food pride

i think one of my greatest joys as a mother is watching hendrix's love of food evolve. he loves food. and not junk food. good food. his favorites are berries, spinach, cheese, authentic mexican, & couscous with any vegetable. at the risk of sounding boastful, i take full responsibility for this. when i was pregnant. i thought a lot about what type of son i wanted to raise. sure i wanted him to be kind, funny, curious, and independent but i also wanted a good eater. i was terrified of a picky eater. my mother never was much of a cook and never had many fresh, whole ingredients in the house. she on more than one occasion fed us twinkies for breakfast. and not because she was too busy. mostly, because she didn't know that they were terrible for us. when i made my mind up to raise a good eater, i knew that part of that is teaching him that food comes from a place beyond the grocery store. so we planted a garden and some of his first foods came from that garden. sure, he has goldfish crackers or ice cream from time to time, but mostly it is food that i prepare for him. and i am beginning to reap the rewards of my work. when people comment on what a good eater he is or are amazed at what he eats or is willing to try (pate, anyone?) i am not only proud of him, but i am proud of myself. i never wanted my son to have to teach himself what was healthy and good to eat. just like i don't want him to have to teach himself about money. or that we are kind to people. or that we take care of what is important to us including people and things. i believe it my responsibility, as a parent, to show him what the right thing to do is. you should save money for an emergency, clean your room, say please & thank you, and you should choose the berries over the twinkie. people choosing the wrong foods and overindulging are the root of many health & environment problems in our world today. so if i can give hendrix an upper hand by being a good eater, who knows where food comes from, and how to prepare it, i feel that is just as important as the savings account we started for him.
next week, i am going to post some summer lunch ideas that are fast, healthy, and cheap. if you have a recipe let me know and check out www.girlsgonechild.net for more about feeding our children well.