Real meat or not?

For those who are not aware of this fact: When you go to Boo at the Zoo you come home with lots of candies & coupons! Most of the coupons are free kids meals at various fast food places.

Many of you know we are "food snobs." What does this mean? It means that My Crooner and I like good meat, good veggies, good fruits etc. and are willing to spend the money on real food. I grew up with my mom cooking most things from scratch and we ate very little sweets or preservatives.

YES, of COURSE we went out to eat once in a while and had soup from a can here and there,ate sweets, but this was very rare.

We have been raising our boys in the same manner. Thus, our boys have never been to McDonalds. We usually will eat at a more "expensive" (I put this in quotes because we all know how relative that term is) place like Lazlo's where we know they are using 100% beef and no fillers.

Today we used our 3 Free Hamburger Happy Meal coupons. This conversation took place in the van as I approached the drive through:

Philosopher: "Umm, Mama I am not liking that place with the M"

Me: "Joseph, what do you mean?"

Philosopher: "Well, this is the place that doesn't use good meat isn't it? I'm a little nervous about eating their meat."

Me: "Well, that is true, they don't use the best meat, but if you eat there once in a while it isn't going to hurt you. It's people who eat stuff like this all the time, that's not good for their bodies."

Philosopher: "Well, okay but I'm not to sure about this."

At home as they were eating:

Philosopher: "Umm, mama, this hamburger is okay, but it's not really as good for my hemoglobin like other meat right?"

This is coming from the same child who LOVES Honey Mesquite Turkey Breast from the deli! Can we say nitrates?

Me: "Yes, this meat is also good for your hemoglobin, but it's just not the best meat to eat. The only reason we went there is because we got 3 free happy meals."

Philosopher: "Yeah, and free toys."

Me: "Right, and free toys."

They ate their burgers and fries but were more impressed with the toy that came with the meal. I'm glad our boys are getting conditioned on good and bad food, but sheesh-I would not have imagined such a conversation with my 4 year old!

The good thing is that even at such a young age, my two "older" boys seem to already appreciate certain things I make. I think a lot of this has to do with how My Crooner reacts to my cooking. When he verbalizes appreciation at my efforts in cooking and being able to eat healthy on a budget the kids see this and what a wonderful feeling for the wife & mother...to be appreciated! :-)