7.12.2007

Life is Good in the Hood

Another day, another neighbor inviting my kids over to play. Hours of solitude. What to do?

Make banana bread. I stumbled upon this recipe the other day, and a neighbor gave me her ripe bananas yesterday, so it seemed like the right thing to do. As I was measuring 1.5 cups of whole wheat flour, my neighbor called to find out what she could feed my kids for lunch. Apparently, they told her they weren't allowed to have grilled cheese sandwiches. WHAT?

Was it OK if they had chicken patties and soybeans? How about tofu corn dogs?

"They can have whatever you are willing to feed them", I replied.

Little pitchers have big ears, and apparently big mouths. I know our shift to a simpler, greener diet has not been lost on our kids. It's not lost on me that I have become one of those parents whose kids I felt sorry for when I was young. Those poor kids I used to play with whose mother made cookies with whole wheat flour and carob chips, carrot sticks for afternoon snack, brown rice pie crust. If I had known then what I know now, I would have asked those parents for recipes.

So it's time for a little sit down with our kids to discuss the changes in our eating habits and the importance of being gracious guests. I've communicated to family and friends that although we are meatless and less cheesy at home, we enjoy eating just about anything socially. I have savored several bites of tri-tip and had more than my share of horseradish havarti at family dinners. You would think my kids would leap at the opportunity to eat meat or cheese when at a friend's house, but their actions confirm that they, too, must be enjoying our new (and improved) diet. From the looks on the faces below, the neighbor kids enjoy our food too! Mmm, homemade chocolate pudding pops.

5 comments:

  1. AnonymousJuly 13, 2007

    Ha! That hasn't happened in my house. My kids were offered ice cream AND oreos before lunch yesterday. They ate as fast as humanly possible before I could pick them up and put a halt to the madness :-) Not that I would have. Really, I don't want them to see some things as so forbidden that they begin an unhealthy fixation with them.

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  2. That's what snack bars at swim meets are for - nacho cheese sauce, ring-pops and soda for everyone! I'm just bitter because I have to work the snack bar at 7am tomorrow.

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  3. lol! "mom says"... so funny and cute!
    i like that photo. it reminds me of old photos where kids *actually* used to play outside together ;) with imaginations! good to see! (i used to be a nanny, and they justed wanted to play with things with tv req, gccck) This simple life you're creating is quite special!

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  4. Chocolate pudding pops, yum. Did you just freeze normal pudding or do you have to something special to the pudding?

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  5. I just mix pudding as directed and pour into popsicle molds and freeze. But check out this site for another interesting pudding pop recipe: http://www.xanga.com/juliepersons

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