Spinach, Fruit Salad and Berries!

We love spinach and I often serve this wonderful vegie in many different ways. I tend to use mostly frozen spinach as according to the "researchers" it is supposed to be healthier than fresh. Fresh spinach, once it reaches our supermarkets has obtained a high count in nitrate. Different to the frozen variety, which is frozen straight after plucking is healthier and low in nitrate.
Morning Snack: I mixed a sandwich filling with spinach, cottage cheese, corn, diced chicken breast, 2 teaspoons low fat mayo, a pinch of thyme, salt and pepper and a tiny shot of olive oil. Mix this well. I used finnish bread and spread a bit of butter and filled with the filling. The whole thing went into the sandwich maker with the gill plates inserted (the sandwich maker has three different types of removable hot plates - normal one that makes the sandwiches, grill plates and waffle plates). Press the sandwich maker together and let the bread crisp nicely. The fruit salad is a made with plums, apples, strawberries, melon, oranges, kiwis, grapes and some almonds my mum brought from Dubai (thanks mum). Yummy!

Afternoon Snack: A scrumptious pancake filled with blackberry jam and a black berry yoghurt with frozen mixed berries on top. Very berry indeed!
I got an email from a reader asking me why I always (almost always) gave Soeri yoghurt in his box and how did I get him to start eating the yoghurt, as her daughter would not touch anything "yoghurty". The reason Soeri gets a portion of yoghurt in his snack box is because he hardly drinks milk. A bit with his cereal at breakfast or a cup full at the KIGA with the afternoon snack is as far as it will go. I try to supplement this with additional sources of calcium like yoghurt, cheese etc. I used to buy these little kiddies yoghurt that we get in Germany (Frucht Zwerg etc.) and for us the organic yoghurt we get in jars. Soeren always used to eye these up and one day I just put the whole jar and a spoon in front of him and he just felt so proud to be eating "grown up" yoghurt. Ever since then I almost always buy the jars and "fine tune" it a little with fruit/cereal/granola additions. I think kids enjoy just being a part of the ritual with the grown ups. They see us how we eat and they want to be a part of that too.

Adult variation: If you cannot find finnish bread to make these then any other bread will do just fine too. I plan to use the leftover filling in pitta bread for lunch today. The pancake are easily made and you can substitute with any type of jam you have at home. The frozen berries keep the yoghurt fresh and cool until its time to eat.