the girl loves the salad greens

More salad greens were ready this afternoon. My daughter ate them right out of the ground! Check out my new profile pic! Will update SFG pics soon :-)

Isn't that a great benefit of gardening? Your daughter is adorable My son eats things that we grow that he wouldn't consider eating otherwise.

HOW?!

My 11-year-old won't touch anything that looks like a leaf. Crazy, but he loves broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and asparagus -- all the stuff most kids won't eat, but he won't touch salad or tomatoes. (He loves spaghetti sauce...but won't eat tomatoes...go figure)

Anybody have any ideas? He likes gravy, but won't eat sauces (dressings, mayo, etc)

I'm stumped.

LaFee wrote:HOW?!

My 11-year-old won't touch anything that looks like a leaf. Crazy, but he loves broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and asparagus -- all the stuff most kids won't eat, but he won't touch salad or tomatoes. (He loves spaghetti sauce...but won't eat tomatoes...go figure)

Anybody have any ideas? He likes gravy, but won't eat sauces (dressings, mayo, etc)

I'm stumped.

Get him involved in the cooking process?? Kids will usually at least taste things they helped to prepare and cook.

Nope...he'll putter in the kitchen with me...but still won't eat the red things.

That's a great photo, Kshimpi. My heart sings when I see children in the garden.

LaFee, your son may come around as he gets older. I think our tastes change from time to time. I enjoy things now I wouldn't touch when I was a kid (such as parsnips, cooked carrots, and mustard greens. I still can't abide raw onions but my husband loves 'em.) On the other hand, our son never liked raw tomatoes and still won't eat them, but like your son he loves spaghetti sauce. To each his own.

Not sure if this strategy will help, but it worked for us. My hubbie watches the Food Network, and every now and then the kids will watch a taped show with him. They love Big Daddy's House. He had a recipe for swiss chard that I tried one night. I made a big deal about it being Big Daddy's recipe and called it Big Daddy spinach (not sure they knew at that point what swiss chard was). They were super excited to eat something from the Food Network and gobbled it all up. I know my kids, and if I had said "tonight we are having swiss chard" the outcome would not have been the same. The other thing we do at our house is have a rule that you have to try at least 2 bites of what the whole family is eating, which ties into the rule that first you eat your growing food, then you get a special treat. First/then has gotten my kids to try just about any food :-)

I would give my right arm to be able to watch the Food Network...alas, it's not to be.

Tonight he ate his two bites of spinach (sauteed in garlic and olive oil) and proclaimed he was done with THAT.

*sigh*

I only recently (last 10 years or so) got to liking spinach myself. Now I really do like it. Hubby will eat it to make me happy, but I have to wheedle a bit. One thing he WILL eat, and snitch extras of, is baked turkey meatballs made with spinach. There is about half as much spinach as there is turkey, so it's a significant amount. The added plus is that the spinach keeps the meatballs moist.

Sorry to hear about the no Food Network, LaFee. Do you watch the clips on their website?

Once in a while I do, but they tend to not have a lot of Alton Brown clips, which are still my favorite.

I still can't stand raw tomatoes, but love pretty much any cooked tomatoes. You might consider seeding the tomatoes for him. The seeds are what I hate, they are very bitter, to me. Once cooked, the bitterness goes away. Also try planting a variety that is sweeter - like cherry or grape tomatoes, less acid varieties, less "tomatoey" tasting. I can manage to at least taste a smidge of Roma (meat only, no seeds), but the Cherokee purple was more than I could stand.

Grape tomatoes were the very first ones he spit out and refused to eat.

Odd Duck wrote:I still can't stand raw tomatoes, but love pretty much any cooked tomatoes. You might consider seeding the tomatoes for him. The seeds are what I hate, they are very bitter, to me. Once cooked, the bitterness goes away. Also try planting a variety that is sweeter - like cherry or grape tomatoes, less acid varieties, less "tomatoey" tasting. I can manage to at least taste a smidge of Roma (meat only, no seeds), but the Cherokee purple was more than I could stand.

Duck, I have had a real issue with raw tomatoes for the longest time. It wasn't so much the seeds themselves as all the "GOO" in with the seeds.... a consistency thing, I guess. I had to seed raw tomatoes for the longest time to be able to tolerate them, and then with the storebought mealy-ness flavor and the thick skins.... gah. A couple of years ago I planted yellow pear tomatoes and really liked them.... and this year, I've got bonafide heirlooms. Not many fruit, sadly, but omg.... delicious. (And they are Cherokees, by the way. Very few seeds in the ones I am getting, I was amazed how meaty they were.) I completely sympathize with what you are talking about, though.

As for the rest of you: I finally had my first 'mater and mayo sandwich!!

LaFee wrote:Once in a while I do, but they tend to not have a lot of Alton Brown clips, which are still my favorite.

http://www.hulu.com/search?query=good+eats&st=0

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=good+eats&aq=f

Megan,

Would you share the recipe for your turkey meatballs?

They sound delish!

I'm trying to get more greens in us.

Thanks,
Betty

Betty, not to get in the way of Megan's meatballs, but meatloaf and meatballs especially are a great way to sneak in some more veggies. Just grate your veg -- zucchini, mushrooms, carrots, and mix them in with the meat...adds flavor and moisture, and can't be beat.

My kiddo (referenced above who won't eat spinach) LOVES lasagna when I whiz the ricotta, egg, and a package of thawed, drained frozen spinach together...lasagna florentine, a little extra spinach, and no arguments. Yay me.

Hi Betty,

I really can't claim it as my recipe. I swiped the framework from Alton Brown, here:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/baked-meatballs-recipe/index.html

My tweaks:

• I use very lean ground turkey in place of the meat mix. Yes, it probably affects the texture and offends all good Italian grammas everywhere, but we still really like it... and neither of us needs the extra calories or fat.
  
• Panko Japanese bread crumbs instead of regular bread crumbs.
  
• I don't sweat trying to figure out 5 ounces of frozen spinach... I just shake out half of a 1-pound bag of frozen (the type where the leaves are frozen mostly individually, not compressed into a tiny box.)
  
• I don't use mini muffin tins. I bake them on top of a cooling rack, on top of a cookie sheet. I think air circulates around them better that way and they cook more evenly.

I haven't tried adapting it to use fresh spinach or Swiss chard... I would probably steam or nuke it until I had 1-2 cups worth, cooked.

I just got my November-December issue of Cook's Illustrated (yay!) and there is an interesting article in there about spaghetti and meatballs. It mentions using gelatin in the meat mix. Going to have to try that.

And, LOL, LaFee... I do the spinach in the ricotta trick, too! (Except I usually cheap out and strain the cottage cheese a bit to make something similar.)

Thanks, Lafee for the hint on the lasagna. I don't usually make lasagna because of allergic reactions to the natural occuring mold in some cheeses.

I may try it with just ricotta using your tip.

Another hint to try- Leave the garlic out of the spinach and try a few shakes of different spices and a (very) little wine for flavor. I use Marsala cooking wine. People on the cooking forum say not to use cooking wine, but use regular wine (the companies use the worst of the wine that isn't good enough to sell outright and add salt to make cooking wine), but I haven't switched yet. If you don't want to use the wine, you could try a small dash of grape juice. I may try that myself when all of my Marsala is gone.

I go for the sweeter spices, especially a touch of oregano. It helps to take away any bitterness that may be present.

My 7 year old grandson begs me to cook kale for him. If I don't have any, he asks for spinach as a substitute.

Megan, Thanks for the recipe. They sound heavenly! I haven't made spaghetti and meatballs in years. Can't wait to try these.
Betty

You're welcome, Betty! You might want to leave the parmesan out of those meatballs if there is an allergen concern.

Try marjoram sometime... it is very similar to oregano but to me it is much more fragrant. Not sure how to express the difference otherwise, but if you like oregano, you will probably like marjoram.

Megan,
I was thinking about a little feta instead of the parmesan. I can't even handle DH sitting beside me shaking parmesan on his spaghetti. It gives me a splitting headache.

I will try marjoram. I love oregano.

Thanks again,
Betty

I would leave the feta until actually serving the pasta, if you want to try it. The parm in this recipe is meant as a dry ingredient. You'll see what I mean when you look at the recipe.

Sorry to hear it gives you a headache. I am very allergic to some molds myself, but somehow cheeses don't seem to be a problem (knock on wood!)