Brought home one of Ingrid’s friends for the afternoon. Lots of splashing in puddles on the way home. They painted a bit, and then played with sticky tape, putting bits of sticky tape all over themselves.
As always, when we’ve got other kids here, I make an effort to come up with a meal that they will eat. And as always, I fail. I pick something that Ingrid will bolt down, something that doesn’t have any challenging unusual ingredients, isn’t weird in any other way… Every time I think I’ve finally come up with something foolproof, but every time the guest ends up eating only the boiled potatoes on the side, or equivalent. Today I made “veggies on a stick”, grilled veggie skewers, with bell peppers, carrot, apple and zucchini. Ingrid squealed with delight. I mean, what child doesn’t like apples and peppers? Apparently there are such children.
That is too funny :) Here in the UK, whenever kids have playdates, the safest food (if it can be called that) is fries and sausages! :| I have had kids who don’t even eat spaghetti bolognese or lasagna, not to mention soups of any kind.
Most kids get very dull food at home. Dinner usually consists of one starch plus one ready-made meat, and some raw veggies on the side to make it sort of healthy. Rice and fish fingers, potatoes and falukorv or meatballs, spaghetti bolognese, etc. Or potato latkes with jam.
I refuse to cook food that I view as having near-zero nutritional value – nothing but starch, heavily processed meat from the cheapest parts of the cow, and salt and padding.
I suspect these kids are never confronted with new food or new ingredients at home, or even familiar ingredients in a new form. Ingrid on the other hand is used to asking “what is that?” and has now learned and accepted that she is expected to at least try it.
Though honestly I suspect some of them would even refuse meatballs, just because they’re not at home, and the plate looks different, and the ketchup bottle is the wrong shape.