I did not grow up in a house where we ate a lot of vegetables. Only when we lived in my grandmothers house (see this post) and we grew our own did we ever have a lot of vegetables. There my mother canned and pickled lots of garden produce so there were vegetables available with every meal. After we moved away from there, because of finances (of which we had very little), vegetables came from cans and had a very small reserved spot on the plate--if they were there at all. I think this fact is why I have always tried to grow things at whatever house I lived in. Even when we lived in a little trailer park, I had herbs growing outside beside the flowers. Today I have a small garden of raised beds and I am very proud of anything that they produce. Not to mention the taste of these homegrown vegetables is far superior to those in the store. This spinach is so soft it feels like it just melts in your mouth. You don't get that from a can or bag of spinach in the stores. It could almost be a different vegetable completely.
I am trying very desperately (and with some family opposition, I might add) to break away from the meat, potato and tiny spot of vegetable mentality of eating. I am trying to make that vegetable spot BIGGER. I seriously doubt it will ever get it to the point that we are actually having a vegetarian dish as my other half would revolt but maybe he will not totally reject the southwestern salad I have planned for him for tonight. It does, after all, have some chicken in it and his beloved tomatoes and corn.
