Recipes Needed

It's not a huge secret that I do not enjoy cooking. It's just a fact and I've learned to live with it.

Of course I prepare meals every night, and my sweet husband is always appreciative. Even my (almost!) 4 year old eats 3/4 of what is on her plate the majority of the time.

It's usually a pleasant meal with minimal amounts of whining. Although these days we're nearing a world record for the number of times in one sitting a child inquires about her dessert and how many more bites until she gets dessert. Every. Single. Night.

But anyway, that's not even the issue at hand.

The pressing issue is my other precious child. 19 months old and full of independence. I'm proud. But not at dinner time.

Every night as we prepare the girls' plates and get ready to serve dinner, they eagerly wait in anticipation. Like they're expecting some magnificent presentation of some gourmet meal.

Never mind that it's usually just a casserole or other random dishes of the pasta variety. They get excited in a way that would make you think they haven't eaten in weeks.

Or, at least, Allison does. She bounces around in her chair, smiling as she watches us in the kitchen. When her plate is brought to her at the table, she's grinning ear to ear, ready to eat.

Then we put the plate down in front of her. Her face falls, and with a look of all the disappointment in the world, she slowly scans the plate. The expression on her face turns into a look of almost confusion. This happens every night.

I realize I could be accommodating and serve her things I KNOW she likes and will eat at every meal. But I'm too lazy. And I don't think that's fair to Lauryn (who, by the way, will try any food at least once.)

So we go through the same routine every night. She picks through her food, selecting which items she will eat. But not without careful inspection first.

I'm looking for anyone who is a creative cooking genius to come up with some recipes for me so that my baby will happily eat every meal. I'll even make it easy and provide you with the ingredients. The following is a list of the foods that she likes to eat, without a doubt.

mandarin oranges
cheese
grapes
yogurt
bread
Life Cereal
pretzels
baked beans
chocolate (what can I say...we start them young).

If you could come up with just a week's worth of meals using those ingredients, I would be beyond grateful. Thanks.