This Is What Sasha Obama Typically Eats In A Day
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Sasha Obama is growing up so fast! While the first daughter usually flies under the radar and isn't known for giving interviews, the world did get to see a snap of her in May of 2019, all decked out for prom and slaying some serious lewks. It's hard to believe our girl is the same person who was just 7 years old when her father officially became the president of the United States. Where did the time go?
As Obama continues to blossom into a beautiful young woman, chances are she'll be the kind of person who eats a healthy and well-rounded diet. That's because her mother, First Lady Michelle Obama, spent her tenure in the White House educating the people of America on how to eat properly. She even grew a garden on the White House lawn, showing just how committed she was to the cause.
So what does the younger Obama sister typically eat in a day? Does she avoid sweets or does she like to indulge in them? And what will you find on her dinner plate? Here's everything we know about what Sasha Obama eats daily.
Breakfast is going to be healthy
What would a typical breakfast look like at the Obama family table? It's highly likely that what Sasha digs into wouldn't be too different than what Michelle was served on an episode of Sesame Street. "Mrs. Obama, here is your breakfast," the character Chris said to her, as he brought a tray to her table. "I see we have oatmeal, and we have low-fat milk. We have some fresh yogurt and a tasty fruit salad." Michelle thanked him for bringing it, and she pointed out that it was a very healthy offering. She also extolled the virtues of breakfast and affirmed that everyone should make sure to eat it.
Well, if mom is going to go on national television and vouch for breakfast as a vital meal, you know she's not going to let it slide at home. So Sasha's likely to enjoy a healthy morning meal just as much as Grover enjoyed Michelle's. Or perhaps she'll change it up and nosh on some eggs, turkey sausage, and grapefruit, like the first lady has eaten on occasion, according to NBC New York.
Fancy school lunches
Like many first children before her, Sasha Obama spent her high school days at the prestigious Sidwell Friends in Washington D.C. The Quaker school is known for its cooperative learning model, diverse student body, and, of course, its famous alumni. Did you know Bill Nye was a Sidwell grad? So was Charles Lindbergh, which is a pretty impressive name to have in your yearbook.
What you might not know about Sidwell — though you might have suspected it — is that the cafeteria sounds downright amazing. They have hot options, vegan options, a full salad bar, a make-your-own deli bar with all-natural offerings, and more. And the daily menu sounds more like something you'd get at a restaurant than at a secondary school lunch room. For example, on May 29, 2019, you could enjoy Afghan Salata Romaine salad with roasted chickpeas. Or you could opt for the curried chicken with carrots. And on June 5, 2019, you could help yourself to a build-your-own pasta bar with roasted vegetable toppings.
With so many delicious offerings, Obama clearly has had access to a super tasty lunch every day. That sure beats the typical chocolate milk and cafeteria pizza!
Mom makes sure she eats her vegetables
If there's one thing you can guarantee that Sasha has to eat when she's having a family meal, it's definitely going to be vegetables. And that's because mom and dad make sure that everyone at the table has to eat them. "I think as parents we have to realize, as I tell my kids, vegetables are something that has to be a part of your diet," Michelle explained in an interview with the Food Network. "So we'll find a few that you like, but there has to be a vegetable, and you have to finish it." Yup, there's no escaping that!
Mom means business too, as she definitely lays down the law about what gets eaten and what gets left behind. "You can skip the pasta, but you've got to eat the vegetables," she continued. It makes you wonder if Sasha has a favorite (it's confirmed that she likes broccoli), or if there are any veggies that she truly dislikes. It's known that Michelle dislikes beets and sister Malia doesn't like snow peas — maybe she's just not that into bell peppers? Or perhaps asparagus is not her thing?
...And might sneak them into her meals
It's not just the green section of the plate that contains veggies in the Obama household. Michelle also sneaks vegetables into main dishes, something she started doing to diversify her children's palates when Sasha was only 8 years old. "If you start out by making your macaroni and cheese with a little cauliflower puree, so they get the taste of the cauliflower, the taste of too much cheese will be too much for them," she revealed in an interview with the Food Network. Doesn't that sound just a little bit like cheating, guys? Isn't mac and cheese a sacred dish?
But we get it. Mom also started diluting fruit juice with water when the kids were young so they wouldn't crave so much sweetness, which Sasha and Malia both complained about, but only at first. "They make the changes themselves now because they can't drink purely concentrated juices, and it's too sweet," she continued. "It doesn't taste good to them." Chances are, then, that Sasha opts for lower sugar beverages and isn't a soda addict. That's a parenting win right there!
Does she like her grandmother's mac and cheese?
Speaking of mac and cheese, Michelle's favorite version of it is the one that her mother, Marian Shields Robinson, prepared when she was younger. "My favorite dish growing up was my mom's mac and cheese," she recalled in an interview with Food & Wine. "She didn't make it often, so when she did it was special. It was creamy, delicious, warm and cheesy...very, very cheesy." Um, can we have a plate too, Michelle?
Michelle and her mother very much have a relationship, too, as Robinson moved into the White House with the first family in 2009, according to The New York Times. And while Barack and Michelle were on the campaign trail before that, it was Robinson who was the primary caretaker of Sasha and Malia — taking them to appointments, putting them to bed, and, of course, cooking their meals. To that end, it's highly likely that Sasha was treated to grandma's mac and cheese on special occasions. Is there anything more comforting than that?
That famous family chili recipe
It's a well-known factoid that Barack Obama has one special recipe that he likes to make for his family and friends. "I've been using this chili recipe since college and would bring it to any potluck," he shared in an interview with the North Coast Journal. "I can't reveal all the secrets, but if you make it right, it's just got the right amount of bite, the right amount of oomph in it and it will clear your sinuses." Yum!
So what is it that makes this recipe so special? For one, it has a whole tablespoon of chili powder, which is where that kick comes from. He also adds three tablespoons of red wine vinegar, which would give it a nice acidity level. That's on top of more traditional ingredients and spices like onion, garlic, cumin, turmeric, and a pound of ground turkey or beef.
Now that Barack is out of the White House, chances are he's able to cook dinner for the fam more often. And we bet you dollars to doughnuts that chili is on the menu when Sasha sits down for her evening meal with mom and dad.
Chances are she's a fan of seafood
Growing up in the White House obviously meant that Sasha Obama didn't have a typical childhood and adolescence. For one, everyone in the country knows who she is, and every move she makes is in the public eye. It must be hard to get a bit of normalcy when you have the Secret Service following you everywhere!
But according to the Boston Herald, Obama was able to score a bit of normalcy in the summer of 2016, when she got a job at Nancy's, a seafood restaurant on Martha's Vineyard. "She's been working downstairs at takeout," confirmed a server at the restaurant. "We were wondering why there were six people helping this girl, but then we found out who it was." Well, almost normal.
You can find lots of delicious seafood offerings on the menu, such as clam chowder, lobster rolls, fish and chips, and clam strips, to name a few. Chances are Obama had the opportunity to dine on one or more of these tasty ocean offerings during her tenure at the restaurant.
Dinner time is family time
When Michelle Obama was growing up, her mother cooked dinner on a working-class budget. That established the family in a pattern of making sure that dinner time was family time. "We would sit around the table with the plastic tablecloth, and that's when we would catch up and we'd talk about what we were eating, talk about what was going on in the day," she recalled in an interview with Cooking Light. That's a good way to help a family maintain its bonds.
That tradition is something that Michelle carried with her into adulthood with her own family. And even though the Obamas have certainly ascended from a working-class status, "the conversation and the mood and the tone are still the same" during meals, Michelle noted. She added, "[Between 6:30 and 7 p.m.] is our most important time of the day." To that end, Sasha Obama's friends probably know not to text or tweet at her during those hours — she's busy, y'all!
But there's one dinner she might be sick of
We know that if Barack is cooking dinner for the family, chili is likely to be the main dish. But what about when Michelle cooks dinner for Barack and the kids? "The other day they were reminiscing about one of the meals I used to make all the time, which was this baked chicken," she recalled an interview with the Food Network. Specifically, she would prepare "chicken legs, seasoning them in the morning, coming back, popping them in the broiler or the oven to let them cook and get a little crispy outside because it made it seem like fried chicken." That's a super tasty alternative to KFC, and much, much healthier.
On the side, Michelle would serve either couscous or rice, along with a big pile of steamed broccoli, making for a very well-rounded and nutritionally balanced plate. Plus it only took her 15 minutes to cook, and she always had leftovers. But the problem is that she made it too many times, and the family got sick of that dinner, presumably Sasha included. We think it sounds delish, though!
Deep dish or thin crust pizza?
On Sasha Obama's very last night in the White House, she and her sister decided to commemorate the occasion. "They had a sleepover," their mom shared in an interview with Today. What better way to say goodbye to the place you called home for eight years? Certainly that was a hard place to say goodbye to.
Of course, a sleepover isn't a sleepover without snacks. So, on that final evening, what did Sasha and her sister decide they wanted for dinner? "Because my girls are so normal, they're like, 'Well, eight girls are gonna be sleeping here because it's our last time, and we want pizza and we want nuggets,'" Michelle said. Excellent choice, ladies! We'd do the same.
As to whether they ordered deep dish or thin crust, that remains a mystery. While Michelle has gone on record in favor of deep dish (specifically from Gino's East in Chicago) and Barack is known for his endorsement of Pi Pizzeria in St. Louis, Mo., Sasha hasn't yet given any public statement in the great pizza debate.
She'd eat burgers and fries every day if she could
When you think of the quintessential American meal, certainly burgers and French fries are at the top of the list. There's a reason there are so many fast food restaurants dedicated to serving them in the United States! And while it's not exactly the healthiest combination of foods, that doesn't stop plenty of people from piling in the car and hitting the drive-thru on the reg.
So, of course, a good burger and fries are at the top of Sasha's favorite food list. "Malia and Sasha are like every kid in America," Michelle revealed in a video with CNN. "If they could eat burgers, fries, pie, cake, ice cream every single day, they would because that stuff tastes really good." Same, girl, same.
But, under Michelle's watchful eye, that's not likely to happen. "What we try to practice and what I try to teach our girls is balance," she continued, noting, "We have very clear expectations in our house." So maybe once in a while Sasha can indulge, but not every day, for sure.
Shaved ice and ice cream are sometimes on the menu
Barack Obama is truly a man of the world. He's lived in places as far-flung as Indonesia and right here in American cities like Chicago. But at heart, he's a citizen of Hawaii, as that's where he was born and where he spent his childhood. And when Barack returns there for vacations or other matters, there are a few places he likes to visit, according to Honolulu magazine.
One of the places he frequents is an ice shave shop in Kailua called Island Snow, a tradition he has passed onto his daughters as well. "His daughters come many times — they just come and stand in line," said James Kodama, president and CEO of Island Snow Hawai'i. "Secret Service is with them but it's not so intense security. They stopped in five times last year." We bet Sasha enjoys the treat as much as her father does!
Kodama added that the sisters do get recognized at the shop, but they fit in with the crowd and "stand in line like everybody else."
She has a penchant for watching cooking shows
In late 2018, Michelle Obama published her highly anticipated memoir, Becoming, and gave readers an unprecedented look at what life was like during her eight years living in the White House. Of course, that also meant that people could learn even more about what private life was like for daughters Malia and Sasha Obama as well. What kinds of hobbies did they have? And how did the family juggle quality time when dad was always busy?
As it turns out, our girl Sasha developed an interest in the culinary arts, and she wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty with food experiments. "Sasha and her friends had taken a shine to cable cooking shows," Michelle wrote in the book, "and sometimes commandeered the residence kitchen to decorate cookies or whip up elaborate, multicourse meals for themselves." That's certainly a fun way to spend an evening! Plus, you know the White House kitchen is going to be fancy with all kinds of high-end equipment to use. Lucky!
As to what those meals were specifically, those details remain unknown. Still, it sounds like Sasha can call herself a chef in her own right.