I’m generally an outgoing and social person. I like to chat. And I certainly like to give advice. Some people like that about me, others probably think I think I’m a know-it-all. But I certainly like to learn from other people too.
I’m a firm believer in the Law of Attraction. If you’ve never heard of it, I suggest you google the movie “The Secret” and you’ll get a high level view of what I’m talking about.
So, I was at Tesco this morning after the school run. I had little time as I left Miss A sleeping at home and she normally wakes up between 10,30am and 11am (in case you’re wondering, Daddy was there too).
I had 4 birthday presents to buy – one for a 6 year old, one for a 1 year old and two for 4 year olds. All girls. Parties all happening in the next 3 weekends… Phew, I’m tired just thinking about it.
Anyway, I got everything I wanted (and a few extra things) and when I got to the tills, every single till had someone with a trolley full of stuff… as it happens when you have only a few things and are pressed for time.
I thought of the Law of Attraction and thought how nice it would be if a new till opened “just for me”… and the funny thing is that it in fact did open… but I got distracted looking at some veg, and missed the boat – another person with a trolley full of stuff got there first.
So I queued behind a lady who seemed to be the most inexperienced shopper I have ever seen… she was taking ages to pack her things. Still, in that moment, I decided to be positive, and PATIENT! I had already put all my stuff on the roller and the next person comes. A lady from Asian origin. The first item she put on the roller was a pack of green pasta. I was curious… and being the person that I am, I took the opportunity to strike up a conversation…
“If you don’t mind me asking, what’s that?” to which she replied “It’s spinach pasta”. “It looks very cool… do you have kids? Do they eat it?” She said she had it at a friend’s house and the kids loved it. I thought it was a great idea… I told her that my kids are at a phase that they look at a plate of vegetables and even before they tasted anything they say they don’t like it. Well mostly Miss Z says it, and Mr A (the repetition clock) just says the same thing. They do eat it in the end, but I wished they *loved* vegetables rather than tolerate them.
So we carried on our little chat (by this time, I was actually happy the other lady was taking so long). She said that a good way for her to get their kids to eat stuff like spinach or aubergine is that she cooks it, lets it cool down, mixes it with yogurt, and voilá, you have a fabulous dip that the kids love.
She said that they are strict vegetarians so she needs to be creative. Another dish that she told me about, was aubergines sliced and then drizzled with olive oil, cooked in the oven. Then she puts lentils, with the aubergines and white sauce in layers, and makes a vegetarian aubergine bake that the kids not only eat, but ask for more.
So, there you have it… right there in the queue to pay, I got 3 excellent tips for getting some good healthy stuff into the kids. And now you do as well 🙂