When I received a trial of Annabel Karmel Fuss Pots, it couldn’t have come at a better time. We had two friends to tea, one of whom is a ‘recovering’ fuss-pot, so they would be the ideal little people on which to trial the pots.
The little pots are the latest in a range of foods by the Under-5’s Food Guru Annabel Karmel, created with fussy eaters in mind. They come in four flavours: Spaghetti Bolognaise, Nasi Goreng, Chicken Korma and Chicken Chow Mein.
I served two pots to four children, in bowls. Although they can be eaten from the pot, this struck me as a little like encouraging your children to eat on the go, and I presume the point of the pots is to encouraging enjoyment of food and better eating habits.
I have to say that all four children looked at the food and refused to eat it. I have a “You don’t have to like it but you do have to try it” policy in my house, but all children took that on board and tentatively took mouthfuls. And they all proceeded to clear their bowls. In some cases, seconds were required and even the fussiest eater ate very well indeed.
I have a couple of comments regarding the pots, which can be recycled, or used -as the packs suggest- to grow herbs in. Firstly, if you are encouraging children to ‘outgrow’ the fussy behaviour that seems to be a right of passage between the ages of 3 and 4, is it not better that you all eat the same meal, as a family, to encourage them? By serving fussy children separate food are you not perpetuating an issue?
Secondly, I would suggest that if you are using these pots to feed genuinely fussy children, the fact that the component parts of the meal- in our case, rice, chicken, sultanas and sauce- need to be thoroughly mixed after heating in the microwave and before serving could be a problem. Surely a fussy child would have issues with the mixing of different tastes and textures?
The Annabel Karmel Fuss Pots are available at Sainsburys.
*disclosure: I was sent vouchers to cover the cost of Fuss Pots for the purposes of this review. No payment was received. All opinions are my own.
Go on! You know you want to tell me what you think!