Sample Lunch!

Grocery shopping days have always been a highlight for my kids. Not for the hours of shopping with Mom. Though I think they kind of like that too. Not even for the random things they talk me into getting for them occasionally. But for that magical thing those large stores provide that no one else does. SAMPLES! However, now with this quarantine I have opted to leave the kids out of grocery shopping. This had led to a lot of disappointment for them. One of the times I was leaving for shopping I was asking everyone if there was anything that they needed from the store. Leonidas (my spunky little 4-year-old, one of the twins) gave me his request; samples please.

Up until that moment, I thought that they were probably missing going out to the pools, parks, zoo, and other adventures. Never would I have thought that they missed the little highlights like that. So, in that moment Sample Lunch was born.

A sampling of many items at home to try some things we know we love and some new items. This is a fantastic opportunity to get your kids to willingly try a random item you aren’t sure they will willingly accept. This last time I tried some candied ginger that I plan to use in a new recipe just to see how they liked it. Two out of three loved it, the third always tends to be more spice sensitive.

The concept for sample lunch is super simple. You portion out a variety of items into small dishes, napkins, or toothpicks. Once you have them portioned out, I like to scatter them around the house just for fun to mimic the sample stations you find throughout the stores. I then recruit whoever is home to serve are vendors to advertise their products and entice the customers to try the products. The kids then try to find the sample stations in the house and collect their yummy samples.

We have done sample lunch many times now and it is always a hit with the kids. In fact, I get asked for it almost weekly. This is a fun way to break up the routine and allow the kids a little fun. I love how the kids get excited for this small event and it gives them a fun safe outlet to try new items.