Eat your veggies!  If you were just reminded of your childhood and your parents' stern looks from across the dinner table, you are not alone.  So was I.  However,  the saying has become somewhat of a mantra at my parents' house again this past week, some 20 years later.  This time, though, I am the one giving the looks.

I distinctly remember my 7 year-old self having a showdown with brussels sprouts, sitting at the table so long my mom finally left to call a friend.  Thinking I was in the clear, I scooped everything into my napkin, tiptoed around to the trash can, and stuck my arm all the way down to the bottom to hide the evidence.  So clever!  Except my mother, with her bat-like radar senses, beat me back to the dining room.  She emptied every last sprout onto my plate by the time I got back to the table and greeted me with a smile - one like Vanna White makes.  Damn.  That was a looong night. 

To say I wasn't a fan of veggies wouldn't be completely true either.  I did like raw bell peppers and took them in lunch like some took potato chips but that ended when Justin J, the love of my childhood heart, said my breath was stinky.  He pinched his nose when he said it and popped the "i" and "y" for emphasis.  That ended my relationship with bell peppers for a while. 

Today though, I try to eat veggies with every meal, even breakfast.  My parents look at me like I'm nuts and make a "yuck" face when I put my poached egg on a bed of sauteed kale.  When did this happen? This morning I cooked up some spinach with tomatoes and piled it on a piece of yummy sourdough bread.  My smom (loving combo of step + mom) actually stopped in her tracks when she saw it.  

It was SO good.  Now if only I could get her to try it.  It seems "the look" doesn't work as well on parents as it did children.

* Do you eat veggies for breakfast?  If so, what's your favorite recipe?
* What's one of your childhood food memories?