A Team's take on Zucchini

This summer I have been continuing my on going battle of feeding my family healthy food. It has been difficult breaking 8 years of bad habits. I have implemented all the suggestions of the "experts".  I have included the girls in all aspects of the meal from planting, planning, and preparing. Nothing is helping improve the attitudes of these fast food lovers. BUT I'm going to keep trying, because it is important. 

This week our zucchini was ready to eat. I knew this squash, which made A2 gag last year, because she thought she was eating two piece swimwear, was going to be even harder to pass of as delicious this year.  I had the girls help me pick the zucchini from our garden. I tried to have them help me select recipes. They didn't have the attention span for that... I even had the girls help with the cooking. 

Dish #1:

The girls hated this recipe! A1 cried. A2 smiled as she chewed, but spit the food into her napkin when she thought I wasn't looking. A3 didn't try to hide her disgust for the zucchini as she stood up in her chair looked me in the eyes and spit her partially chewed right back onto her plate. Mac and I loved it, so we will have it at least one more time this summer. 

Dish #2:

Tonight's dinner was another zucchini creation. We had Stuffed Zucchini Boats. It was either the fun name or the fact that the zucchini was drowning in marinara and cheese that convinced the girls to try the meal. A1 was my biggest cheerleader. She took a bite and said, "Hey, this isn't as bad tonight." A2 decided to try it because A1. She ate the entire serving and asked for seconds. Then she told me it was disgusting. A3 returned to the standard chew and spit method. I also saw her swallow 3 pieces of zucchini, so I will count that as a win. 

As the girls were getting ready for bed, A2 asked if she could tell me the truth. There is no good way to prepare yourself for any thing that will follow that question, especially when it is from A2.

"Mom, the zucchini didn't taste disgusting. It was good tonight. I just think thinking about zucchini is disgusting. It grows outside in the garden. It is from the dirt. That is disgusting. What if I just ate dirt?  Disgusting!" 

I am so thankful for all those experts who suggested having the kids help plant. :D 

Try-a Papaya

I have decided that this summer the girls and I will be spending our meal times eating healthier foods.  We are going to try to go with fresh fruits and veggies when ever possible.  I even have a cute little visual aide (that is still in my head) that we will use as a reminder of the foods we are supposed to be eating. 

During spring break I started our prehealthy eating by introducing some new foods.  We had kiwi, It still makes me shudder, but I'm not telling the girls that!, and we also had sugar snap peas.  Both went over well with all 3 girls.  In fact, A2 even asked for the sugar snap peas for her snack.  By the end of the week A1 stopped gagging when she saw them on her plate.  I am considering both mini victories. 

Today, after I finished my bag of Brach's Malted Eggs, I began fixing the girls' lunches.  I went with a familiar corn dog and then decided to spring another new food on them; papaya. While they were outside I came up with the creative slogan, "Try-a Papaya!" I also came up with a fun presentation...papaya chunk kabobs.  I gave each girl 3 chunks of fruit and speared them with a toothpick.  I speared the fruit, not the girls...

A2 was the first to see her plate.  She was so excited.  She sat down and tried her papaya before eating anything else.  She laughed her wicked laughed as shoved them down.  She loved the papaya!

A3 was equally excited to try the new fruit.  She even asked for more "Pie-ya." I was a little disgusted when I realized she was dipping it in ketchup, but at least she was eating it.

A1 was a little harder to convince to eat something new.  I even tried to convince her that if we were on an exotic vacation we would be able to eat this straight from the tree. Then I wondered if they grew on trees... Maybe I should add some fun internet research to our summer healthy eating project.  We can find out how our food grows before we eat it. Ha! Who am I kidding? We will be lucky to remember to buy the fruit! Anyway, A1 wasn't buying my attempt at distracting and then tricking her into eating food. She told me that she wouldn't ever go on an exotic vacation so she won't have to eat gross food.  She rolled her eyes when I sang, "Try-a Papaya" to her.  She flicked the toothpicks.  She. Was. Not. Going. To. Try. It! I ended up taking her Ipod away until she ate them.  She fake gagged while she ate the first one.  I ignored her.  She cried while she ate the second one.  I ignored her.  She blamed me, Mac, and her taste buds for not liking them.  It wasn't her fault! I laughed at her.  She ate the third one.  She told me they were ok when I asked her what she thought. 

I know this will be a battle with the girls, especially A1, but it will be worth it in the end.  I think. I welcome any fun food suggestions while we make our transition from processed to fresh!