Mini Meatloaves...

Sometimes the mind of a child is, well, frustrating. Not the times when they believe in fairies or Santa or can be bribed into obedience with a quarter. Not that stuff--I love  that stuff. No, the parts where they think something up in their little heads and can't be persuaded of any thing else. No amount of logic works in these instances either...which leaves mommy rocking herself on the kitchen floor, mumbling incoherently....more incoherently, actually.


For example, it took a few years to get Thing 1 to understand that while pasta has many shapes, it all tastes the same before the sauce. YEARS people. 


My mother will gladly tell you the story of the time the same said child refused to eat applesauce at Nana's house because it didn't come out of a little plastic cup. 


And then there was the time I made mashed potatoes with blue potatoes and she asked if I had mashed up Smurfs....Yes, Honey, because Papa Smurf is at his best with a little butter and salt.

make sure you spray the
pans first

these are just mini bundt pans

The truth is that I try to keep a careful balance of new things with comforting routine as long as the kids are young.
So, when I offered meatloaf in a different shape than my standard loaf shape (mainly because I only had one pound of ground beef instead of my usual two and I had an hour until dinner),  Thing 1 took it in stride....especially when I filled the center with ketchup and said it was like a volcano.

Yep, a meat volcano. (*snicker*)

Hey, if you aren't having a little fun when you can in life, you need more than meatloaf in a different shape.

 If you need a recipe for meatloaf, I'll send you mine. But really what I'm saying here is that I'm learning that if my kids know for real that I'm going to take care of them, they are much more willing to roll with the punches on the minor stuff.

Now I need to go round up some more smurfs for dinner--I'm thinking of stuffing them into their little mushroom houses and roasting them.