Get your own bowl

During these past few months of making Thursday Night Raws for my boys, I've realized the most successful meals are the ones where they are able to pick and chose the ingredients for the evening (did I mention that they are very picky eaters?) and make up their own "recipes" (Jacob loves tossing his favorite things in a bowl and calling it his new recipe).

For instance, they've really enjoyed our salad bar spread, build-your-own sundaes and fondue night. There is something for everyone, and we all leave the table happy.

This week, we had a make-your-own cereal night, where I displayed a variety of fresh fruits (apples, bananas, strawberries, grapes, melon and oranges), dried fruits (blueberries, bananas, cherries, golden raisins and goji berries), nuts (almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts; Jacob loves hazelnuts), seeds (pumpkin, sesame, hemp and chia), raw grains (oats and buckwheat groats), coconut flakes and some leftover date/nut topping from my blueberry muffins.

The boys liked being able to select their favorite ingredients to put in their cereal bowls and top with either chocolate or vanilla nutmilk. We'll definitely be doing this one again.

So, I'll have to warn you that the next raw Thursdays will be fairly similar; I'll probably be serving simple ingredients in this "make your own fashion" (rather than complex recipes that mimic traditional family meals). It brings everyone to the table, gets them involved in the whole process and is fun.

The best part is how my son has been more open to trying fresh fruits and veggies when I present them this way. This week, he finally tried oranges. He can't wait to show the kids at school (usually he complains when they have them at snack time and refuses to taste one). Just look at the smile on his face :-)