Liar, Liar

That's what I am. A big, old liar. It's how I get food into the kid lately - food that I know she wouldn't try if I didn't make up a fabulous story about it. To the left you see Coco Wheats. That not-so-glorious breakfast food of my youth. But it's nothing so mundane as Coco Wheats here, instead we call it Hot Cocoa Cereal. A few marshmallows on top and a sprinkling of mini-chocolate chips and it goes down as slick as snot. Not that I'm wild about the marshmallows and chocolate chips, but we must pick our battles wisely. When trying a new food and one that I really want her to eat because I'm not too scared of how it will look if it revisits us, I'm not above bribery.

To the right we see Amiya after finishing her very last magic shell. That's right, it's magic in the Gupta house. Here's how you can make your own magic shells:
1 box shell pasta, cooked
1 can tuna drained
1 shallot chopped
1 c. frozen peas
1 handful chopped celery
1 handful of cheese cubed
mayo
salt
pepper

Toss it all together and chill.

That's right, magic shells are nothing more than cold tuna noodle salad. You're onto me! Amiya was having none of it, absolutely none of it. Mommy wasn't making something else so I told her that if you can find two shells with one inside the other, you just have to close your eyes tight and make a wish. Happily, shells often get glued together, so there were lots of wishes going on at our house. And Amiya kept on eating those magic shells even when Mommy's (odd) tuna craving had passed and I wanted nothing more to do with the leftovers.