5 November 2009 
A mother has free range to get desperate. You moms out there know what I am talking about. Non-moms, maybe not so much. It goes pretty much like this, or at least, it did for me:
Non-mom declaration:
When I have kids they will never drink Coke.
Mom reality:
Only two cans dear. You have to eat some dinner.
Non-mom declaration:
My children, MY children of all children, will never step foot in a McDonalds!
(I can hear my sister-in-law’s laughter all the way from Omaha on this one…)
Mom declaration:
Gimme a Mighty Meal, double bacon cheeseburger, extra fries, Coke, and maybe another cheeseburger.
(Note: I still don’t touch the stuff, but they sure do! Okay, I can’t say no to one or two or three french fries. Damn those french fries are good!)
So you get it. Maybe I was a bit idealistic. Maybe I wanted to be like Dianne Keaton in that baby movie and live in a big barnhouse in Vermont and make my own baby food from scratch (the million-dollar business and cute veterinarian being a nice bonus.) But life gets in the way and, I dare say, even I, a professed food snob, gets desperate from time to time with a bit of greasy, preservative help.
Take the whole vegetetable conondrum for instance. My daughter won’t go near them. Not with a ten foot pole. Not with a ten foot pole loaded with M&M’s on the end. Nothing. No can do. And I have tried. I did charts, rewards, sneaky stuff like those famous spinach brownies (‘They taste weird mom, can’t you just make your normal ones?‘)
I resorted to cute and crazy. Mixing it up a bit. Living outside the box. Dani is a box girl. There are rules and WE FOLLOW THEM. And so, if I break one it’s a big deal. And the girl keeps track, I tell you. I can’t slip up one bit because she’s there to call me on it: It’s Tuesday mom, you usually have the laundry folded by now. Why isn’t it on the table? Monday is your bill day, why are there so many envelopes unopened in the front desk? Don’t forget mom, it’s Friday, ice cream day. We go every Friday. I’m telling you she is relentless about the order of life and trip-ups are unacceptable.
Except when they work in your favor. Like serving up potato chips for dinner. Potato chips no less! Oh the rebellion! Dani wigged on that one. So much so that she didn’t realize the vegetables lying underneath. And thus, gobbled the whole thing up and even asked for more. This is a small victory for me and all mothers out there (we are all smiling and nodding our heads now.) So, you may think it irrelevant, cheesy, or too Rachael Ray, but it works. I got the idea for this recipe from epicurious.com. Take some eggs, throw veggies into them, shred cheese, dump it all in muffin tins so they bake individually and look too precious, and sprinkle crushed potato chips on top and you’ve got yourself a potato chip frittata that will make the most stubborn anti-veggie kid smile and ask for more.
Mom declaration:
Mine did!
Potato Chip Frittata
5 eggs
1 1/2 tablespoons milk
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 leek, sliced (about 1/2 cup)
1/2 an onion, sliced (about 1/2 cup)
1 carrot, shredded
1/2 cup zucchini, diced
1/4 cup mushroom, diced
4 tablespoons shredded cheese
potato chips (I used french fry-style, but you can use regular chips as well)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees
Whisk together the eggs, milk, salt and pepper.
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the leek and onion with a pinch of salt. Cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add zucchini and mushroom and saute another three minutes. Add carrot and cook for 1 more minute. Set aside.
Grease a 6-cup muffin tin. Divide the cheese among the cups, then the vegetables. Pour the the egg mixture until each cup is 3/4 full. Add a few potato chips on top of each. If you have more egg and veggies, just fill up more muffin tins!
Bake until cooked through, 12 to 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edges to loosen. Serve.
Serves 4-6
