The first tantrum, and magic green sauce

Whew! I just weathered Agatha's first real tantrum. She and Henry and I were in her room, goofing around and looking at books and putting on pj's. Henry came across a small tube of toothpaste with SpongeBob on it, surely a gift from some dentist or other. He was delighted with it, although he hates toothpaste and wouldn't get it near his mouth. But not only was there a picture of SpongeBob on it, but the toothpaste itself was both blue AND sparkly. Agatha took the tube and dabbed her finger in the sparkly paste and stuck it in her mouth. And again. And again. "Okay," I said, "let's put the cap back on now and finish our story." "No-no-no-no," Aggie said, waving me off, a fierce and worried look on her face. "One more minute... one more taste... okay, now cap on." And that did it: screaming, holding breath, blue-in-the-face, tantrum. I tried to distract her, to ignore her; Michael came and got her and took her outside for a few minutes, and although she calmed down some, she did not forget: "PongeBOB! Cap!" Even ten minutes later, when we were snuggled in and reading a book before bed, she kept looking at me and saying, with a hurt tone and a furrowed brow, "PongeBOB. PongeBob."

But I did learn about a magical substance besides sparkly toothpaste: Meagan's magic green sauce. My friend Meagan posted this months ago, but I didn't rush to try it, because my kids ate vegetables pretty well anyway, and I didn't think Henry would really go for something creamy and green. But in the meanwhile, I have developed a rather unhealthy reliance on Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. The children are always so happy when I make it, and it has been a nice treat to pull out on a rocky day. But when Agatha sees any saucepan and yells "Macme!" I think that's a sign that enough is enough. So I made Meagan's sauce, which I told the children was "Macaroni and Green," with festive bow-tie pasta... and Henry ate four bowls. So healthy! so easy! so delicious! and children love it! Meagan, you are a genius.

Amelia's version of Meagan's Magic Green Sauce

Throw in the food processor:

* half a large bag of frozen chopped spinach

* two cloves of garlic, chopped

* half of a small container of cottage cheese

* glug of olive oil

* glug of milk

* some salt

* goodly amount of freshly grated Parmesan (maybe 1/3 cup?)

Puree. It makes the most beautiful, bright green, silky smooth sauce. I would also use it for a vegetable dip for grown-ups, or as a sauce on pizza. It's really so lovely. Try it today!