A lighter shade of green

You know the excitement of the first day of school? That is what this blog is like for me.
It's fun for me to share with my friends and family what I have learned.

When my oldest kids were little, I worked and went for convenience when it came to making meals. I knew at the time that we could be eating better but as silly as it sounds, I didn't know how
to. I thought I was doing a good job keeping the pantry stocked with various canned
veggies and fruits. I tried to keep salad on hand but that was usually a ready made baggged
salad that was drenched in ranch dressing of course because how else could I get the kids
to eat their greens?

I asked my kids what was one of the first things they remember when we started to change
what we ate. The answers were many. They thought everything they ate was going to
taste gross. They also thought it meant the end of sweet treats, sodas, juice and filling up on veggies and various twigs and berries.

One of the first things to go was my handy bagged salad. The kids and I learned that there
is more to salad than just iceberg lettuce. We chose green leaf, romaine and some spinach.
We learned that you had to be thorough when cleaning your fresh greens because you
might bite into a bug or two. I also put in cuccumber, tomato and carrots. We made our own dressing.  I was so happy that we were starting this new healthy journey together.
The salads were the last things on the kids plates. I told them what we made was good to which they responded, the color is off. I asked what they meant and they told me that the bagged salad was a lighter shade of green and that is what they liked. After a little friendly persusaion or bribing is what the kids call it now, still nothing. I told them they had take at least one bite before they could get up from the table.
After many of what my Mom calls 'Richard Nixon' faces, some teary eyed pleading from them and 30 minutes at the table by themselves, they finally tried their salad with the veggies and they LIKED it. Now when we have salads they add all kinds of things liked boiled eggs, cottage cheese, onions, edamame, olives, beets, celery and avocado just to name a few.

I knew we were going to have to take baby steps but now when I put a new dish in front of them they will at least take a bite instead of determining they don't like it without even trying it. When my younger kids complain about having to eat salad or something new, my older kids are the
ones kindly persuading them.

Recipe for Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing:
1 Cup Buttermilk
1/2 mayonnaise( I use vegenaise)
1 tsp lemon juice
1/8 tsp paprika( I add a touch more because I like it a little spicy)
1/4 tsp mustard powder
1/4 tsp dry dill
1 tsp chives
1 Tbsp parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

This is wonderful on salad and great as a dip. You can decrease the amount of buttermilk
if you would like it to be thicker. I've also had to use milk or half and half if I didn't have
buttermilk.

Now compare the indredients  in this tasty homemade ranch recipe to what is on the
bottle of ranch in your fridge and tell me which one you feel better about eating?