We had an amazing afternoon visiting with our "old" friends (you had to be here to get that joke...hahaha) over a really nice meal if I can toot my own horn. I made shepherd's pie (at Mike's request), had a nummy salad and fresh veggies. For desert we had cookies that Evelyn made with her Nana and proudly shared with the table handing one to everyone and my favorite fro yo from Sobe's...mmmmm delish! We have really been involving Evelyn in our food choices lately. I read an article in Rachel Ray recently that really resounded with me. It essentially stated that a large reason why children are obese in today's society is because they have no relationship with their food. So many foods are prepackaged, everything is bought at a store. People do not go to markets or farms much any more. Children basically have no idea where the food they are eating comes from. We have always attempted to make/prepare most of our meals and we do love the farmer's market on a Saturday afternoon but I realize I have not really involved Evelyn in the choices of what we buy and what we eat. So for the last month or so we have been letting her decide on our fruits and veggies and fill them into the bags. Since we have a short season for markets we have been taking advantage of the locally grown produce section at our Sobe's as of late. The taste of the carrots especially is my favorite. I love the smell of the dirt and pulling the green plants (as Ev calls them) off the top. Evelyn really enjoys grocery shopping now and seems to take great pleasure in picking which colors of fruits and veggies we buy and loading everything into the cart. When cooking we let her stir and shake seasonings into the pot. She has even started using the beaters :) Today I realized as Evelyn was excitedly sharing her cookies with our company that our efforts to involve her in the meal process is really having an impact. She was so proud to tell us all the she made them. She is so proud to fill the cart and tell us about her favorite foods. We definitely have a little foodie on our hands. Maybe she will grow up to be a chef...
