Quit your whining and just make dinner

My alter ego, the Dinner Diva, has a gig on the side that I JUST found out about. It seems the Dinner Diva decided she was fit to dole out advice in the same fashion as Dear Abby and has been helping the whiny and the lost with all their menu planning woes. Let's take a peek into her mailbag and see what she has to say:

Dear Dinner Diva,

My children are so picky! All they'll eat is chicken nuggets, hamburgers and mac and cheese! Picky, picky, picky!! They wouldn't know a green vegetable if it went up and introduced itself. I don't know what to do; they are so PICKY!!! I'm tired of their pickiness. Please help.

Distraught in Detroit

Dear Distraught,

Seems to me that the reason your children only eat that stuff is because that's what you serve them. Remember who the parent is here! You choose their food (make sure you have at least one healthy thing on the plate that they like), you cook their food (you're not a short order cook!) and you serve them the same stuff with the rest of the family. It will take work and perseverance, but it can all be done with a pleasant attitude. Train your children to eat better and be a sterling example of eating well, too. If you pig out on Hagen Daas regularly in front of the tube and feed your children tofutti, they will notice and be more than a little miffed.

Dear Dinner Diva,

I went by your website and noticed you had menus for low -carb and regular menus. I am a low-carbing vegan vegetarian and don't like tree nuts, peanuts, any kind of nuts, soy, corn, wheat, beans, vegetables, fruits — well, basically everything except oatmeal and prunes. Can you help me make menus? Also, my husband doesn't like prunes. I forgot to tell you that.

Meal-less in Miami

Dear Meal-less,

"Please sir, can I have some more?" That famous sentence is in a scene in Oliver Twist and by the looks of things, that is the condition of your sad diet. While it may seem rather grueling, I'm sorry, but I don't have much to offer. Check out the Quaker Oats website.

Dear Dinner Diva,

I just don't have time! I work every day, commute, pick kids up from day-care and by the time I get home, I'm tired. I can't afford to eat drive -through every night and I feel guilty that I am not giving my children a better dinner. But I just don't have TIME! Please help me have time. I love your menus, but I don't have time! Do you make house calls?

Hungry in Houston

Dear Hungry,

Two words: Crock-Pot. Buy one.