Market Strategy
“Is their really a strategy for taking kids to the market”? You have to pay forward a bit but the rate of return is well worth it. My girls get me through our trips to the grocery store with their enthusiasm and their eye for savings. I do realize not every kid is going to aspire to attend the Cordon Bleu in Paris for culinary school. But just maybe every kid can find their curiosity and some adventure at their local market.
It hasn’t always been easy taking the girls to the market. I had three kids under the age of three, but there are a few things to make your trip a little easier. I began by talking about the foods we would need to look for at the market. It takes energy to spot the exact items on our list. Chatting about trying new foods, how we were going to prepare them and who we would be sharing the meal with were part of my early strategy. As they got a little older we could talk about what foods were healthier than other foods and even price comparison. Now Lilly and Audrey can point out a healthy bargain a mile away. I actually prefer to go with them to the grocery store now!
Have kids help make the list. They can make their own list even if you can’t read theirs, you still have yours and they feel included.
Discuss any new or unusual foods you might be buying, talk about how fun it will be to try a food they have not had before.
Make sure they are not hungry for your trip to the market.
Show them how to pick out fresh veggies and ripe fruit, all produce is not created equal.
Try and shop when it is the least busy, early weekend mornings are a good time to venture out for a fun filled learning experience. (Bring along your patience)
Allow them to choose one healthy item they can snack on in the car on the way home, when you are at the register and they ask you to buy gum or some other item remind them that they have their snack already in the cart.
The very important part of this strategy is to involve them in the kitchen to help with the food preperation. Even if they lose interest after washing a veggie or two, they usually stay in the kitchen a little bit longer every time. You won’t believe it when they are reading the recipe to you or chopping your onion!!!
Related Posts :
Salad, especially for kids should be a starter course. When kids are at their most hungry is the best time to introduce veggies and greens. For kids salad can be finger food, they love using the dressing as dipping sauce. ...
This place is so cool! We just took a trip to buy our seeds for our garden at the Seed Bank, home of the Baker Creek Seed Company in Petaluma California. This seed store is very unique, it is in the most beautiful old ban ...
One of our favorite foods happens to be a fungi -- mushroom fungi that is! But please don't confuse them with slime molds, rusts and yeasts that are also a part of the fungi family. There are an amazing variety of mushroo ...
We had so much fun picking blackberries at our good friend Angela's family ranch. Eating some, picking some, there is nothing like tasting a berry right off of the bush. Picking your own fruits and vegetables can be so co ...
