Eat Food

I know it’s only been a few weeks, but I’ve already decided to change the format. Instead of doing a summary at the end of every week, I’ll do several posts throughout the week. The more I think about it, the more difficult it seems to cover so many different topics in one post.

About this post’s title: I’m a fan of Michael Pollan, the New York Times food writer. He’s also the author of several books and his mantra is “Eat food. Mostly plants. Not too much.” By “eat food,” Pollan means to eat things that are recognizable as food, instead of what he calls “edible, food-like substances.”

When our kids first came to live with us, all they wanted to eat was sweets and fast food. I know most parents would say this is pretty common, but to be honest, it was one of the hardest adjustments for me. I truly expected them to eat, and love, my vegetarian black bean chili (I’m a long-time vegetarian). Needless to say, I was in for a surprise.

But, I’ve had my small victories over the last year, and I’ve learned to cherish them. Like the time, I served sandwiches with cheese, tomatoes, and black beans. I hid the black beans in a thin layer on the bottom, and they never noticed! Or, the time I served veggie burgers – I simply called them burgers, and the kids ate every bite!

I feel that I need to tell you: I have no desire to raise vegetarians – that’s  a choice they can make for themselves when they get older. I just want to raise healthy eaters.

Having said all that, I’d like to share a photo that would make Pollan proud. It’s also solid proof that sometimes, I do win. Here it is.

As you can tell from the caption this is a (nearly) empty plate of hummus. Guess what? The kids really like hummus! In fact, this is from today’s lunch.

If you have time this week, please take a few minutes to gloat over this small victory for me. Something tells me I might not have many opportunities to celebrate.