Ok. Enough About Me, Let's Talk About Food

I started this blog to give me a place to share our autism story and provide a way for me to share our corn-free and/or egg-free recipes. I think it's gotten a little heavy on the 'story' and a little light on the recipes. It's not that I'm not cooking. I just haven't really had much time or energy for experimentation with new recipes. However, I've been working on a few things lately. Especially given my new found conviction for 'clean eating'. That's hard enough for a grown up who wants to change their lifestyle. It's a whole other challenge when you're talking about changing your children's eating habits, too. Not that their diet is crazy unhealthy right now. Just not what I would like it to be.

I decided to start things out with small measurable goals. That's the way you get where you want with a fitness program. I figure that's a good idea for new nutrition goals, too.

My first goal this year will be to find a vegetable I can get them to eat raw. Raw fruit, no problem. There's not much they'll turn down. Well, except for Jackson. He won't eat anything with seeds. Texture issues. Raw veggies, no way. Not even covered in ranch dressing. That's their dad's fault. He won't eat anything like that. No ranch or sour cream. I can get them to eat most steamed veggies when I make it a requirement for getting a treat after their meal. Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do. However, I want them to enjoy the benefits of raw veggies, too. We started with cucumber salad, one of my favorite summer veggie treats. I cut the onions really big so they could pick them out. Can't expect a kid to eat straight raw onions, right?

Cucumber Salad

1 Cucumber
1 Tomato
1/2 Onion
1 tsp fresh chopped Cilantro
1-2 tsp Olive Oil
Sea Salt or Kosher Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

Peel and slice cucumbers. Slice or cube tomatoes. Chop onion and cilantro. Combine veggies and cilantro in a bowl. Drizzle EVOO over the top. Salt and pepper to taste. Makes enough for about 4 good servings.

Well, I guess I should have said, you can't expect a kid to eat straight raw cucumbers or tomatoes either. I swear I could eat most of it all by myself, but they didn't like it. Oh, well. On to the next experiment. I've crumbled feta cheese over the top before. My sister-in-law uses my recipe but adds carrots. I think I'll keep trying this with other raw veggies until I find a combo they all like. Farmer's market here I come!