DAY 147 -- The taste of healthy foods.

I remember years when for me the thought of healthy food, or rather health food, conjured up an idea of bland flavor and cardboard.  This idea was fueled by Euell Gibbons advertising for Grape-Nuts cereal, "Ever eat a pine tree?  Some parts are edible."  Doesn't that just make a person want to run out and buy natural foods?  Comparing natural foods to eating pine trees or cattails did not convince me that eating healthy was a tasty way to go.


In the late 1980s early 1990s, with all the touting of getting more fiber, I went on an "all things bran" kick. I prepared bran muffins, purchased bran cereals, and tried to get my family enlisted in the fiber cause.  One morning my husband searched for some breakfast foods in the pantry.  He located a plastic storage container on the floor with what looked to him like one of the popular bran cereals.  After pouring milk over his bowl of "cereal" he took a big bite.  Added more sugar.  Tasted it.  Nope, still needed more sugar.  He admits thinking to himself, "I don't care if this stuff is good for me... it tastes like cra*."  


About that time the kids came along, saw the contents of his bowl, and asked, "Dad, why are you eating the cat food?"


Pretty sad when a person totally expects "health" food to taste bad.


But now, for me (and thankfully my husband too!), the thought of eating natural food takes on a completely different image.  I picture whole grains, fresh vegetables and fruit, and tasty meals prepared from scratch.  And although I do eat an occasional bowl of Grape-Nuts (since it doesn't have added sugar), I sweeten it by adding fruit, and have no desire to eat a pine tree.