“M&Ms?” I replied. “Oh, not me, I like peas. Are you going to eat that one?” I take a pea off her mixed vegetable stack. This is not 100 percent accurate, I don’t like peas better than chocolate, but I can fake it for the greater good here. It’s a lot less of a lie than hiding spinach in brownies.

Internally, I am fuming, again, at her teacher, who just yesterday sent my child home with disgusting “Nerdz.” I never taught my child the brand name for M&Ms. She knows dark chocolate, but not that.

Across the table, the Kid is frowning. “That’s not an M&M,” she said. And, I finally realize what she’s talking about. “Oh! Edamame!” Duh, Mommy, her favorite veggie. Once, as we were driving, she even handed me up a half-eaten, soggy chocolate cupcake (store bought) and asked if I would make her edamame when we got home. I nearly swerved off the road. But, she was right, the cupcake was pretty nasty, even before it became a soggy mess. It’s amazing what a Mom will reach out her hand for and retrieve from the backseat.

“Yes! Can I have some edmummee?”

“Sure, Honey.” Whew. Am I going to tell her the truth of what M&Ms really are? Not a chance. I am sure somebody will do that for me soon enough — probably at school.

The Lunch Box recipe — “Soyccatash” after the jump.

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