October 26, 2007
Kids Just Don’t Like Vegetables
When I was a little girl I hated vegetables; well most green ones, anyway. My favorites were carrots, corn, cucumbers, lettuce and tomatoes. Put some broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, green beans, peas (I would eat those fresh from the pod, but never cooked) or zucchini in front of me and I would declare war.
My mother was easy on me. If I didn’t like the vegetable du jour, I’d start to whine. Mom would say, “You don’t have to eat the beans as long as you eat everything else.”
But my father was tough. He was strict. There was no foolin’ Daddy. If we didn’t eat the thing we didn’t like, we weren’t allowed to leave the table.
He would lecture about the importance of eating vegetables, (you know, because HE SAID SO), or say that I was setting a bad example for my younger brother and sister (they hated vegetables, too), or tell us a story about the starving children in Ethiopia (and we should BE THANKFUL he didn’t trade us in for Ethiopian kids who appreciate food).
One of my most vivid memories is of my father telling me that I had to eat the vegetable on my plate or he’d double the helping and I’d still have to eat it. I sat at the dining room table, arms folded at my chest and yelled, “I’M NEVER GOING TO FORCE MY KIDS TO EAT VEGETABLES! YOU ARE SO MEAN! KIDS DON’T LIKE VEGETABLES, DADDY!”
I thought for sure this would get me off the hook. I was most definitely wrong. My father told me if I didn’t like vegetables as a kid, I wasn’t going to like them when I was older, and he made me eat two servings of green beans. He didn’t force feed me, but the fear of punishment was strong enough to make me try to eat the freakin’ things. I got up to vomit when I was finished. To this day, I can’t eat green beans from a can.
What’s more ironic is that the very same vegetables I hated as a child are the ones I can’t get enough of today. I have to wonder if there’s a method behind that madness.
My parents never hid vegetables in other foods. I asked my mother if she had ever thought of it, and she said, “What for? You kids would have figured it out and never ate my cooking again!” She makes a good point.
Several weeks ago we had dinner at my parents house and Dawson refused to eat anything. Not steak, not baked potato, and certainly not mixed veggies. I tried to get him to take a bite of something, ANYTHING, to no avail. Finally I put my foot down.
“Dawson, if you don’t eat some veggies, I’m not going to take you to see Go, Diego, Go!” I said.
“No, Mumma. Dawson not eat those. Those are yucky.” he replied.
“Okay, then. We’re staying home and Daddy and Murphy can go to the show.” I told him.
My father and mother started snickering. I was getting desperate.
“Boy…I remember someone saying they would never make their kids eat vegetables.” my father said. “Do you remember that, Monica?”
“Oh, yes. Dana was so sure she’d never use the same tactics we tried,” Mom replied. “Look who finally realized how tough it is to get kids to eat!”
They were thoroughly enjoying this. I suppose they earned the right to laugh about it. I did say it. Even I remember that.
Dawson wasn’t always a picky eater. Even his daycare person tells me he eats so good at lunch. But get him home and he wants nothing but crackers, spaghetti noodles and chocolate milk.
I heard that Jessica Seinfeld wrote a book called Deceptively Delicious, in which she cleverly sneaks puréed veggies into other food recipes to get her kids to eat! I don’t see anything wrong with that!
I’ve been known to hide finely chopped zucchini and carrot in my spaghetti sauce, and surprisingly, Dawson loves it. I tried to feed him zucchini slices before and he turned his nose at them. (Actually he took a bite of one, thinking it was a cucumber, and the sour look on his face was priceless.)
Last week I made mashed potatoes that were really half taters and half smashed cauliflower. (Ooh! Smashed Cauliflower sounds like a drunken dish, doesn’t it? Or a really cool rock band!) Dawson seemed to enjoy it.
I think I might have to pick up a copy of Deceptively Delicious, just see what other mouthwatering recipes I can try!
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This post is part of a Blog Blast sponsored by the Parent Bloggers Network. If you’d like to participate, click here for details. One winner will be chosen at random to win a $250 gift card for Williams Sonoma. I could definitely use that!
Posted by Dana @ 9:15 am • Blog Blasts, Childhood Memories, Kids These Days, The Doodlebug, The Mommy Files
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October 26th, 2007 at 10:29 am, The Parent Bloggers Network » Deceptively Delicious Blog Blast - Just Eat It! Says:
[...] Kids Just Don’t Like Vegetables [...]
October 26th, 2007 at 11:05 am, mama k Says:
I like the book so far. I’ll be posting some pics as I try out the recipes.
My mom forced me to clean my plate at every meal too. It took me a long time to stop overeating just to make sure my plate was clean. I always said I’d never do the same to my kid, but never say never, right? LOL
Found you via the blast. My entry is here:
http://mamaknj.blogspot.com/2007/10/lay-off-jessica-people.html
October 26th, 2007 at 11:23 am, Lotus Carroll Says:
I’ve heard really mixed mommy reviews on the recipes in that book. Some love it, some say they taste absolutely horrible… suppose it’s something one has to discover for themselves.
My opinion is that there’s nothing wrong with “mixing in” vegetables they aren’t aware of, if they’ll eat it that way. But I don’t like the idea of “deceiving” my kids with their food. I think there’s something to trying to teach a child to make wise eating choices, and modeling them as well. If they think they’re only ever eating mac and cheese (even if you’re hiding squash puree in it) how will they learn good food values?
Maybe the best recipe is a little of both to balance things out and ‘even the battle field.’
Tell us what you think if you get the book!
October 26th, 2007 at 11:23 am, patois Says:
It was over the vegetable wars that I realized my parents wouldn’t beat me for not eating the dreaded peas. When I came to that realization at 7, I never ate another pea. Ever. Ever. I had to sit at the table for 30 minutes or so and not get any dessert, but that was too fine by me. I kept my vow not to force the kids to eat what they don’t like. I’ve succeeded with one, who’s now 10 and eats everything we eat. Still working on the other two getting to that point. But I’ve heard a lot about the book, so I’m going to pick it up. Thanks for the thoughts.
October 26th, 2007 at 1:14 pm, dana Says:
Mama K, I can’t wait to see the photos of the recipes you try!
Lotus Carroll, I agree that it’s good to try to get kids to eat healthy foods like vegetables. I think I’ve only used sneaky tactics in desperation, just so that Dawson will eat something besides crackers and noodles! And yes, when I get the book, I’ll write about what I thought!
Patois, you and I can compare notes when we’re done reading Jessica’s cookbook!
October 26th, 2007 at 3:54 pm, Suebob Says:
Kids just think some things are yucky, but fortunately there a lot of different foods to eat. I didn’t eat a raw tomato until I was over 25 years old. They just grossed me out. So did peas (mushy).
But my mom got us to eat artichokes, asparagus, beets and other stuff by telling us that they were rare and valuable. She made it seem like a special treat to get them. She also called broccoli “trees” which made them fun to eat.
Now I will eat any vegetable except radishes and big old lima beans (fresh baby ones are fine).
October 27th, 2007 at 2:42 pm, Dana Says:
Suebob, I feel ya. I can’t eat a lima bean unless it’s in chili. (Wait. Maybe it’s kidney beans that go in chili. I can’t remember!)
I tell Dawson that broccoli is a bunch of baby trees and it’s the only way he’ll eat it. I tried to say the same thing for cauliflower, but no deal.
October 27th, 2007 at 4:18 pm, Michelle Says:
Oh no! They always say that we will turn into our parents one day!
It is hard to avoid power struggles at the table, but we can never force a kid to eat. That is one place where kids can actually have a little control in their lives for a change - they can decide what does or doesn’t go into their mouths. The best thing we can do is to keep giving them healthy options and eventually they will make the right choice.
On my blog, I have been talking about this book, and its rival, The Sneaky Chef. I love that they offer good information about the nutrient content of certain ingredients and that they offer healthier alternatives to many other “typical kid foods.” But I don’t like that they are advocating dishonesty.
Check out the article (http://whatscookingblog.wordpress.com/2007/10/08/is-deceptively-delicious-too-deceptive/) and see some of the discussion about balancing the act of getting our kids to eat well with being honest.
October 28th, 2007 at 10:56 am, daisy Says:
My grandmother did the same thing with me and green beans. I still won’t eat them from a can. I will eat them if they are fresh and just barely steamed so they are still crunchy. Anything more and I just can’t do it. I do eat a lot more veggies now tho than I did as a kid.
I was lucky in the my daughter liked veggies and we didn’t have that problem and she didn’t seem to notice that I wasn’t eating a lot of them (until she was old enough and liked them anyway).