This blog is all about a little project we instigated for our children Ryan (5), Ethan (2) and Sam (8). Ethan is mainly oblivious, but occasionally a dish does ellicit an excited ooh! or ahh! and a giggle.
The kids were getting stuck into a pattern of only liking a very few specific meals. And I mean specific – we’d serve up the usual Spaghetti Bolognese and they’d eat it no problem, albeit spaghetti first – then the saucy mince separately.
And needing a little variety, we thought we’d just throw that same bolognese mixture in layers with pasta sheets and a milky cheesy sauce and call it lasagne – and voila! There were tears before bedtime – they weren’t having a bar of it – there was no way they’d believe that it was the same as bolognese – apparently it didn’t taste like it either – *sigh* – we needed a plan because I was getting a little tired of the same dishes week in and week out.
My wife and I thought it would be good to introduce them to new food in a fun way – and so the International Dinner Project was born!
At the beginning of each week, they’d take turns at choosing a country from our globe, and on the weekend we would cook them a three course meal of traditional dishes from that country. With mainly positive results (on both the cooking and kid’s enjoyment of the meal fronts). And who knows, maybe a little geography might rub off on them as well!
We had been posting these on Facbook just for our family and friends, but there was such a great response to the idea, some of our friends said we should do a proper blog about the dinners and here we are now!
Great idea! I know how picky kids can be!
Thanks! We’ve found the earlier we can have dinner the better – they’re more open to trying new food – because they’re not starting to get into bedtime/grumpyness mode…
OH MY GOODNESS – I love this idea! I think this is so much fun & I would love to start doing something fun like this with friends (and hopefully one of these years with some kids of my own)
Thanks – I imagine it’d be just as much fun with friends, if not more, because you wouldn’t have to convince them that a whole country full of people eat this “weird looking stuff” everyday (well, depending on your friends I guess
). AND a big bonus, each friend could do one course – making the workload lighter!
What a creative and fun idea!
Thanks!
Awesome idea! I love armchair food travel, lol
I love this idea. I can see so many benefits, so many possibilities. I’ll be introducing this to our family too – not because the kids are picky eaters just because it is a fantastic idea!!
I’d love to hear what you end up doing!
Love the concept! I should definitely try this with my picky eater! He won’t eat my food. I swear he’d rather eat something from Mongolia or Latvia before diving into whatever is on his plate!
It’s the international desserts that always are a hit with the kids… little surprise there… although they have enjoyed a lot of the dinners too, and a few of those have made it into the regular cooking rotation.
Thanks for sharing. I absolutely love the concept!
What a brilliant idea!!!
Pingback: Bing! « theskiesweshare
travel can be cheaper
nice one
I love projects such as these. I guess because I have a food project of my own.
I’m sure your children are going to be so grateful to grow up with such an open-minded approach to food. I adore world food, and this looks like such a great learning experience!
This is a brilliant concept. It’s great that you’re broadening their horizons from such an early age. You’re raising little adventurers.
I love this idea. Creative parenting at it’s best!
Love the concept. My goal is to eat my way around the world and have never turned down a food when presented to me. You are instilling a great thing in your boys. What a fun adventure.
Pingback: Beyond Cooking: 10 Experiences in the Kitchen for Children « 52 Brand New
I love this idea! We love to try new foods and the idea that they will be learning about the world while expanding their taste buds is AMAZING! I can’t wait to get stared.
If you would like any recipes please let me know!
It’s great to see other families try this out too.
Pingback: Exploring America...Hawaii
I’ve been doing this for a few weeks now and discovered your blog because, alas, there aren’t many sources of greenlandic receipes. Excellent job, photos, presentation — wish I’d found it sooner…
Definitely do the coffee! It’ll either wake you up – or knock you out!!
If you need any recipes let me know!
I have followed your journey for a while and wondered if you were interested in submitting a post to a new event called Our Growing Edge. The event aims to compile a monthly snapshot as to what bloggers are doing in terms of new challenges with food. This monthly event aims to connect and inspire us to try new things.
A growing edge is the part of us that is still learning and experimenting. It’s the part that you regularly grow and improve, be it from real passion or a conscious effort.
I hope you and the boys can make it. More info can be found here: http://bunnyeatsdesign.com/our-growing-edge
and here:
http://www.inlinkz.com/wpview.php?id=233654
Sounds fun, I’ll have a read through it this weekend and email you about it.
Thanks!