Which of these would you consider “eating a vegetable”?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they eat raw vegetables, have a veggie tray in the house. It’s easier than cooking vegetables that they won’t eat, and they can snack on those as well. If mom is getting free child minding, she can back off.

OP here,

I put out a variety of things, and tell the kids I won't make something separate, but they can ask for anything I'm cooking with to also be served plain. So, for example, last night the kids saw me putting red pepper in the beans, and asked for some raw.

Last night, one kid picked fish, beans and rice, cucumber, red peppers, mangos and tortilla chips. When they called mom at bedtime and reported that's what they ate, mom was upset because it wasn't balanced, and nothing was green enough. So, I thought I'd check with DCUM.

omg the mom is nuts.

Mom is 100% nuts, but none of that was vegetables. If mom is crazy about vegetables, get them to take a bite of spinach or something and call it a day. Or just ignore her.

I can wrap my mind, sort of, around cucumbers being a fruit (I know they are botanically fruit) but how are peppers not vegetables?

Peppers? Like a bell pepper? How is that not a fruit. It grows from a flower and has seeds on the inside. It’s literally the fruit of a pepper plant.

Because vegetable is a culinary term and if are using it then it only makes sense to use the culinary meaning of fruit. If you are going to be an idiot and use the botanical meaning of the word fruit, then you have to acknowledge that there is no botanical meaning of the word vegetable and that therefore there is no such thing as “eating vegetables”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they eat raw vegetables, have a veggie tray in the house. It’s easier than cooking vegetables that they won’t eat, and they can snack on those as well. If mom is getting free child minding, she can back off.

OP here,

I put out a variety of things, and tell the kids I won't make something separate, but they can ask for anything I'm cooking with to also be served plain. So, for example, last night the kids saw me putting red pepper in the beans, and asked for some raw.

Last night, one kid picked fish, beans and rice, cucumber, red peppers, mangos and tortilla chips. When they called mom at bedtime and reported that's what they ate, mom was upset because it wasn't balanced, and nothing was green enough. So, I thought I'd check with DCUM.

omg the mom is nuts.

Mom is 100% nuts, but none of that was vegetables. If mom is crazy about vegetables, get them to take a bite of spinach or something and call it a day. Or just ignore her.

I can wrap my mind, sort of, around cucumbers being a fruit (I know they are botanically fruit) but how are peppers not vegetables?

Peppers? Like a bell pepper? How is that not a fruit. It grows from a flower and has seeds on the inside. It’s literally the fruit of a pepper plant.

Because vegetable is a culinary term and if are using it then it only makes sense to use the culinary meaning of fruit. If you are going to be an idiot and use the botanical meaning of the word fruit, then you have to acknowledge that there is no botanical meaning of the word vegetable and that therefore there is no such thing as “eating vegetables”.

Huh? Not sure someone is an idiot for saying a pepper is a fruit (which it is). But the mom in this situation is obviously very pedantic about vegetables, so the OP should throw a vegetable (like spinach), not a fruit, on the plate if she wants to avoid this problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will give context later, just curious, of these foods, if your kids ate them would you have consider them to have eaten a vegetable?

Black beans
Small bits of onions, peppers, garlic cooked into the back beans
Small quantities of spinach (visible) stirred into another dish
Handful of spinach mixed into a berry smoothie (not visible)
Raw spinach as the base for a salad
Purple cabbage slaw
Corn
Avocado
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Mango
Mango salsa with red onions and cilantro visible in it
Slices of red peppers

The only things I’d call a vegetable are the 3 options for spinach that you listed, and the cabbage. But that better not be the only vegetables in a day.

[Anonymous]

Beans and mangos are not vegetables.
I know corn is technically also not a vegetable- it’s a starch - and tomato is a fruit, but I think they count as far as asking kids to eat vegetables is concerned.

It doesn’t matter if it’s visible or not

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they eat raw vegetables, have a veggie tray in the house. It’s easier than cooking vegetables that they won’t eat, and they can snack on those as well. If mom is getting free child minding, she can back off.

OP here,

I put out a variety of things, and tell the kids I won't make something separate, but they can ask for anything I'm cooking with to also be served plain. So, for example, last night the kids saw me putting red pepper in the beans, and asked for some raw.

Last night, one kid picked fish, beans and rice, cucumber, red peppers, mangos and tortilla chips. When they called mom at bedtime and reported that's what they ate, mom was upset because it wasn't balanced, and nothing was green enough. So, I thought I'd check with DCUM.

omg the mom is nuts.

Mom is 100% nuts, but none of that was vegetables. If mom is crazy about vegetables, get them to take a bite of spinach or something and call it a day. Or just ignore her.

I can wrap my mind, sort of, around cucumbers being a fruit (I know they are botanically fruit) but how are peppers not vegetables?

Peppers? Like a bell pepper? How is that not a fruit. It grows from a flower and has seeds on the inside. It’s literally the fruit of a pepper plant.

Because vegetable is a culinary term and if are using it then it only makes sense to use the culinary meaning of fruit. If you are going to be an idiot and use the botanical meaning of the word fruit, then you have to acknowledge that there is no botanical meaning of the word vegetable and that therefore there is no such thing as “eating vegetables”.

Huh? Not sure someone is an idiot for saying a pepper is a fruit (which it is). But the mom in this situation is obviously very pedantic about vegetables, so the OP should throw a vegetable (like spinach), not a fruit, on the plate if she wants to avoid this problem.

What is a “vegetable” pedantic human if fruits don’t count? After all spinach is a leaf, so maybe it’s also not a vegetable? Carrots are roots; can roots be vegetables? PP pointing out that the culinary definitions are the relevant ones when talking nutrition. OP is feeding these kid plenty of foods with fiber and vitamins.

[Anonymous]

"Require" what you want at home...but when someone else is watching your kid? Naw. As long as they stay sober and eat more than a few handfuls of cheetoes all weekend, it was a success.

[Anonymous]

She sounds very difficult.

I’d pull a Ronald Regan and tell her ketchup is their vegetable.

Another option is to ask her to send the veggies she wants her kids to eat and arrange that with them. Tell her you won’t force anything on anyone. Final option: don’t get together at meal times.

[Anonymous]

Small bits of onions, peppers, garlic cooked into the back beans
Small quantities of spinach (visible) stirred into another dish
Handful of spinach mixed into a berry smoothie (not visible)
Raw spinach as the base for a salad
Purple cabbage slaw
Tomato (technically a fruit but really a veggie)
Corn
Cucumber
Slices of red peppers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can’t promise her the kids will eat any specific thing. All you can do is offer the food.

OP here,

Part of the issue is that they are more willing to force vegetables than I am. Their approach is to put a meal, consisting of things their kids usually eat, on the table and tell them they have to eat it.

My approach is different. But I know their kids well enough to be able to predict what they will definitely choose, and what they might try, and so I can usually put a meal on the table where vegetables get eaten, except then I get told that what I served isn’t a vegetable, or doesn’t count because it wasn’t a full serving, or that hidden ingredients don’t count or whatever.

I should note that if I was alone with her kids, I would probably just do it her way, but my own kids are there eating the same meal, and I feel pretty strongly about not forcing them.

You are overthinking this. Her kids are used to bring food what to eat. Just tell the you promised thier mom they would eat a vegetable every dinner and give them two options to choose from.

[Anonymous]

black beans are a protein, not a vegetable, although they do offer significant fiber
corn is a starch, not a vegetable
mango is a fruit, not a vegetable

avocado is a fruit, not a vegetable, but it’s not a common fruit, so it might slide.
tomatoes and cucumbers are fruits, but commonly thought of as vegetables, so I’d probably count them.
red peppers are technically a fruit, but I’d count them as a vegetable (if they ate a significant serving)

small quantities of X (visible or not), I might consider X a vegetable, but it would be a bonus, not a serving. Just as I wouldn’t count a cherry on a banana split a serving of fruit, or a slice of pickle in a hamburger a serving, they’d have to eat a lot of the bigger dish to accumulate a serving of vegetables from small bits mixed in.

raw spinach as a salad base and purple cabbage slaw I would consider vegetables. The strawberry smoothie with spinach, I’d give you credit for, but ideally, I’d want some other vegetables too.

Some of these are less common, so even if they are fruits, I might give you credit for getting my kid to try something new.

I’d basically be grateful to have you looking after my kids for the weekend, and wouldn’t care too much what they ate. As long as I get them back alive, I wouldn’t care, even if you stuffed them with junk (which is not your menu - I think your menu sounds great, it’s just low on vegetables). If they got sick or cranky, you’d be dealing with it and they’d learn a lesson. Once I got them back, I could stuff them with as many vegetables as I wanted. Even if they had no produce at all (which is clearly not the case), they wouldn’t develop scurvy in a weekend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they eat raw vegetables, have a veggie tray in the house. It’s easier than cooking vegetables that they won’t eat, and they can snack on those as well. If mom is getting free child minding, she can back off.

OP here,

I put out a variety of things, and tell the kids I won't make something separate, but they can ask for anything I'm cooking with to also be served plain. So, for example, last night the kids saw me putting red pepper in the beans, and asked for some raw.

Last night, one kid picked fish, beans and rice, cucumber, red peppers, mangos and tortilla chips. When they called mom at bedtime and reported that's what they ate, mom was upset because it wasn't balanced, and nothing was green enough. So, I thought I'd check with DCUM.

omg the mom is nuts.

Mom is 100% nuts, but none of that was vegetables. If mom is crazy about vegetables, get them to take a bite of spinach or something and call it a day. Or just ignore her.

I can wrap my mind, sort of, around cucumbers being a fruit (I know they are botanically fruit) but how are peppers not vegetables?

Peppers? Like a bell pepper? How is that not a fruit. It grows from a flower and has seeds on the inside. It’s literally the fruit of a pepper plant.

You are as insane as the mom

[Anonymous]

I would only consider actual vegetables, since you listed fruits. I would not count the onions in black beans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:black beans are a protein, not a vegetable, although they do offer significant fiber
corn is a starch, not a vegetable
mango is a fruit, not a vegetable

avocado is a fruit, not a vegetable, but it’s not a common fruit, so it might slide.
tomatoes and cucumbers are fruits, but commonly thought of as vegetables, so I’d probably count them.
red peppers are technically a fruit, but I’d count them as a vegetable (if they ate a significant serving)

small quantities of X (visible or not), I might consider X a vegetable, but it would be a bonus, not a serving. Just as I wouldn’t count a cherry on a banana split a serving of fruit, or a slice of pickle in a hamburger a serving, they’d have to eat a lot of the bigger dish to accumulate a serving of vegetables from small bits mixed in.

raw spinach as a salad base and purple cabbage slaw I would consider vegetables. The strawberry smoothie with spinach, I’d give you credit for, but ideally, I’d want some other vegetables too.

Some of these are less common, so even if they are fruits, I might give you credit for getting my kid to try something new.

I’d basically be grateful to have you looking after my kids for the weekend, and wouldn’t care too much what they ate. As long as I get them back alive, I wouldn’t care, even if you stuffed them with junk (which is not your menu - I think your menu sounds great, it’s just low on vegetables). If they got sick or cranky, you’d be dealing with it and they’d learn a lesson. Once I got them back, I could stuff them with as many vegetables as I wanted. Even if they had no produce at all (which is clearly not the case), they wouldn’t develop scurvy in a weekend.

I’m confused how if you think cucumbers and peppers count as vegetables then a serving of each equals a meal that’s low in vegetables?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they eat raw vegetables, have a veggie tray in the house. It’s easier than cooking vegetables that they won’t eat, and they can snack on those as well. If mom is getting free child minding, she can back off.

OP here,

I put out a variety of things, and tell the kids I won't make something separate, but they can ask for anything I'm cooking with to also be served plain. So, for example, last night the kids saw me putting red pepper in the beans, and asked for some raw.

Last night, one kid picked fish, beans and rice, cucumber, red peppers, mangos and tortilla chips. When they called mom at bedtime and reported that's what they ate, mom was upset because it wasn't balanced, and nothing was green enough. So, I thought I'd check with DCUM.

omg the mom is nuts.

Mom is 100% nuts, but none of that was vegetables. If mom is crazy about vegetables, get them to take a bite of spinach or something and call it a day. Or just ignore her.

I can wrap my mind, sort of, around cucumbers being a fruit (I know they are botanically fruit) but how are peppers not vegetables?

Peppers? Like a bell pepper? How is that not a fruit. It grows from a flower and has seeds on the inside. It’s literally the fruit of a pepper plant.

You are as insane as the mom

Do people really not know the difference between a fruit and a vegetable? Maybe this explains a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they eat raw vegetables, have a veggie tray in the house. It’s easier than cooking vegetables that they won’t eat, and they can snack on those as well. If mom is getting free child minding, she can back off.

OP here,

I put out a variety of things, and tell the kids I won't make something separate, but they can ask for anything I'm cooking with to also be served plain. So, for example, last night the kids saw me putting red pepper in the beans, and asked for some raw.

Last night, one kid picked fish, beans and rice, cucumber, red peppers, mangos and tortilla chips. When they called mom at bedtime and reported that's what they ate, mom was upset because it wasn't balanced, and nothing was green enough. So, I thought I'd check with DCUM.

omg the mom is nuts.

Mom is 100% nuts, but none of that was vegetables. If mom is crazy about vegetables, get them to take a bite of spinach or something and call it a day. Or just ignore her.

I can wrap my mind, sort of, around cucumbers being a fruit (I know they are botanically fruit) but how are peppers not vegetables?

Peppers? Like a bell pepper? How is that not a fruit. It grows from a flower and has seeds on the inside. It’s literally the fruit of a pepper plant.

You are as insane as the mom

Do people really not know the difference between a fruit and a vegetable? Maybe this explains a lot.

Do people not understand that botanical definitions aren’t relevant to food?