Changing tastes

I'm proud of my adventurous drinkers today! I bought a juicer last weekend. I love it, it's my new obsession. Paulo and I have had fresh juice every morning this week. This was the first morning Dimitri was home with me, so this was his introduction to my new toy.

Now, we started off small. Apple juice, some freshly squeezed lemonade, basically fruits. But I've been sneaking in more greens into Paulo's as the week goes on. Mostly leafy greens like romaine which are pretty easy on the palate. Yesterday though I made myself green juice. I juiced collard greens with two kiwi and three carrots. Sounds gross huh? It is so good! The kiwi gives it a nice tartness, the carrots give the sweet and the greens give all the good things our bodies need desperately. It does look murky though, I wasn't sure Paulo would try it. But yesterday he tried a sip and didn't grimace, actually admitted it was good. So today he got his own glass of green juice, and he drank it! Dimitri was treated to the same glass o'goodness. I'm proud of them both first for being willing to try something new and second for drinking something that is so good for them.

I feel like it's a bit of an uphill battle though because their tastebuds have been programmed to sweet. It will take time I think for them to truly accept and look to non sugary drinks as their first choice. It'll be easier for Paulo, because he's so much younger, but with 14 years of sweetened drinks under his belt it'll be more of a challenge for Dimitri. But he's willing, and that's half the battle. I spend a lot of time discussing nutrition with (at?) him. I only hope that 50% of what I say really sinks in so that when he's out in the big, bad world and faced with making his own choices about food he'll be armed with a solid education and will make the right choices. You are what you eat, if you eat crap you feel like crap. If you fuel your body with good, clean, nutritious food then you will be strong and energetic and ready to take on the world.

So, if you have a juicer try this:

4-5 leaves of collard greens
2 kiwi, skin removed
3 carrots

And feel free to leave your favorite green juice recipe here!

I just got my produce delivery yesterday, there were beets in it....we're trying those this weekend! I'll give the skinny on how that adventure goes!