Thank You Collard Greens: A Veggie Victory

Remember this post about Collard Greens earlier this year?

It turns out the kids not only didn’t like those collard greens, they truly reviled them.

This was revealed to me last night by both kids, individually, when the other was not in earshot. The cause for this revelation?  I put some kale into our macaroni and cheese for dinner.  I didn’t add a ton, but I added it nonetheless, and figured the kids would eat the mac and leave the kale behind.

Zander was the first one home from dance, so he looked in the pot and grinned.  I told him it was mac-n-cheese with ham and a little bit of kale.  His reply was that he would eat the kale.  He didn’t mind it, and as long as it wasn’t a collard green he was on board.

He stunned me into silence for a moment.  I quietly said that I would just keep adding kale to dishes then and he said that was just fine.

Then later on I was driving Abigail home and mentioned to her what dinner was.  I warned her that there was a bit of kale mixed in with the macaroni and cheese and she didn’t even blink.  “As long as it’s not collard greens” was her reply.

Both kids ate every bite out of their bowl- no kale was left behind.

THAT is a huge victory on the veggie front.

In other veggie news, we also found a way the kids will actually eat (and enjoy) brussels sprouts!  I almost forgot about this one, but there is a sweet kale salad mix at Sam’s Club that has raw brussels sprouts that have been very finely sliced.  They are obviously brussles sprouts, but both kids have said they like them in that salad, so maybe I should try preparing them in salads more often.

Keep at it parents!  You WILL score a victory at some point along the way.  Now if only we could get Zander over his dislike of potatoes…