Discussion Board

I'm so happy to have the boys here for the weekdays this summer but I'm a little concerned about making nutritious meals for them as I'm a newby with this new healthy way of eating for myself. The boys love fast food and I want to give them food that's good for them as well as something they'll be happy with. I'll be checking in on bean burger recipes and such. We have a garden that they'll help with and I'll be letting them help with the preparation and cooking of the veggies so I may be worrying about nothing. They don't care for whole wheat pasta but I've purchased some pasta made from Quinoa that I like and hope they do too. Any suggestions you can make will be taken seriously!

You didn't say how old they are. My sister's granddaughter was not quite two when Auntie brought a few cherry tomato plants to Grandma. Every time she came over the first thing she did was grab the bowl and go to the cherry tomato plants. No hello, no hug, just grab her tomato bowl and go! She ate so many that my sister felt compelled to warn her daughter with respect to diaper deposits. The adults never got any of those tomatoes. The following year when I brought the plants, the kid tried to eat the plant itself, as, of course, there were no tomatoes yet.

Veggie pizza. DH makes a whole wheat crust, I make roasted red bell pepper hummus, and we use seasonal vegetables. Salsa fresca with whatever chips so deem acceptable. We make "roll 'em ups", you each make your own with tortillas and seasonal produce. Quinoa itself is quick, easy and versatile.

Enjoy the summer.

The boys are 12 1/2 and 8 on July 3rd. Thanks for your suggestions. I hadn't thought of anything Mexican. My husband doesn't care for it but the boys and I do. That sounds really good and easy too! We're looking forward to a fun summer with them!

I just had another thought. Sprout jars. As "gardening" projects go, learning to grow their own sprouts would have the benefit of rather instant gratification, as well as maybe a science lesson, watching the seeds grow. Wide mouth mason jars, a set of lids from a HFS, and some seeds from their bulk jars are not expensive.

or radishes - even my 28 yo son got a kick out of those last summer.

The boys are trying everything I'm fixing and I'm thankful for that. I'm sure we won't get it completely right in the 5 days each week that they're here but it will be a teaching and learning experience for all of us. My husband thinks a meal isn't complete unless he has meat so I'm sure the boys will continue to eat meat too but will also learn to like more veggies and fruits. Anyway, we're working on it and I'm doing well myself. Thanks for the encouraging and helpful posts for the boys. I'll be trying them all!

It's traditional in Mexican restaurants to serve radishes on the side. This is the ONLY vegetable my grandson will eat BECAUSE you take whole radishes, squeeze the juice of lime over it - add salt and take a bite! While I realize the salt is not good - it actually teaches the child what TOO much salt is about - plus it get them to eat radishes for life!

The summer is quickly disappearing! It's been a learning process for all of us. The boys have learned to try new and different vegetables and my husband has learned that a meal can be good without meat. I fixed a delicious soup again today with navy beans, chopped potatoes, chopped carrots, sliced onions and frozen corn put in at the last to cook in the heat of the other veggies. There was too much liquid for my liking so I thickened it with whole kernel corn meal. My husband ate 2 big bowls of it. I would have added peas too but didn't have any today. He likes casserole and soup type meals better than eating vegetables separately and I'm glad to oblige. The boys have been helping with some of the preparation of their meals and they like their own "cooking". It's going to be awfully quiet again in about 3 weeks. We've enjoyed a most memorable summer with them.

Shirley

that is wonderful. I'm so glad the transistion is going well. It sounds like for the boys, they've done a lot of learning too. I do hope you keep us posted after they go home. They probably will try and teach Mom a thing or two about veggies

I just looked at your Ticker thingy. I'm so proud of you. You've lost over 80 pounds! That's sooooooooooo great. Keep up the good work. I know you've worked hard to get to this place of almost hitting your goal. I'm still working on it but maybe not hard enough. I'm eating the right things but evidently too much and not walking enough because I'm losing so slowly. You've given me encouragement and determination. Thanks so much!!!!!

Shirley