When planning a kids party many parents ask me for help in the food department.
Modern parents are more health conscious these days and worry about our growing epidemic; obesity in children epidemic.
They naturally have concerns about sugars and preservatives and of course the ever growing list of serious allergies.
Naturally I always stress the importance of thinking it through and not just hitting the supermarket and loading up the trolley with whatever catches your eye.
Kids will always eat exactly what we wish they wouldn't and are subject to clever advertising just as much if not more so than us adults.
But one of my favourite solutions for the food challenged parent is what I simply refer to as a food bag.
What I am referring to here is a method of providing the party goers with their food in pre prepared packages.
These packages can be takeaway style boxes; available at most good party supplies stores, inexpensive baskets; available from the local discount store or just the good old paper bag, which is in fact my personal package of choice.
Brown paper lunch bags work great, providing they have a flat base, but you can also purchase fancier ones in a variety of colours from a craft store.
Either works well, just make sure they have a flat bottom as this makes it much easier to line up on the kitchen counter when filling them up.
By choosing this method you can control portion sizes, prevent greedy snatching and even more importantly cater for individual needs such as allergies without having to subject the entire guest list to the same restrictions.
On top of that you get to save on costs by reducing wastage, remove the need for paper plates and serving bowls, AND reduce the cleaning up time in a big way, a very attractive thought I'm sure.
Modern parents are more health conscious these days and worry about our growing epidemic; obesity in children epidemic.
They naturally have concerns about sugars and preservatives and of course the ever growing list of serious allergies.
Naturally I always stress the importance of thinking it through and not just hitting the supermarket and loading up the trolley with whatever catches your eye.
Kids will always eat exactly what we wish they wouldn't and are subject to clever advertising just as much if not more so than us adults.
But one of my favourite solutions for the food challenged parent is what I simply refer to as a food bag.
What I am referring to here is a method of providing the party goers with their food in pre prepared packages.
These packages can be takeaway style boxes; available at most good party supplies stores, inexpensive baskets; available from the local discount store or just the good old paper bag, which is in fact my personal package of choice.
Brown paper lunch bags work great, providing they have a flat base, but you can also purchase fancier ones in a variety of colours from a craft store.
Either works well, just make sure they have a flat bottom as this makes it much easier to line up on the kitchen counter when filling them up.
By choosing this method you can control portion sizes, prevent greedy snatching and even more importantly cater for individual needs such as allergies without having to subject the entire guest list to the same restrictions.
On top of that you get to save on costs by reducing wastage, remove the need for paper plates and serving bowls, AND reduce the cleaning up time in a big way, a very attractive thought I'm sure.
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