I bought some sunflower micro greens at the store recently and was impressed by how much the greens really do taste like sunflower seeds. If you dug around a little in the greens, you could also find tiny premature black seeds that were starting to develop. I thought the kids would love these greens, but sometimes you just pick the wrong time for trying new foods. It happens, maybe we’ll try them again together, because, I, for one, loved them.
ME: Ok, this mystery food….Who can tell me what this? I don’t know if you’re going to be able to guess. Here you can all have one. There’s one for Lauren, one for Emma, and one for Sam. Ok, what is this called; do you know?
KIDS: Um….
LAUREN: I want to do that one (points to another bowl)
ME: That’s called Quinoa. And we’re not doing it as a mystery food because it’s a grain and we usually do vegetables and fruits — but you can definitely have it for dinner though.
ME: Ok, what does it smell like? Does it smell like anything you know?
EMMA: No.
ME: Because you actually know it in a different form.
SAM: It looks like peaches.
ME: These are actually called microgreens, like the very first sprouts of a plant. Can you figure out what plant it is? Let’s see if we can find any of its seeds so that you can guess. So what do you guys have to say?
LAUREN: Hi. My name’s Lauren.
ME: Stop [laughing].
ME: Ok, these are actually sunflower shoots; sunflower microgreens. Do you like them?
LAUREN: (tasting) Kind of.
ME: They’re good, right? Sam, do you want to try it?
SAM: I don’t want to try it.
ME: They taste like sunflower seeds. Isn’t that cool? You want more?
LAUREN: No. No, no, no, no.
ME: Why don’t you want more?
EMMA: I don’t like them.
ME: Ok. Why don’t you like them?
EMMA: I love it.
ME: Oh, you love it now? Good, here’s another.
LAUREN: Ok. may I be excused?
ME: Not yet, we’re not done guys, we’re not done exploring. I think these leaves are really good. They kind of taste a little buttery to me. Do they taste buttery to you?
LAUREN: That’s why I don’t like it.
SAM: May I be excused too?
haha, mystery food – I love it! I do this with my family sometimes, except it’s more guess the ingredients (usually in a murky soup or casserole).
I love these dialogues – your kids are amazing! (You too!)
May I be excused? So polite! Love how you introduce all those new foods to them. Really amazing.