Doughnuts for Dinner

It was the end of another busy day with the boys, nine, eight, and six years of age.  Dad was away on business.  I was off the hook-for now. Dinner could be anything.  Hot dogs could always be offered but that was cheating, a lazy decision on my part and not necessarily a healthy choice. Doughnuts for dinner, why not! ... Though the choice of doughnuts was overwhelmingly hailed as a great idea, it was not something I normally thought of as a suitable choice for dinner. But my gut told me otherwise that day.

I had no interest in cooking a meal that day and thought a change of pace was in order considering the circumstances. Tonight, it was cool mom in the kitchen. The doughnuts were home-made, otherwise, what's the point? Our boys loved homemade doughnuts, cruellers and beaver tails, especially, when they were covered in cinnamon with a bit of sugar. (Every so often, it made sense to eat just what you liked as long as other healthy fare made it to the table that day. Grazing can be a healthy departure from the 3 meals a day standard.) 

The dough was made with warm water, yeast, milk, eggs, a bit of sugar, oil and other ingredients to create the wholesome bakery classic. A glass of milk was served alongside. The best part of eating them was toasting them later with toppings available. Sugar was kept to an absolute minimum.  The delicious goodies could be fried and frozen for another time.  Even the kind of oil used was carefully considered. Toasted leftover doughnuts would be a yummy treat for breakfast or snack time.

On yet another day, far into the future, after our sons had left home, I discovered the cupboard was somewhat bare. I began to search for ideas and suddenly, without warning, saw the box. ...  Kraft dinner looked suspiciously like dinner that evening. With my husband soon to arrive, I began to envision an interesting meal using this time-honoured favourite of university students and children alike.

I cooked the pasta al dente and near the end of its cooking time, added frozen peas, a family favourite of many meals. ...  Peas, an upgrade to the dish, contain protein and other nutrients adding to the nutritional status of the meal. The salad was made, yet, something was still missing.  .....Then, I saw the tin.  ... Sardines - Kraft Dinner - peas became an unusual meal combination that evening, not a typical selection for someone who cooks from scratch-most of  the time. But the sardines? Really? Yes, really.It was a favourite of my dad's something I would never have considered, ever. But he did and I'm glad he had.... (Lemon juice and thinly sliced onions were added to the sardines canned in water, complementing the remainder of the meal.)   

Doughnuts for dinner or sardines, Kraft dinner and peas are not obvious choices for a change of pace for the evening meal.  But unleashing the creativity of the mind, we can see the benefits of an about face for the ritual of dinner. Where children are concerned, it shows them that you are flexible in your thinking, that you are cool mom or cool dad. They see compromise in your management style.

Down the road as our children begin to grapple with the many life decisions awaiting them, they just might remember these unusual dining departures of the past and consider our views and opinions worthy of their consideration.   Though food serves to nourish the body, mind and soul, it can also help bridge the generation gap that sometimes divides adults and children within a family unit. If we risk serving doughnuts for dinner or sardines, Kraft dinner and peas, then we must be thinking outside the ‘box’. That must  be a good thing all around.

 Coming soon: The Cabbage Test, Cabbage Soup and Holubtsi (cabbage Rolls)