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Disclaimer: If you have big, strong opinions about eating and nutrition this may or may not be the post for you. It involves snacks, fried veggies, and ranch dressing. You've been warned.
A confession: I Love Junk Food! I love it. My Happy part of Happy Hour are the snacks.
And if we are getting together? There must be food.
It's how I connect with people. Let's share some food and make it an experience.
Enter: Motherhood. A push for fruits and veggies, but really, just a chance to embrace snack time. Please pass the graham crackers.
Enter: 2nd Child. I wrote about his food allergy journey here. As we continue down this path, we are so blessed. He is healthy and thriving. He is also adding food allergies instead of losing them. (Shoot!)
Embracing a lifestyle of unprocessed foods has really become more of a necessity than a passing fad at our home. Fresh fruits and vegetables in their pure form? They really need to be the norm, not a novelty. A skill this mama needs to embrace.
We have fresh fruit eaters. But veggies? Are they fried? With ranch dressing for dipping? Mama needs to change her mindset. (Mama because she is primarily in charge of the food that comes in the house. Don't worry-we are an equal opportunity kitchen!)
Enter The Great Veggie Challenge for our house.
The Rules (for our house):
1. At lunch time, a tea plate of veggies is offered to all contestants in the house. Like this:
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2. Before you help yourself to the crackers and dip (or any other delicious treat), you must finish your plate of veggies. We use a set of 3 veggies for the week.
3. Keep track of which ones you like, and which ones you need more practice on.
The Results: Some days are great, others aren't. I'm eating more veggies each day. So are my kidlets. That's a good thing.
What the kids say:
"It's helping me like new veggies. I don't like tomatoes."
"The only thing I like are the sugar snap peas. Actually the only thing I like is--I don't like anything about it." (He's feeling contrary AND honest today!)
So, this is our summer challenge. It kind of reminded me of #nerdlution fun I've had in the past.
Are you working on anything challenging this summer?
Snacktime! Joy!
Kendra
What a great idea. I love of thinking of eating healthier foods as a fun challenge! It is a way to explore new things and give them a try out. I like the way you crafted this piece with sections (Disclaimer:, A confession:, etc.) and your use of the word enter.
ReplyDeleteI love it! I am trying to eat more veggies myself, and it's hard because, well, the other things taste so much better! Your small plate looks reasonable - and offers variety. Good luck with it!
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting and healthy challenge and entertaining writing. It's interesting that just today I read an interview with a woman who shared how she makes eating veggies fun: http://thestonesoup.com/blog/2014/07/3-quick-questions-with. The greatest challenge for me is to make meals that please everyone. Everyone in my family like veggies but not the same ones. Eating berries and fruits is so much easier.
ReplyDelete