Some of my favorite childhood memories involve food, family and friends. Our family gatherings always seemed to center around the kitchen. So it is not surprising that ever since I can remember, I have had a love for food and cooking. Fortunately, my husband and I share the same passion; we have spent countless hours together in the kitchen, experimenting with different ingredients and cuisines.
With the birth of our son we talked many times about wanting to pass along our love for food and our desire to get him involved in the kitchen as early as possible. We agreed that we want to introduce him to a variety of ingredients and cuisines and give him the opportunity to develop his own palate. We want to cultivate the foodie in him at a young age. We feel strongly that this will not only open his eyes to new people, places and customs through food but it will help him make healthier eating and lifestyle decisions. We want him to play an active role in the preparation of our meals so that he will appreciate food and the time spent preparing it.
To this end, we developed a fun and interactive around the world approach to preparing our meals. A world map with flags in the countries where we have traveled with our taste buds is our literal visual aid. With every meal we place a flag in the country of origin of the respective food. So a flag goes in Mexico for the fish tacos we had the other night, and one in Spain for the gazpacho we made this summer. You get the idea. The intent is that this will inspire Cooper to take culinary adventures around the world and the entire family will get to come along. Now he can become involved in our meal choices, requesting to cook something from a specific location and then doing the research to find a recipe or type of cuisine with which to experiment. And we’ll all hone our geography skills to boot! The point is not to make something once and then check the country off our list but to visit the country again and again, learning more each trip about the culture and the cuisine. Every recipe may not be 100% authentic but it is about starting the learning adventure, experimenting with ingredients and techniques.
Our discussions led to the birth of Itsy Bitsy Foodies, an online resource for families looking for ways to spend more time together enjoying food and exploring the world beyond the children’s menu. We offer tips to help kids become more adventurous eaters, getting them involved in the kitchen and introducing them to new and exciting ingredients. We are an educational site offering recipes from all over the world and incorporating fun facts about food, cultures and global cuisines into the cooking experience.
We feel strongly that getting kids involved in meal choices and cooking at an early age will help them make smarter eating and lifestyle choices and ideally help to reverse the fast food trend. We want kids and families to enjoy and appreciate food and the time spent preparing it.
Our site and philosophy is kid and adult-friendly. We are appropriate for food lovers of all ages! Simply search our database by country, ingredient or cuisine and we will share our compilation of recipes and fun food facts. If you have recipes or ideas to share with us, please send them to us so that we can continually grow and improve our collection.
With that, we welcome you into our kitchen and invite you to take your taste buds on a journey around the world.
Meet Kelsey
Kelsey Hilts has always been interested in cooking, traveling, exploring new places, learning languages and learning about other cultures. In 2005 she graduated from Pomona College with a degree in Romance Literatures and Languages (French and Spanish). During college, she studied in France and Spain where she had the opportunity to travel throughout Europe and taste regional cuisines.
In 2009, she received her M.B.A. from Southern Oregon University with the hope of starting a business that combines her passions for cooking, traveling and languages. She started Itsy Bitsy Foodies in 2009. She currently lives in Oregon with her husband, their son *{now two sons!} and their dog.
