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Love of Vegetables Starts Extremely Early IMHO
Replies
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@MikePfirrman I don't think it's necessarily that we've gotten to the point as a society that parents feel the need to sneak vegetables into their children's meals. I think parents are more aware of how important vegetables are for kids, and as I said above kids' tastes to do change at a certain age when they stop liking foods they previously ate. Parents understandably don't want mealtimes to become a battle, so sneaking them into foods is a good way to do it. It can also start to program their taste buds to actually like those vegetables (although my kids will willingly eat zucchini brownies, but STILL don't like zucchini in any form). I also think there are just more and more kids today with various issues that make eating more challenging: sensory processing challenges, autism, ADHD, etc. Kids being born as early as 22 weeks are now surviving, which wasn't happening even 10 years ago. Premature babies are more likely to have feeding problems (among other challenges), even born at 32 weeks.
I know adults my age who are still not big vegetable eaters--my best friend (45) and my 2 older brothers (50 and 53). My mom admits that she wishes she would have offered more vegetables to my older brothers as she did with me and my younger brother, who have always been good vegetable eaters. My best friend (who is obese) wishes her parents did the same. However, there is something to be said for individual preferences and personalities, too--my 50-year old brother (the shy, sensitive type) has ALWAYS been quite picky compared to the rest of us, and so are his kids. His daughter grew out of it, but his sons are still pretty picky. I also like vegetables now that I wasn't served as a kid. We almost always had a nice romaine salad with lots of fresh raw veggies with our meals, but otherwise the vegetables were usually from a can (which I still don't like).
I strongly believe there is a correlation between the types of foods we eat and not only our physical health, but mental health as well. I also strongly believe that good nutrition can improve symptoms of various diseases and disorders, autism and ADHD included (but not "cure"). In fact, it was people in the special needs community who were the first to talk about the gut-brain connection, which is now widely accepted. It was popular about 10-20 years ago for many parents with ASD to go gluten and casein-free, as it was believed foods that contained those aggravated symptoms. I don't see that diet being touted nearly as much anymore, but children with ASD often have the most restrictive diets and it is often very challenging for a multitude of reasons to get them eat to eat a wider variety of foods.
I do feel, though, overall that there is some parent shaming going on when we start to talk about "well if parents just fed their kids vegetables from a young age..." The fact is, most parents did--whether it was from a jar or presented whole. Some kids always did well, some did then stopped, others always struggled. I know I'm guilty of parent shaming too, sometimes. I just think it's much easier for outsiders to judge others, especially if our own kids are good vegetable eaters or even easier, you don't have your own kids. The truth is, however, we don't know everyone's stories and situations.
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When we were planning our last Grand Canyon trip a few years ago, we were each asked if we had "forbidden foods." Some of our group did for sure.
One guy would not abide blueberries. His reason was that when he was very young, his parents lifted him over the fence in their back yard to a blueberry farm and he had to pick berries. It was a piece rate, and there was a minimum you had to pick to even earn ANYTHING. He said he always barely had that minimum. That one was pretty easy, and even if there were berries for something like pancakes, we could leave them out for his. He also couldn't abide onions. That one was much tougher; most of us love the things. He didn't say what his deal was with onions, but whatever.
The woman who had won the permit would not tolerate peppers of any kind. She meant chiles. But hot chiles were ok. She just couldn't do any kind of sweet chiles. So it was interesting when lunch on the FIRST DAY had hummus with roasted red pepper. Uh oh. That guy got the stink eye. No idea why she had this preference.
I think there were others, but I don't really remember. We ate fantastic food all 23 days below the rim, but food wasn't the main reason to float the canyon. I get to go back in 2023.
I have another couple of boating friends who say no falafel. It's not so much that they don't like garbanzos or the other ingredients. It's just some people, especially in a river kitchen, have a hard time keeping the oil at the right temperature and those little bundles of fried joy can become awful gut-destroying grease bombs.
I didn't like green bell chiles as a child; tried not to eat them. Once exposed to hot chiles, well... yum. Now I also love bells.
What did YOU not eat that you do now? What do you STILL not eat?1 -
I think it certainly helps to expose kids to a wide variety of foods, and even that it helps more at younger ages than older because people do become set in their ways, but I think it's also worth cautioning against the idea that it's somehow not worth it to try later, that the way is totally fixed after a certain age, which can be a temptation when hearing this kind of news. I eat all sorts of things now I didn't as a child, after I grew up in a very picky home. There were four kids, and two of us are adventurous with food as adults; two are not. It's hard to say what's genetic or learned and how they intersect.
In general, I do not permit my children to be picky. They eat what I eat. That said, I have a couple of kids with sensory issues, including one on the autism spectrum. They are pickier than my other kids, but I am hesitant to say they are picky overall, even in comparison to neurotypical kids. I do have to be more dedicated and firm with them about food, and perhaps use a little sneakiness here and there to ensure adequate nutrition. But I don't view needing to do that as evidence of failure on my part, just a response in the way of all parents to a child's particular strengths and weaknesses. Some kids will need more training with certain things and less with others. I'm blessed to have the time and resources to be able to devote to my kids' needs in this way. Some parents do not. And it can be exhausting at times! Even successes can take a long time and it can be very discouraging when they are few and far between. Parents today I think have less community knowledge and support to draw on because so much has been forgotten.
ETA: One other thought re: what is often called "sneaking." I actually do this to myself all the time and see it recommended on MFP as a strategy with some frequency. Things like adding vegetables to sauces or to bulk up pasta and rice dishes, adding protein powder to just about everything, ingredient swaps like applesauce or shredded zucchini for oil, the use of other sweeteners besides sugar - these are all ways for us to keep eating the kind of stuff we like to but getting better nutrition out of it. If it's a strategy I employ with myself, I'm not going to say no to using them on my kids, too!6 -
Brought up my two children the same eating a varied diet from an early age - one as an older child and adult would eat everything (except mushrooms), the other is a very picky eater and that begun aged about nine and she has a real hang up over the texture of some foods even if she likes the flavour.
I was brought up by parents raised during wartime food rationing and I was expected to eat my veg (just like my older brother and sister) but apart from potatoes hated virtually all of them (turned meal times into a battleground).
As an adult I eat almost everything, except peppers (unless they are chilli peppers).
I really don't think you can draw any universal conclusions around early exposure to different foods. From my own experience I'd caution against the "you will sit there until you eat your peas" approach - three hours of a battle of wills is a waste of everybody's time and ultimately counter-productive.
Granddaughter at one year old eats an amazing and sophisticated variety of foods, favourites probably raspberries, broccoli, blueberries and strong cheese. It will be interesting to see if she changes.2 -
MikePfirrman wrote: »I remember not liking certain veggies as a kid but my parents made me eat them. I had to eat what they ate and that was that. I always smh when people say their kids won’t eat something. They are kids. What they eat is up to their parents. I understand giving them some choice and introducing things gradually over time. I get that. BUT, if your kid eats no veggies it is because you don’t make them eat them.
I love all veggies now and learned to like them as a kid because my parents made me eat them.
One thing I can honestly say I grew into was Brussel Sprouts. Hated them as a kid. Couldn't stand them. But that's really the only veggie I can think of that, as a kid, I didn't like. Again, maybe that's the bitter thing that @cwolfman13 is referring to and they are really bitter if not made right.
I love them roasted now with olive oil and sea salt. Also love them nearly charred with balsamic glaze. I believe how you cook them makes all the difference.
I don't think we used to get the same quality Brussels sprouts as we do now. Back then they were bitter and I'll use the word "stinky" because I can't think of a better word. Probably been in storage a long time before they were at the grocery. Possibly similar flavors that made me dislike cabbage rolls. The Brussels sprouts we get today are often fresh and crispy. I like to roast them for sure. I bet a bagel if I boiled some for an hour I'd hate them.
Funny story you don't need to bother reading:
I used to be the primary cook when I lived with a certain woman for nine years back in the 1990s. Neither of us ate meat at the time. I found a recipe for stuffed cabbage rolls in one of Mollie Katzen's cookbooks. I think that's where it was from. Could have been Laurel's Kitchen. I don't remember obviously. That stuffed cabbage took a lot of work to prepare. I didn't like them AT ALL. My ex said she liked them. Well, not too much later, I made them again. Why? Because she liked them, and I sure liked her. Well after I made them the second time she admitted that she actually didn't like them either. I wish she would have just told me the first time.... My vegetarian Shepherd's pie (based on another Katzen recipe but altered quite a bit) she did love. My tzatziki? Good stuff. Potato/onion/carrot kugel? The bomb. Spaghetti pancake? Damn fine. Just not those cabbage rolls. I still won't eat 'em.
Yeah, please tell me if you don't like something so I don't bother with it again.
I like stuffed cabbage rolls, but not all the effort that goes into making them. This is my new recipe. I love it! I half it - I don't see how you could possibly fit it into the pan otherwise - and it still makes a ton.
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/14690/cabbage-roll-casserole/1 -
I liked most vegetables as a kid. To me, it seemed like what was most meaningful was that both parents liked vegetables (modeled eating veggies), had some individual preferences or dislikes but didn't demonize any veggies or make a big deal over their own preferences/dislikes. I was expected to *try* any food, but just a few bites was fine. If I didn't like it, no big drama. (It might be tried again later once or twice, but again no drama, no force.)
I didn't like lima beans, didn't like the canned zucchini in tomato sauce that my parents ate for a while (slimy nastiness!); I wasn't required to eat them. I liked pretty much everything else, even some supposedly challenging things: Spinach, asparagus, squash, etc.
Some of the people I know as adults who don't like particular veggies went through Big Drama as kids, like being forced to sit at the table until bedtime unless they ate the required serving of squash. I think that's not helpful.
My late husband learned to like some things during our lives together that he had rejected previously, vehemently so as a kid. Not overcooking them was part of that, but I also think part of it was me saying "fine, don't eat it; but I'm going to keep making/eating it because it's yummy - feel free to eat something else you want to make for yourself".
My parents both ate veggies. Mom didn't overcook them. My ex husband and my now partner both had canned and/or overcooked veggies as kids, and weren't fans as adults, but started eating more after I started cooking for them.3 -
A friend of mine has a 2-year old who LOVRS raw kale. He'll carry around a leaf for 10 to 15 minutes, and taking a thoughtful bite every few moments. Then when he's done, he'll ask for another. It's adorable!7
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@Speakeasy76 -- I am guilty of that, but I also would parent shame myself. My wife put a lot more effort into making sure my kids always ate healthy than I did. I did it because she told me to, to be quite honest. I don't know if I believe it's parent shaming as much as convenience foods that weren't available, as much, years ago, that are available now that don't have the proportion of vegetables in them. But you bring up many, many great tips.
I just bring it up as a dialogue more than anything. Curiosity. And there are plenty of things that I never ate before that I eat now. My Mom was a second shift nurse and not a particularly good cook. I'm a very good home chef, so I cook and use flavors that my parents would have never used -- all the time. So I also understand those that say you can grow into new flavors. But I do believe early exposure to a wide variety of foods helps with that open-mindedness. Though, again, my Mom wasn't a great cook, we hardly ever ate out. It was simply too expensive back then for a family of 8.
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I think that early exposure definitely helps, but also constant exposure to different vegetables and different methods of cooking also helps.Our taste buds constantly change and evolve, so something you might not have liked at a certain age, you might like at a later age.
Also, the way of cooking. My mom likes to boil vegetables until they turn into mush ,and i don't. I ate tomatoes ,peppers ,carrots , mostly the things you can eat raw, as a kid. I didn't like cooked vegetables so i hardly ate that. Also a lot of them gave me belly problems,and they still do. When i moved out and started cooking my own meals, i discovered that i actually liked vegetables , as long as i cooked them the way i liked them.There are also some i never eat ,either because i don't like the flavour, or because my body has trouble digesting them.
Being forced to eat things when i refused to, always backfired. Two examples that come to mind are lentils (lentil soup) and white bean soup. My mom forced me to eat lentils for years, even though i fought her on it every single time. Until i was old enough to refuse and couldn't be forced to eat them anymore . I haven't felt the urge to experiment to try to eat them again since then. Example number 2. Bean soup. First time my mom made me eat it after having refused for years, i vomited it immediately. That was the first and last time for me. The only type of beans i eat now are green beans.
So yeah, giving options, leading by example, trying different ways,all good. Forcing the vegetables on a kid might work short term, but i don't know if it will long term.2 -
jennypapage wrote: »I think that early exposure definitely helps, but also constant exposure to different vegetables and different methods of cooking also helps.Our taste buds constantly change and evolve, so something you might not have liked at a certain age, you might like at a later age.
Also, the way of cooking. My mom likes to boil vegetables until they turn into mush ,and i don't. I ate tomatoes ,peppers ,carrots , mostly the things you can eat raw, as a kid. I didn't like cooked vegetables so i hardly ate that. Also a lot of them gave me belly problems,and they still do. When i moved out and started cooking my own meals, i discovered that i actually liked vegetables , as long as i cooked them the way i liked them.There are also some i never eat ,either because i don't like the flavour, or because my body has trouble digesting them.
Being forced to eat things when i refused to, always backfired. Two examples that come to mind are lentils (lentil soup) and white bean soup. My mom forced me to eat lentils for years, even though i fought her on it every single time. Until i was old enough to refuse and couldn't be forced to eat them anymore . I haven't felt the urge to experiment to try to eat them again since then. Example number 2. Bean soup. First time my mom made me eat it after having refused for years, i vomited it immediately. That was the first and last time for me. The only type of beans i eat now are green beans.
So yeah, giving options, leading by example, trying different ways,all good. Forcing the vegetables on a kid might work short term, but i don't know if it will long term.
My mom used to love lima beans and made me eat them - she couldn't understand why someone wouldn't like them. I use to swallow them whole with milk, because they are gross. And I still don't eat them. I think actually that forcing kids to eat foods is worse than not exposing them to them.
Somewhat related - I have aversions to several pretty innocuous foods that I associate with my childhood (which was somewhat traumatic). But there are loads of foods that I was never given as a child that I learned to enjoy as an adult - including most vegetables.3 -
kshama2001 wrote: »MikePfirrman wrote: »I remember not liking certain veggies as a kid but my parents made me eat them. I had to eat what they ate and that was that. I always smh when people say their kids won’t eat something. They are kids. What they eat is up to their parents. I understand giving them some choice and introducing things gradually over time. I get that. BUT, if your kid eats no veggies it is because you don’t make them eat them.
I love all veggies now and learned to like them as a kid because my parents made me eat them.
One thing I can honestly say I grew into was Brussel Sprouts. Hated them as a kid. Couldn't stand them. But that's really the only veggie I can think of that, as a kid, I didn't like. Again, maybe that's the bitter thing that @cwolfman13 is referring to and they are really bitter if not made right.
I love them roasted now with olive oil and sea salt. Also love them nearly charred with balsamic glaze. I believe how you cook them makes all the difference.
I don't think we used to get the same quality Brussels sprouts as we do now. Back then they were bitter and I'll use the word "stinky" because I can't think of a better word. Probably been in storage a long time before they were at the grocery. Possibly similar flavors that made me dislike cabbage rolls. The Brussels sprouts we get today are often fresh and crispy. I like to roast them for sure. I bet a bagel if I boiled some for an hour I'd hate them.
Funny story you don't need to bother reading:
I used to be the primary cook when I lived with a certain woman for nine years back in the 1990s. Neither of us ate meat at the time. I found a recipe for stuffed cabbage rolls in one of Mollie Katzen's cookbooks. I think that's where it was from. Could have been Laurel's Kitchen. I don't remember obviously. That stuffed cabbage took a lot of work to prepare. I didn't like them AT ALL. My ex said she liked them. Well, not too much later, I made them again. Why? Because she liked them, and I sure liked her. Well after I made them the second time she admitted that she actually didn't like them either. I wish she would have just told me the first time.... My vegetarian Shepherd's pie (based on another Katzen recipe but altered quite a bit) she did love. My tzatziki? Good stuff. Potato/onion/carrot kugel? The bomb. Spaghetti pancake? Damn fine. Just not those cabbage rolls. I still won't eat 'em.
Yeah, please tell me if you don't like something so I don't bother with it again.
I like stuffed cabbage rolls, but not all the effort that goes into making them. This is my new recipe. I love it! I half it - I don't see how you could possibly fit it into the pan otherwise - and it still makes a ton.
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/14690/cabbage-roll-casserole/
Interesting recipe. I wouldn't call them cabbage rolls though. That recipe wouldn't have worked for me at the time because ground beef back then came from animals. I think the recipe I made was from Laurel's Kitchen. The stuffing was crushed nuts (pain to get the right size), onions, brown rice, raisins, and spices. The sauce was tomato based but also had onions, broth, and spices. I just never thought the flavors went well together. I love cabbage by the way. The recipe starts with a warning:
Not to be undertaken when you're pressed for time.
Laurel claims it's worth the effort. @mtaratoot claims..... no way.
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My husband and my son liked junk foods a little too much plus their other bad habits. Now my husband in his 60's and my son in his 30's are willing to eat healthier meals with vegetables to improve their failing health. They come to enjoy healthier foods and better health now a day. I'm happy that they realize that good diet and healthy life style are important for them if they want to live a long and happy lives.🙂6
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My brother and I never liked and still won't eat fresh tomatoes, and these were home-grown tomatoes. I think it's partially a texture thing, but I also don't like it if I have a bite of my OH's sandwich and it is contaminated with raw tomato. I also don't like fresh tomatoes cooked at home, but am fine with canned tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce, sauce on pizza, store-bought jarred salsa, etc.
I used to not like cheese but grew out of that.
As an adult, I spent three years in yoga communities, which ruined cooked oatmeal as well as tofu for me. But I can eat chicken day in and day out and never get sick of it.1 -
MikePfirrman wrote: »@Speakeasy76 -- I am guilty of that, but I also would parent shame myself. My wife put a lot more effort into making sure my kids always ate healthy than I did. I did it because she told me to, to be quite honest. I don't know if I believe it's parent shaming as much as convenience foods that weren't available, as much, years ago, that are available now that don't have the proportion of vegetables in them. But you bring up many, many great tips.
I just bring it up as a dialogue more than anything. Curiosity. And there are plenty of things that I never ate before that I eat now. My Mom was a second shift nurse and not a particularly good cook. I'm a very good home chef, so I cook and use flavors that my parents would have never used -- all the time. So I also understand those that say you can grow into new flavors. But I do believe early exposure to a wide variety of foods helps with that open-mindedness. Though, again, my Mom wasn't a great cook, we hardly ever ate out. It was simply too expensive back then for a family of 8.
My mom, in particular was eager to try new foods when they were on offer, even if she suspected she might not like them. However, we lived in a rural area (rural poverty area, actually), and at a time (1950s-60s when I was in childhood formative years) when there were not the large range of imported or non-USAian cuisine options that are common today. Pizza was a little bit exotic, and we didn't have an opportunity to try semi-authentic Mexican food until my high school Spanish class took an evening field trip (parents invited) to a restaurant in the scary neighborhood of the bigger city a decent drive away.
I think my mom's attitude "infected" me: I try things when I have the chance, even seek new things out. Because of that, I routinely eat many, many things that I never had when growing up, some of them just because they weren't common locally (eggplant, say), others because they just weren't available (tofu; tempeh; various other fruits, veggies, grains and such that weren't in stores there/then), very spicy foods, fermented foods (the only one I recall was sauerkraut), etc.
Because I'm vegetarian, I don't eat animal or fish flesh and derivatives, nor insects, but I'd 100% try them if I did. As a child, I did occasionally have meats that many people find off-putting, so but there's a lot in the meat/fish realm I've never tried, since I've been vegetarian since 1974 when I was 18. (Examples: My mom like beef tongue, made it once in a while; I tried it, didn't like it, wasn't required to eat it. I've had most of the innards of things like chickens at one time or another. We ate beef liver regularly, and I liked it well enough as a child. I had various kinds of game like venison, squirrel, various waterfowl, rabbit - my immediate family didn't cook these routinely because my dad had given up hunting/fishing, but various cousins hunted, my step-grandfather fished, and relatives would serve these or give us some to cook.)
I feel like exposure to food open-mindedness (modeling of it, actually) had more effect on my adult attitudes than did the breadth of what I ate as a child. My dad wasn't super adventurous and eager to try things like my mom was, but he would try things. Overall, both my parents were intellectually curious, despite not being formally highly educated, and I think the food attitudes were an expression of that.3 -
My family had a large garden growing up and I was expected to partake of its bounty. I didn't like half the stuff we grew and it became a battleground and I was not allowed to leave the table until I ate at least half of my vegetables. Of course, my parents were not the best chefs when it came to vegetables either. It wasn't until I was in my early 20s that I realized you can eat greens raw (like spinach, kale, etc.) While there are a few veggies I will still not eat (brussel sprouts and cauliflower), there are some I can now tolerate when made correctly (broccoli and squash come to mind) and some I truly love (roasted beets, especially the golden ones are the bomb!) ...
I made veggies in my house seem like forbidden fruit. My kids always wanted what was on my plate so I made sure I had plenty of veggies, even if I didn't care for some of them. I always served some raw and some cooked. My kids preferred the raw when young because then they got dipping sauce. To this day, my youngest will eat carrots and broccoli raw with siracha and bbq sauce! And both my boys are big salad eaters ... my youngest has to drown his a little bit but he gets his veggies this way.4 -
Growing up my Mom always cooked a vegetable with our meals. I was never a big fan of bitter vegetables or anything bitter for that matter since my taste buds were super sensitive. I always had major issues with ketchup even though its not bitter and still don't care for it to this day. Needless to say as I got older my taste buds calmed down and I was able to eat a greater variety of food so it sometimes just takes time if your kid is a super taster.
I really feel bad for my niece she can only eat a handful of foods (PB&J, some fruit, pancakes, some breads, and some other sweets) since she was a baby. It's definitely psychological in nature and they think it stems from a reaction from certain foods she had as a baby that later caused her to identify anything outside of her select foods as suspect. Therapy helped a little but she still eats this way at 17 even though she can eat other foods without problems. Veggies of any type have always been a no go for her.
Starting kids early sounds like a great idea but listen to the kid they might have some underlying issues too.5 -
My mom, in particular was eager to try new foods when they were on offer, even if she suspected she might not like them. However, we lived in a rural area (rural poverty area, actually), and at a time (1950s-60s when I was in childhood formative years) when there were not the large range of imported or non-USAian cuisine options that are common today. Pizza was a little bit exotic, and we didn't have an opportunity to try semi-authentic Mexican food until my high school Spanish class took an evening field trip (parents invited) to a restaurant in the scary neighborhood of the bigger city a decent drive away.
For most of my childhood I actually thought I didn't like pizza. It wasn't a thing in northern Scotland in the 1960s so they didn't encounter it until we moved here. My parents must have eaten it at a restaurant with friends and then my mother decided to replicate it at home. I don't know what she used for crust but it was rock hard and cardboard flavoured. For sauce she used plain tomato paste. I can no longer recall what toppings she used other than a lot of mushrooms, which ended up as dried-out mummified little things. It was absolutely awful.
I thought all my friends were nuts when they raved about how great pizza was. Of course, I eventually figured out that my mother's creation was NOT pizza and that I thought (real) pizza was great too.3 -
My mom, in particular was eager to try new foods when they were on offer, even if she suspected she might not like them. However, we lived in a rural area (rural poverty area, actually), and at a time (1950s-60s when I was in childhood formative years) when there were not the large range of imported or non-USAian cuisine options that are common today. Pizza was a little bit exotic, and we didn't have an opportunity to try semi-authentic Mexican food until my high school Spanish class took an evening field trip (parents invited) to a restaurant in the scary neighborhood of the bigger city a decent drive away.
For most of my childhood I actually thought I didn't like pizza. It wasn't a thing in northern Scotland in the 1960s so they didn't encounter it until we moved here. My parents must have eaten it at a restaurant with friends and then my mother decided to replicate it at home. I don't know what she used for crust but it was rock hard and cardboard flavoured. For sauce she used plain tomato paste. I can no longer recall what toppings she used other than a lot of mushrooms, which ended up as dried-out mummified little things. It was absolutely awful.
I thought all my friends were nuts when they raved about how great pizza was. Of course, I eventually figured out that my mother's creation was NOT pizza and that I thought (real) pizza was great too.
LOL (of empathy). When I was in junior high or high school, if I had a friend sleep over, we'd get Appian Way (brand) pizza in box. It had (IIRC) a dry mix for the crust, a can of seasoned tomato paste, and a goodly container of that dust-type dried parmesan cheese (equivalent to the Kraft kind in the green can). We would then put on extra things, like canned mushrooms, questionable-quality pepperoni, and I don't recall what else (if anything). It was a treat, kind of exotic and fancy. Rather new, at the time, to our locale. I'm sure there were probably pizza parlors in the city (25 miles away), but nothing local.3 -
For me, no comparison. I enjoy vegetables more as life goes on. My repertoire of vegetables has grown exponentially and as a chef so has my vegetarian and vegan appetizers and entree's over the last 20 years.4
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Sigh, I remember sitting at the dinner table for hours sometimes because either I or my younger brother didn't want to eat what was served. My Mum is not the best cook - she burns toast, boils vegies to mush and generally is a meat & 3 veg every night person.
Somehow she and Dad managed to turn me in to a person who loves a wide variety of veggies and flavours. About the only two veggies I won't eat, but are capsicums/peppers and brussel sprouts, but there is also a lot I haven't tried yet but am willing to give it a go.
My partner will only eat potatoes (any way but boiled) and mushroom sauce after I remove the actual mushrooms. He has refused to eat roasted potatoes I made because I also roasted my pumpkin pieces on the same tray (not touching). He says his parents made him eat vegies until he was old enough to refuse.3
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