A Tasty Compromise: White Rice
I cook white rice for my boys and they love it! There, I said it. Now what?
As a mom, many times I find myself reflecting on the grandiose nature of my responsibility – Wow, the fate of this little person completely rest on: the values that I teach him, my commitment to reading to him, the food that I feed him and the knowledge that I share with him. Seriously, think about the pressure. For example, in our household, my husband and I made a commitment to build our boys’ vocabulary – essentially giving them the gift of self-expression. As a result, most days we are constantly bombarded with questions such as “what does ‘independent’ mean?” Most days, I live up to our commitment, but I will be honest and say that some days I just don’t want to put in the effort to find the answer. On days when I have a “Homer” (and not the author Homer of the Iliad and Odyssey, but more Homer Simpson) moment, a question like “what does ‘independent’ mean?” may get the answer “it means whatever you want it to mean!” Moms are constantly under pressure to always do and say what is right. The same pressure applies when it comes to nutrition. With the innovation of the internet, we have real-time access to information about parenting and nutrition and real life examples of the Ms. Honeys of our time. As a result, decisions, including the less stellar ones like feeding your child white rice, are often very well informed.
When we learned of our oldest son’s food allergies, we introduced rice into his diet. It was the first real food that he ate sans vegetables and protein and he loved it. In fact, three and a half years later, my little person loves to indulge in a bowl of plain white rice. That’s right, we didn’t introduce brown rice even though I am aware of brown rice and its benefits (when compared to white rice). We opted for taste. White rice has served as a building block in our son’s diet. Whenever we want him to try a new vegetable or protein filled food, we add it to rice or rice-based products like rice noodles or rice flour. One of our early and simpler recipes was “Spinach rice”, and later, “Spinach rice noodles.”
Zomppa’s Spinach Rice
Spinach Rice
3 handfuls of organic spinach
1 and 1/2 cups of rice
2 teaspoons of olive oil
sea salt
1. Saute spinach in a pan with a little salt and olive oil.
2. Add three cups of water to a pan and let it come to a boil.
3. Add the rice to the boiling water.
4. After most of the water in the pan evaporates, add three teaspoons of olive oil along the boarder of the rice and tightly seal the lid on the pan.
5. Decrease the temperature to low heat and let the rice simmer for a 1/2 hour or so.
6. Put the sauteed spinach in a food processor for 2 to 5 pulses.
7. After the rice is cooked, we mix the spinach in with the rice and let it simmer for an additional 5 minutes.
The result: Spinach rice.
When using rice as a building block, we didn’t worry about our son’s taste buds becoming dependent on rice. His buds didn’t. Our son now loves to eat leafy greens like spinach and collard greens sauteed with garlic and red onions.
So now what? Should I try to correct my decision and introduce brown rice into my boys’, especially my oldest son’s, diet? Of course. I know the benefits of brown rice. My goal is to introduce brown rice and my wish is that brown rice will eventually replace two to three servings of white rice per week. As a mom, I became comfortable with the fact that accomplishing the greater goal of raising a healthy child who enjoys nutritious and healthy foods may require small compromises along the way. White rice was a compromise, but one that proved to be an incredible and fundamental building block to healthier eating.
My affirmation statement for today - I’m ok with not being perfect!
Category: Featured Articles: Health & Nutrition, Health & Nutrition, Kids & Food, Recipe Vault
Great Post! I understand that parental pressure you describe. It a tricky balance to give kids what they want AND what they need!
Yea, brown rice is supposedly healthier than white, but both has been served for thousands of years. I love the taste of both.
We are a white rice fan at our home…. I have cooked Indian for so long that the flowery taste that you can only get from long grain basmati is just not there with the brown rice. I have read that for ease of digestion, white rice is the way to go. Our new favorite in this home is 1/2 long grain basmati and 1/2 quinoa… we love it (and the kids) I would not serve this though if making dahl and rice.
Thanks for responding. I love the idea of mixing the rice and the quinoa.
You ARE perfect! The perfect mommy to your kids!!!! It is your attention to detail and their needs that allows you to find the best way to promote healthy eating and nutrition in their diet – specific to their needs. Wonderful post and awesome recipe!
Spinach rice sounds terrific, very healthy! My daughter is a big fan of rice as well.
You are such a great mom to your kids. I am so with you about our children’s healthy diet. What a great post. I love the spinach rice recipe.
Spinach rice sounds delicious for grownups.
I made a rice gruel and spinach dish for my baby who is getting ready for table food but never thought to make spinach rice for the rest of our family. I’ll have to try this w/ brown rice. I was able to convert our family to brown rice earlier this year by mixing white/brown for a little while then going all brown. 
Spinach rice is a wonderful recipe! In Greece it is a staple dish. Spinach with white rice, spring onions and olive oil cooked almost your way.
I can imagine how hard it can be to feel that kind of responsibility towards your children. It sounds to me like you’re doing a great job!
Magda
oh this recipe looks great and I’m sure your boy appreciates it!
I love all kind of rice, I could live on rice alone. There is so much you can do with it. Spinach rice sounds great.
I agree with you! It is so hard to be a mommy
I think being a parent has got to be one of the hardest life jobs one will encounter, and I’m not even one myself! Are you noticing that more and more kids are getting food allergies? I remember growing up and there’d be one or two kids in a classroom. Now I’m hearing it’s super common.
Love how you’re helping your child as best as you can. That’s all anyone can ask for, right?
I love white rice as well. You just can’t go wrong with it
I could never give up rice. I prefer the taste of white rice but any rice is fine by me.
This is such a great post! I always wonder how mothers balance the fine art of getting their children to eat well and getting them to eat at all. My super picky eating was the bane of my mother’s existence so I imagine my future children will reciprocate
As for white rice, I think it’s one of the most comforting dishes ever and totally worth it 
That sound so good:) Great post!