Changing my strategy

Have you seen Jaime Oliver's Food Revolution? I'm hooked and I've been looking forward to it all week. Watching the first couple of episodes was not only sad, but it was inspiring. Setting a good example and offering my kids healthy food options has always been important to me. Granted we often fall off the boat when life gets hectic or I get sick. But for the most part, we do pretty well.

But I think we could do better. My kids will eat healthy foods... but I want them to crave those healthier options. I've never been one to "hide" the vegetables in their foods because I want them to know they are eating them. One of the areas that we could improve is veggies. We often stick to our peppers in burgers and meatballs, corn, carrots, broccoli and the occasional green bean. So last night, I did one of my mom's old tricks. Okay, I don't know if it was a trick, but I have fond memories of having "chef salads" when I was a kid. We had the chance to put whatever we wanted on our salad. Yum!

So, I made sweet potato soup (turned out yummy!) and presented them with lettuce and a bunch of different salad topping choices. We had cheese, mushrooms, zucchini, bell peppers, carrots, almonds, bacon pieces, sliced turkey, imitation crab, edamame, and croutons.

My husband and I ate like we were starving... funny how having all that colorful food in front of you makes you want to eat, eat, eat! And, I'm happy to report, that it worked on the kids. My daughter actually tried a few new things... and my son actually made a salad (he doesn't normally eat salads). The big highlight of the evening was that my son said he liked mushrooms now. I'm not sure it will last, but I savored it for the one night.

We will try to put this meal into our normal rotation of meals. We aren't hung up on them eating everything - but we do like to expose them to new foods and have them try them.

Now the food they serve in the schools is a whole other issue... but for now, I'll work on what we are giving them. I mean really, can you imagine... pizza for breakfast? Ugh... what are they thinking?

** Note the new soup bowls we have. My son actually calls them "bups" as they are part bowl, part cup. They were made by Laura of LAS Designs... and they are AWESOME!