Green Eggs and Ham?!?!

[holly_b]

My daughter's preschool teacher recently read Dr. Seuss' Green Eggs and Ham to the class, and now she is all fired up about eating green eggs and ham. (:spew:) I explained to her that we don't eat ham because pigs are our friends and we love them, but she is just too excited about it and won't let it drop. I'm not sure what to do. Any ideas?

[nataliex1122]

uh oh. I think you should try to get some mock meats, and, green potatoes? Or something like that, but explain to her that it's fake. Sorry I cant think of anything else =/ Good luck though! and by the way, I think your daughter is very very lucky to be growing up with a vegetarian mother =]

[hoodedclawjen]

yeah, i'd go with some mock ham (make your own from tofu, or buy some of those weird fake meats, lol), and if you eat eggs, see if you can get some green eggs from a local farmers market or somewhere- eggs don't just come in white and brown, they come in beautiful shades of pink and green and blue too.

otherwise, i'd either make some green scrambled tofu... put some green herbs, crumbled cooked broccolli, avacado, or spinach powder or something else green in it or something, or for fried style eggs, use a sliced avacado half for the yolk, and some vegan mayo for the white.

or you could just buy/borrow a book like 'the avacado baby' see: http://www.amazon.com/Avocado-Baby-Red-Picture-Books/dp/0099200619 and hope thats her next crazy food fad. the avocado baby is a pretty cool book, incidently, from what i remember- it got my little bro to finally eat something other than digestive biscuits, when we were kids, much to my mothers delight.

[purrpelle]

green eggs and ham don't exist. kids are forever making stuff up- my bosses daughter has been telling everyone for weeks she's a horse, including only eating salad for dinner. why don't you just tell her green eggs and ham are just pretend?

[WonderRandy]

I grew up omni, and my parents never ever made me green eggs and ham. It doesn't have to be an ethics issue. Explain to her that green eggs and ham is make-believe, and when eggs or ham are actually green, it usually means the have spoiled and will make you sick...

[hoodedclawjen]

awwww, but thats no fun :(

[thebelovedtree]

Maybe you could decorate cookies or cupcakes or something to look like green eggs and ham (maybe veganize something like this http://jas.familyfun.go.com/recipefinder/printrecipe?id=50149). Or you could explain that the book is about trying new foods to see if you like them, and even though green eggs and ham aren't real she could go to the store and pick out some "weird" new foods to try (don't know if she is an adventurous eater).

[nigel]

Leave some Ives mock ham on the counter for a couple of weeks.

[ynaffit]

At least they didn't actually have green eggs and ham at her school when they read the book . . . that's what happened when I was in preschool.

[jeezycreezy]

If your kid's teacher read Cat In The Hat would you feel obliged to stuff a feline into a fedora just to appease her? I mean, does your kid have to have everything she wants?

[~Wonder]

At least they didn't actually have green eggs and ham at her school when they read the book . . . that's what happened when I was in preschool.
Us too. Shame on my school.


stuff a feline into a fedora
Great idea!! That'll learn 'em to poop on the bathroom floor. Mu-ha-ha-ha....
Consarnit! They're too fat.
~Wondre :ymca:

[IamJen]

green eggs and ham don't exist. kids are forever making stuff up- my bosses daughter has been telling everyone for weeks she's a horse, including only eating salad for dinner. why don't you just tell her green eggs and ham are just pretend?
I read this post to mean that they were giving the kiddo green eggs and ham at school. As other posters noted, serving these foods as part of class activities isn't uncommon.

[purrpelle]

maybe she should tell the kid that they are muslim and don't eat ham of any color.

[jeezycreezy]

serving these foods as part of class activities isn't uncommon.

I would question the educational validity of feeding young children cholesterol and food colouring.

[berrykat]

maybe read "If you give a pig a pancake" with her and then make some vegan pancakes together and talk about how cute pigs are and that we don't want to eat them. http://www.amazon.com/You-Give-Pig-Pancake-Give/dp/0060266864/ref=cm_lm_fullview_prod_13/002-2887481-7139250

[Indian Summer]

I would question the educational validity of feeding young children cholesterol and food colouring.
I'm not supporting this decision, I'm just saying that it's a fairly common activity.

ETA: That was supposed to be posted by IamJen.

[Keelin]

Scrambled eggs (or tofu, I guess), soy deli slices, and food colouring. Voila. She'd probably be thrilled!

Or for a more natural version, you could scramble the eggs with a bunch of green veg, ie. broccoli, peas, green onion, etc.

[Edamommy]

my ds LOVES that book (he's 3 1/2). And any dr. seuss book, really. In fact, it seems like a lot of children's books make references to eating meat?@?@? have you ever noticed that?

We make a joke out of it and change the "ham" to "tofu" and then have big giggles because nothing rhymes anymore. But, he just knows that some people do eat ham- we don't and obviously the story is about someone who DOES.

[holly_b]

Hey, thanks for all of your suggestions! Fortunately the problem resolved itself. We were at the grocery store the other day and Michaela asked if we could buy some green eggs and ham. I took her over to the meat counter and showed an actual ham to her.
"This is ham--do you really want to eat it?"
She made a disgusted face and shook her head, and that was the end of that. :tired:


If your kid's teacher read Cat In The Hat would you feel obliged to stuff a feline into a fedora just to appease her? I mean, does your kid have to have everything she wants?

jeezycreezy-- I am not an overindulgent mother and am not concerned about disappointing my kids every once in awhile. It's just that there were a lot of other issues in play here. For example, as an author, I hold all books in the highest regard and encourage my children to be as intellectually curious as possible. I do everything in my power to enable them to freely explore their artistic and literary passions. And while I have no intention of buying or serving animal products to my family, at the same time I do not want veganism to be something forced upon my kids.

[froggythefrog]

Oops... I see you resolved your situation. Just for the record:

You can get mock ham at some Oriental Markets. (I saw some at 99B, if yall have those.) You could use green food coloring for the "ham" and a tofu scramble.

[jeezycreezy]

jeezycreezy-- I am not an overindulgent mother

Hey! Me neither!! :up:

[Jessica Alana]

maybe read "If you give a pig a pancake" with her and then make some vegan pancakes together and talk about how cute pigs are and that we don't want to eat them. http://www.amazon.com/You-Give-Pig-Pancake-Give/dp/0060266864/ref=cm_lm_fullview_prod_13/002-2887481-7139250

YAY I remember that (vaguely) and "If you give a mouse a cookie" and "if you give a moose a muffin."

[Tofu-N-Sprouts]

jeezycreezy-- I am not an overindulgent mother Hey! Me neither!! :up:

I am. I am! :vebo:

[Jennifer89]

Use food coloring to make some. Slice up some tofu real thin, then marinate it in green food coloring plus some other spices overnight in the fridge. It'll probally be greener and nicer looking then the other kid's food. Make it taste really good so that their gelouse :D. For the eggs, if your vegan, you can do the same thing, but smoosh the tofu and add different seasonings then you did for the "ham." Make extra for the other kids, if it comes out good, and offer an alternative to "Green Eggs and Ham" to be read. It could be a book like "A Night Before Thanksgiving" (is that the name?) where kids go on a field trip to a turkey farm, and apon finding out the turkeys are going to be used as food, they hide them under their shirts and take them home. Or, be creative, and write your own version to the Dr. Suess story, like this:

(I don't have the book on me, so I can't do this very well)
Would you like green eggs and tofu, Sam I am?
I would not like green eggs and tofu... not in a tree, not with a fox, not in a box, and not in soxs etc.

Or, pull her out of preschool one day and take her to lunch.

[llamapower]

or you could just buy/borrow a book like 'the avacado baby' see: http://www.amazon.com/Avocado-Baby-Red-Picture-Books/dp/0099200619 and hope thats her next crazy food fad. the avocado baby is a pretty cool book, incidently, from what i remember- it got my little bro to finally eat something other than digestive biscuits, when we were kids, much to my mothers delight.
My mum read me that...she says I always used to pronounce it a-VO-ca-DOO! :lol: