A veggie tale

Or, My Kid Eats Meat.

My darling child, no matter what I do, will not eat a vegetable unless it is a green bean. I have exhausted myself to try to figure out how to serve other vessels of vitamins and minerals so that he will think, "Delicious! Give me more!!" So far, it hasn't happened. Ketchup doesn't help. Cheese doesn't help. Butter and brown sugar (on carrots) doesn't help. Zesty Italian dressing, no (come on! It's Zesty!!). Ranch dressing, no. Disguising vegetables in vanilla yogurt, no (although it did work, back when he was too young to know better). I've tried broccoli, carrots, peas, Veg*All, creamed corn (yummy!), avacado, asparagus, zucchini, cucumber... all the baby-friendly veggies I can think of. I haven't tried spinach yet but he wouldn't even eat that out of the baby food jar. I fear no good would come of it.

I am about to have a cow. So to speak. (But dangit, he'll EAT cow.)

It's soooo frustrating to KNOW that toddlers can take a while to warm up to a food, and therefore, you have to try it many zillions of times before they might eat it. So instead, I keep trying NEW ones, all the while continuing to try the same old ones, and nothing works. I've been reading about how to disguise veggies in chili, spaghetti sauce, etc... but I want him to love vegetables for the pure love of them! I mean, who can resist a cool cucumber on a summer afternoon? The crrrrunch! of a bell pepper? The wascally wabbit's favorite carrot?? Perhaps, I'll admit, he's a bit young for that kind of gourmet sensibility, but I mean -- butter and brown sugar? How does one not love that?!

Of course he's also very adept at dropping vegetables onto the floor for the dog. He can even announce that he's about to do it, with his adorable, almost inaudible "Uh-ohhh." Deliver me from the constant cuteness!

Green beans it is, I guess, until I can figure this out. He is absolutely going to turn in to a green bean. Or... I've heard there is such a thing as a "Veggie Stick." In the frozen foods aisle. Not too sure how "real" that kind of veggie is, but it may serve us well until he's oh, fifteen, and can appreciate a good raw biome.