What is wrong with this picture?!?!?!

I'm going to take a moment to rant. I just watched the third commercial on television about the juices and what not to hide vegetables because kids don't like them or won't eat them. Okay, when I was raised (so long ago, I know), either Mom hid the ACTUAL vegetables in casserole or you got to eat them plain. You didn't leave the table, or get dessert until all the vegetables you were served were eaten. This taught me two things. 1. Knowledge that Mom was BOSS and if I knew what was good for me I'd eat my vegetables. 2. Taught me to like vegetables and try new things. We got a tasting crown if we tried something new. So we tried new things. Easy as that. We either ate what we were given or we went hungry. When I grew up, picky eaters were non-existent!

The pediasure commercial really gets me. She won't eat this, she definitely won't eat that, anything green is out of the question (WHAT?!?!?!). Okay, and? Let's look at the facts. Yes, pediasure has two servings of fruits and vegetables in it. It also has 240 Calories (equivalent to two apples), but 80 of those are from fat, while none are from fat in two apples. It has 9 grams of fat (none in two apples), 90 mg of sodium (again, none in an apple). Granted, there is more sugar in the two apples (50 in two vs 18). But here's the real kicker. Look at the ingredients, straight from their website:

ingredients:

WATER, SUGAR (SUCROSE), CORN MALTODEXTRIN, MILK PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, HIGH OLEIC SAFFLOWER OIL, SOY OIL, WHEY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, MEDIUM-CHAIN TRIGLYCERIDES; LESS THAN 0.5% OF: SOY PROTEIN ISOLATE, SHORT-CHAIN FRUCTOOLIGOSACCHARIDES, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS, CELLULOSE GEL, MAGNESIUM PHOSPHATE, POTASSIUM CITRATE, POTASSIUM CHLORIDE, CALCIUM PHOSPHATE, CALCIUM CARBONATE, POTASSIUM PHOSPHATE, SALT (SODIUM CHLORIDE), CELLULOSE GUM, CHOLINE CHLORIDE, SOY LECITHIN, MONOGLYCERIDES, C. COHNII OIL, ASCORBIC ACID, m-INOSITOL, POTASSIUM HYDROXIDE, CARRAGEENAN, TAURINE, FERROUS SULFATE, dl-ALPHA-TOCOPHERYL ACETATE, L-CARNITINE, ZINC SULFATE, CALCIUM PANTOTHENATE, NIACINAMIDE, MANGANESE SULFATE, THIAMINE CHLORIDE HYDROCHLORIDE, PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE, RIBOFLAVIN, CUPRIC SULFATE, VITAMIN A PALMITATE, FOLIC ACID, CHROMIUM CHLORIDE, BIOTIN, POTASSIUM IODIDE, SODIUM SELENATE, SODIUM MOLYBDATE, PHYLLOQUINONE, CYANOCOBALAMIN, AND VITAMIN D3.

CONTAINS SOY AND MILK INGREDIENTS.

Let me ask you something. Do you see the words apple or lettuce in there? I don't either. This is what we're feeding our kids! Makes me want to scream, not that it would help. On top of that, nineteen of the words in that paragraph are not recognized by spell checker.

When I was young, fat didn't count as a fruit, but then again, when I was young, spanking was still legal. Shows how old I am I guess. I'm going to go eat a serving of green beans. Because I can. So THERE.

Oh, and Mom and Dad, when you read this; a big THANK YOU for bringing us up right. Eating the REAL vegetables. I'm better for it.

Until next time,
:)