Savouring The Bite - A Food Journal Of A 3 Year Old Princess

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Pauline is one of our favourite French princesses..

She may not like 'bits' in her yoghurt but Pauline sure does love her food.  It's an ambitious project, but I followed little Pauline around for a couple of days to carefully document her usual intake.


I must admit, as I was on holiday this weekend, Pauline was up much earlier than I so I missed breakfast with our little princess.  I've been told that her usual choices are cereal, crepes, fruit or little morsels of bread with jam.  She feeds herself and does enjoy a chat whilst she eats.


Lunch usually commences with a salad of some description like cucumber or delicious pieces of melon.  These were especially sweet and juicy.

Pauline chatting away during her starter...

The main always consists of meat with vegetables.  This may or may not be accompanied by puree (potato), pasta or rice.  She's brilliant to feed and will happily eat her portion of vegetables such as spinach or a salad consisting of carrots, bell peppers, tomatoes or cucumber.

It really was a delight to see Pauline enjoying her greens so much.  She's a natural model and was more than happy for me to photograph her in exchange for chit chats whilst she ate her meal.  She really does love telling stories and is a bit of a chatter box, so she does benefit from a little bit of supervision to ensure that there is more 'eating' than 'story telling' at the dinner table.

Let's verify that the spinach did make it in..

Yes I think it's safe to say that it has.  Isn't she a brilliant model?

The meal is usually sealed with fruity yoghurt or a slice of fromage - two of her favourite things!

Speaking of favourite things, she does adore sweets.  Strawberry sweets are her favourite flavour (or so she tells me).  I must confess that I did offer her a couple whilst we worked on a puzzle.  She likes to take little bites at a time to savour each bite of her treat.

A short nap later, Pauline will be found zipping around in the garden in her chubby 'leg motored' wee car.  She will stop often for sips of water and a snack of bread with cheese or fruit.

The evening meal is very similar to lunch, consisting of meat with vegetables.  The meal is always followed by yoghurt, cheese or fruit as well as lots of play in the garden with her sister.  There's the trampoline (she thinks it's tram-pauline and named after her)! So no surprisingly she loves the 'tram-pauline' and her little car.  She's a very active little girl.

Thank you so much to princess Pauline and her parents for featuring on the blog.  It's so wonderful to know a little girl with such a fantastic appetite for food and life!

Do You Grow Your Own Vegetables?

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It's true, I am in France again for a long weekend, but instead of the South of France, we are not far from  Paris where the weather is very similar to England.  There was a bit of sun today so I shouldn't really complain.


What I really want to share with you today is that the flowers on the table are from the garden (except for the white bouquet) and the cucumber salad are also home grown.  Isn't that super? 


There must be so much pleasure from growing your own little vegetable patch.  I have not grown anything myself but if you are needing a little bit of inspiration, then you may be motivated after viewing the photos below.

The home grown wild cucumber depicted above was delicious and incredibly flavoursome.  Who could have thought that cucumber grown with tender loving care can taste so good?

I was terribly impressed with the courgettes, simply amazing!

The French green beans were splendid to view and equally delicious.  Brilliant idea.

The peach coloured roses were summery and complemented the rose vin beautifully at dinner!

The purple and white flowers are unusual and yet so delicate with a wild beauty.  They are also from the large garden.  If you know what they are called, please do comment below.  Would love to know it's name.

If you've got that green thumb and you are considering growing your own vegetables, then I do encourage you to do so.  Gardening is a great way to de-stress and you will no doubt take so much pleasure from the fruits of your labour.


This cucumber salad was simply delicious.

If you are worried that any attempts at a vegetable patch equates to plants that perish secondary to neglect from day one, perhaps you'd like to start with herbs instead.  You may prefer the thought of growing basil or chives.  How hard can it be, right?


If you do grow your own herbs or vegetables, then please do give me any tips or advice that you would like to share!


Have a wonderful weekend, lovely readers.

How To Get Your Little One To Eat Greens

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You may think that it’s a luxury to have your kids enjoy eating their greens, but it’s an easier task to achieve than you think.  Before you roll your eyes and shut me down completely, here’s a true story.  My girlfriend recently gushed in joy that her 15 month old boy ate spinach after months of battles with the greens.

He would hopelessly throw his vegetables on the floor for his own pleasure (much to the dismay of his tired and annoyed mum).  Don’t get me wrong, this little boy is gorgeous and gives me an arm work-out every time I lift him in my arms.  I am sure that he is over the 50^th percentile for both height and weight on his growth chart. 

So what’s the problem?  Well it’s that moment in every mum’s life when her son or daughter starts refusing their greens.  How do you cope with it?

My chosen weapon of attack is known as the disappearing act.  If you are missing the trick, all that you need to do is to puree the green item and mix it in with the main meal.  For example, my Creamy Mushroom And Asparagus Risotto With Spinach worked a treat!  The little one hardly noticed that the spinach was included in the dish and devoured it like magic.

When oceans of tears are the last thing that you want to deal with after a hard day of work and hours in the kitchen, then this is one practical suggestion that can be incorporated on a daily basis, when you need to ride through the temporary phase of ‘I will not eat the yucky greens’.

Never force your child to eat something that they don’t like as you run the risk of feeding aversions.  Instead, encourage them as much as you can and try the refused food a few days later.  

Secondly, you could try presenting the same dish with the spinach cooked in its ‘whole’ form  once he or she starts eating it in the pureed version.  Chances are that you will have dinner completed in thirty minutes fuss free and you’ll have your secluded moment with that irresistible new book that you’ve been dying to read before bed.

Did you know that cucumber is one of the easiest things for children to eat?  It’s relatively plain, has a pleasing texture and has a high water content which the kids will love during summer.  As a pre-dinner snack, cut up cucumber sticks along with the children’s favourite veges for them to help themselves to.  You could seat them at the table and leave a small plate in front of them and then seriously, just leave them to it. 

No need to say a word.  Chances are, they will enjoy picking up the cut up vegetables and will help themselves without any encouragement from you.  Soon, you will be bonding over greens with your little ones.  Go on, give it a try!  You have nothing to lose.

How do you encourage your children to eat their greens?