Looking for a fun activity for the kids this summer? Organize a theme meal that they can help prepare, and invite a few friends over. Everyone will love it! Here are a few suggestions.

Self-serve
Let the children make their own meal from a self-serve bar. You can even award special mentions for the most original concoctions!

• Salad bar. Greens, cut or grated vegetables, hard-boiled eggs, chicken strips, small shrimp, grated cheese, croutons, dried cranberries, etc. Set out 2 or 3 types of salad dressing and large bowls for tossing the salads.

• Sandwich bar. Breads (rolls, pitas, tortillas, or other), cold cuts, cheese, vegetables or fruit (such as lettuce, spinach, grated carrots, roasted peppers, and apple or pear slices). And if you have a panini press to heat the sandwiches, even better!
• Pizza bar. English muffin halves or pitas for the crust, tomato sauce or salsa, sliced vegetables, strips of ham, sliced olives, grated cheese, etc. Just pop in the oven!
• Dessert bar.For perfect parfaits: chunks of fruit, yogurt, maple syrup or chocolate sauce, chocolate shavings, granola or crumbled cookies, grated coconut, nuts (careful of allergies!).

To accompany the meal, freeze raspberries or blueberries in ice cubes to pop into a colourful, vitamin-packed cocktail.

Mexican fiesta
Ask the children to help cook a real Mexican feast, and then kick off the festivities by smashing a piñata!

• Gazpacho. Purée 3 tomatoes, 1 sweet green pepper, 1 sweet red pepper, 1 cucumber, 2 green onions, 1 clove garlic and a 284 mL tin of tomato juice in food processor. Add lemon juice, fresh coriander, hot sauce and salt and pepper to taste (6 to 8 servings).
• Avocado salad. Combine cubed avocado and tomato, diced sweet red and green pepper, and fresh coriander. Drizzle with olive oil and white wine vinegar, and season with freshly ground black pepper.
• Ole! Ole! burritos Try this recipe to please the whole family! Cook 450 g (1 lb) extra-lean ground beef in a large saucepan. Add diced vegetables (onion, sweet pepper, carrots), a 540 mL (19 oz) tin of tomatoes, 50 mL (1/4 cup) salsa, and a pinch each of dried oregano and garlic powder. Let simmer for 15 minutes and then stir in 175 mL (1/3 cup) corn kernels, heating through. Top 8 whole wheat tortillas with this mixture and some grated mozzarella, and roll up. Place burritos in an ovenproof dish and garnish with grated mozzarella. Bake in a 350°F oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Serve with a sauce of salsa and plain yogurt, and garnish with cucumber and tomato slices.
• Mexican salsa with corn and mango Go for a dip and serve this salsa with tortillas brushed with a little oil and then baked at 375°F for 3 to 5 minutes.
• Exotic fruit. Prepare fruit skewers (pineapple, melon, mango, grapes, etc.) and serve with cocoa-flavoured yogurt (dissolve cocoa powder in water before mixing into yogurt). For an original touch, make fruit animals. Two half-slices of pineapple placed back to back make butterfly wings. A grape forms the head, and apple peel doubles as antennae. Or stick almonds into half a peach to make a hedgehog, and use raisins for the eyes and half a grape for the nose.