Mini Dadventure Series - Food

A dash of spice here, a mix of ingredients there, and we are whipping up something tasty. Now you may not associate cooking with being adventurous, but that where you could be mistaken. Some of the easiest adventure to have on a weekly basis are with food. I recently read an article that said children that are encouraged to eat more adventurously will, in turn, take that adventure out into their lives. Which for me is a definite parenting win and enough to make me want to get them trying new thing when we cook or when we decided to eat out.

So how do you become a more adventurous eater? Well, no need to go crazy straight out the gate. Adding some cauliflower into your mac and cheese or putting some turmeric in your scrambled eggs can be a great small start to change it up. At our house we all sit down for breakfast on Saturday morning and before even writing a grocery list decide what kind of food we want to eat the next week. One day Indian curry, one day pizza, one day Asian stir fry and so it goes until we have all our days filled up. Then with some google researching we jot down our ingredients and head out to the grocery store. 

When we are eating out we try to look for places to eat that might be different skipping burgers for curry or fish and chips for sushi. Why not try that new vegan restaurant that just opened up in town (all the food in the picture below is a vegan restaurant in Banff). Maybe it's not even the food that's really different but the way you eat it, only using chopsticks or eating with your fingers. 

Now, like I say, back in your own kitchen if you are just starting out then maybe try switching it up one day a week, then two, then three. Don't be afraid to change up recipes you find to make them more your own. Our girls find some Indian curry to hot so I leave out the chili or just add a little. Now they love putting in the colorful spices and mixing everything up then gobbling it down once its ready. You see, at home,  it's not just the eating of this food that's adventurous. The making of it is usually different as well. We learnt how to make sushi from a you tube video. So now our girls love picking out what to put in their own rolls. Sometimes their combinations actually make us more adventurous for trying them.

If its one meal a month to inject some adventure into your world then do it. You might find  it leads to big changes in your kids and your own outlook. So why not switch a meal this week for something new or turn that Friday night cheese pizza into a Greek pizza.  It could be the start of a new adventure for all of you.