Meals are one of the constants of family life and they can be some of the best quality time that you spend together. It can be fun sometimes to mix it up a little and make the odd meal special.
Themed dinners are an awesome and easy idea especially in school holidays or when routine is a little less important. We also have a little one who is dinosaur crazy at the moment so we settled on running the Cretaceous Cafe haha … a prehistoric themed dinner which would be a little bit fun for the kids.
Set-Up
First we planned the night out and created a little paper menu with some fern graphics. You could make up your own but if you want one as a starting point, it is downloadable here
Then we laid the table with a few decorations using some of the kid’s favourite dinosaurs. We always try to involve them in the setup because the anticipation is more than half of most experiences and they are far more likely to be engaged if they are involved in creating it! We asked them to grab their favourite dino each and place it in front of their seat.
For drinks we just bought some apple juice and cut some small pieces of mint leaves into it telling them it was Jungle Juice. You could go with Swamp Water if you like haha
Entree
Entree at the Cretaceous Cafe was T-Rex Fingers and Dip and to cater for the herbivores we had some cucumber and capsicum cut like dinosaur footprints. Our little one is a big chicken fan so these were really Steggles Chicken Fingers from the non-frozen section at the supermarket. In all honesty, these were awesome and probably the most popular item of the night … it could just be because we were all starving! The dips were aioli, and tomato and BBQ sauces though hummus or any dip would be fine.
Mains
For the main course, we mixed it up a little with Dino Snacks for the youngest and Stegosaurus Steaks for the older kids and adults. These Steggles Dino Snacks are real chicken cut into the shape of dinosaurs and to set the scene on the plate we pitched some broccoli in potato mash and had the dinosaurs nibbling them like trees. Topped it off again with the dinosaur claw carrots which we cut before cooking.
The best bit was that the veges and the chicken all went down brilliantly!
Once again, we used Chicken Breast Schnitzel with the same veges for the adults and that was equally delicious!
Dessert
We made one of our School Mum cakes for dessert that was featured in our birthday cake book last year. We just renamed it to the Prehistoric Popping Rock Cake because it has that exploding candy sprinkled throughout and on top of it with some dinosaur decorations again.
The motivation for our themed dinners is to keep family meal-time a happy feature of our home. Having a theme makes it memorable and adds variety to the week. We don’t go to any really crazy effort (ok that cake was some serious effort haha) but rather just take very normal foods and ideas to make it work. The emphasis is on having fun together and enjoying eating as a family.
We had planned to watch The Good Dinosaur after dinner together too but some little ones were a bit smashed after the big day and so we put that off until the morning.
Here is a little video of our night if you are interested.
If you have older kids you could involve them more in the ideas stage, planning and preparation too. We are very thankful to Steggles who are trying to encourage Aussie families to spend quality time together because that is something that we have always promoted too at School Mum.
Their research backs up lots of others and showed that 73% of Australians wish they could spend more quality time with their family. Up to 48% wish that they could eat more meals together so if you do have that opportunity, why not make the most of it and give a themed dinner a go sometime soon. You can pick any theme that your kids are into. It is super easy and it’s fun!
If you would like to see more of their research about quality family time, head over to the Steggles Quality Time Index
Competition
Steggles are big supporters of quality family time so they are giving 10 lucky people the chance to win 10 x Hoyts movie tickets each.
All you have to do is answer the following question: How do you spend quality time with your family?
You need to answer the question on our School Mum Competition Facebook post which you can find here … in 25 words or less or alternatively you can post a photo. Only entries that are posted on this Facebook post will be included as a valid entry for the competition.
So how do you spend quality time with your family?
Please See Competition T & C’s below …
“BAIADA POULTRY’S – STEGGLES WINTER COMPETITION – SCHOOL MUM”
TERMS & CONDITIONS
1. This document sets out the terms of participation in “Baiada Poultry’s Steggles Autumn Competition – School Mum” (the “Competition“).
2. The promoter of the Competition is Baiada Poultry Pty. Limited (ABN 96 002 925 948) of 642 Great Western Highway, Pendle Hill, NSW, 2145, 02 9842 1000 (the “Promoter”).
Eligibility
3. The Competition is open to all Australian residents who are 18 years of age or over and who have a Facebook account (“Entrants”). An Entrant must be an individual and not a company or organisation to be eligible to enter.
4. Employees of the Promoter and their immediate families and any organisation or individuals associated with the provision of the prizes are not eligible to enter. Immediate family means any of the following: spouse, ex-spouse, de-facto spouse, child or step-child (whether natural or by adoption), parent, step-parent, grandparent, step-grandparent, uncle, aunt, niece, nephew, brother, sister, step-brother, step-sister or 1st cousin.
5. Each entry must be made in accordance with these Terms and Conditions. By entering the Competition, Entrants agree to be bound by these Terms and Conditions.
6. The Promoter reserves the right, at any time, to verify the eligibility of entries and the Entrants (including an Entrant’s identity, age and place of residence) and reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual who the Promoter has reason to believe has breached any of these Terms and Conditions, tampered with the entry process or engaged in any unlawful or other improper misconduct calculated to jeopardise fair and proper conduct of the Competition. Errors and omissions may be accepted at the Promoter’s discretion. Failure by the Promoter to enforce any of its rights at any stage does not constitute a waiver of those rights. The Promoter’s legal rights to recover damages or other compensation from such an offender are reserved.
Competition Details
7. Entry into the Competition is free. Only one (1) entry is permitted per Entrant for the duration of the Competition Period (defined below).
8. The Competition opens at 10:00am Wednesday 12th July 2017 and closes at 11:59pm on Sunday 13th August 2017 (“Competition Period“).
9. Any entry received after the Competition Period will be deemed invalid. No responsibility is accepted for late, lost, delayed or incorrect entries.
10. All times referred to in these Terms and Conditions are in AEST, as per local NSW time.
How to enter:
11. To enter, Entrants must complete the following steps during the Competition Period:
a) download the Facebook app or access the Facebook app on their smart phone, desktop or tablet;
c) locate the promotional “Steggles Winter competition” post on the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/schoolmumma, published by School Mum (“Promotional Post”);
d) answer the competition question, “How do you spend quality time with your family?”, by commenting within the Facebook competition post comments section answering in either a) 25 words or less, or b) by posting an image in the comments section of the competition post an explanation about their competition entry, and why they should win thereby answering the competition question.
e) By entering this competition Entrants automatically agree to these Terms and Conditions, written here.
12. Incomplete or indecipherable entries will be deemed invalid. Any entry received after the Competition Period will be deemed invalid. No responsibility is accepted for late, lost, delayed or incorrect entries.
13. If there is a dispute as to the identity of an Entrant, the Promoter reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to determine the identity of the Entrant.
How to Win & The Prizes
14. There will be ten (10) prize winners for the duration of the Competition (each a “Winner”), who have provided a valid competition entry via the Facebook promotional post on the School Mum Facebook page. The draw for the Winners will take place at Hyland Group, Level 7, 54 Park Street, Sydney NSW 2000 at 10:00am on Tuesday 15th August 2017 and will be done by an Account Manager from Hyland Group. This is a game of skill and chance plays no part in determining the Winners. The entries received will be individually judged against all other entries received, based on the originality, literary merit and creative merit of the answer provided. The judges, may select additional reserve entries, which they determine to be the next best, and record them in order of merit, in case of an invalid entry or an ineligible entrant.
15. Winners will be notified via Facebook private messenger and will be asked to advise their postal address for Prize delivery.
16. The ten (10) Winners will each win ten (10) HOYTS Cinema movie tickets (each a “Prize”) valued at $220.00.
17. Total Prize pool value for the Competition is $2,200.
18. The Prizes will be sent to each Winner’s registered Australian mailing address by Friday 15th September 2017, subject to successful notification and verification.
General
19. The Prizes, or any unused portion of a Prize, cannot be exchanged or transferred and cannot be redeemed for cash.
20. In the event that a Prize (or part of Prize) become unavailable due to circumstances beyond the Promoter’s control, the Promoter reserves the right to substitute the Prize (or that part of the Prize) with a similar product to the same or greater value as the original prize, subject to any directions from a regulatory authority.
21. Subject to the unclaimed prize draw clause, if for any reason a Winner does not take or claim a Prize by the time stipulated by the Promoter, then the Prize will be forfeited.
22. If any Prize remains unclaimed by Friday 15th September 2017, a re-draw will take place at the same time and place as the original draw, subject to any directions from a regulatory authority. The Winner(s), if any, will be notified via Facebook private messenger on Monday 18th September 2017.
23. Entrants agree that they are fully responsible for any materials they submit via the Competition (“Content”). The Promoter shall not be liable in any way for Content to the full extent permitted by law. The Promoter may remove or decline to publish any Content without notice for any reason whatsoever. Entrants warrant and agree that:
(a) they will not submit any Content that is unlawful or fraudulent, or that the Promoter may deem in breach of any intellectual property, privacy, publicity or other rights, defamatory, obscene, derogatory, pornographic, sexually inappropriate, violent, abusive, harassing, threatening, objectionable with respect to race, religion, origin or gender, not suitable for children aged under 15, or otherwise unsuitable for publication;
(b) their Content shall not contain viruses or cause injury or harm to any person or entity;
(c) they will obtain prior consent from any person or from the owner(s) of any property that appears in their Content;
(d) the Content is the original work of the entrant that does not infringe the rights of any third party;
(e) they consent to any use of the Content which may otherwise infringe the Content creator’s moral rights pursuant to the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) and warrant that they have the full authority to grant these rights; and
(f) they will comply with all applicable laws and regulations, including without limitation, those governing copyright, content, defamation, privacy, publicity and the access or use of others’ computer or communication systems.
Without limiting any other terms herein, the Entrant agrees to indemnify the Promoter for any breach of the above terms.
24. As a condition of entering this Competition, each Entrant licenses and grants the Promoter, its affiliates and sub-licensees a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, worldwide, irrevocable, and sub-licensable right to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish and display their entry (which shall include Content) for any purpose, including but not limited to future promotional, marketing or publicity purposes, in any media, without compensation, restriction on use, attribution or liability.
25. Decisions of the Promoter are final and will be binding on each person who enters the Competition and no correspondence will be entered into
26. If there is any event outside of the control of the Promoter that prevents or hinders the Promoter’s conduct of the Competition or the Promoter’s ability to deliver the Prize to the Winner, the Promoter may, in its discretion, cancel the Competition and may recommence it at another time under the same or various conditions, subject to any applicable laws.
27. Entrants consent to the Promoter using their name, likeness, image and/or voice in the event they are the Winner (including photograph, film and/or recording of the same) in any media for an unlimited period without remuneration for the purpose of promoting this Competition including any outcome), and promoting any products manufactured, distributed and/or supplied by the Promoter.
28. If this Competition is interfered with in any way or is not capable of being conducted as reasonably anticipated due to any reason beyond the reasonable control of the Promoter, including but not limited to technical difficulties, unauthorised intervention or fraud, the Promoter reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to the fullest extent permitted by law: (a) to disqualify any Entrant; or (b) subject to any directions from a regulatory authority, to modify, suspend, terminate or cancel the Competition, as appropriate
29. Any cost associated with accessing the promotional website is the Entrant’s responsibility and is dependent on the Internet service provider used.
30. Nothing in these Terms and Conditions limits, excludes or modifies or purports to limit, exclude or modify the statutory consumer guarantees as provided under the Competition and Consumer Act, as well as any other implied warranties under the ASIC Act or similar consumer protection laws in the States and Territories of Australia (“Non-Excludable Guarantees”). Except for any liability that cannot by law be excluded, including the Non-Excludable Guarantees, the Promoter (including its respective officers, employees and agents) excludes all liability (including negligence), for any personal injury; or any loss or damage (including loss of opportunity); whether direct, indirect, special or consequential, arising in any way out of the Competition.
31. Except for any liability that cannot by law be excluded, including the Non-Excludable Guarantees, the Promoter (including its respective officers, employees and agents) is not responsible for and excludes all liability (including negligence), for any personal injury; or any loss or damage (including loss of opportunity); whether direct, indirect, special or consequential, arising in any way out of: (a) any technical difficulties or equipment malfunction (whether or not under the Promoter’s control); (b) any theft, unauthorised access or third party interference; (c) any entry or prize claim that is late, lost, altered, damaged or misdirected (whether or not after their receipt by the Promoter) due to any reason beyond the reasonable control of the Promoter; (d) any tax liability incurred by a Winner or an Entrant; or (e) use/redemption of a Prize.
32. The Promoter collects personal information (“PI“) in order to conduct the Competition and may, for this purpose, disclose such PI to third parties, including but not limited to agents, contractors, service providers, prize suppliers and, as required, to regulatory authorities. Entry is conditional on providing this PI. The Promoter will also use and handle PI as set out in its Privacy Policy, which can be viewed at https://www.coty.com/privacy-policy. In addition to any use that may be outlined in the Promoter’s Privacy Policy, the Promoter may, for an indefinite period, unless otherwise advised, use the PI for promotional, marketing, publicity, research and profiling purposes, including sending electronic messages or telephoning the Entrant. The Privacy Policy also contains information about how Entrants may opt out, access, update or correct their PI, how Entrants may complain about a breach of the Australian Privacy Principles or any other applicable law and how those complaints will be dealt with. All entries become the property of the Promoter. The Promoter will not disclose Entrant’s personal information to any entity outside of Australia.
Mains
