This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #NewYearFortune #CollectiveBias
Happy Monday everyone! Today I wanted to share a little idea
with you that I've started doing that will help make dinners more fun for the
kids.
You guys know that I've always wanted to travel, but that
part of my life just hasn't happened yet – so I’m always daydreaming and
looking around in magazines and online on websites and other blogs for visual
inspiration, and a thought dawned on me – what if I held a themed dinner once a
month?
One night a month we will pick a country and or special
event and have special food along with fun facts that we can teach the kids and
discuss as a family.
The Chinese New Year is beginning February 19th
and I thought February would be a wonderful month to showcase China – and touch
base with a few of their holiday traditions, so – we had dinner.
We ate some of our favorite (American) Chinese food and I
purchased some Tai Pei® Egg and Spring Rolls – they are authentic Asian appetizers and are ready to serve in just a few minutes. They come in a variety of delicious flavors like hearty chicken, pork and shrimp and are filled with fresh cut vegetables. There’s a coupon out right now on their Facebook page (until all offers are claimed) under the Red Envelope tab - so I stocked up on a few. They come with their own dipping sauce and Wayne absolutely
loved it (and he doesn't normally praise many things!).
When setting up the table I kept in mind things the things
that I have read that are Chinese New Year traditions, such as: Red is the main
color used to decorate homes, streets, and buildings. So I made sure our table
cloth fit in with the theme. You could get as fancy and elaborate decorating as
your time allows, but I chose to keep it fairly simple this time – I bought
some festive napkins, grabbed a few chop sticks, and then decorated little
vases with gold glitter tape to tie in with the celebration. While eating
dinner we lit candles as well.
For the fact sheet I kept it pretty simple as well, and
typed up a few interesting key things that I learned about The Chinese New Year
and used the fact sheet as a conversation starter so we could talk in more
detail about certain ceremonies and / or traditions while we enjoyed our own “version”
of a New Year’s Eve meal with our Tai Pei® Spring Rolls.
We read about the tradition of red envelopes – which are a
filled with an even number of money and given to children and seniors as gifts,
and the kids began asking different questions, which lead to Wayne telling fond
stories of the time he visited China himself.
Sunday night dinner was a success last night and I’m already
thinking of themed meals for the rest of the year – be on the lookout for more
ideas!
Remember that this year the Chinese New Year begins this
Thursday, February 19th – and there’s still a coupon you can use for
the Tai Pei® Egg and Spring Rolls next time you’re in Walmart! (They are found
in the frozen entrée section).
The Chinese New Year is a fun way for everyone to celebrate
and wish their family good fortune –and eat tasty food! Do you have any other
ideas to make a dinner like this special?
~Melissa
Love Chinese food!
ReplyDeleteHow fun! I love the idea of the conversation starter cards for dinner. Great to have a theme like this to really keep the conversation rolling. #client
ReplyDeleteGreat idea! I hope you are having fun celebrating the Year of the Goat. It all looks scrumptious.
ReplyDeleteThese look delish! Stopping by from Small Victories Sunday!
ReplyDeleteLooks delicious! Thanks for linking up your party idea at Motivational Monday! Hope you will link up again tonight.
ReplyDeleteYum! I want to come over to your house to eat. Thanks so much for sharing with Adorned From Above's Link Party. Look for the new party up tonight.
ReplyDeleteHave a great week.
Debi @ Adorned From Above