Mind Your Manners

I am constantly trying to teach Noelle how to have good manners while we are eating.  Tonight, she might not have wanted much dinner, but she did a great job using her manners! :)

Brown Butter Scallops with Parmesan Risotto
recipe from: http://pinchofyum.com/brown-butter-scallops-parmesan-risotto

 

This might look strange, but it was quite good.  It was supposed to have sea scallops, but holy cow!  Sea scallops are expensive!  So, I used bay scallops.  I actually like them better anyway.  So, the scallops were good and the spinach was fine, but you guys....the risotto!  OMG, it is so good.  I would use this recipe just for the risotto part alone.  It turned out creamy, rich, cheesy, flavorful, and there's a brown butter drizzle over it, so you can't go wrong there!

Grades:

Megan - A- (I gave it a minus because I didn't get a good sear on my scallops.  I think I didn't dry them off enough.  But the risotto by itself would get an A+.  Mmmm)

Noelle - D (So I thought Noelle would love this because the last time I made scallop pasta she was obsessed with the scallops.  This time, not so much.  Like I said, I didn't get them cooked quite right, so I kind of don't blame her.  She took a bite of this and said, "No thank you, I'm not interested." It was so funny...and so sad she didn't want to eat any more.  

I have been trying really hard to teach her manners at the table.  I also have been trying not ask her "Do you like it?" while she's eating [it's hard not to ask that!] because I found that if I ask her that, it gives her the thought of "oh yeah, I just have to say I don't like it and then I can stop eating."  Instead, I ask her things like, How does it taste? or What does it taste like? or Is it cheesy/crunchy/chewy [insert adjective here]?  Of course she still sometimes says, "I don't like it."  And, it might seem silly, but I have been telling her we don't say I don't like it because you never know, next time you try it, you might like it!  Instead I tell her to say, "No thank you, I don't want anymore."  This way, she knows that she will try it again sometime, and she realizes that her tastes can change.  

So tonight she wasn't interested [LOL], but she ate the risotto two other times on other days without the scallops and LOVED it!  See...try it again another time and you might like it!)