Catering for the under-nines can be demoralising.
Tuesday's delicious, home-made veal meatballs (with spaghetti and tomato sauce) were shot down in flames by the six year old. After a scene worthy of Meryl Streep, she ate one. ONE! (sigh) The eight year old ate all of his, but declared them tasteless. (Admittedly I still don't add much salt to their food.)
On Wednesday, lamb kofta with couscous met a similar fate. The eight year old did eat his lamb but found the couscous 'boring', whilst his six year old sister told me how much she doesn't like lamb. In her hurry to shovel in the couscous, she decorated my kitchen table and floor with the tiny grains. (That stuff gets EVERYWHERE!!)
The most successful meal is breakfast. A plate of blueberry pancakes is noshed up in minutes. I use wholemeal self-raising flour and yoghurt to up the nutrient content and serve them with more yoghurt and a pile of chopped up, fresh fruits.
I also sneak some more healthy bits into a smoothie, blended up in the Nutri-bullet. Linseeds, (more) yoghurt, banana, strawberries and semi-skimmed milk are also consumed with no complaints.
And they always love their food to look like grown-up food. Pop a strawberry on the side of the smoothie and those smoothies - and the strawberries - are gone in minutes.
I also take a bit of time to dress up their snacks. I found an old dish from a previous children's party and filled that with (mostly) heatlhy snacks.
Cucumber, carrot, pepper, dried strawberries and mini-cheddars were disposed of in minutes. Smiley faces all round - mine included.
