Pass the uhhhh . . . uhhhhh . . . whatever that is.

There are three things I’ve learned about cooking in my time as a single dad.

First, ANY pizza is good at ANY time of ANY day!

Second, to paraphrase cousin Eddie from National Lampoon’s Vacation, “I don’t know why they call it Hamburger Helper. It does just fine by itself.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkExpbnjsX8

And finally, no matter what I cook, one of the kids won’t like it.

That’s not really my daughter’s fault. My son is an incredibly picky eater. He’s so picky that I actually get excited when he tries unhealthy foods! I thought I’d be smart and solve the problem like any good parent would do – Google it.

So I did a search for kids and not eating, and things you could do to encourage them to eat short of strangling them, and what I found was that there’s this “new” phobia that has to do with being afraid of trying new foods. It all sounded really interesting, and very much like my son. But at the same time, it just kind of sounded like an excuse for kids not to eat their vegetables.

I do have a couple of rules I use when cooking. First, at least one person besides me has to like it.

Second, it has to make enough to be eaten for at least one other meal.

And it can’t be too complicated. I don’t mind several ingredients and multiple steps. But I don’t want it too complicated.

But seriously, back to the pizza . . . I used to think I was doing something wrong if I didn’t prepare a meal every night. But what I found out is that it’s okay to have takeout. It’s even ok to have leftover takeout.

Just because your dinner table doesn’t look like a spread out of Better Homes and Gardens doesn’t mean you’re a failure as a parent.

It’s okay to order pizza from time to time. A peanut butter sandwich is just as filling a dinner that you spent an hour preparing.

And if all else fails, you can pull out one of Cousin Eddie’s favorite recipes.