(no subject)

[valancystirling]

So how many of you moms give your kids juice? Straight or diluted? I personally think juice is as bad as any other sugar-laden drink. Why not just eat the fruit? I've had so many arguments with moms about this. Seriously, though, what is the point of juice? Topaz gets juice on rare occasions, in small amounts, usually diluted (basically for a little flavor), but she seems to prefer water anyway. I feel like, if you have a kid who hasn't been conditioned to prefer the taste of sweet, why push them toward the sweet? Count your blessings and move on.

We discovered tonight that she likes kholarabi. We discovered last week that WE love it. The farmers market has been such an adventure so far. It's not like you can't get these veggies in the grocery store, but my whole life I just walked right by them. Our veggie repertoire was pretty much this:

spinach
broccoli
carrots
lettuce
mache
cucumbers
tomatoes (fruit, I know)
zucchini
summer squash
winter squash
pumpkin
beans
peas
celery
onions
potatoes
okra
radishes
bell peppers
asparagus
scallions

and probably more that I'm not thinking of right now.

This year we've tried and LOVED the following:

leeks (HOW did we live without them??)
kholrabi
kale (LOVE!)


Okay, so really it's not a lot, but we've been eating tons and tons of kale and leeks, and this is only the second week we've gotten kholrabi. Pretty much, anything I see at the farmers market that looks fresh, I buy. It's worked out really well.

Tonight for dinner we had kale sauteed with garlic in olive oil; local turkey; leftover quinoa with mushrooms; kholrabi cooked in butter; ice cream and blueberries; Finger Lakes sparkling hard cider.

Topaz ate a little of everything except the kale, which she decidedly does not like. I will keep trying though, and one day she'll come around. I love that she's going to grow up with far more variety than I did.

Comments

[glaukopis.livejournal.com]

If you're ever desperate for kale and only have time for a trip to the grocery store, I highly recommend EuroGreens. Mixture of several greens including kale. I also love swiss chard. So pretty and tasty. Even if you don't buy this you can check out the site for recipies involving greens. I've made several things and find the greens are pretty interchangeable.

[valancystirling.livejournal.com]

Swiss chard! I forgot to add that one to the recently-tried and loved list.

It seems to me that I should be growing this stuff.

[spoothbrush.livejournal.com]

I had this whole long dinner-table conversation at Thanksgiving with my family about "Why didn't you introduce us to all of these other vegetables when we were kids?" I never had a sweet potato until several years after I was married.

[darkenedminds.livejournal.com]

My boyfriend used to have these conversations too. "Why did you only serve me broccoli boiled to the end of its life..? I LIKE broccoli now, Mom! But only the way Amber makes it."

[valancystirling.livejournal.com]

I only had sweet potatoes as an adult too. What did your parents say was the reason for the limited variety? I should ask my mom the same thing.

[spoothbrush.livejournal.com]

I think that they thought that we wouldn't eat them, especially in the case of leafy greens and sweet potatoes and parsnips and turnips and all of that. In a few cases my mom just didn't like them. And for some things, like avocados, they just weren't part of the cultural background.

Also, produce departments were way more limited when we were kids.

[darkenedminds.livejournal.com]

Om nom nom Leeks. Leeks are one veggie we never ate much growing up (and I consider my upbringing pretty worldly as far as food goes.) I love them so, now.

My Thing for this summer is mustard greens. Its so peppery and wonderful.

[valancystirling.livejournal.com]

Yes, leeks! I find that I can put them in almost everything these days. Must grow them!

Are you growing mustard greens? Seems like a good thing to grow inside too.

[darkenedminds.livejournal.com]

I have some seedlings started inside for the second growing season down here (because of my foot surgery I didn't get anything started in Spring, but I think I can get a few things going once August starts [too hot for anything now]).


Also, for the other part of your post: The Gabe gets diluted juice a few times a month. OJ is less diluted and is a daily thing, because he hasn't been big into fruits lately. Dunno. I personally consider OJ and fresh citrus juices to be in a different class than grape juice cocktail.

[valancystirling.livejournal.com]

I don't know how scientifically sound this is, but it seems to me that OJ with lots of pulp has got to be better than OJ without it, or even than other juices. Does the pulp count as fiber? I always thought so.

[paquerette.livejournal.com]

We use apple juice to make pops in the star pop maker. It's nice for when it's hot, beats the alternatives I guess. And if we're in a restaurant it's either apple juice or hot chocolate, or sometimes chocolate milk. I think apple juice is probably the least bad of those. Other than that, eh. It's here, she asks once in a while, but it pretty much stays in the fridge for making pops.

[valancystirling.livejournal.com]

Okay, I had forgotten about that--I make popsicles too, out of various 100% fruit juices, and administer sparingly when it's sickeningly hot.

So far Topaz's default beverage is water, and she seems happy enough with it. Saves money going out, too, since I only order her water. Jake's mom occasionally gives her cider in the fall, and small amounts of orange juice, which I need to put a stop to.

[muirichinnahali.livejournal.com]

zeke drinks some juice. we have a lot of veggie blend juices that we dilute 50/50 with water. it's hard as hell to get him to eat most veggies right now, so this was an acceptable alternative in my mind. he also drinks tons of water and breastmilk too :P

[valancystirling.livejournal.com]

For a while I was giving her this green juice when she was sick and not eating much. It had algae and spirulina and grape juice and some veggies I think. Not very sweet, but still in moderation. It seems like in moderation there is time and place for most things, especially when it seems like your kid isn't eating much.

[kitchenwitch.livejournal.com]

Nora's too little for juice! She did have some prune juice when she was constipated and that sure did the trick. I'm not anti-juice, but I think it should be consumed sparingly.

[valancystirling.livejournal.com]

You'd be amazed how many moms I know who give their kids juice way younger than Nora!

[valancystirling.livejournal.com]

It seems like one more way to spend money needlessly, buying juice for little kids.

[brightsoul.livejournal.com]

personally i love juice but i also agree with you. might as well be drinking sunny d or some crap.

i give avery bits of juice that is heavily diluted, as you do, only a once or twice a week. he also loves water and every now and then i give him milk (cow or soy) but i try to minimize that. i only buy unfiltered cranberry juice or 100% juice blends, but i have to say he's had recharge and vitamin water, too, which is little better than a whole lotta sugar in some water but whatever...can't be perfect all the time.

i should try to be more creative at the produce store but i'm also so wary that all i'm really looking at is the leftover produce the normal grocer's could no longer sell because of freshness. i should actually go to the grower's market or join the organic produce co-op, though it's pretty pricey.

do you have the nourishing traditions book? i am getting pretty motivated to do things mentioned in there like soaking grains before using them but i might be completely dense because i'm not sure if you soak and then cook or soak and then drain with a cheesecloth or something. it's a great book but i need things spelled out for me step by step when it comes to learning something that makes sense in theory but is completely new to me.

[valancystirling.livejournal.com]

I do enjoy fresh cider and lemonade and the occasional grape or orange juice when I'm sick, but it's all very rarely. I don't understand the idea of juice instead of eating the fruit. All the benefits of fruit are NOT the vitamins in the juice.

I've read a lot of that book but didn't buy it because I was a bit put off by the chapter on feeding babies. Jake was into sprouting grains for a while, but it didn't last long. I was just looking at my sprouting gadget and stash of seeds that I should use soon. Don't know what keeps preventing me, Topaz would probably get a kick out of the whole thing. We used to sprout oats and then make hot cereal from them whole. That was good. I'm with you, though, I need really specific instructions (pictures too!) when learning about these things. This is especially true with soapmaking. I have read books and talked to people and it does make sense in theory, but I have yet to actually do it. I should take a class.

[brightsoul.livejournal.com]

i have not actually read that part - we'll see if it bothers me, too.

i am still stuck reading and re-reading the sections on broth, gelatin, and grains since i'm actively trying to get my intestinal tract healed.

[cleverwench.livejournal.com]

Leeks boiled with potatoes, then mashed together is really good.
My Mom used to make us drink a big glass of water before we could drink any pop/soda, lol. All I ever drink is water now. My cousins got juice when they were babies (not even real juice, powdered). Their teeth were rotten and they gained weight. They're teenagers now, but no one in that house ever drinks water, always powdered juice or pop. When I stay there I always get sick from their processed food.

[valancystirling.livejournal.com]

I wish more people could see that dramatic contrast for themselves. It seems like a lot of people get sort of conditioned to feeling gross and unhealthy all the time and they think it's normal. So few people seem to connect their food with their health.