Everyone's a (Food) Critic

Mealtimes at our house look a little different.  On any given day, four or five of us will sit down at the table to enjoy eating together.  Usually, at least one person will comment on the food and talk about the spices and other ingredients and what they like or dislike about the dish.  The rest will chime in with their suggestions as well, all in a respectful manner.  Odd?  Probably.  Rob and I somehow managed to raise a family of foodies. 

I think it all started several years ago when I truly wanted to know if the kids liked certain dishes.  When they turned up their noses at something, I asked what could make it better.  There is normally one child cooking with either Rob or I, so they have become quite knowledgeable about various ingredients and can usually chime in with a good suggestion.  I think that by helping to improve dishes they are more willing to try things again that they didn't care for in a first attempt.  Often their suggestions bring great improvement to a recipe that might have been thrown out.  And we do occasionally deem some dishes unworthy of our attempts to make them better.

Sometimes, however, these attempts at improvement are rather hilarious.  Here's a recent example:  I made a burrito casserole about a month ago and the kids liked it, but didn't care for the canned cream of mushroom soup.  (I should note that we eat pretty fresh around here, so we normally substitute heavy whipping cream for canned cream soups.  Also most canned cream soup contains gluten and the gluten free ones are both expensive and disgusting).  I tried it again this week and asked them if it tasted better.  They agreed that it was MUCH better, but made the following suggestions:  Use Aldi brand tortillas instead of Mission corn tortillas, all-cheddar cheese instead of a mix of cheddar and mozzarella, less of the cream sauce, and more spice in the beef and bean mixture.  I had to laugh at all of the suggestions!  They are good ones, but it is funny that they have all become food critics. 

Oh, and last night I made crock pot beef stew.  They said it was so good it almost tastes like the canned stuff!  I'm not sure what to do with that "compliment." 

And yes, we have discussed how it really isn't appropriate to dissect food when we are visiting someone's home.  But if they do, just know that your dish will be even better the next time you make it!