Molly is a picky eater. What? Almost all three and half year olds are picky eaters? Well, good for them. Molly, if she knew how picky a standard picky eater was, she’d be twice as picky. On purpose. Just to test what would happen. Like most kids, she’ll eat yogurt (but only from the sippy cup, mixed with milk – no- not THAT sippy cup, the pink one. With the other lid. NO! The OTHER lid!!) and she’ll eat macaroni and cheese (except that piece- NO! THAT PIECE!!! the one that looks hard and crispy after it was baked!) and she’ll eat string cheese (NO! I want to open it!!) and she’ll eat chicken  (except that piece- NO! THAT PIECE!!! the one that looks hard and crispy after it was baked!) and that’s about it. Oh, wait. She eats lox. As in, pickled, smoked, greasy disgusting lox. She’ll just devour that stuff like it’s ice cream. Oh, she’ll also eat ice cream.

Fruit and veggies? No how. No way. I don’t know how she got it in her head that she hates fruit. I mean ANY fruit, except bananas. No berries. No melon. No apples, No grapes. No oranges, No watermelon. No mango (unless it’s dried. and hard and crispy. Go figure.)

And Veggies? Maybe corn. Elie can coax her into eating a couple of peas every now and then. And sweet potato soup (that’s not even a veggie- but it’s the closest we get)

I had a brainstorm. I’m gonna Muchify Mashed potatoes!!! This is NOT about getting her to eat potatoes. It is about getting her to eat the secret muchifier.

The ingredients:

Potatoes. Beets. (GOOD FOR YOU AND FUCHSIA TOO!!!) and some boxed veggie broth.

Those fella’s stain like nobodies business.

peel ‘em

Add salt to the boiling water. Oh? Did I forget to mention that? Boil water. You’re making mashed potatoes. Dur. Oh, and get the kid involved. They like that.

Oh. Chop those suckers into pieces before dumping them into the water. Cut the beets smaller than the potatoes. They like to take their sweet time waiting to get soft.

I decided to dump an ear of corn in my pot. Because, ya know, it was there. I thought maybe the corn would turn pink too!

I yiyi!!! That corn’s not pink!!!

…but it sure is tasty!!

Time to mash the potatoes and beets! The moment of truth!!!

I’m thinking, perhaps, disaster. The potatoes were yellow, not white. The sign at the supermarket said they were good for mashing. I’m no expert. I listen to the signs at the supermarket. Next time I’ll go with the ones they said were good for baking. Those looked white. Besides, what do the signs at the supermarket know? They can’t tell the difference between all those other green leafy things either. Need parsley, come home with cilantro. Need cilantro, come home with dill. Need dill, come home with curly parsley. Wait. Is that just me? Whatever. Moving right along…  So, this stuff I’m mashing, is this what they use on CSI when someone’s guts explode? Oh, no- it looks just like that disgusting bloody fat they suck out of people’s thighs when they get liposuction. On TV. For real. Yick. So, it seems, beets turn red when you cook them. Lesson learned.

meanwhile, across the room … “hello? hello? is someone there???” Why isn’t anyone answering me???”

When fully mixed, they start to resemble cherry snow cones. With bits of brain mixed in. This might not work. Not even in the pink princess bowl.

But wait! What’s this!?! SHE LIKES IT!!! She doesn’t think it looks like brains!!! It’s pink! It’s Muchtastic! It tastes like plain old mashed potatoes with the healing powers of beets!! WooooHoooo! SUCCESS!!!!

Next time, maybe I’ll add HOMEMADE GLITTER to sprinkle on top!

PS- When it cools, it actually turns back to fuchsia again! That makes it Magic color changing Muchy Mashed Potatoes!!! Yahoooo!

****Please note, The Beet Growers Association of America has not provided me with any compensation for writing this post. In case you were worried my opinions were paid for. I wish.****