I would definitely add 'hidden veg' into this list. Not veggie snacks, but the idea that you have to hide vegetables in otherwise unsuspecting food to get kids to eat it. I have known friends make pasta sauce which is basically a puree of 12 vegetables, and congratulate themselves on their healthy choices. But their kids are mistrustful of anything that looks like a vegetable if it isn't a cucumber stick.
It's hardly engendering better ways of choosing if you communicate that vegetables are so horrible that you have to hide them away. Spag bol that is 50% courgette is revolting, child or adult.
Yeah I’ve made pasta sauce like this from time to time, and often thought it would be an easy way to get our five-a-day in. The problem is it sets off the kids’ bullshit detectors! You’re absolutely right about the courgettes. It makes the sauce turn brown and they can taste it anyway.
I swore I'd never do it, but would just make nice vegetables instead. It's working alright. They don't love everything, but 95% of veg pass.
I read something early on which said 'kids will eat any veg, if it has enough butter/garlic butter/cheese/cheese sauce on it'. (Prob applies to all adults too). Their own pot of something to dip into also works. Any good dressing. I grew up with plain boiled veg only, so it's a wonder I even like the green stuff.
I won't say the experiment is fully complete, but at my parent's house the other day, my 6 year old was ignoring his pasta in favour of the salad. My mum said 'oh, you're saving the best to last!' and he said 'no, I just really like this salad'.
Thank you for a fascinating read!! There's one huge domestic-labour-tastic advantage to Fruit Shoots: they spill less. If you're having a party or playdate, make a lovely big 1950s housewife pitcher of squash, let the children pour it themselves Montessori-style, then wander off with the cups, you are looking at multiple squash spills, some of which will probably only reveal themselves after the wasps find them 😭
Unless the bottle is full (unlikely, because as you mention they hoover them) the sucky cap keeps it all contained. Even if they do leak, it's less drama than a full cup of squash going everywhere.
I recycle, ride a cargo bike, and avoid flying and fast fashion. But the second another child is visiting my home, it's Fruit Shoot time.
To be honest a good base for all my chilli’s, bolognaise and curries is rooted in making a ‘soffritto’. I learned the idea from ‘Jamie’s Italy’ (Jamie Oliver) cookery book, and it’s a great way to not only get a hit of veggies but it’s a great way to use up veg and salad that’s slightly past its best..even soggy green mixed salad bags from the super market. It also gives depth and texture to the food.
1. Cooking "something" at home is a good thing. It doesn't have to be a big deal. How hard is it to make an omelet? And some green beans? Or put some carrots in a pan with a little water and some butter? With my now 25-year-old amazing daughter, it was this is what's on the table, this is what we are eating. OK... she didn't like fish (except for mussels). I didn't push it. And now she's cooking on her own and loving it and having a big-fat career too. I also made stuff that tasted good. Snacks? Make stuff that tastes better than store-bought. Again, how hard is it to make banana bread? Or chocolate chip cookies? Or an apple crumble. And/or just give ‘em some McVitties or Oaties with Nutella or a Nutella clone. Or a carrot with peanut butter fercrissakes. Or an apple!
2. Squeezy things. Nope. Nope. Nope. Sets them up to be darling little consumers who take a suck of glucose and toss away a darling little plastic bottle that will end up floating in the Thames (I live on a boat, next to the Thames, let me tell ya...). Jeez... I can proudly say that my kid never sucked on one of those juicy box things.
3. I'm from the USA (sorry), but I lived in Catalunya for 20 years. I gotta tell you our collective Anglo-Saxon lands are just piss-poor in comparison to how food is treated, thought about, and consumed in Iberia. There is more to life than Tesco meal deals and pot noodles. In Girona (a medium-sized town in Catalunya), I had the mercat (which had everything) and then multiple butchers, cheese mongers, verdurerias, pollerías, fish mongers, colmados (delicatessens), and well-stocked small grocery stores all within a at most 5 to 10-minute walk. I truly love London... but this place is a food desert compared to other European countries. OK, I want to throw a chicken in the oven for lunch. So what should I do? Go to Tesco Express? Rant over.
I would definitely add 'hidden veg' into this list. Not veggie snacks, but the idea that you have to hide vegetables in otherwise unsuspecting food to get kids to eat it. I have known friends make pasta sauce which is basically a puree of 12 vegetables, and congratulate themselves on their healthy choices. But their kids are mistrustful of anything that looks like a vegetable if it isn't a cucumber stick.
It's hardly engendering better ways of choosing if you communicate that vegetables are so horrible that you have to hide them away. Spag bol that is 50% courgette is revolting, child or adult.
Yeah I’ve made pasta sauce like this from time to time, and often thought it would be an easy way to get our five-a-day in. The problem is it sets off the kids’ bullshit detectors! You’re absolutely right about the courgettes. It makes the sauce turn brown and they can taste it anyway.
I swore I'd never do it, but would just make nice vegetables instead. It's working alright. They don't love everything, but 95% of veg pass.
I read something early on which said 'kids will eat any veg, if it has enough butter/garlic butter/cheese/cheese sauce on it'. (Prob applies to all adults too). Their own pot of something to dip into also works. Any good dressing. I grew up with plain boiled veg only, so it's a wonder I even like the green stuff.
I won't say the experiment is fully complete, but at my parent's house the other day, my 6 year old was ignoring his pasta in favour of the salad. My mum said 'oh, you're saving the best to last!' and he said 'no, I just really like this salad'.
Thank you for a fascinating read!! There's one huge domestic-labour-tastic advantage to Fruit Shoots: they spill less. If you're having a party or playdate, make a lovely big 1950s housewife pitcher of squash, let the children pour it themselves Montessori-style, then wander off with the cups, you are looking at multiple squash spills, some of which will probably only reveal themselves after the wasps find them 😭
Unless the bottle is full (unlikely, because as you mention they hoover them) the sucky cap keeps it all contained. Even if they do leak, it's less drama than a full cup of squash going everywhere.
I recycle, ride a cargo bike, and avoid flying and fast fashion. But the second another child is visiting my home, it's Fruit Shoot time.
To be honest a good base for all my chilli’s, bolognaise and curries is rooted in making a ‘soffritto’. I learned the idea from ‘Jamie’s Italy’ (Jamie Oliver) cookery book, and it’s a great way to not only get a hit of veggies but it’s a great way to use up veg and salad that’s slightly past its best..even soggy green mixed salad bags from the super market. It also gives depth and texture to the food.
‘Spirals of deceit’ - I loved this
1. Cooking "something" at home is a good thing. It doesn't have to be a big deal. How hard is it to make an omelet? And some green beans? Or put some carrots in a pan with a little water and some butter? With my now 25-year-old amazing daughter, it was this is what's on the table, this is what we are eating. OK... she didn't like fish (except for mussels). I didn't push it. And now she's cooking on her own and loving it and having a big-fat career too. I also made stuff that tasted good. Snacks? Make stuff that tastes better than store-bought. Again, how hard is it to make banana bread? Or chocolate chip cookies? Or an apple crumble. And/or just give ‘em some McVitties or Oaties with Nutella or a Nutella clone. Or a carrot with peanut butter fercrissakes. Or an apple!
2. Squeezy things. Nope. Nope. Nope. Sets them up to be darling little consumers who take a suck of glucose and toss away a darling little plastic bottle that will end up floating in the Thames (I live on a boat, next to the Thames, let me tell ya...). Jeez... I can proudly say that my kid never sucked on one of those juicy box things.
3. I'm from the USA (sorry), but I lived in Catalunya for 20 years. I gotta tell you our collective Anglo-Saxon lands are just piss-poor in comparison to how food is treated, thought about, and consumed in Iberia. There is more to life than Tesco meal deals and pot noodles. In Girona (a medium-sized town in Catalunya), I had the mercat (which had everything) and then multiple butchers, cheese mongers, verdurerias, pollerías, fish mongers, colmados (delicatessens), and well-stocked small grocery stores all within a at most 5 to 10-minute walk. I truly love London... but this place is a food desert compared to other European countries. OK, I want to throw a chicken in the oven for lunch. So what should I do? Go to Tesco Express? Rant over.
This is so many thoughts I’ve never fully formed myself! Forever just vaguely aware of being scammed. Love!
‘Yoyos are spirals of deceit.’ Brilliant!