Lynda Loveland: Whose food is better?

I make it a point to make dinner every night. It may be leftovers, but I rarely do the fast food or frozen thing. I play that card when we're in a hurry or we've got stuff to do.

I like to fix different things to introduce my kids to new food. My chicken piccata failed the other night, although my husband and I dug it. How could you not like something with a stick of butter, lemon and garlic?

So, I made spaghetti last night. A safe and basic dish that kids love, right? I decided to kick mine up a notch though. I sautéed onions and garlic, added the sauce, fresh herbs from my garden and some homemade pesto. I let it simmer for about 20 minutes. It smelled delicious! I also made some blue cheese bread. Yes, the kids love blue cheese. I was very proud of my spaghetti. I'm thinking, I could have just warmed up a jar of sauce and be done with it, but no, I took the time and made it better.

A minute or so into dinner I noticed the kids were just picking at their food. I was not. I was barely coming up for air. I asked Campbell, "What's wrong honey, you like spaghetti?" And do you know what she said, maybe you've heard something similar. She said, "Well mom, I don't like this psghetti. I like Kid Cuisine psghetti."

I thought the top was going to blow off my head! Are you kidding me? She prefers some 6-month-old, frozen, preservative laden, no flavor spaghetti!!!! How could that be? I should have remembered something I was taught in my journalism class in college. It's called the KISS method. Keep It Super Simple.

I will still try out different meals on them. But most of the time, I'm going to remember to KISS!