motd Thurs Oct 6, 2011

[Guest guest]

BUT MOM, I HATE CARROTS!

Thursday, 06 October 2011

I must tell you, the words "hate" and the

name of any food are a

combination of words that never come out of my

mouth! Are you kidding? Plain and simple...I

love food. Both my parents were excellent

and creative cooks. There were great vegetable

dishes at our dinner table every night. And from a

very early age, my mother taught me how important it

was to eat my vegetables.

"Now Dicky, let me teach you the right

way to eat an artichoke."

"Now Dicky, let me teach you the right way to

eat an artichoke. You pull out each leaf and with

your teeth, scrape the 'meat' of the artichoke

from the bottom here. And inside all of the

leaves, you'll find the artichoke heart, which is

my favorite part."

So there I was, only four years-old enjoying

delicious artichokes, dipped in soft butter.

Mmmm...I loved 'em, too! And you know what? All of

these years later, I still enjoy my artichokes. In

fact, I enjoy all of my vegetables!

But, truth be told, I'm a bit of an oddity when it

comes to how much I love my veggies. That's because

most people don't

eat enough vegetables.

And that dislike of veggies, unlike for me, begins

when a lot of people are still kids. Every week,

I receive e-mail from parents writing to ask how

they can get their kids to eat their vegetables.

"I can't get my son to eat his string

beans. I've even offered him money."

"My daughter hates spinach!" Or another

mom might tell me, "I can't

get my son to eat his string beans. I've even

offered him money to eat them!" Hey, if you

have to offer your kids cash to

eat their vegetables, you need to me saving your

money to see a therapist! LOL.

Now first of all, you need to know that if you

expect your children to eat their vegetables,

they should see you eating your veggies,

too. Get your kids into the kitchen with you when

you're cooking. That's where their love and

appreciation of vegetables should begin. They

can help you wash and dry the produce. Teach them

how to make a healthy salad or let them help you

make a colorful chicken & vegetables stir-fry.

Let them see you chopping up some vegetales to make

a delicious soup. It'll be fun and, who knows, you

could be setting them up to become America's next Iron

Chef!

Vegetables are tasty but an extra kick of flavor

makes them even more delicious. It's amazing what I Can't

Believe It's Not Butter and a

little parmesan cheese can do to broccoli. (I had

some for dinner just last night.)

Educate your kids about vegetables and let

them get more involved with you in the kitchen.

As you educate your kids about vegetables and let

them get more involved with you in the kitchen,

you'll begin seeing a turnaround in how they feel

about those oh-so-good-for-them vegetables.

Wouldn't that be nice? And it'll all be because

your taught your children well about the best foods

to eat.

Have some vegetables for dinner tonight on me...for

the good of your body and for the good of your kids

bodies, too!

Love,