The Green Bean Monster

The other day at dinner I told E he could have a juice bar, a favorite dessert, only if he ate at least one green bean. He has never been fond of green beans in their natural form. He wasn't even all that fond of them as baby food but he would eat whatever was put in his mouth then. Now it's all "No" and "I don' wan' it". The allure of a juice bar is strong however so he picked up a bean and tentatively put it in his mouth. He pinched off a bit with pursed lips and then did it again. Then the entire bean was eaten, then another and another.

"Mo'e p'ease." I spooned a few more beans on his plate. He ate them.
"Mo'e p'ease." I did it again and he ate all of those. I asked him if he liked them, his relpy was simply "Cookie Mon'ter".
"Are you the Green Bean Monster?"
"Yeah!" He ate all the beans we had.

The next night he wanted nothing to do with the chili mac I made -- he is not big on left overs that are reworked into other things. Chili mac is mac and cheese mixed with leftover sloppy joe, it's not bad but E was having nothing to do with the meat. He would put a fo'k full in his mouth and separate out the 'roni from the meat and spit out the meat. I served green beans with this meal and he pretty much just ate the beans.

He is particular about his beans though, they cannot be in something else. I used some leftover beans in beef stew. He was having none of that, gravy and beans should never meet. He refused to eat dinner.

Green beans are not the only vegetable that he will eat. He loves corn too. Tonight we had lasagna, a dish he has had before and just loved, and left over corn on the cob. I found the little corn holders for the ends of the ears so you don't burn yourself or get too messy with all the fixings. Neither was really a problem tonight. I served the ears unadorned with butter or other toppings and the temperature is what a coworker would call 'piss warm'. Perfect for a toddler. E refused to eat the lasagna and made a meal of an ear of corn.