A Vegetable Experiment

I was at the grocery store over the weekend with Caleb and Leah. They were being really good and helpful. I listened to the usual, "Can we have this, mom?" "Can I have that, mom?" as we went down all of the isles. Most of the time I have to say no or we'd be eating all donuts, chocolate milk, chips, etc. So, when we got to the produce section of the store and heard the same questions I indulged them. Caleb was excited to see cantaloupe, oranges, and pears. He said we hadn't had cantaloupe for a long time and couldn't wait to eat it again. He also picked out the pears. When I was getting some green peppers for chicken fajitas Caleb was intrigued when he saw an orange pepper. He said, "I've never seen an orange pepper before. Can we get it mom?" So, I was willing to pay more than twice the price of a green pepper to get an orange one also. I was hoping if Caleb picked it out he would love eating it.

I made chicken fajitas the other night for dinner. We played "restaurant" where the kids get to make menus and pick what they want to eat. I turn into a funny waitress lady (mom with her apron on) while I take their orders, then change back into "mom" after taking off my apron and running back into the kitchen pretending that they all went to a restaurant without waiting for me! On the menu for the night was tortillas, sour cream, cheese, fajita meat, orange juice, milk, and water. None of the kids checked the box by "fajita meat". This was my big experiment to see if orange bell peppers would go over well with my family! I couldn't NOT give it to them. So, I did what some waitresses do and messed up their orders and gave it to them anyway. After "mom" came to the table I heard, "Hey, I didn't order fajita meat! I don't like peppers!" I said, "Well, the waitress must have messed up your order. Or, maybe it comes free with the tortilla!" They still weren't convinced, but they were hungry and ate the whole thing! (Alex was smart and actually picked out some of the peppers still. Caleb devoured the entire fajita.) Usually when we have fajitas the kids ask for their second one to be just cheese and sour cream. Alex and Caleb both asked for another one, so I changed back into the "waitress" and made them a fajita exactly like the first with peppers, onions, chicken and everything in it. They ate it all too.

It wasn't until afterwards that I asked Caleb, "So, how were those yummy orange peppers that you picked out?" He looked at me cross-eyed and then gave me the thumbs down. I really wanted to get a picture of it but my camera battery died! His face was so funny. I said, "But you must have liked it because you ate two whole fajitas and didn't pick them out." I think secretly he liked them, but didn't want us to see that he's succumbed to our wills of eating vegetables that are "weird" or "strange" to young kids.

So, over all, my vegetable experiment was successful. I will continue to try to get my kids to pick out vegetables each time we go to the store so they will be more willing to at least try them.