Exploring Earth's Cuisine: A Dinner Menu Inspired by 'A Beautiful Planet' Documentary

In celebration of Earth day I wanted to showcase a movie that celebrates our beautiful planet and I wanted the menu to reflect that celebration as well. Enjoy!

Don't want family time to be over once that the movie has ended? There's a Q&A section at the bottom of this page; it can ignite a conversation with the kids once the movie ends. Movies affect us differently due to our individual biases and perspectives. The Q&A helped me understand my kids better, and vice versa. It provided an opportunity to share my viewpoint and hear theirs. Often, it turned into a valuable teaching moment. Make the most of this extra time with them while you have their attention.ching moment. Please take advantage of this extra time with them while you have their attention.

A Beautiful Planet: INSPIRED MOVIE MENU

Home-made Lemonade, Fruit-n-Flower Platter, Rice Globes and Sweet Seedlings

Lemonade Image provided by yellowblissroad.com and Sweet seedlings image provided by Pureella.com

Movie Inspired Appetizer: Fruit-n-Flower Charcuterie Board

As a starter I created a fruit Charcuterie board made of oranges, apples, strawberries, blackberries and edible flowers, which you can purchase at #sprouts. Cut fruit as big or small as you want, grab a flat dish and decorate!

Movie inspired Drink: Home-made Lemonade

Nothing like the flavor of sweet and sour. My family loves lemonade and when I make it fresh I can control the sweetness of it. Its pretty simple and you only needs lemons, sugar and water but if you'd still like a great recipe click here. Feel free to add some Chia seeds to add a gummy texture and some protein.

TIP: Have blueberry or strawberries left over from the platter? throw them in the lemonade to add some flavor and color.

Movie Inspired Main Dish: Rice Globes

When making these use Jasmine or Sushi rice otherwise it wont be sticky enough to hold the shape. The kids absolutely loved the globes and even though I don't show it here they had a side of broccoli with it which my son called, an edible forest.

YOU WILL NEED:

Jasmine/sushi rice
blue food coloring
Seaweed.

After rice is cooked add a few drops of the blue food coloring and mix together. Yes it'll be hot, its ok just be careful.

Grab a small round bowl (I used a 4inch diameter one), use any oil to grease up the inside of the bowl so that the rice doesn't stick.
Fill bowl with the rice. Pack it in there but be careful not to burn yourself.

Turn the small bowl over on the plate and rice will fall right out.

Once rice globes have been plated, cut out or even hand rip the pieces of seaweed to resemble the continents and add them to the rice.

Note: It's important that during this step the rice is still very warm so that the seaweed sticks to the rice as shown in the image above.

Movie Inspired dessert: Sweet Seedlings

There were many many creative sweet treats that were already out there for Earth day and it was hard to pick one but when I came across the Sweet Seedlings from #pureella I fell in love with it. I know you can't see it from the picture but it has all kinds of deliciousness in it, like, coconut, almonds and pretzels! Mmm mmm mmm. Click here for her recipe.

NOTE: In her recipe she uses hemp seeds which I couldn't find so I ended up using sunflower seeds which tasted just fine. This was a hit with my kids and I have made it several times after for them.

Q&A: A Beautiful Planet

1. What are you doing now to keep the Earth safe and clean? What else can you do?

2. Do you think you'd be able to live in space for 3 months? Why or why not?

3. If you could live on any other planet which one would it be?