The Purple People Eater and the Elusive Kale

The number one question I am bombarded with as a dietitian from mom's is, "How do I get my child to eat their vegetables?".  Ah, the age old question that mother's have been asking for generations.  Although I am all for cultivating a love of pure, unadulterated veggies in children (see my post "Growing Up Fruity"), I am also realistic.  I would rather ensure a child consumes healthy food in a sneaky way than not have it a part of their diet at all.  One of the most challenging vegetables to get children to embrace is the all popular, all famous, dark leafy green.  A child's brain and taste buds are not set up to appreciate the texture and bitterness that are inherent in vegetables such as kale and spinach.  As children grow, their taste bud's change and so does their palate and perception of certain foods.  Don't despair, many of the pickiest eaters will grow up and be able to enjoy a delicious spinach salad, but until then we may need to use a little trickery :)

The "Purple People Eater" ingredients

Who Doesn't Like a Shake?

One of my favorite ways to ensure, not only my children, but I get my full range of fruits and veggies is by concocting a smoothie.  Although I usually have one for breakfast, I often offer this treat to my children for an after school snack or even a dessert.  How else can you consume such a variety of fruits and veggies, including all colors of the rainbow with such little prep work and resulting in something so truly delicious?  The key to being able to whip up the most tasty and quick smoothie is to keep frozen fruits on hand. 

Kid's Eat With Their Eyes First

Frozen berries are one of my favorites and is the foundation of most of my shakes, especially when made for children.  Aside from the many health benefits, berries provide the masking of color of the greens in a shake.  Although I find the natural green hue of my morning smoothie appetizing many young children would disagree and turn their nose up to it before even giving it a fair chance.  Blueberries particularly are great coloring agents and work wonders at making my green shake magically turn a lovely shade of purple.  Another important ingredient in a kid-friendly smoothie is a frozen banana.  Not only does it provide a healthy dose of potassium, but it results in a thick and smooth finished product that most kids enjoy.  The natural sweetness is also a plus.  I buy fresh bananas and when they are at their peak of ripeness, I peel them, break them in half and put them in a plastic bag in the freezer so they will be ready to use.

 

Eating the Rainbow

What's great about a smoothie is you can totally customize it based on what's at hand and your own child's preferences.  Other frozen fruit that we typically add is mango, peaches and pineapple.  Since we talk about "eating the rainbow" in our house, I always represent all colors in my kid's shakes (how you can build on that lesson is for another post).  Another great addition for a smoothie is avocado.  Filled with healthy fat (that most people in this country don't get enough of) avocado is easy to cut in half and scoop out.  It provides more silkiness to the shake and will keep them feeling fuller longer.  Lastly, although not necessary, raw honey can be added to ensure adequate sweetness.  Raw local honey has been shown to stimulate the immune system, especially when consumed cold (not heated up by adding to your tea or baking with).

Baby Steps

You know your child best and can decide how much deceit you need to use.  My four year old son loves to help me make the shake, greens and all.  He finds it riveting that when blended all of those different colors turn into a vibrant purple.  He decides what to add to our custom concoction and because of that enjoys it all the more.  My ten year old daughter doesn't want to know what's in it (her words) but once presented, cold, purple, pretty and in a tall glass with a long straw, will drink it without even a nudge.  Whether you call it a placebo effect or not, once the "Purple People Eater" is downed, you and your little ones will feel like you can take on the world :)

 

The Purple People Eater

Servings: 2-4

Ingredients:
2 cups spinach or kale, fresh
1 cup blueberries (frozen)
4 strawberries (frozen)
1 avocado, fresh
1/2 cup pineapple (frozen)
1 banana (frozen)
2 cups almond, soy, or coconut milk
1-2 tablespoons raw local honey

Directions:
Place all of the ingredients in a blender and blend on high until fully combined and broken down into a smooth consistency.  Feel free to experiment with the types of produce you use and the amounts.  Once you get your child to embrace this smoothie, you can slowly try adding more greens.  Drink immediately as it will start to separate quickly.

My little smoothie making assistant ready to take on the world......

Growing Up Fruity!

In an effort to serve healthier snacks, my son's preschool announced this week that they are starting "Tuitti Fruity Tuesdays".  Each Tuesday a different parent is assigned to bring in a fresh fruit snack for the entire class.  My son Aiden was so excited as he is proud to be a big fruit and veggie eater :)  As we discussed all of the different fruit ideas he had, it made me reminisce of my growing up and what fruit and vegetable "experiences" stand out in my mind.  What made a positive and lasting impression on me and how did my love affair with fruits and vegetables begin?

Raspberries- Fresh From My Grandmother's Garden



Natures candy!

One of my earliest memories of enjoying fruit was at my savta's house (savta means grandma in Hebrew).  She lived in a small two-family home in Bayside, New York where the only piece of grass she had was a small patch only about 10' x 10' next to her detached garage.  Being that she was a pioneer of a kibbutz in Israel and now lived in the concrete jungle, I am guessing she was missing the agriculture so she planted a small raspberry bush in the corner of her backyard.  We would visit every Sunday and in the summer the first thing we would do is run to the bush to see if the berries were ripe enough to pick.  Although is sounds like a beautiful story, to be honest it did get a little aggressive be that I was up against three brothers and we all had a bit of a competitive nature.  My savta would run outside with little paper cups to put our prized possessions in and when our cups were full she would bring our berries inside to wash.  It might have been the warmth and sweetness of just picked fruit, the victory of gathering the most (sometimes) or the fact that my grandmother grew those delicious little morsels of goodness, but I do know that fruit never tasted so good :)

The paper cup we collected our candy in!

Grapefruit- A Nightly Tradition with My Dad and Brothers

My dad eats like a bird.  I always here myself describing him like that.  I don't mean eats like a bird in terms of quantity, but more a description of his selections.  Fruit, nuts and seeds are the foundation of his diet.  Oh, and dark chocolate which is not so much like a bird.  When we were little, before dinner was even cleaned up, he would have his nightly dessert.  A piece of some stashed chocolate and a bowl of fruit and nuts.  His usual fruit of the night would be a whole grapefruit or a pomegranate.  My three brothers and myself would sit around him on the floor while he would peel and section the grapefruit by hand and crack the whole nuts.  He would put sweet sections of the grapefruit that was all pulp into our mouths.  Without the pith or membrane grapefruit is as sweet as candy and the texture of the pulp is nothing that can be duplicated by man.  Each piece was fully savored as we shared one grapefruit between all of us (which usually meant just two sections each).  I still eat grapefruit like this and always offer these golden juicy pieces to my children's eager mouths.

Honeydew- From My Grandmother's Beautiful Table

 

My maternal grandmother, Bama (our grandmothers silly pet name) is all about presentation.  I guess that is where I get the gene from :)  When a holiday or even a regular dinner was planned the table was set days before the event with every detail considered.  The best china, silverware, candle sticks, flowers, cloth napkins and her signature item, a piece of sliced cantaloupe or honeydew served on top of each setting on a small starter plate.  The melon was placed just before we arrived, inviting us to sit down.  Not only did it look colorful and fresh (of course she alternated the orange and green) but it was such an enticing way to present it.  It would be sliced vertically so you would just have to take the edge of your spoon and scoop out the pieces.  Waiting to be allowed to dig in was difficult as a child.  My family is notorious for making toasts at every gathering.  We don't save them for special events like most normal people.  We easily and eagerly share our hopes, thanks and good wishes whenever there is an opportunity.  Knowing we would have to wait to dig in to our melon until all the yapping was finished just made you want it more.  Today, when I cut my melon like this my kids (and husband) just pick it up and bite the pieces off, no need for the proper spoon.  Bama would be appalled :)

 

Tomatoes- Sweet As Sugar

 

 

 

We lived on a road with only ten houses and all of the families on the block moved in about the same time.  Ringing the door bells those first few days to find out who lived in each house and who our new best friends would be are still precious memories.  Back in those days you were allowed to explore your neighborhood without hesitations or fear.  Directly across the street lived a four-generation family from Greece.  Their daughter and I became good buddies and a lot of our weekends were spent together when we were young.  Their house was always filled with delicious, unknown and enticing smells coming from the kitchen.  They would offer me a taste of whatever was cooking and had me over for dinner all the time.  One warm summer afternoon my friend's mother offered me a tomato from her garden.  I gently refused and explained I didn't like tomatoes.  Any tomato I ever tasted was bland and mushy.  She couldn't believe it and wouldn't take no for an answer.  She finally convinced me to taste this bright red, warm and juicy cherry tomato straight off the vine of her plant in the backyard.  One bite was all it took and she had me sold.  I never tasted anything like that before and that afternoon I became a tomato lover.  Thanks Lalia :)

 

Artichokes- My Mom's Generous Offerings

 

 

Artichokes, not the first vegetable you think of to feed a child.  They are slightly intimidating looking and can cause injury with their sharp pointy leaves if you don't know how to properly handle them.  My mom made these for dinner every once in awhile.  Very simply made by steaming them whole and serving them with a side of melted butter.  We would each get our own whole artichoke which was very exciting in itself.  Growing up in a house with three brothers you become a little possessive about your stuff or else it would a) disappear, b) get ruined c) become someone else's possession.  An entire beautiful artichoke all for myself, no sharing, no rushing.  I would meticulously pull off each leaf, dip it into the melted butter and run the leaf between my teeth to enjoy the edible part of the artichoke.  The pinnacle was the heart which when I finally got to the center would be slowly savored.  If my brother's were in a good mood maybe one of them would even offer me a piece of their heart (no pun intended).  Today, I grill my artichokes for my family and watch my daughter meticulously eat each leaf and savior the heart.  A skill I taught her when she was two-years old and attempted to eat the entire leaf.  Like mother, like daughter!

 

 

Passing the Love On to My Children

When I think back to all of these memorable food experiences two common denominators seem to stand out.  The first is that all of my great memories are tied to connecting with the people I love.  It wasn't necessarily about the grapefruit.  My father could have been feeding us anything and it probably would have left the same positive impression.  It was that he took the time to peel the grapefruit with such care and share it with my brothers and I as a tradition after dinner.  The second theme is that all of these experiences didn't involve some huge time consuming plan or recipe.  It was the simplicity of the food that provided me the opportunity to really appreciate the pure and innocent essence of these natural tastes.  It laid a foundation for my appreciation of real food.  I try and provide my children small pieces of the same throughout their lives.  Whether it be offering them the carefully peeled grapefruit or letting them pick out a new fruit we never tried at the store, cutting it open together, tasting at the same time and watching each other's reactions.  I truly see that both my children have developed a true appreciation for the pure simple tastes of fruits and vegetables.  They might not like everything but I know when they are older they will be able to recall when their love affair of fruits and veggies began :)