Chef Paul: In the Raw
June 24 2011
As I wrote previously, our garden is well behind last year’s pace. We do, however have a few things doing well. One of these is our radish crop. In fact, we were able to “harvest” some already.
We have purchased radishes earlier this season from the farmer’s market and the Bee has shown little to no interest in trying them. But letting her pull one out of the ground, and after a quick wash, she devoured it! She loves eating things straight from the garden; this includes chives which she’s been eating by the fistful as well as other herbs such as sage and her new favourites, rosemary and lettuce. There’s just something about growing it and picking it yourself that make a vegetable taste that much better.
What better way to introduce vegetables to your child than by growing them yourself.
It seems the Bee likes her vegetables raw. Be it carrots or shell peas, she prefers the raw version over the cooked version every time.
She also, like a lot of 3 year olds, loves ketchup. Ketchup can go on just about anything, including raw peas! What was meant for last night’s burger ended up as a dipping sauce for shell peas. I really don’t like ketchup, I find it too sweet. I made some ketchup for the Bee but it was rejected outright…she’s by far my harshest critic. This was probably because I made it with less than half the sugar the commercial brands have. So, we’ll continue to buy the other stuff but make sure to portion it out very sparingly.
One of the biggest battles we face as parents when it comes to our kid’s nutrition is sugar. Sugary treats that are marketed directly at children can lead to some serious health issues down the road. Breakfast cereals, pop, baked treats, ice cream…which kid doesn’t want those? Should we hide these from our kids or do we let them have them within reason? Will a three year old understand that “mommy and daddy don’t want you to eat those”? It’s a tough call.
