veggies
When I was younger, I thought I hated vegetables. So when a kid says that they do not like broccoli or green peas or sugar snap peas, I get it.
You have to understand though what I was being given as a child that constituted "vegetables".
My mom hates fresh veggies. She hates raw veggies. She hates dips. Her favorite "vegetable" (if you can even call it that) is canned green beans. Ever had canned green beans? Microwaved in the can juice? The thought makes me wanna throw up a little. Yet this is what we were served. Of course, I am pleased my mom was serving veggies at all... but can you blame me for thinking all vegetables were evil? Another one of her favorites is canned beets. I cannot tell you how many evenings I sat at the dinner table long after everyone else had gotten up because I had not eaten my requisite 3 slices of beets yet... which were now cold... and I was not allowed to leave until I did. Torture!
I really hated (and still do hate) mushy veggies. I need crunch. I dont want them to "slide down my throat". I want to actually chew them. I still pick out carrots from canned soup because they are nasty. Yet throughout my childhood, all I got were disgusting canned green beans, horrible canned beets, and mushygushy carrots in soups and stews. Ugh.
The idea that maybe I might like veggies a little bit came from holiday and family parties, where we usually had raw veggies and some kind of dip. I disliked ranch for quite a long time, but I have always loved dill. And I started with carrots... and moved on to broccoli, green peppers, cucumber, and then sugar snap peas. Delicious all. Who knew green things could be so good?
Honestly, it was not until really after college that I realized I actually liked some form of cooked veggies. Steaming is a fantastic way to cook vegetables. Grilling is nice too. As I said, it needs crunch though... plus mushy veggies do something to my stomach that is even more unpleasant than having to eat that muck.
However, there is one important lesson I learned from those late nights at the dinner table... do the worst task you have before you first. Do not wait until your beets are cold, which is even more disgusting... eat them first, get them out of the way, then move on to more pleasant foods. So although I know the lesson my mom was trying to teach me was to eat my veggies, I learned something entirely different from the whole experience. If I have a list of things to do, do the one I like the least first. Get it out of the way. Then move on to more interesting and engaging things.
So I am thinking... maybe if I send all of my students a can of beets, they too can learn this lesson... Or maybe not. :/
(and, by the way, I learned that beets are actually delicious straight out of the ground, thanks to a class I took a few years ago where were learned about a school garden program... they are sweet and spicy and just really yummy, so if you think you hate beets, try them raw!)
You have to understand though what I was being given as a child that constituted "vegetables".
My mom hates fresh veggies. She hates raw veggies. She hates dips. Her favorite "vegetable" (if you can even call it that) is canned green beans. Ever had canned green beans? Microwaved in the can juice? The thought makes me wanna throw up a little. Yet this is what we were served. Of course, I am pleased my mom was serving veggies at all... but can you blame me for thinking all vegetables were evil? Another one of her favorites is canned beets. I cannot tell you how many evenings I sat at the dinner table long after everyone else had gotten up because I had not eaten my requisite 3 slices of beets yet... which were now cold... and I was not allowed to leave until I did. Torture!
I really hated (and still do hate) mushy veggies. I need crunch. I dont want them to "slide down my throat". I want to actually chew them. I still pick out carrots from canned soup because they are nasty. Yet throughout my childhood, all I got were disgusting canned green beans, horrible canned beets, and mushygushy carrots in soups and stews. Ugh.
The idea that maybe I might like veggies a little bit came from holiday and family parties, where we usually had raw veggies and some kind of dip. I disliked ranch for quite a long time, but I have always loved dill. And I started with carrots... and moved on to broccoli, green peppers, cucumber, and then sugar snap peas. Delicious all. Who knew green things could be so good?
Honestly, it was not until really after college that I realized I actually liked some form of cooked veggies. Steaming is a fantastic way to cook vegetables. Grilling is nice too. As I said, it needs crunch though... plus mushy veggies do something to my stomach that is even more unpleasant than having to eat that muck.
However, there is one important lesson I learned from those late nights at the dinner table... do the worst task you have before you first. Do not wait until your beets are cold, which is even more disgusting... eat them first, get them out of the way, then move on to more pleasant foods. So although I know the lesson my mom was trying to teach me was to eat my veggies, I learned something entirely different from the whole experience. If I have a list of things to do, do the one I like the least first. Get it out of the way. Then move on to more interesting and engaging things.
So I am thinking... maybe if I send all of my students a can of beets, they too can learn this lesson... Or maybe not. :/
(and, by the way, I learned that beets are actually delicious straight out of the ground, thanks to a class I took a few years ago where were learned about a school garden program... they are sweet and spicy and just really yummy, so if you think you hate beets, try them raw!)
posted by FireWithin at 2:51 PM
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