At some point, I know my kids (now 6 and 3!) will object to meals like this. The kind of meals I make them daily, which consist of leftovers or food I find in the pantry or refrigerator, with no regard to how the items “go” together, only that they cover a couple of food groups. Like Saturday’s lunch: tortellini with red sauce and Parmesan cheese, store-bought potato salad (big tub from Costco), Korean Beef Bulgogi, cucumbers (grown from our friend’s garden) and slices of fresh nectarine.

They are good eaters (I know I’m so lucky in that regard!), and don’t complain, even though Jan’s meals are far more thoughtfully composed and usually stay within one cuisine. But his dinners are usually ready at 9 or 10 pm, when they’ve long been asleep. So they get the the early bird or lunch version, where I reheat a portion of that meal and add in a few more things. (Got to make it a bit more weird, you know?)

At some point, they’ll become more discerning and learn to cook on their own (I’ve started teaching Axel how to make a few things), and I might be forced to change my ways. But for now, I’ll think of these kid meals as our version of the Whole Foods salad bar, without the $8.99 price per pound!