Adventures with food

I've tried very hard to keep Perrin's diet as pure and nutritious as possible. For starters, I breast fed him for ten months. Ever since we introduced solids at 6 months, I've given him fresh fruits and veggies and tried to keep him away from sugar and processed foods as much as possible (although I haven't kept him away from my parents, which means he's gotten opportunities to try ice cream and white bread and other things I hadn't really intended to give him). Focusing so much on what I allow Perrin to eat has made me think more about my own eating habits. Why am I not as careful about the things I eat? If I monitored my own diet as well as I do his, I bet I'd be a lot healthier. And skinnier.

I've been reading a lot of "real food" blogs and articles and keeping up with information about the current food revolution and the dangers of chemicals and GMOs, etc. I'm not ready to switch to raw milk or grass-fed beef or buy organic everything. But I am trying to cut out processed foods as much as possible and buy more fresh produce. This means I get to experiment with cooking new things.

Today I went to the store and bought kale. The cashier didn't even know what it was. I guess they don't sell a lot of kale. In case you don't know, it's a leafy vegetable. I brought it home, washed it, chopped it, tossed it with olive oil, sprinkled it with salt, and baked it. Voila--kale chips! It was actually pretty good. But when Trey saw it on his dinner plate, he made a really odd face.

"It's kale," I said. "Try it--it tastes a lot like potato chips!"

Trey took a bite. "It doesn't taste like potato chips," he said. "But it's edible."

Well, that was about as good of a response as I could have hoped for. I mean, this is coming from the guy who considers french fries and ketchup a double serving of veggies.

About ten minutes later he said, "You know, they get less bad the longer I eat them."

Glad the kale was such a hit.

We even let Perrin try a bite. He sloooooowly chewed his little bite of kale, looked up at me, and then clapped! I think it's the first time my cooking has ever received an ovation! Never mind that he spit out the next bite....

It's a baby step toward a healthier lifestyle. And maybe, just maybe, Trey will someday decide he really does like kale.