My Love of Veggies

Mom- make sure you read this one! I love vegetables. I love fruit. I love that I have gotten back to a lifestyle where those are the focal points of my diet. In my family, food is a way to show love. For example, my mom makes certain to have a favorite dish for specific people at each holiday. Ryan loves "those potatoes." Jeff loves angel food cake. Martha loves cheesecake. She makes sure to have everyone's favorite beverage on hand- from Corona to Dr. Pepper to Mt. Dew. It's her way of showing people that they matter, that they are thought of when she is planning the meal, and that they are a special part of our family. I think there is an overall idea that people who love with food do so in an unhealthy way. "You're hurting so here's a brownie." In my family, the message was different. I have some great food associations and memories from my childhood that are healthy food related. While I might not have appreciated all of these things as a child, these memories have definitely been engrained into my sensory memories when I eat these foods now. Grapefruit. When I was 4-5 years old, my mom and I lived with my grandparents for a bit. For a period of time, my grandma would sneak me a snack after I went to bed. Usually it was a piece of chocolate- like Whitman's. One night, she went above and beyond and brought in a dish with half a grapefruit on it- complete with cherry on top and sugar sprinkled over it- and 4 pieces of chocolate on the edge of the plate. She came into my room, set it down by my bed, and walked out with a smile. I sat up and wolfed down that chocolate! Then I grabbed the spoon and dug into the grapefruit. It tasted awful! I went to my Grandma's room to complain- and she gently pointed out that I ate the sweet chocolate first so that was ruining the taste. Spaghetti Squash. My mom used to buy a spaghetti sqaush to serve as a complete meal for the 2 of us. She would cook the squash and carefully scrape it out of the skin. Then she would serve it- with spaghetti sauce on top. As a kid- blech! I don't recall what I liked least- the spaghetti sauce on it or the squash itself. Isn't it funny that I would have such a negative memory of spaghetti squash but now it's one of my favorite veggies? I also love that it is so easy to cook (less than 10 minutes in the microwave, scoop out the seeds, scrap out the squash, add some butter, salt, pepper and I've got a meal). Artichokes. From time to time, my mom would buy artichokes and steam them on the stove. I remember how the smell permeated the apartment. I also remember the mayo and lemon juice dip she made for the leaves. I loved it when my mom made artichokes. I still love artichokes and eat them often. This summer, I plan to branch out in my cooking method. I'd love to grill them or pan cook them! Gardening. My grandfather is a master gardener. When we lived at their house, he had a garden that took up most of the backyard. There were a lot of rules about not going in the garden- but I also remember going out and helping my grandpa in that dirt. Even though it took a long time for me to consider having a garden of my own, part of what I love about having a veggie garden now is that it feels like a bit of a family legacy. Spinach. I used to love spinach as a kid. Isn't that weird? I have lots of memories of eating spinach and of the comments about how odd it was that I loved spinach so much. I don't remember exactly how the spinach was prepared in my family. I just remember it being one of my favorite vegetables. How about you? Do you have positive memories about fresh fruits and vegetables when you were growing up?