Is This Just Crazy?

[KarenSue]

Great idea! This sounds so fun! I would make a poster of some fun facts and then make the favorite foods of the country for lunch.

[Josiegirl]

I talked with the older kids this a.m. and asked if they'd like to do states again or countries. They were excited about countries and picked England, Mexico, Spain, and either China or Russia. I told them they could pick 4.

It'll be nice to have them involved with some activities but I always ask myself when do I get to enjoy the 'hazy lazy' crazy' days of summer.

So if anyone does do this and picks any of those countries, ya got any ideas?

[LysesKids]

I talked with the older kids this a.m. and asked if they'd like to do states again or countries. They were excited about countries and picked England, Mexico, Spain, and either China or Russia. I told them they could pick 4.

It'll be nice to have them involved with some activities but I always ask myself when do I get to enjoy the 'hazy lazy' crazy' days of summer.

So if anyone does do this and picks any of those countries, ya got any ideas?

I've got menus for all of them ... breakfast, lunches & snacks; I love to cook, so there will probably be some new stuff your kids have never tried.

[Laurel]

I kind of like the states idea also. Wondering if I could find enough regional foods to do something like that. My kids are not really into trying new foods, so I am trying to find some fun ways to encourage them to try some. It is amazing when I get them to try things and they like them. I have one who was afraid to try baked potatoes. Swore up and down she hated them. Now she asks for them .

We kept it pretty simple, maybe 2 things from each state. We only ended up doing a few states. We started with our own state, Florida, and made fresh squeezed orange juice. Then we baked a 'beach' cake another day. Sand was brown sugar, ocean was blue cotton candy, the beachgoers were teddy grahams lying on fruit stripe gum 'towels'. Some fish crackers were in the sea.

Then we did Kentucky where they have a lot of caves so I got a video from the library about spelunking. We darkened the playroom, moved furniture, used blankets and such to make a 'cave' to explore. We crawled around and under things, etc. with a flashlight.

[Laurel]

... and also the quotes from Mike and Thrifty that I was too lazy to put in here

so, okay.

• beets (cooked) - 1-2 cans
• carrots - either 1 can cooked, 2-3 large cooked or steamed, or 8-10 baby cooked or steamed
• potatoes - either 1 can cooked whole or 2-3 whole, peeled and cooked
• pickles - the official recipe says "2-3", I used more like 4-5 kosher dills (larger ones), but I like it pickly
• sauerkraut (I use German or Bavarian, but again, it's the taste preference) - 7-10 tbsp...? okay, I just grab a huge serving fork and plop 2-4 of those into the dish. do not drain it.
• beans - 1 can of any white variety.
• oil - 3-4 Tbsp (but again, see how much salad you have in the dish and feel free to add more if it's too dry); I use avocado oil, but any you like will work.

beets, carrots, potatoes, and pickles need to be cut in small cubes (almost diced, but not mashed). beans need to be drained and washed. sauerkraut goes as it is.
the trick: first, put the beets into the dish, then mix it with oil. beets leak color onto everything, and mixing it with oil first makes the salad multi-color instead of beet-red. doesn't affect the taste, but may make it look more appealing. then mix everything else in.
letting it stay in the fridge for a few hours or overnight makes it better (probably because it's cold).
I eat it with meatballs and bread. or just with bread (I prefer rye).

the salad is called Vinaigrette. has nothing to do with the dressing.
there is no official document about how the name came about, but I found this legend.
a French dude was visiting Russian palace. he wandered away from the royal part of the palace (again, the legend didn't clarify why; maybe he was looking for a bathroom) and got lost. he came into the kitchen, and the cooks didn't know French and got scared... so they decided that whatever that French man says, they will agree with (smart, I know). if he is a spy, at least, he won't have a reason to complain. he sees someone making this salad, and the salad smells of vinegar (from pickles and sauerkraut). he comes up to the table and asks, "oh! vinaigre?" and the cooks start happily nodding and saying, "vinaigre! vinaigre!"
eventually, the French guy finds his way back to France, comes home and tells his cook that those Russian people make this yummy salad, but he doesn't know what it's called. probably vinaigrette because it has vinegar in it.
somehow, Russian cuisine has quite a few dishes with French names: olivier salad, Napoleon cake, vinaigrette... I wonder if that French dude from the legend had a hand in those, too.

I think I'll try this. It sounds so weird and such a weird combination of things together that I'm curious to see what it could possibly taste like. Thanks!

[Laurel]

We did the same thing; maybe you were the one that gave me the idea!!
I had each dck pick a state, we got books from the library, found out what popular regional foods they had, and tons of facts. We made an A-Z chart and listed all the things we could think of pertaining to that state, did lots of crafts, it was a blast. All ages enjoyed it but it was a lot of work and the kids, towards the end of the summer, were just done with it. So I think the last couple weeks we just played.
Hmmm, maybe I should talk to the dcks this week and see what they think about doing it again. It's difficult though, when you've got all ages.

The country thing sounds like fun though too!

I didn't do quite as much as you but it was fun!

[Josiegirl]

I kind of like the states idea also. Wondering if I could find enough regional foods to do something like that. My kids are not really into trying new foods, so I am trying to find some fun ways to encourage them to try some. It is amazing when I get them to try things and they like them. I have one who was afraid to try baked potatoes. Swore up and down she hated them. Now she asks for them .

We didn't stray too far from what I suspected they'd like. We did Alaska for one state and we had salmon. Maine was another state so blueberry pie, Massachusetts has baked beans. Vermont maple syrup. For Vermont we made butter out of cream. It's fun and even I learned new stuff.

[Mad_Pistachio]

Thanks for sharing. Not sure my kids would touch a beet or sauerkraut. If I do it I may have to make a very small "just tasting" recipe. I get the feeling my DCK''s hardly ever see a veggie.

The recipe is very forgiving. If someone doesn't like beets and/or sauerkraut, then just skip those.
I like to add chopped red onions (about 1/2 of a large one), but, for instance, my brother hates onions, so if we make it for where he will be, we just go without them. Same can be applied to any other ingredient, really.
In 18-th century, they could add hard-boiled eggs or shrimp to it. I never tried those.

[Mad_Pistachio]

I think I'll try this. It sounds so weird and such a weird combination of things together that I'm curious to see what it could possibly taste like. Thanks!

My favorite description of Russian cuisine is "whatever's left from last night gets chopped and mixed with mayo" :: (this is the only one I can easily recall without loads of mayonnaise)

[Laurel]

My favorite description of Russian cuisine is "whatever's left from last night gets chopped and mixed with mayo" :: (this is the only one I can easily recall without loads of mayonnaise)

:: That is how I make soup. Just throw leftovers in some broth. Usually it turns out wonderful. Someone else said they call that 'Once in a Lifetime' soup. Love that name! ::

[Miss A]

I actually do they menus from different countries starting April 15 every year thru Summer and I have babies; my littles have eaten Mexican (yesterday), today was suppose to be Turkish menu, but there was a water main break right at lunch so i had to switch last minute to a practical, no cook lunch for the most part... Wed is my hard day because not to many countries start with a W . Thursday will be Thai, Friday this week is French... next week I switch countries again and Monday will be Morocco and Friday will end with Finland

Last year the ethnic variety was crazy, but I don't have any picky eaters; I do breakfast, lunch & snack from the country of the day... makes some interesting eating - these kids have eaten stuff even their parents haven't . I look up my menus on Friday nights so I can shop for the week on Saturdays

Can I eat with you? I love different ethnicity's food, and would eat my way around the world if possible!

[LysesKids]

Can I eat with you? I love different ethnicity's food, and would eat my way around the world if possible!

This is the next closest to eating around the world as far as I know ... I'm using Wednesday as my odd letter day; any country that doesn't start with the letter of the week - most of my littles love spices so that's the easy part... today we had a Mild Mussaman Curry for lunch. This afternoon it's dumplings for snack... my 3 eaters are all under 14 months