Making Dinner Fun!
A funny dinner tradition for your family
When my children were little we called it the $1.00 dinner challenge- you could buy a lot more for $1.00 back then. Now call it the $2.00 dinner challenge but we still have as much fun as we did in the days when a dollar could actually buy something.
I’m not even sure where the idea came from,but the dinner challenge became a tradition that we would do when a cousin came for a sleepover. This is not a tradition for a huge group of people such as an extended family reunion but it’s a ton of fun for a more manageable group of aunts, uncles and cousins.
Here’s how it works-
Give everyone in your family $2 in cash. (Or whatever amount you feel is appropriate) As a family, go to your local grocery store. Walk around the store and look for food that you can purchase for $2. When you’ve looked around a bit, choose the item you want to serve for dinner, pay for it and wait for everyone in your family to finish shopping. (You want to keep your purchase a secret from the others but it is best to shop in teams especially if you have younger children.)
Our grandchildren are 10 years and younger (mostly younger) so we had each child team up with an adult. They put their money together so each team had $4.00 to spend.
Our grandkids get so excited about what they have purchased they can hardly stand the car ride back to the house to prepare their food. We have to juggle time in the kitchen mixing, baking and microwaving but eventually everyone is ready and we all sit down at the table to our $2.00 challenge feast. Even the pickiest of eaters will find something to eat at this table- because they choose it!
Some helpful hints and a funny story- Set some guidelines such as, Can two people put their money together? Can you purchase a dessert item? How long do you have to prepare the food when you arrive home? etc.
One year my niece choose Jell-O for her food item. It would’ve taken hours for the Jell-O to set up but we prepared it anyway and ate it for a late night snack.
Does your family to take the $2.00 Challenge?
