Chicken legs

Dearest B,

Roast chicken has been a firm favourite dinner choice of yours in the past. This makes me happy as not only do I find it fairly stress free to cook, but I have found all of us enjoy it. Little Miss and you are more than happy to clutch a leg each, eat roasted carrot, roast potatoes or as we call them ‘chunky chips’ with tomato sauce and be bribed with a sweet or lolly if you consume some greens too. I come away feeling mildly successful as a parent when this balanced meal is completed.

Admittedly though, you do love the fatty salty very unhealthy skin. Being the mean mother that I am, I wanted to stop this hogging fatty skin habit so I served up roast chicken this week with only a little skin. You were disappointed, but clutched onto your chicken leg happy enough.

After your first mouthful you examined the leg and said “Yes Mum I can see the fat under the skin here” pointing to your chicken leg. You then continued to eat, with a thoughtful look on your face. You then had a really good look at the food in your hand and said, “That’s the bone there with the skin at the end, Mum is this really a chicken leg, did a Chicken walk on this?” Stupidly I answered, “Yes B it’s a chicken leg, but the chicken has had it's life.” Daddy looked across the table and gave me a look that said,”STOP!” But it was too late.

You put down the leg and ate something else. A very wistful look was on your face and when I asked what was wrong you said, “I don’t want to eat a chicken’s leg.” Rather than pushing it, Daddy and I could both see that you had just put two and two together. The hard realisation that this was a chicken, a clucking bird served plucked and roasted on the table to eat. I offered you some breast meat, no skin, bones or fat, and you thankfully continued to eat.
It might be a while before we have a roast chicken again.

Tonight’s dinner raised the question, “What’s this red stuff in the meat?”

I replied, "It's steak, just eat it."

Love you B

Love from Mummy.

XXX