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I’ve always tried hard to have healthy foods in the house and teach my kids about healthy eating habits. It kind of goes along with the job (both my professional one and the mom one). However, I don’t enjoy cooking and am always looking for ways to put nutritious food on the table quickly and simply. Some of that simplicity involved buying baby carrots. I’ll get back to that in a minute.

I have recently upped my efforts to buy foods that are as fresh as possible. Pat McCoy, our Nutrition Services Director at MLMH has turned me on to the fabulousness of the sweet potato and how it cooks so wonderfully (and easily) with all sorts of other vegetables. I’ll suggest to Pat to post an article about cooking with sweet potatoes, since she is the authority, but I have to tell you how great they are on the grill with some cabbage, onions, mushrooms and green peppers! As a result of this newly found affinity for sweet potatoes, I realized my vegetable peeler just wasn’t cutting it (pun intended. I went on a quest for a really good vegetable peeler, made a purchase and am amazed at how much difference it makes! So suddenly, I’m really enjoying peeling. I’m peeling everything I can think of just so I can feel those sharp blades slice smoothly across the skin of the vegetable. I like to go towards me and away from me. Sometimes I use quick, short slices and sometimes I go for the really long slice. There is something about peeling vegetables that is soothing and relaxing for me. Maybe I need to get out more. I think I’ve set a new record for fastest cucumber peeling. Now I just need to get a better knife, so I can increase my slicing proficiency!

Back to the carrots. While doing my grocery shopping one day with my nine year old daughter, she points to a bag of whole carrots, “Are those carrots, Mom?” “Why, yes they are”, I respond, thinking how silly that question seemed. “Do they taste like the little carrots we eat?” she asked. “Oh dear” I thought to myself, “my kids have probably never had big carrots! We must remedy this”. We head home with our big bag of big carrots and I can hardly wait to get in the house, thinking about this fabulous opportunity to peel and peel and peel. I peel several carrots and put them on the table for lunch. My six year old son asks, “Mom, are these carrots?” Jeesh. There goes my nomination for mother of the year. “Yes” I replied, “taste them.” Oh my goodness were those big carrots a hit. My husband even commented on how much better they tasted and I had to agree. There was a definite taste difference. So now we are on a big carrot kick. We have them with meals and we have them as snacks and I – well I get to peel to my heart’s content. If you haven’t actually peeled a carrot yourself for a while, give it a go. It’s a healthy treat for the whole family and the therapeutic value is priceless!

About the author: Becky Sullivan

Becky Sullivan is the Business Health Coordinator at Mary Lanning Memorial Hospital. She earned a Master of Science Degree in Health Promotion from Nebraska Methodist College. In her role at the hospital she works with local businesses in setting up wellness programs and activities, coordinates community health education programs and directs the MLMH employee wellness program. She is also co-chair of the Hastings Chamber of Commerce Wellforce committee, member of the Hastings Health Ministry Network and member of the Healthy Hastings coalition.