Cooking for three growing boys has its challenges.  They may always be hungry, but having been raised up to this point on primarily convenient foods, they have a very limited idea of what is acceptable to eat.  Unfortunately for me, just about any vegetable that I consider to be amazing is not currently on that list.

After months of trying to accommodate their wants with a real need to get them to eat in something like a healthy manner, it has come time to put on my “Dad” hat and just start making the right foods, regardless of the amount of noise coming from the dining room when something green comes out of the larder.

What do you do to get your kids to eat better?  Do you have tricks for sneaking healthier alternatives into the mix, or do you just sit staunchly by until they finally cave in and eat what they should eat?  I’d be very interested to know what other parents are doing here, especially since I’m starting with kids that haven’t been eating my food for the last four years.

I’ll grant that the only nod towards health that this particular dish shows is the spinach itself.  This is not the world’s healthiest pasta dish, but I’m using sausage, butter and garlic as gateway foods to introduce healthier items like spinach and fresh basil. (They loved the basil… Not so much the spinach, but they ate some of it, so it’s a start!)

Another trick I’ve begun using is to decrease the amount of “the good stuff” in the dish.  While I more than likely would have made this a year ago with a pound of sausage and simply saved the leftovers, now I’ve cut it down to 1/2 pound, knowing full-well that the two older boys will not leave even the smallest meaty bit in the pan or on their plates, regardless of how little they touch the vegetables.

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Branson Missouri is home to a mother load of attractions, from live performance theaters, amusement parks and championship golf courses, but for me there are far more interesting things to do in Branson that watch a show.  The restaurant scene in Branson is enough to delight any foodie, with offerings from full scale gourmet to Irish pub fare (pinch me, I’m dreaming!), so for me the experience would be, as it always is, all about the food.

While I’ve never been to Branson specifically, I’ll never forget the view of the Gateway Arch in St. Lewis when I traveled through the city in 1989.  The trees were turning, the sky was studded with puffy clouds and the arch seemed to stand all the way through them, pointing the way Westward and home; for me in California.  It was a breathtaking sight and one I remember vividly even 20 years later.

Branson has so much to offer that it’s really hard to talk about all of it, but imagine a weekend staying in the ultra-luxurious HIlton Branson Convention Center surrounded by everything there is to do in town, all while having the chance to receive cooking lessons for the perfect holiday meal from the hotel’s very own Chef  Nathan Read!  You’ll be welcomed with a wine tasting, followed the next morning with a lesson in how to prepare the appetizers from the night before.  Then dine on a four-course meal paired with the perfect wines, just to learn how to make the featured dish the next day.  It’s heaven people, sheer unadulterated foodie pleasure.

Unfortunately I won’t be able to attend this gastronomical treasure chest, as I have plans in November that prohibit me from taking advantage of the low room rates and culinary wonderment.  if i could go, I’d not only attend the cooking course (with glee!) but I’d make time to visit a few other places while I was there.  These include the following restaurants (in no particular order):

• Waxy O’Shea’s Irish Pub
• Joes Crab Shack (because I never pass up a chance to eat at Joes)
• Bistro at the Radisson
• Texas Land and Cattle Steakhouse Because I’ve spent a lot of time in Texas, and I want to know how real they really are.)

Of course you could go for the Golf packages or the Romantic Getaway package (sounds good, too) if the Cooking Getaway isn’t your thing, but for me there’s no comparison.  Great food, Great lodging and a chance to enjoy myself doing what I love the most… Eating!  What could possibly be better than that?

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