For the Love of Avocado

I have to admit, I l-o-v-e avocado. Despite Mike's disgust, I cannot get enough of the great green goodness! I remember watching a popular survival show on Discovery Channel a few years back; one where the host was struggling to get back to civilization (purposely lost in some remote area), and "teaching" you; the viewer, comfortable in your armchair, how to get out of any sticky situation and maybe even live well amidst certain death. Each show amazed me; how he knew all the little tricks from making a raft of vines and driftwood to just how much protein is in an ant...I was pretty impressed with this guy. Even though he empowered you to remember these little tidbits (just in case), I never really wanted to be in the same predicament he plunged himself into weekly. That is, until one show...he was lost (again, deliberately - oy!), I believe on one of the Hawaiian volcano lava flows...barren...extremely hot...extremely dangerous...and then he happened upon a cluster of trees. An avocado forest. Oh. My. God. This wasn't survival...this was HEAVEN! Talk about the easiest show he has ever done! I think I would have just stayed there, gorging on avocado, building a rescue sign out of the peels and pits. Take your time!

Anyway, now that you have my general feeling for the amazing monounsaturated miracle fruit, I can continue (well, start actually) my story! Much to my absolute bliss, Alex has inherited the blinding avocado love gene. Yahoo! Someone to share the fun!

I have been a big believer that kids will eat and love pretty much whatever you put in front of them on a consistent basis. I have come to realize that we have a lot of control over their eating habits and food preferences. And I am taking this job very seriously! I have to believe that I, myself, do not love whole wheat bread and crave mac and cheese mostly because I grew up on all the "bad stuff". No offense to my parents, because they had no idea that high fructose corn syrup would end the world at the time, but I became accustomed to eating junk food, carb-laden comfort food, pop, etc. So, my thinking is that if I pump them full of anything and everything healthy and natural (while I can!), that they will never have to "re-program" themselves to eat right.

That being said, I have been giving them lots of good "funky" stuff to try - avocado, hummus, tofu - along with lots of fruits and veggies and lean meats to round out the meals! Braden is allergic to egg-whites...so that is also prompting me to go with as natural and as raw as we can find...so as not to worry about the hidden-egg ingredient discovered post-meal. His allergy has forced me to really start reading that sometimes long and scary ingredient list on the back of the package and after that, I want to change our diet as well. When I say scary, I mean scary. What the heck is BHT? It's in way too many things. And that is just the beginning of the need-a-chemistry-degree-to-know-what-I-am-ingesting "awakening". I have come to realize that it's actually just easier and better to eat something without a label. Like an apple. ;)

So, back to the avocado. mmmm....oh! sorry! Just getting hungry there... All three really like the avocado - swiping the cubes up faster than I can throw them on the tray. But Alex was even funnier - I caught her using both hands to greedily gobble up all she could fit in her mouth! I saw that her tray was empty, and she was about to put the last piece in her mouth, so I plopped a few more cubes down. Before her hands got to her mouth her eyes lit up and she scooped down for more, trying to fit more in her hand. I then noticed that she already had two pieces in each hand but she couldn't wait to get more! She dropped all five cubes and started kicking wildly, grunting in excitement and frustration. She wanted them all - and NOW! It was too funny...and she ended up getting everything on her tray.

They have all liked everything we have put in front of them so far - let's hope the trend continues! The only problem is that it's all starting to get so messy. Mike and I aren't really big on the mess..especially times three! We are both clean freaks in our own ways. (Most people who know me would NOT describe me as a clean freak, but it does bug me nonetheless!) It takes almost as long to clean them up as it did for them to eat! Braden has learned "peek-a-boo"...unfortunately, he loves to do it when his hands are smeared with jelly or spaghetti sauce. After the avocado tonight, he was close to resembling a giggling Incredible Hulk with 6 tiny teeth. ;) Try not to laugh at that.

The Hulk, green eyebrows and all....


Little Miss Alex, super messy girl


And Cole bug...actually not so bad today!