Listen, I have an unbelievably picky teen...no, I mean it. Essentially, she eats cheese, hamburger and bread, and occasionally chicken. How am I supposed to work with that, people? "It's a texture thing," she says...

Being the parent of the world's pickiest eater qualifies me as the feeding teens editor. True, she won't eat everything I serve her, but I have become VERY creative in my offerings.

On the other hand, my 8 year old loves everything. Go figure...

This recipe uses one of my favorite teen feeding tricks...take a food they like and use it in a new way...In this case, I made a mean herb meatloaf (to which she said, "ewwww, like what's that green stuff?") and used the leftovers in the following night's pasta.

Meatloaf Recipe 

• 2 lbs ground beef (or buffalo)
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 medium yellow onions
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 to 1 cup of panko bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup of Parmesan, shredded
• Fresh Herbs: parsley, thyme, rosemary, basil
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire
• salt and pepper
• Ketchup for the top 

Combine it all, mush it well, but not too much, with hands, then shape into 2 loaves on a foil lined baking pan. Add ketchup to cover the top. In oven at 375 for 45 min to an hour.

For a super pasta the next day, do this:

Quick tomato sauce recipe

• 1 sm can of tomato paste
• one can regular can of tomato sauce
• two large cans of diced tomatoes
• 1 medium yellow onion
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 tbs dried Italian herb mix
• 1 tbs fennel seeds
• 1 tbs sugar
• salt and pepper
• 1/3 cup roughly chopped fresh basil
• 2 tbsp fresh oregano
• Two or three good handfuls of cubed meatloaf from previous night

Jean Ann is the mom of two kiddos and one small dog. Find more of her musings at PortlandFoodie.com .