Green Table

It always seems easier in the spring and summer to have fresh ingredients for meals. More fruits, more veggies ... they taste way better because they're not flown in from who-knows-where, AND my grocery budget can accommodate lots of them! We can eat up strawberries, blueberries, watermelon, asparagus, sugar snap peas and a host of other goodies. And there is less fuss from the troops when the flavor is at its peak.

Although there are some standby meals that our family loves that don't fall into the "healthy" catergory (hello, my mom's delicious and famous enchiladas!), I work pretty hard to find healthy recipes that are flavorful, and ones that at least myself, Eli, and Reuben will eat. And hopefully Matthias will take a bite of ...... and maybe someday, SOMEDAY, Jonah will join us. And I like a variety and I like to try a variety. Which means some are a great success, and some may be ones that aren't repeated in our household. Eli will try most anything I make, as long as I avoid a few things, like mushrooms, tomatoes, and avocados (never mind that I could eat all those every single day!).

I've found a couple specific blogs that every recipe I have tried has been good - and they are designed for the everyday, home cook, AND they are healthy. And some are just really really good.

And my sister-in-law gave me a cookbook that is a sequel to one I already loved: the new one being The Fresh and Green Table by Susie Middleton. Some of the recipes would definitely challenge my slightly veggie-cautious husband and boys ... but it's good to get my wheels turning in terms of different I can incorporate more and more produce. Especially if and when we get overflow from my father-in-law's garden! I did make a quinoa dish from the book that I loved ... full of cumin, coriander, dried apricots, sugar snap peas, walnuts, etc. YUM. Goodness in a bowl.

I can get a moment where I compare my eaters to other families. And in terms of "adventurous eating", my boys fall woefully short. Sometimes Eli and I try and talk about it and figure out what on earth happened. Did we majorly screw up somewhere? We will eat most things. But the boys do not. And we end the discussion feeling depressed about it. But I can't stay there. I'm trying. We offer everything and do our best to encourage them trying new things. Engage them in cooking with us so that they want to try it. We openly talk about eating healthy for strong bodies. And it's not that they don't eat healthy - they would rather just eat the same 5-8 things a day and not expand their repertoire.

So, I'm using the fresh produce time to try and get more things tried. More foods as ones they will eat. And try and remind myself we will get there! Progress HAS really been made this year with Matthias, and Reuben is pretty awesome about trying something new, so it hasn't been stagnant. = ) I just might wish for a magic wand sometimes ...