So, Eric is not much of a vegetable lover and he did not really eat them at all till the beginning of this year. Scott and I decided it was time to start "making" him eat them. Boy...I had no idea what I was getting myself into!! I started with him only having to take one small bite of a vegetable, once a day.
I quickly found out there were a few vegetables that would make him throw up.
LITERALLY, throw up. Yes, everything in his stomach :) Those veggies included carrots, squash, and
zucchini. So, I decided to
steer clear of those (for the time being). The throwing up happened on three separate occasions before we realized it wasn't so much the taste as it was the texture.
On a positive note, there were a few vegetables he would eat from time to time before we started the "you must eat your vegetables everyday" law. Those veggies included spinach, green beans and asparagus.
There were many times (more often than not) that we would sit at the table, or sometimes just Eric would sit at the table, for quite sometime after lunch or dinner was over.....waiting to eat the vegetable!! Most of the time, he would end up eating it after lots of
coercion, but there were a few times we had to use the spoon :( we had to let him know we meant business. I knew that vegetables were something he would have to
acquire a taste for and over time he would. Isaac had to do the same thing last year, when we started incorporating them into his diet.
Sure enough, Eric has realized he has to eat his vegetables everyday. Now he eats a few bites for lunch and a few bites for dinner. BIG progress! One of the major ways he "gets through it" is from the reward of getting to go to the
car wash. One of Eric's favorite places to go is the car wash, so one day several months ago, I said, "Eric, if you eat your vegetable you can go to the car wash." So now,
every time he eats his veggies he says, "Eat my broccoli, go to
car wash!" And I'm
ok with the fact that Eric only eats vegetables for trips to the car wash. I'm just happy he is eating them.
WHY are we making Eric eat his vegetables? Aside from the fact that God gave them to us to enjoy, there are reasons eating a diet high in vegetables can do, like:
1. Help you maintain a healthy body.
2. Reduce your risk of stroke, heart disease and high blood pressure
3. Reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes.
4. Reduce your risk and even reverse many cancers
5. Boosts your energy level
6. Will help you look and feel great
Our goal is to have our diet contain about 40% vegetables a day. Another great way to add veggies to your diet is though juicing.
So, here is the list of vegetables we ALL eat at our house...even Eric "can" eat all of them :)
yay!
broccolicauliflower
carrots
onions
cabbage
bok choycollard greens
kale
spinach
sweet potato
green beans
asparagus
squash
zucchinibean sprouts
Tonight I made some beans, rice, red cabbage,
zucchini, and carrots. I was hopeful and put one piece of
zucchini, 4 pieces of carrots and a small bite of the red cabbage. Not only did he eat ALL of them, he asked for more
zucchini!!! WOW! I can't believe it :) it's working!! Thank you LORD! I'm so proud of him...and of me for sticking to it...it has not been easy!
Last year for Isaac's 4th and Eric's 2nd birthdays, Scott and I got them a ladybug farm. Well, they just loved it and have been asking when they could get more ladybugs. So, we placed an order for more ladybug larva several weeks ago. It is so neat to watch them change from the larva to the pupa, and then to the full grown ladybugs! Here are some photos of the boys letting them go in our back yard this year. They let the ladybugs crawl on their arms and hands before letting them go in the grass. 
