Max was having a friend to sleep over last week. He is a lovely little boy, easy, polite and eats well. I say he eats well because as I am finding out- having sleep overs for little 7 year olds can be a bit daunting when it comes to meal time. Another thing I am finding out is there are a lot of kids out there that really don't like (so they say) anything but mum's cooking and not just any mums- theirs!
For example, we had a sleep over last year and I decided to do the classic mac and cheese. Something I thought would be a no brainer, however when I served it up this kid was looking at his bowl of pasta with revolt and disbelief.
"Whats the matter little Johnny (for name sake)?"
"I thought we were having mac and cheese?"
Where I replied "Yes, this IS mac and cheese, I just put some beans in so you can grow big and strong"
"I don't like beans.......anyway mac and cheese is orange"
OK what do I do?
"Just taste it Johnny and you might even like it"
"I don't like beans"
(deep breath from me) "So don't eat the beans"
I think you get the gist of this conversation- to cut a long story short, he didn't ever try the pasta and I really didn't know what to do as there were Max and Alex watching with total interest as to how this was going to turn out. I couldn't starve the kid (I would my own) and I didn't want to reward him, otherwise the boys would of jumped on board and all my good work would be out the window......... In the end I told him I'd make him some butter and cheese pasta where by I took his pasta into the kitchen washed it off a little, took out the beans and popped extra cheese on top so it looked all new. He ate it!
The next day I told his mum what happened and she rolled her eyes and said at least he ate it.
For me this was challenging and since then sleep overs scare me!
Now back to last week- I asked child A's mum what he did and didn't eat.
"Everything, don't worry and if he doesn't then to bad"
Wow I thought could this be true? Anyway that afternoon the boys were doing laps in the back yard, throwing the football around and generally not stopping until they were exhausted.
Max loves anything burger-ish so I went to work on my pork mince. It was a burger that simply happened due to what was in the fridge.
I served them up with oven roasted chips, put the plates down in front of the boys and held my breath.
"Cool- chips!" was child A's response, I breathed a little
Within minutes they were all munching into the burgers and not a word was spoken until their tummies were full and plates empty. To tell you the truth I don't think they even stopped to breath let alone wonder what the ginger flavour was. Nic and I on the other hand were hooked and enjoying every last bite!
So next time you have some pork mince in the fridge, why not throw it together with some fresh ginger, corn and a few other bits and bobs, grill it on the barbie and enjoy this little treat.
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