The Noble Experiment, Week One

Since Sunday, January 13, 2019, I’ve been thinking of this whole “get the family to cook” thing as the “Noble Experiment.” I taught 8th grade American history for 15 years and always loved our 1920s unit, so I’m going with this title and hoping it does not result in any organized crime or deaths.

My 12 year old son, N, is a curious tween. He’s part of this whole, befuddling “I’d rather watch some YouTuber play a video game than play it myself” generation, yet he’s also into this nauseating Fortnite phenomenon. He spends, in my opinion, an inordinate amount of time reading Archie comics in the bathroom. He leaves his stuff everywhere, is resistant to any suggestion I have to keep his body pleasant-smelling, and makes me crazy when he eats breakfast because he apparently is warming up for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with his metal spoon and ceramic cereal bowl. So with all of this in mind, you can imagine my surprise when he started texting me recipes from Pinterest last December.

“I found this on Pinterest!” his text messages read, and they were followed by a link. Some were to frappuccino-like drinks and others to decadent dinners like shrimp fettuccine with roasted pepper sauce (I even received one titled “7 Ways to Speed Up Your Daily Routine”). This sudden interest in Pinterest definitely took me by surprise, but after a few moments of thought I realized he might be so into it because it’s the only pseudo-social media site he’s allowed to have. Whatever the reason, he was going full hog with it, so I thought, There’s got to be a way for me to capitalize on this!

Coincidentally enough, as I was walking around downtown Palatine on the 13th, killing time while my nine-year old daughter, M, was at a junior chef French cooking class at the fabulous Cook, Cork, and Fork, my phone “da-doinked” and I saw the familiar, “I found this on Pinterest!” message, attached to a recipe for Amazing Mac & Cheese Pizza. On a whim, I wrote back, “Anything you find on here you are welcome to make whenever! I’ll even buy the ingredients. Just let me know.” He instantly wrote back, “Can u get this stuff...I’m making dinner tonight.”

I brought the ingredients in the house, and N was racing with excitement about getting started. I figured it was safe to leave for a quick walk around the block. Fifteen minutes later Mark updated me:

I walked in the door, “How’s it going?”

“It’s taking a lot longer than I thought it would. Mom, this is hard. I don’t know how you do this every night.”

The heavens opened. The angels sang. Pigs flew. My heart soared. FINALLY! Appreciation. Gratitude. Understanding. Empathy.

The meal was delicious. I wish I had taken a picture of my proud boy and his final product. He was his harshest critic, “I don’t like how the noodles got crunchy in the oven. I wonder why that happened,” but the rest of us loved it and praised him up the wazoo.

And then a most astounding thing happened. M chimed, “I want to make dinner one night!” and N said, “Yeah, I’d do this again.” Pretty soon, we were devising a schedule for everyone to be in charge of one meal a week. Mark got roped into it when M said, “Dad, which day do you want?” Mark gave me “the look,” and I simply said, “I think it would be a nice gesture for you to participate.” He smiled his “I don’t wanna do this but I will” smile and we were a go!

Last weekend was our first crack at the Noble Experiment. On Sunday, everyone sat down and I set some parameters:

1. Meals will be made Sunday-Thursday. We dine out on Fridays and Saturdays.

2. Meal must include a fresh veggie (can be frozen but not canned).

3. Meal must include a lean protein.

4. Whoever cooks doesn’t have to clean up.

It was time to choose a recipe! N landed on Shrimp and Sugar Snap Pea Pasta and M picked Hoppin’ John from her Disney Princess Cookbook. Because the princess cookbook was on the counter, Mark chose his from there, too--Cozy Cottage Chicken Tenders. We all had a good laugh about that as he tried to determine which princess movie it was based off (Sleeping Beauty).

Here’s our very fancy menu:

Sunday: N and I went shopping together (which has not happened in A LONG time, but he was into it because he was choosing his ingredients). At dinnertime I sautéed a bunch of leftover veggies from the week (red pepper, corn, onion) and added it to this awesome red pepper and tomato boxed soup. I also baked the life-changing (I kid you not) Skinnytaste bagels into sub roll shapes and M put together croque monsieurs (fancy French word for ham and cheese sandwiches) the way she had been taught at her cooking class. It was a good, combo way to kickoff the Noble Experiment!

Monday: We ended up going to the movies and eating popcorn for dinner. :)

Tuesday: N made his Shrimp and Sugar Snap Pea Pasta, except we swapped the peas for much cheaper green beans and omitted the wine. It was freakin’ delicious, he beamed with pride, and all but licked his plate. “I’m going to make this every week for my meal!” to which I replied, “Uh, no. We are not spending $10 on shrimp every week!”

Wednesday: M made her Hoppin’ John (inspired by The Princess and the Frog), and it, too, was delish!

Thursday: After a long day of school and then volleyball tryouts, Mark was a trooper and made the princess chicken tenders and steamed broccoli while I took M to tap class. It was piping hot when we got home and we all enjoyed it tremendously! He was happy to walk away after the meal and not clean a single dish.

All in all, the week was a complete success. I worked with each of the kids on their night to teach the basics about boiling water, turning on the stove, safely slicing and dicing, trimming green beans, operating a crank can opener, and using a garbage bowl (much to Mark’s chagrin...thank you, Rachel Ray!). We talked about our days, had a few moments of laughter, and shared uninterrupted time without the other child (which, if you have more than one kid, you know is cherished time when you get to see your kid as a decent person instead of a jerk who’s often crappy to the other kid). I hope the lessons I’m teaching them now will sink into their brains better than the one on regular teeth brushing (🙄) and thus they’ll be able to cook independently by the year’s end.

For now, I’m proud of the whole family for taking on this challenge with a positive attitude, and I’m looking forward to next week. To be honest, I’m also so excited to have the task of independently meal planning, prepping, and cooking “off my plate.” If you’re the lone cook in your family, you know what I’m talking about! Because everyone took his share, I not only didn’t mind still being in the kitchen, prepping with the kids, I enjoyed it. Fingers crossed this Noble Experiment lasts and I’ll be able to “speak easy” about it these next few weeks!