Sunday, May 8, 2011

Veggie Daddy Rule# 3: Eat a Variety of Foods

Oh, great, it's lunch. The kids have come back from Church, and they're hungry. Once again, I have to figure out what to feed them. Does lunch ever seem like a battle with your kids? All they want is macaroni & cheese, the locals here always seem to call it Kraft Dinner, though we have never bought it; we always get the PC kind which doesn't glow in the dark or where you have to wear sunglasses because it's so bright, yellow # fill-in-the-blank, or what have you. But we hear from lots of folks, it's Kraft Dinner, that's all the kids want for lunch, dinner, etc. For vegetarian kids, it's usually the Franken-food veggie dogs or "chicken" nuggets.

Veggie Daddy Rule# 3: Eat a variety of foods. Meats are complete proteins, but plant proteins are scattered all over the place, so vary the foods you eat so you get a smattering of everything. But don't go all Nazi about it. A little of this, a little of that, be conscious of it, and you'll be fine. What are you doing right now? Are you daydreaming or are you conscious? Conscious? Good! Feels good, doesn't it? (The reason I mention this is because I used to eat very un-consciously. I'd eat a bag of cookies, load up on the ice-cream, sugar, sugar, sugar. Couldn't get enough of it! Not so, now...I'll explain later.)

So it's lunch and my oldest wants a PB&J. This might surprise you or it may not. Remember the old-fashioned PB&J which seemed to serve as the death sentence for so many of us kids in school as we got it for lunch every single day (I seemed to, anyway) is now absolutely, strictly banned from most schools today because of the most evil ingredient on earth: the terrible, killer peanut, Satan in a shell.

So, yes, my girl wants a PB&J as we do not torture her with such horrors during the week, and she seems to prefer getting tortured with such bland mundanities on the weekends. Luckily, this special daughter of mine has no inkling of the horrid memories that I have had to deal with (I also mostly ate PB&J for three straight months for lunch in NYC because I was so poor and pretty much jobless back in '98--I couldn't afford the heavenly-smelling gyros around the corner) and so who am I to oppose her? But I have a problem with something, mostly based on a lot of the research I have done. I don't really want her to eat too much store-bought bread; we get Dempster's.)

Veggie Daddy Fun Fact: Refined grains aren't all that good for you.

I'll probably go into it later as to why, but just take my word for it, for now. Refined grains, flour and such, should be seen as a sometime food. Keep off the bleached and enriched flours especially. But it's true, our bodies don't do all that well on processed, refined grains. But again, we're not extremists, so all things in moderation, right? Right.

So back to the PB&J. I don't want her to eat two pieces of highly processed bread with even more processed jam. What to do? I also want her to vary her foods. Like me, I know she hasn't had any fruit today, but store-bought jam is NOT fruit. So I gave her suggestions and she could pick. Here were her options:

  • Apple
  • Our home-made granola (so simple to make!)
  • PB & J
Guess what? She said she wanted an apple! Right on. Then I put some peanut butter on it and made a sandwich. Apple slices with peanut butter. No bread, no jam. Fruit, legumes. Here's the picture:















We use Mara Natha peanut-butter, no stir. Uber-delish! Both girls loved the apple sandwiches.

Veggie Daddy Parent Tip: KISS--Keep it simple, stupid. Offer choices then let them choose.

And me? I'm still full from brunch, but I snatched some apple and peanut butter myself, so I am getting the same variety of nutrients. Still hungry? Big-ass glass of water. Yep, it topped me right up. Now it's time to go hit Rocket Bakery, that new bakery I've heard so much about.

Eat B(right),
Veggie Daddy














2 comments:

  1. mmmmm ... just tried this as an after dinner make-it-to-bedtime snack. No potato chips were eaten and I don't feel guilty.

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  2. That's great! I've just learned about macrobiotics and apparently potatoes are of the nightshade family and should be eaten only in moderation (if at all), which is completely different to me. I used to eat loads of potatoes. "Because of their expanded, watery, yin nature, potatoes can contribute to mental dullness, scattered thinking, and inability to pay attention." -- Julie S. Ong, from The Everything Guide to Macrobiotics (a great book!)

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