If your kid won't eat it...

What makes you think mine will?
It never ceases to amaze me what people will donate to a food pantry! In hard times like these, a lot of us depend on food pantries to survive. Don't get me wrong, I am EXTREMELY grateful. It makes the difference between one sustaining meal a day and none. But I must confess to receiving food I have never heard of and have no clue how to use them. Some foods are a regional thing. I mean, Ralph lived in Florida for 8 years growing up. He knew about black beans, red beans & rice, and turnip greens. I however thought you ate the turnip and threw the greens away. Silly me!
I, to this day, have no idea how to prepare some of these foods and am not sure i am brave enough to try. I have had kale as decorative edible greens raw in a salad. I haven't a clue how to use a can of kale. I can only guess, since it resembles spinach, that it might be good hot with a little vinegar or butter. I am not sure. I am guessing the same solution would apply for turnip greens.
I have eaten asparagus, fresh, creamed asparagus, and found it delicious. I have never had it canned. I thought the flavor of the fresh was similar to green beans, but the texture more like that of broccoli stems and pieces (poorman's broccoli, since we can't afford the crowns) I have a can of asparagus spears and a can of tips, both of which are sitting in my cupboard, waiting for me to discover their purpose.
I had fresh broccoli from my sister's garden. It was wonderful except for cleaning it. I remember the days of soaking it in salt water and seeking out the little worms that like to hide in the crowns. That sounds so royal, so rich, broccoli crowns. Almost as if we aren't worthy of eating them. We stretched them to three meals Two meals had cooked, buttered broccoli as a side dish, and the stems served as ingredient for a yummy hamburger and veggie soup.
I mentioned turnips earlier, which I have never had cooked in my life. The few times we had them, Mom had sliced them raw as a snack for me. I also have always been a big fan of raw potatoes. It made peeling and preparing them more bearable. To me, zucchini was always floured and fried in shortening similar to the method for fried green tomatoes. Juli love those, though the appeal escapes me, other than the book and movie of the same name.
When Ralph and I first started dating, he brought venison burger and steaks and cooked out on the grill for my whole family. I had NEVER had any kind of game before. I (gamely! pun intended) tried it. I only ate it a few times more. I stopped when I got violently ill when I was pregnant with Juli after eating deer meat. His family are big aficianados of venison. They hunt it too! To me, it will always be eating "Bambi"! Since then, I avoid anything resembling beef at family get togethers. It's just safer with a family that ENJOYS hunting!
When I was growing up, as a daughter of two people whose families survived the depression eating game, we had 'store bought' meat. My parents both preferred meat that wasn't hunted. We rarely had fish, though Dad & MIke both loved to fish (a sport I LOATHE!!). I know logically that by and large, eating fish is supposed to be healthy for you, but the only fish I ever developed a taste for was McD's fish sandwich on rare occasions, and Gropp's Famous Fish of Stroh, a regional chain of restaurants that had an amazing beer battered fish, that I think was cod, but I am not sure.
I have in recent times, discovered you can eat Hamburger Helper, without the hamburger. You have to make minor adjustments, but it can be quite good. It will also work with just a few ounces of meat too. We found out that you can stretch a pound of ground beef to four meals, or one time even six, if you have to. Some foods don't work well together, but when you are desparate enough, you will try anything. Such times as these, bring out the inner creative cook in you. For example, we had a casserole recipe that called for corn tortillas. It mada a great macaroni dish too.
Anyway, if you aren't the unfortunate ones needing a food pantry, when you donate, remember, if your kid won't eat it what makes you think mine will? (although, she may have been the only two year old to cry for salad at McDonald's)