A while ago I read an article about a family who try to fit as many activities in after the children finish school and before they go to bed. They call it the ‘5 to 9’ (5pm to 9pm).
Having a look at the blog they write, they’re very keen on eating outside. They pack up a camping stove, a saucepan and some ingredients, and cook their meal in the fresh air in all sorts of different locations. Their exploits can be followed on: http://www.dotrythisathome.com/
I thought this all sounded like great fun, so we’ve been ‘eating out’ about once a week since the summer. I must admit it takes us a while to get everything together, and then to put it all away again afterwards, but we’re getting better at it! Sometimes we take a little gas camping stove, other times we cook on an open fire.
We’ve tried lots of different settings for our meals: the seaside (sand EVERYWHERE!), woods and hills… Our favourites usually contain lots of interesting climby things for the boys to explore and are very peaceful and quiet. An added bonus is if you can park the car close to where you’re going to cook so you don’t have to lug everything for miles!
The food can be as simple as hotdogs or pasta with pesto, but we usually try to make something a little more complicated, like a goulash or a chilli con carne. The different setting might be a good chance to try your Picky Picker on something new, but make sure you take plenty of bread, apples and biscuits to fill them up if they’re still a little unsure of what you create!
Whatever you choose to make, the whole process of cooking and eating outside is great fun, and the fresh air really seems to increase little appetites!
picky pickers 