I love you on vegie night.
Vegetables served up at dinner time occurs 5-6 times a week in our house. It might consist of meat and three veg right there for all to see. The second option is salad veg also naked and identifiable. Finally there’s the hidden alternative. It’s on a stealth mission to get into the mouths of babes undetected.
Vegetable consumption was a whole lot easier when my two were spoon fed. Now it’s a battle royale to get anything into their mouths that may be related to vegetables.
Then there’s the exception to the rule. ‘Oh, are you sure you want TOMATO sauce with that? You know what it’s made out of, don’t you?’ Tomato sauce is not a condiment in our house. It’s almost a food group in itself.
As my eldest finds himself in new situations he is also exposed to a wider range of foods. He recently asked to take carrot sticks to school. He’d tried them at after school care and seen other children taking them for morning break. You’ll eat them there but not here, I think to myself. ‘Yes, Roger Rabbit, you may take carrot sticks,’ I say after my gaping mouth is able to form words again.
My palate has changed as I’m sure the kids will as they get older. From memory there were only 3 vegetables that used to pass through my lips as a child. One of them was peas and they didn’t even make it to the swallow stage. I’d leave them till the end, stuff them all in my mouth and try not to chew. A mumbled, ‘can I please leave the table?’ later and I’d make a hasty retreat to somewhere private where the peas could be unceremoniously dumped much to my tongue’s delight.
I’ll give my eldest credit where credit’s due. He has recently added to his repertoire and now tries things that he can identify. His list of acceptable vegetables now includes: potato, carrots, broccoli, corn on the cob, lettuce, tomato and peas (swallowed). He’s tried some others but they haven’t made the list yet.
Until such time that we have an array of vegetable matter being digested I’ll continue with my covert tactics. Sausage rolls and spaghetti sauce are two of my favourites things to make where vegetables go undercover. I’d appreciate any other ‘vegetables in disguise’ recipes/ideas you have if you’d care to contribute.
They can continue their love/hate relationship with vegies but I’ll still love them just the same.
Image from: here.
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