A Smooth Transition

When I was sixteen years old, I embraced a vegetarian diet for a year and a half. The greatest irony of this decision was found in the fact that I have a great distaste for raw vegetables. Throughout my entire stint of being a vegetarian, I ate only a handful of salads.

Grayson and I love good food. If this transition to a healthier diet did not include tasty food, I have large doubts that we would ever consider such a pursuit. One of our great motivators in this quest is the delicious food we are eating. I believe that so many diets fail because they neglect a very vital motivator:  the enjoyment of what we eat. I still have a moderate aversion to raw vegetables. They are simply foreign to me; the essence of their flavors are unfamiliar to me.  Instead of forcing myself to eat them, I am finding creative ways to incorporate their flavors into what I eat every day, with the ultimate goal of enjoying them for themselves.

And so, to smooth the transition, I have been adding the flavors of raw vegetables into something I enjoy everyday:  Smoothies!

Smoothies are an art. Throw together whatever juice, fresh fruit, and frozen fruit combination you have on hand, and see what comes of it! Today’s selection yielded a refreshingly tart concoction.

Minty Raspberry Smoothie

6oz 100% Vegetable Juice

2oz 100% Orange Juice

Small handful of fresh mint leaves

Medium handful of raw spinach

½ banana

1 baby banana (These are very sweet and delicious!!)

½ cup frozen mango chunks

½ cup frozen raspberry chunks

Adjust amounts of juice and frozen fruit to your desired consistency

The beauty of smoothies is that they are a very simple, fun, tasty way to incorporate fruits and vegetables into your diet. The blender does not muddy all of the flavors. Instead, each ingredient offers its own personality. The star of this smoothie really is the combination of tart raspberry and fresh mint. The baby banana offers a very sweet addition and smooths the consistency. Spinach gives it a beautiful color and mellow flavor. The vegetable juice contributes just a bit of spice. My one foundational rule for smoothies is this:  use only pure, healthy ingredients. This means no ice cream, and no flavored yogurt. In fact, I skip the yogurt entirely by adding a banana for smooth consistency. Also, avoid ice cubes as they only take up volume. Replace them with frozen fruit (make sure there is no sugar added to your frozen fruit...)

Parent's magazine recently printed a couple of conflicting articles concerning the incorporation of vegetables into children's' diets. One article argued that an effective way to get your child to eat vegetables is to puree them into a paste and mix them into foods which your children already like. The next article argued to the opposite:  children should be offered vegetables, and taught to appreciate and enjoy them. I must say that the first article maddened me. What will my child think if he sees me squeezing slimy green spinach goo into his lunch? If I teach my children that to lie is very hurtful and has great consequences, then I cannot give them any reason to feel I am deceiving them. I do think that there is a place for pureeing vegetables, if they are to somehow enhance the meal. In fact, my mother-in-law gifted me a cookbook which is based on this technique, and I have found some very tasty recipes in it. However, if the goal of pureeing vegetables and mixing them into a meal is to deceive your child into eating "well", I whole-hardheartedly disagree with the approach. If I add pureed vegetables to meals, I want my children to help me, and to understand and see why this technique betters the flavor and nutrition of our dish.

It is very important to us that our children know what they are eating. This will help them to make knowledgeable decisions about what they do and do not consume. We want our children to enjoy good food. We want them to grow, taste, discover, and appreciate food.  I don't want my kids to view vegetables as foreign or "icky". Rather, I want to prepare vegetables in such a way to showcase the creativity which God has given us through the food He sustains us with.

This is not a difficult task. I am finding that it is much more simple--and fun--than I imagined to make vegetables the star of our meals. Some meals take more time than others, and that's fine with me. I am very, very okay with giving of my time to ensure my family eats nutritious meals that they enjoy. In fact, I count it as one of my ministries to them. I am finding, however, that it can also be done quite simply and quickly.

Grayson had a lunch meeting at church today. And I decided that since he was getting a special lunch, I would also. Boxed Mac N’ Cheese. Yes—you read correctly. Boxed Mac N’ Cheese. Let me preclude this by saying we do not make it a habit to eat boxed or packaged meals in our home. We cook from scratch as much as possible. However, in 15 minutes I was able to put together this wonderful, healthy lunch.

White Pepper and Dill Macaroni and Cheese with Arugula, Spinach and Mushrooms.

1 large handful of raw spinach

1 large handful of raw arugula

6oz raw mushrooms

Wash, pat dry, and chop the above ingredients. Place them into a skillet and sauté over medium heat with some white pepper and dried dill for about 5 minutes, until the greens are wilted and the mushrooms are tender. Don't add oil. These veggies release their own moisture to cook in. Drain the extra liquid once they are cooked.

Mix your cooked veggies into a prepared box of organic mac n’ cheese. Make sure whatever boxed mac n’ cheese you buy has only natural ingredients, and prepare it with minimal butter (always use only real butter, none of that hydrogenation oil junk...)