Meal time at my house can best be described in one of two ways, either a circus or a zoo.
First, the zoo scenario. Picture a large chunk of meat tossed into the lion’s den. In seconds, my kids manage to stomp to the table, maul the food, grunting and nodding with approval in the process, and leave nothing behind but a pile of crumbs. While it makes me happy to see my kids eat, I sometimes wish I didn’t have to spend so long making the food before it is decimated in mere seconds.
Scenario number two, the circus. Somedays I’m able to quickly put together a meal, and what do I get in return, blank stares. No one eats a bite. The kids would rather play with their food, push it around their plate making it look like they’ve eaten it, or just flat out refuse. Our circus type of meals are what caused our family to coin the phrase, “If you feel like you’re starting to have fun with your food, it’s probably time to walk away.”
Where am I going wrong? Maybe meal time at my house is too casual of an affair? My kids don’t act like this when we go out to fancy restaurants.
It was time to “fancy up” meal time around the house. For one meal, I would transform my house into a steakhouse.
The first step in converting my house into a steakhouse was ambiance. That’s probably a word someone would use in a steakhouse right? I set the ambiance with a little bit of candlelight. As long as my kids didn’t set their sleeves on fire this would be a perfect start.
Next, proper attire was required to enter my steakhouse. I sent my kids upstairs to get dressed and surprisingly enough my son came downstairs wearing a bowtie. Where in the world did he get a bowtie? Does he secretly already work for a steakhouse?
My kids were surprised to see me, the fancy steakhouse chef also taking their orders and, of course, pouring them our house’s finest bottle of lemon-lime soda, vintage 2017.
What was on the food menu? One item only, a delicious steakhouse quality potato soup from Idahoan®. A simple recipe, that just involved adding water. Five minutes later, I’d prepared a delicious Idahoan® Premium Steakhouse® Potato Soup for my three pint-sized food critics. Idahoan® delivers the same flavor found in slow-cooked restaurant soups, in a much quicker and more convenient way.
These soups are filled with real Idaho® red potatoes and red potato skins. We had the Idahoan® Premium Steakhouse® Loaded Potato Soup, but they are also available in Creamy Potato, Cheddar Broccoli Potato, and Three Cheese Chipotle Potato.
After enjoying their bowls of soup (and then asking for seconds) my kids declared me the #KingofSoup. They were happy I was able to offer them something delicious, and get it from my gourmet kitchen to the table in five minutes.
Somedays in the kitchen, the days I just barely get by, I could be considered the Prince of the PB and J, other days when I don’t cook at all, I’m the Duke of delivery, but not today, today I reigned supreme as the #KingofSoup.
-Brian “Pete”
I partnered with Life of Dad and Idahoan® Foods for this campaign, but my opinions are my own.
For more information about Idahoan® Premium Steakhouse® Potato Soups, other Idahoan brand products, recipes and more, visit Idahoan.com or follow along on social media @IdahoanFoods.
