Green Eggs and Ham: It’s Not Lucky Charms, But It Does the Trick

With Valentine’s Day in our rearview mirror and St. Patrick’s Day up ahead, there are some really unique things you can do to include your children in holiday activities this year. Although it has no relation to the actual day of celebration, anything the color green tends to make the wearer (or, in this case, the eater) celebratory! So for St. Patrick’s Day, we’re proposing you let your kids in on a bit of the fun and make them Green Eggs and Ham for breakfast, lunch, or even dinner.  It will have other families turning green with envy when they see you’ve found a trick to satisfy a picky pint-sized foodie.

The old Dr. Seuss classic story of “Green Eggs and Ham” has long been a favorite of children of all ages and even some adults! It was first published in 1960 and has since sold more than 8 million copies. The concept is basic: the protagonist says he doesn’t like green eggs and ham, despite his counterpart (Sam-I-Am) suggesting he should try them in a house, in a tree, in a car, and so on. Spoiler alert: he tries them, and, of course, he loves them. There will likely be scads of St. Patrick’s Day festivities throughout the state of Texas that commemorate the namesake Saint and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland (which is more about religion than green beer, but hey…). Kids, too, can be let in on the fun with a serving of delicious green eggs and ham, as made here by Paula Deen on the Food Network.

GREEN EGGS AND HAM

Key ingredients for this recipe include:

Eggs

Ham

Blue Food Coloring

Although you might be questioning the choice of food coloring, fear not. Paula Deen knows what she’s doing! The Food Network shares a full ingredient listing for this Green Eggs and Ham recipe, together with all of the steps necessary to plate a dish even the fussiest of kids will find fun to look at and eat. If your kids aren’t particularly cool on their meat mixing with their eggs (because, hello…fussy), you can swap out the ham for slices of bacon, and simply fry them up and serve them on the side.

You can also share this meal with them if you’re feeling particularly Irish, and if not, you can spend some time explaining the true meaning behind the celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, and why it has become what it is today. In truth, any holiday celebration can be turned into an event that is inclusive of kids and explained in a fun, respectful way. If you opt out of celebrating (because you’re neither Irish nor interested), you can still keep this completely cool recipe on hand for the days when you’re not entirely sure even a leprechaun could grant your wish that your kids would eat anything other than Lucky Charms!