It's colorful, at least

Not to be gross, but I think I've discovered one of the Most Disgusting Things to Have to Clean Out of a Carpet - ever. Unfortunately, motherhood is full of moments like this. But, the other night Maura choked on her chewable vitamin and up-chucked dinner onto the white carpet in the play room. The upside? My child has a diverse palate and well-rounded diet. The downside? Tomato soup, blackberries and the odor of rancid cheese and smoked oysters - while colorful! - was not much fun to clean up. It was a memorable moment.

Speaking of kids and food, I've been thinking about this general topic lately with Lent coming up. This is the first year, at 4, that Emmelia notices our fasting. It started with her asking about the more obvious fact that we don't eat breakfast on Sunday mornings even though she does. The other day she asked why we're not eating meat this week. So I told her we are fasting and it's something she will do later when she is older if she wants.

When we eat Lenten meals at home, though, it's not like I go out of my way to make the kids prime rib or something while we're eating twigs and sticks. I might microwave some chicken nuggets to supplement, but for the most part they eat what we eat. This works well for my kids because they eat breakfast and lunch five days a week at daycare and usually get meat, dairy, etc. with those meals. So a few vegan meals a home in a week is certainly not going to cause me to worry about vitamin deficiency or anything.

But what I think is most important is getting them used to the flavor and taste of Lenten foods while they are young. I think the foods you eat at home as a child determine what you consider "comfort food" for the rest of your life. I hope that introducing them to fresh fruits, veggies, seafood, tofu, etc. now will make it a little easier for them to fast when they grow up - so that they can spend less time worrying about food and more time praying and giving alms.

We had the most delicious chili last night - from that new cookbook I mentioned in my last post - Three-Bean Chili with Chive-Specked Cornbread. SOOO good, easy and healthy - and the kids liked it too! I can't wait to try another recipe. Unfortunately, I forgot to put in one of my crockpot liners so I need to wait until the crockpot is clean again to make something new. Maybe tomorrow, though.