It wasn't that Sam didn't appreciate his mom cooking a nutritious meal. Nutritious meant healthy, according to Sam's mom. To Sam, it meant not tasty. Not as tasty as the food from McDougal's--especially the fries with ketchup. You could ride your bike and eat the fries at the same time. Or pizza. Sam loved pizza. Everybody loved pizza. But Sam’s mom said pizza wasn't "nutritious" to eat every night. A side dish of broccoli was healthy, she said. Yuk! The only way Sam could eat broccoli was when it was covered with ketchup.

Sam liked to eat dinner at his friend Randy's house.  Actually, Randy's family didn't have dinner together. Usually Randy's mom ordered pizza and everyone grabbed a slice and did whatever they wanted. Not like at Sam's house, where the whole family had to sit and eat a "nutritious" meal together and share their day.

Nobody asked Randy or his sister or brother what they did during the day. But ever since that problem with Randy's brother, Sam isn't allowed to go over there anymore. Sam's mom said she would add a cheese sauce to the broccoli that would be tasty and nutritious.

© 2007 Martha Conte. Original for CCF (Conte grants CCF first electronic rights for one month; CCF may archive the material indefinitely and include it in an eBook anthology).