How did this all begin?

I (Julie) was raised to love a good vegetable. We ate lots of salads as kids and my grandparents raised a huge garden every year. My grandma loved to tell me the story of how, when I was a child, I loved to eat canned green beans out of the fridge. I learned lots about nutrition in high school and running cross country. I ate very little meat and got my protein from other sources. Did I mention I ate a million pretzels (because I worked at The Pretzel Twister and they were free and OH SO GOOD)? In college, I ate whatever-Papa John's was a favorite. I rarely remember cooking until I lived with my friend Cindy. Poor Cindy, I was the cook and she was the tester. Sometimes were good-sometimes were not so good. Once I started trying to cook, I found a love for it. When my daddy got diagnosed with cancer, the doctors told him to eat fish and chicken. He called me one night, so proud, because he had eaten Long John Silver's fish and chicken. God love his heart-he just didn't understand that fried food was killing him.

When my grandma died and it became my job to cook for myself and my sisters, I wanted to make sure they ate healthy. Now, might be a good time to add, I have an irrational fear that I (or my sisters and kids) am going to die at age 32 from coronary artery disease like my biological mother. I found little ways to add things to our food to make it healthier (spinach is my all time favorite if I think you need a little vitamin boost). I forced my sisters to eat their veggies long before the "Sneaky Chef" was around. When Adam and I got married, we got a blender and 2 food processors for wedding gifts. It was fabulous! I made spaghetti sauces with all kinds of veggies snuck inside. My sisters (and usually Adam) never really knew all of the goodness they were eating.

When Easton was born, I wanted to know he was eating healthy. We zipped through all of the typical Gerber foods and went into foods that weren't found in a jar-like avocado. Now, some people say it is a nut and you shouldn't give nuts to kids (call the parenting police). I say, he liked it, it was good for his brain, and he didn't have any reaction. I also did lots of different fruits that weren't found in a jar-like papaya, mango, and raspberries (do NOT suggest doing because straining takes forever). With each child, I have gotten a lot braver at what I have given them.

From the beginning, our kids have had an insatiable love of fruit. Even when I am pregnant, fresh fruits and veggies are some of the few things that don't make me sick.

We want them to learn to love new foods. We always let them eat off of our plates in restaurants. Once Easton and Weston were old enough, they split an adult plate (do you know how high kid’s meal prices are-not to mention our kids usually don't even want what the kid’s meals offer).

We have a fabulous Pediatrician, Dr. Pugh, who told suggested we try out the philosophy, "You either eat what is in front of you, or go hungry". Pat (a dear friend), agreed and said that no child will let themselves go hungry.

So, I want to share this all with you all. We are not perfect but we certainly try, as hard as we can, to get our kids to eat a well balanced diet and yes, they eat their veggies.