kids in the kitchen -- mix and match subs

Zoo Boy designed tonight's meal and did the shopping (which was really fun for the woman working at the Deli!). He chose to make turkey, ham, and cheddar cheese subs (grinders) with shredded lettuce and a Russian dressing.

First they assembled the sandwiches.



Then they mixed mayo, ketchup, sweet relish and grated white onion to make the dressing, which was served as a side to dip in (although I chose to spread it on the sandwich after trying the dipping). A note for anyone else doing this dressing, a little grated white onion goes a long ways (whoa!).




J looks enthusiastic about it, but he didn't like it. Neither did I, actually, I thought the cheddar cheese was an odd choice (I had suggested Swiss, since I know J likes it, but Zoo Boy was insistent that he should try something different), and I'm not a big fan of either turkey or ham, and wasn't particularly fond of the rolls he picked out. But that's what Zoo Boy chose, so that's what we ate. The Map Man loved it at least.

And hey, anything that gets the kids trying new foods with this much willingness is OK in my book!

I started working on a budget with them as well, in association with this project. I gave them an envelope and $20 to start. They spent $17 and change on this meal. They put the rest of it into the envelope, so next week their budget will be $22 and change. This is to not only work on some basic money counting skills, but to get them thinking about how much food costs. Depending on what they choose to make, some weeks they will have plenty of extra in their budget to buy a fun dessert to serve, and some weeks they will be short and will have to make substitution decisions. I figured what the heck, they're doing so well with the planning, shopping, and cooking elements, we may as well add another layer!