The Only Reason Why My Teenager Eats Vegetables

 

I bet that you’ve read the title of this article and thought “what’s the secret?”! 

It is unfortunately not uncommon for teenagers and children to dislike vegetables. Most vegetables have either a plain, bitter or metallic taste and are not received the same way by the developing tastebuds of children and teenagers as by adults’.

There are A LOT of foods that I now eat and enjoy as a middle aged adult that I wouldn’t even look at when I was a child or a teenager. I remember on many occasions being forced to eat my vegs, only to end up in the toilets at the end of the meal, throwing them all up. 

My teenage son is not a fan of vegetables, and I can’t really blame him for this, considering my story. I have never forced him, again, remembering my story and how painful psychologically it was to be made feel there was something wrong with you for not eating or liking vegs.

However, I’ve always tried to “skilfully” sneak a vegetable or two in his food, mostly failures, I have to admit, but one success - my “special mash” is boiled potatoes, with either boiled broccoli or spinach (occasionally I might dump a carrot as well), butter, a little bit of milk all blended together, and half a pack of grated cheese. By its colour, it is obvious there are greens in there, but since it’s “special” with loads of cheese (he’s always loved cheese), it makes it all better. When he was little and until recently, that would be the only way he would eat vegetables willingly.

However, in the last year or so, he has become more and more passionate about Japan and its culture (hopefully at some point he’ll get to Zen practices 🤣). We have been watching some Japanese anime series on TV and very often we would see characters eating “ramen”. To me, it looked like a “made up” meal, but by researching online I discovered that it was a genuine Japanese traditional dish. Searching for recipes - there are many if you google “ramen recipes” - I realised that some of the ingredients were unfamiliar to me, but that I could easily reproduce something that would look like and taste like ramen.

It is now a MUST weekly meal that we have twice a week (because I cook bigger quantities so there is always leftovers for the next day - time saving!) and a favourite of his - and he is fully aware there are vegetables in there; he even eats the soft boiled eggs even though “he doesn’t like eggs”! But you see, it’s Japanese, so if it’s Japanese, it’s delicious!

I hope this little story would have brought you a glimmer of hope and inspired you to try and find creative ways to help your children and teens eat more vegetables painlessly (both for you and for them) and wilfully.

As a bonus, here’s my recipe for my Ramen-style dish: - it is about 4 servings

Ingredients: mince beef (about 250g), 2 stock cubes (beef or vegetables), 1 courgette, 2 peeled carrots, 1 peeled parsnip, 1/4 small white cabbage cut in thin strips, 1 pack of noodles (I now prefer using thick rice noodles usually for Udon as I am gluten intolerant, but you can use normal flat noodles. I did on this first attempt on the photo), 1 soft boiled egg per person, pinch of pepper, 1/2 teaspoon of ginger powder, 1 tablespoon of ghee, 5 to 10 mushrooms depending on size (chopped in thinnish slices, whatever you can safely manage - I like using chestnut mushrooms since I have very limited access to the “real” type)

I peel my vegetables (skin off, then carry on peeling the whole vegetables - it’s quicker to cook and the taste is not as isolated and noticeable as when you chew chunks), then place them with all the ingredients (apart from eggs) in a big stew/casserole dish, and cover it all with boiled water from the kettle. Put on medium heat for about 15 minutes with a lid covering the dish (I leave a tiny bit of a gap to let some of the steam escape). I mix it with a wooden spoon once in a while to separate and spread the noodles.

10 minutes before it’s done, I boil some water in a kettle and, in a saucepan, I place my eggs and cover with the boiled water. I leave on medium heat for about 6 minutes and place my eggs in a bowl of cold water for a couple of minutes to cool the shells and outer egg, then peel the shells off.

Once the Ramen is ready, fill in the serving bowls, cut the eggs in 2 and place on top of the “soup” - et voila! Enjoy ❤️❤️❤️

You can obviously replace the beef with any other meat - or fish - you wish, or if you are vegetarian or vegan, pulses would be very nice as well, or meat alternatives such as quorn or tofu. And of course, any vegs will do as well ❤️❤️❤️.

Gluten Free Flatbread Recipe

Eating healthy is very important for me. But, as a true food lover, there is no way I will ever compromise on delicious and tasty food.

As I am gluten sensitive, I have to be extra careful to what I eat and, while there are many products that have gluten free options, they are often more expensive.

Also I have been avoiding ready-made foods with added preservatives and sugar so homemade options are often much better for me. I am therefore always on the lookout for easy and quick gluten free no sugar recipes - don't really want to spend most of the very little free time I have cooking and baking.

This recipe for yummy gluten free flatbread only takes a few minutes to make and cook, and you can even freeze the extra flatbread pieces for later.

INGREDIENTS FOR BASIC RECIPE:

• 2 measuring cups of gluten free self-raising flour (I used white flour but you can use brown if available) + extra for dusting
• 1 measuring cup of full fat plain Greek yogurt
• 1 sachet of yeast (7g)
• 1/2 sachet of bicarbonate soda
• vegetable oil
• a griddle, pancake pan or large frying pan

For the flatbread pieces on the photo, I added 1 teaspoon of turmeric, 2 handfuls of grated mozzarella and an extra teaspoon of yogurt.

RECIPE (For about 10 flatbread pancakes/patties)

• Mix the flour, yeast and bicarbonate of soda (and any other dry ingredients, if customising);
• Add the yogurt and mix until you get a soft dough-like texture. You might get some crumbles (I did) and that's no big deal;
• Very lightly oil your pan (I put some oil on a piece of kitchen towel and covered my pancake pan by rubbing on the oil) and put on medium heat;
• In the meantime, grab a piece of the dough and create a patty by rolling the dough between your hands and creating a ball. Ensure you dust generously as the dough will be sticky otherwise. Dust a flat clean surface and flatten the ball gently and evenly with the palm of your hand to create a small pancake, ensuring it is dusted with flour on both sides - mine were about 3-5 mm thick;
• When the pan/griddle is hot, place the flatbread pieces to cook. You only need to leave them for 1 minute or so each side, then flip each side again for a few seconds on a second round. Use a spatula to flip and remove the flatbread pieces to ensure you do not get burnt;
• The flatbread patties can be left on a plate to cool down or eaten warm. 

If you are freezing some of the patties, let them cool down and separate each by placing a piece of baking/parchment paper in between to avoid them sticking together.

Once cold, the flatbread can be toasted in a regular toaster to eat warm at a later time.

They are easy to make and customisable. You can make them savoury (with cheese or any small savoury ingredients) or sweet (by adding honey/vanilla extract/dried fruits). If you do customise them, always ensure that whatever ingredients you add are leveled in the basic recipe. If you add dry ingredients (like I did with the cheese and turmeric), always add a little bit more yogurt. If you add any "wet" ingredients (eg. liquid vanilla extract, syrup or honey), make sure that you add more flour.

Whoever said that eating healthy had to be boring and bland?!

Bon appetit...

Food - You Become What You Eat (Part 3)

Welcome back to this week's Part 3 of the Food - You Become What You Eat article.

Having perfect food would mean growing your own herbs, fruits, vegetables and grains, and breeding your own farm animals and fish for meat and milk.
This is the ideal situation where you create your own dairy products, butters, oils, sauces...

Unfortunately, for most of us, we have to rely on the food industry to provide us with the foods we eat.

For many decades, the food industry has dictated without any resistance (or at least very little) what foods we can choose for our families.
The introduction of free range and organic ranges have highlighted the fact that the foods we have been eating all these years might not have been that good for us - pesticides, hormones, steroids, antibiotics have been part of our food for so long, linked to that the increase in obesity, heart diseases and food allergies and intolerances - surely all this should have dumped a massive neon sign in front of our eyes and make us realise that the food industry has not had our best interest at heart and, more importantly, our health and well-being.

You are definitely proven right when you actually start looking at the ingredient list of items you usually purchase for yourself and your family.
It should give you the chills! Chemical additives, added salt, added sugar...

Added sugar and refined sugars (such as sweeteners, syrup, "flavouring"...) are one of the main culprits for the alarming number of obesity cases in the industrialised world today. To understand how unhealthy, and even dangerous, this is, let us have a look at what happens in our body when we ingest high amounts of sugar (at least a simplified version):

Insulin from the pancreas processes sugar and transforms it as energy to go into the bloodstream for the body to function. Unfortunately, the pancreas does not produce insulin on demand and in line with the amount of sugar consumed - let us not forget that all other foods are also turned into sugar to be processed as fuel for the body (carbs, protein, fats, fruits and vegetables) and, of course, healthy foods have nutrients that can benefit the body functions and so should be prioritised to fuel your body.

Therefore all excess sugar is turned into body fat, increasing body weight and pressure on the body's skeletal system as well as on our vital organs, arteries, respiratory airways and conduits.
Excess sugar in the bloodstream is also extra toxins that will create deposits, possibly clogging arteries.

Scientific studies conducted in the 20th century were pointing the finger repeatedly to foods high in fat, giving the general cultural acknowledgement that fat is bad for you and distracting you from the genuine dangers of sugar excess. What we couldn't have known as only members of the public until the very last few decades, is that these studies were commissioned by companies from the food industry. The food industry has been a lie, accepted by all for many generations, and ingrained deeply into our psyche. Why are sweets and cookies a treat given to children to reward them of their good behaviour or make them feel better after they fall and hurt themselves? That's something we'll discuss in another article - Now that commissioned scientific research studies have to reveal the company or organisation commissioning it, members of the public are realising how the past studies were highly biased, and companies have to be more forthcoming and honest about the research they are commissioning and revealing.

Sugar is an appetite booster. The more you eat, the more you will want to eat - and therefore the more you will buy. This, in time, will create a dependency and alter your taste buds so that anything without sugar - that could stop the vicious circle - will taste bland.

The truth about the "Fat is bad for you" myth is being uncovered while it is being progressively discovered that good fats are good for you (and even vital) and bad fats are bad for you. Natural fats from nuts, natural oils are essential in the good functioning of our body, as they are a back-up fuel when all carbs have been processed and used as fuel.

We now have the power to choose what we eat with the rise of organic foods and the no additives, no preservatives, no added sugar, not from concentrate... labels (I would always take a look at the ingredients list, just to make sure, however).
Members of the public need to be as aware as possible about the effects of processed foods, refined sugars, saturated fats as well as traces of pesticides treating fruits and vegetables we eat, and antibiotics used on farm animals to treat infections. Only then will people voluntarily choose better foods for themselves and their families, and help eradicate the food industry scam. After all, if we don't buy it, they can't carry on selling it.

And hopefully that will change mentalities of all food companies to protect their customers' health rather destroy it for profit.

Until next week for the final part of this article...

Food - You Become What You Eat (Part 2)

Welcome back to Part 2 of this article. This week we are going to focus on what your body needs to function.

WHAT YOUR BODY NEEDS

Your body needs fuel to function, just like a car needs petrol to run. Different parts of our body will need different nutrients, which is why it is so important to have a varied diet

Vitamin A is essential for healthy skin, infection protection, in the assimilation of proteins, vision; it is also a powerful antioxidant and immune system booster.

Vitamin B1 is vital for energy production, brain function, digestion, and is also an antioxidant.

Vitamin B2 helps turn fat, sugar and protein into energy, repairs and maintains healthy skin, regulates body acidity, helps with red blood cells formation and is essential for hair and nail growth.

Vitamin B3 helps with energy production, aids in balancing good sugar, assists with digestion and cleanses toxins.

Vitamin B5 is also an important actor in energy production, controls fat metabolism, is essential to the brain and nervous system and helps produce anti-stress hormones, as well as healthy skin and hair.

Vitamin B6 is essential for protein digestion and utilisation, brain function, hormone production; it is also an immune system booster and helps control allergic reactions.

Vitamin B12 is needed for protein assimilation, helps blood carry oxygen, is essential for energy and nerves, deals with toxins and helps with DNA synthesis.

Folic acid (Folate) is critical for the foetus to develop the brain and nerves in pregnancy stages, assists in blood red cells formation, protein utilisation and nerve and brain function.

Biotin (Vitamin B7) assists with healthy skin, hair and nerves, and is essential in childhood for general development.

Vitamin C strengthens the immune system, makes collagen, keeps bones, skin and joints healthy, firm and resistant, is an antioxidant, detoxifies, increases absorption of iron, magnesium, copper and potassium, speeds wound healing, protects against cancer and heart diseases.

Vitamin D maintains strong, healthy bones by retaining calcium, increases immunity and protects against osteoporosis.

Vitamin E is a powerful antioxidant, protects cells from damage, helps the body use oxygen, improves wound healing, fertility, retards aging and boosts the immune system.

Vitamin K controls blood clotting, protects against osteoporosis, and is essential in the calcification of bones.

Calcium promotes healthy heart, clots blood, improves skin, bones and teeth, promotes healthy nerves, maintains correct acid and alkaline balance.

Magnesium strengthens bones and teeth, promotes healthy muscles, heart muscles and nervous system, and is essential for energy.

Phosphorus forms and maintains teeth, builds muscle tissue, is an important component in DNA and RNA, maintains the PH of the body and aids metabolism and energy production.

Potassium helps with removing waste products from cells, maintains fluid balance in the body, promotes healthy nerves and muscles, helps insulin secretion, maintains heart function, stimulates gut movement for proper elimination and is highly involved in metabolism.

Sodium maintains water balance and blood PH, prevents dehydration, helps nerve function, muscle actions, energy production, as well as moving nutrients into our cells. Sodium intake is important but should be controlled (no more than 6g a day but at least 5g as deficiency and over-consuming can both bring health concerns).

Boron is essential for muscle building, bone structure and brain function, and also helps prevent post-menopause osteoporosis.

Chromium forms part of the glucose tolerance factor, balances blood sugar, reduces cravings, helps protect our DNA, stabilises insulin function and is essential in the synthesis of fats and proteins.

Cobalt prevents anemia and aids in the synthesis of our DNA.

Copper is vital in the formation of barriers around nerves to protect them, is required with iron for oxygen to be transported in our blood, is involved in the production of collagen in bones, cartilage, skin and tendons, gives blood vessels, skin and lungs their elastic properties, and is a possible anti-inflammatory for arthritis.

Iodine protects against toxic effects of radioactive materials, and is a powerful antiseptic for water purification.

Iron is a component of hemoglobin (red blood cells); it transports oxygen and carbon dioxide to and from cells, is vital for energy production of connective tissue and brain neurotransmitters, and plays an important part in preserving the immune system.

Manganese helps with healthy bones, cartilage, tissue and nerves, stabilises blood sugar, promotes healthy DNA, is essential in the reproduction of red blood cells, and is required for brain function.

Molybdenum helps rid the body of uric acid, strengthens teeth, detoxifies the body from free radicals, petrochemicals and sulphates, and is an antioxidant.

Selenium is a powerful antioxidant that protects us from free radicals and cancer, reduces inflammation, stimulates our immune system to fight infections, promotes healthy heart, and is needed to maintain a healthy metabolism.

Silicon also stimulates the immune system.

Sulphur (or sulfur) disinfects blood, helps resist bacteria and toxins, stimulates bile excretion for digestion, and is an important part of the chemical structure of amino-acids.

And, finally, Zinc is a major component in over 200 enzymes in the body and DNA; it is essential for growth and healing, controls hormones, aids stress ability, promotes a healthy nervous system, and is vital for energy.

As you can see, there is a multitude of nutrients (vitamins and minerals) essential to our body's optimum functioning. While many good quality supplements are available to meet your body's nutritional needs, food is always a richer, better quality and more satisfying option.

Whole natural foods will be the best source for all these nutrients to be absorbed in our body and do their job.

If you are limited due to specific diets, allergies or financially (after all, not everyone can afford the best quality foods and in a wide variety), ALWAYS choose foods that contain the maximum variety of nutrients to meet your body's requirements and ensure your good health.

I hope this week's article has given you a better understanding of how complex and varied our body's needs are, and will help you select your foods with more awareness and purpose.

In our Part 3 next week, I will focus on the food industry and food industry standards, and how dependent most of us have been for pretty much all our lives on their influence for our food choices.

Until next time...

How Food Intolerance Took Me Back On Track With Food

I think that, over the years, my relationship with food was pretty much standard - eating quick, snacking, massive love for chocolate and cakes, huge love for food overall, food always makes you feel better when things go wrong or are too stressful. Crisps, ready meals, carbs full blast, takeaways. And, when I was unemployed and on super minimal budget, Value food - cheap and nasty, but better than no food at all.

Until about 2 years ago - I started having belly cramps, more and more often and more and more uncomfortable (sometimes painful). At one point, it got so bad that I ended up in the toilets every 20 minutes - how embarrassing when I was at work.

I knew my diet was not, and hadn't been for many years, particularly good.

When my mum died two years ago, something clicked inside me and I made the conscious decision to eat more healthy - that roughly meant for me adding more fruits and vegs to my diet.

But the cramps did not subside. I didn't get it.

I started a food diary to monitor, every day, everything I was eating and drinking.

After a month or so, I started to identify foods I was eating all the time. It also kept me accountable for keeping up with my greens intake.

One of my colleagues suffers from coeliac disease and, when I mentioned my health problem, he immediately suggested to start an elimination process. I started with everything that had gluten. I replaced my bread and pasta (the main foods I was eating) with gluten free alternatives.

Little by little, the symptoms diminished. I still had the occasional cake or cookie and I was OK. Only for a short while though. I soon had to stop as, every time I was having a piece of gluten-based cake or biscuit, the symptoms would be back with a vengeance after only half hour to an hour.

This forced me to be even more aware as to what foods I was putting in my body. By carefully looking at the ingredients lists before buying, I realised that a lot of what we eat is full of chemical additives, most of them you can't even pronounce. I have now the rule that if you can't say it, there is a fair chance you shouldn't be eating it.

A lot of processed foods also have added sugar, adding considerable amounts into our bodies.

Sugar actually increases appetite - don't you find that once you've had a sweet, you want another one? Food companies, by adding sugar to our foods, make you want to eat more, and therefore buy more. It's a vicious circle and, in the meantime, you are endangering your health one step at a time. There is a reason why our century has known the biggest percentage of obesity in our history.

Being in my mid-forties, my health has become increasingly more important as the state of my health now will determine the quality of my life in my later years - and that's motivation enough for me to protect it as much as I can.

I started reading diets articles and there are so many diets - keto, paleo, vegetarian, vegan, meal replacement, eggs only, coffee, mediterranean, flexitarian, low carb and whole food, Atkins, DASH, Dukan, calorie restriction, high protein, carb cycling... So many you lose count, and a lot of them contradict each other. It is overwhelming and confusing, especially if you are unsure what to look for. What the heck are you supposed to eat to be healthy?!

Bearing in mind that what you eat accounts for over 90% of your health level and your body shape, it seems to me that this world out there in the media has got it all wrong.

Exercise, yes, but not an hour each day, exhausting yourself and damaging your body (torn ligaments, muscle pull and strain...) - overdoing it will take its toll on you - and especially when it only accounts for 10% of your body shape and state of your health.

You would think that talking to your doctor about it would help but, believe it or not, traditional medical training does rarely cover nutrition unless you specialise. So, no offense but What do doctors know about food? It was obvious to me that I would not get any genuine help there so I didn't bother asking.

I decided to start an online course on nutrition and, even though I'm only on Lesson 5, it has given me a good starting understanding on nutrients essential to good health and how the digestive system works. It has helped me to focus on the health of my digestive system, keeping it clean, and keeping away from the uncomfortable bloating symptoms (something I had suffered for most of my life).

I do not eat processed foods, foods with added sugar. I eat fresh or frozen foods, organic when I can to avoid pesticide traces.

I snack on nuts, yogurts and fruits, make my own healthy gluten-free snacks, go gluten-free all the way.

I ensure I include in all my main meals (breakfast - lunch - dinner) proteins, greens, healthy fats and carbs and, for my snacks (2 or 3 a day in between meals), at least 2 of them.

I don't use sugar, I replaced it with raw honey, only occasionally, on fruit salads, in warm milk, plain yogurt and porridge.

I don't buy ready-made sauces, I make them from scratch, and I use spices and herbs to flavour my food - especially with rice and pasta, quite bland if not seasoned.

I drink water throughout the day and during my meals, even though I am not a big fan. My trick is to infuse my water with washed fresh citrus peels or fresh herbs (I love mint leaves in water). I also drink green tea and herbal teas, as well as fresh orange juice (only for breakfast).

I also take good quality natural supplements to ensure all my nutritional needs are met (Nu U Nutrition Multivitamins & Minerals Formula, and Omega 3 Fish Oil).

The first thing I ingest when I get up (before eating or drinking anything else) is a mug of warm water (whatever is comfortable and not too hot to drink for you) with a teaspoon of lemon juice and a teaspoon of raw apple cider vinegar (with the mother, which is the active ingredient). It cleanses your digestive system in no time. Additionally, the warm water - close to your body's natural temperature - prepares your digestive system gently. Nothing worse for you to start the day with a glass of freezing cold water. If the apple cider vinegar is too much for you, start with the lemon juice only and, after a few weeks, add the apple cider vinegar.

I have been doing this every morning for almost a month now and, not only am I super regular (sorry for the "too much information" here, however it is important), but also I don't remember feeling bloated a single time during that period.

I was worried at first as I have been on tablets for over 2 years for gastric reflux, so the acidic nature of the lemon juice and the vinegar could make it worse. It was not very pleasant the first few days but, so far, it has not affected me in that way. I even managed to cut down my tablets to one every other day instead of every day (something one of my doctors asked me to do over a year ago and I couldn't at the time).

I also balance my carbs intake and my healthy fats intake depending on the amount of activity I am doing or stress I am exposed to.

On days at work, I will increase my carbs intake and lower my healthy fats intake, whereas on a day off chilling at home, I will lower my carbs and increase my healthy fats.

Your body will burn carbs first for fuel as it is easier. Burning fat is more complex and require more effort, so this is why carbohydrates are the body's preferred energy source.

I am keeping all this up as it seems to be working for me.

I still have some belly fat I want to get rid of but I'm not rushing it. It will go little by little, in due time - I hope. I just need to fit in workout sessions (the 10% I'm not currently doing enough of).

So, all in all, I am quite happy that I have become gluten intolerant as it has opened my eyes tremendously and has forced me to re-focus my attention and awareness on the foods I need for my body to function at optimal level and protect my health in the process - a varied diet of natural foods.

And, by the way, if you are wondering about what happened to my love of chocolate, it is still very much vibrant- only I replaced the milk chocolate bars for 70% cocoa chocolate. And it makes me happy :-)