Ketchup is a Vegetable,Right?

Thanks to Old Man Winter,we've been iced and snowed in the past couple of days.I think,in fact,that the school system has exceeded their allotment,and now we will be into some spring break.And its only January.I think "Old Man Winter" is a menopausal lady with a hot flash,but I dont think that its PC to say that on the news.So,we've been cooped up some more.Except Jake,and Neil.So when I say cooped up I mean,me and Levi.Yes,I was a bad Mama and didnt bundle the little monkey up to play in the snow.Maybe I will later today,since Neil is off and can play too.Todays projected hi is 39,but right now it feels like 19.Thats cold.So Im looking out the window at Natures Beauty to some,Wrath to others.
Meanwhile,Im haivng trouble with Levi and eating.He has perfected BLLEEEKKKK! shaking his head,clamping his mouth shut,and letting us know,it just aint good.Per Neils request a while back when we were trying something new all the time,Ive cut back on that.Im adapting oldies,but goodies to lower fat,and they cant seem to tell.We eat the normal fare,pork,pinto beans,meat loaf,cabbage,spagettii,stuff like that.No more Kugels for us,at least not for a while.Its meat and taters.But I like color,so we have to have something green.I do the normal,or what I percieve as normal,meat,carb,veggies kind of supper meals.Levi is in total revolt.hes not fond of green beans,almost any way I fix them.Sometimes I use onion and some beef bullion,other times I use some vinegar and sugar and bacon.The rest of us eat em.I love cabbage too.My gang loves it.Its cheap,and to me versitle.I normaly "fry" it.With a bit of onion,some pork,maple syrup and apple cider vinegar.We can eat a whole head like that.But not Levi.Ive found he will eat it boiled and thats about it.Oh,I can understand the bold flavors of vinegar him not liking.Thats fine.But almost everything at the dinner table these days gets the bleek.even stuff hes liked beofre,or heck,even yesterday. He loves bread,and fruits,and last night ate some canndied carrots.I think giving him pop tarts for a quick breakfast has been a mistake.But he loves them.Hes very active,so hes not really fat either.Oh,he's a moose,but hes just big all over.He used to LOVE bananas.I craved them almost from the day I found out i was pregnant with him.Banana's and banana flavored stuff.I couldnt get enough of it.He normally eats one a day.Not lately.I think he may be a bit burnt out on them.He loves apples,grapes,pears,stuff like that.So I know hes getting the nutrients he needs.Hes not loosing weight.Hes just become this tyranical picky eater!I didnt have this problem with Jake.There are very few things I know he does not like,so I dont make him eat them.But he will say,Well,I used to not like that,but maybe I will now.so he at least tries anything once.With Levi it started one night when I cooked baked fish,sweet potato salad and green peas.He sat there,fork in hand,ready to dig in,and tried everything.And to everything there was a bleek.Ok,so all of us did that night too,aside from the peas.But thats when I can pin point that it began.I googled picky toddlers this morning.the advice is not to worry,its normal.They know when theyre hungrey and will eat when they are,give them a variety of foods,set a good example by eating your veggies too,and on and on.I do that.we show him how good and yummy the supper is,only to be met with head shakes,and face squinching and body shakes.Im serious!He munches during the day.I give him breakfast,a morning snack,lunch after nap,a mid afternoon snack and supper.and even sometimes,since we eat kinda early,I give him an after supper snck too,right at bed time.I dont mean junk either.sure he gets a few cookies once in a while,but not candy and stuff.I know sometimes hes starving before it gets supper time,so i have to give him a late snack,adn then hes not hungrey at supper.I can understand that,and then later,he will go back to his plate at the table,and eat.So,Im not forcing him to eat when hes not hungrey.and trust me,he may not talk well,but hes good at saying eat and pointing,and when you ask him if he wants fruit snacks he nods or shakes his head.or says Sopngebob,which means yogurt,{i buy the gogurt tubes}Or cheese,or whatever he can think that he wants.Some of it,may be,the attention he gets.One of the articles I sped read disccused pushing boundaries,and getting attention.at the supper table,he normaly has all 3 of us there,to talk to.He even will join in the conversation with his bable.We eat 6 out of 7 suppers a week at the table as a family.Its important to me to do that with my family.Very 1950's I know.But its how we like it.On the nights Neil works,its about the only time we have as a family to be all toghether in the same place.So 2 nights ago,we all sat down to a normal meal,I had made before.It was cold out,and the food was hearty.Levi bleeked at all of it.Including green peas he normally shovels in.So after him distracting all of us from our meal,I took his plate of food he was smearing around,and on the table and I put him down.The TV is not on during supper time,so I didnt turn it on then either.But he entertained himself just fine.But then last night,we had a revamped version of the same food,but with carrots instead of peas.and rice instead of egg noodles.{id made beef stroganoff}.He loves rice,{i use brown instant},so I put very little beef stuff over it,and even put cheese on it too,since I know he loves it.NOPE!not a chance.So after racing my brain,the words of Neils best buddy Matt came to mind."Ketchup is a vegetable".Hed asked me to make him a meatloaf on one fo his trips up here to help work in the yard.When I told him I put shredded carrots in it,and whatever else veggie I could hide,he asked me to make something else.lol.I was like,but Matt,you gotta get some veggies in it.Thats when he told me Ketchup was a veg.So Jake got out the bottle last night,and Levi ate his dinner.I read the bottle seriously for the first time ever.aside from lycopine,there is no real nutriatve value to ketchup!it has carbs,sugars,and sodium.But he ate it! So,I learned a lesson last night.One I didnt know I needed to learn.If I put ketchup on it,he will more than likely eat it!
We shall see how tonights meal turns out.Im thinking isnce we're all here cooped up Ill make a pot of chicken noodle soup.And if I have to disguise the celery,carrots and onion with a squirt,I will! And ill mix in a lot of cornbread too,that way its ketchupy mush.Man that sounds gross,but whatever works,right?