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" Cooking for my family has been frustrating lately. It&amp;#039;s true that my son has begun to quietly eat around whatever is on his plate that he doesn&amp;#039;t like, but my daughter, who is 3, still openly revolts, pushing her plate away from her and stomping off. Then dinner begins with stern warnings, time-outs and takeaways. For instance, this pasta was good. There&amp;#039;s something about leeks and butter that drives me crazy. But they do get kind of slimy when cooked, so my daughter wouldn&amp;#039;t touch her plate last night. (She simply didn&amp;#039;t eat anything for dinner.) My son left a pile of carrots and leeks in his plate. I&amp;#039;m tired of it.  So next week is going to be kids&amp;#039; week here. I am only going to make things my kids definitely will eat. Between now and then, tell me what your guaranteed kid-pleasers are. I need some inspiration.   I had 2 leeks, which I sliced in half lengthwise and then crosswise into pieces. I swished the pieces in a big bowl of water, then gave the grit time to settle to the bottom (there wasn&amp;#039;t much). I lifted the leeks out of the water gently so I wouldn&amp;#039;t disturb the dirt at the bottom. I plopped the leeks in some melted butter at the bottom of a deep skillet, then added 5 skinny, thinly sliced carrots. I added salt and thyme, then cooked over medium-high until the vegetables were beginning to soften. Then I added 1/4 cup wine and let that simmer until almost dry. Then I added 1/2 cup chicken stock and simmered for another 20 minutes or so, until everything was completely softened, adding additional water when the pan got dry. I served this over bow-tie pasta with grated Parmesan.  As I mentioned, I liked this. The ham was salty, the carrots kind of sweet, the leeks silky and faintly oniony. But not a big hit with the family. I don&amp;#039;t even know what Todd thought. He didn&amp;#039;t say. More pasta:  6 Fresh Springtime Pastas "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.womansday.com/food-recipes/a47632/pasta-ham-leeks-carrots/?src=shelter_footer>