Kids Cooking Ideas
Cooking with kids may sound intimidating, but with a little patience and some simple recipes, your family can start a cooking tradition that builds many memories and life skills. Kids' cooking ideas should start simple and increase in complexity as skills grow and families learn the ins and outs of working together in the kitchen. Including kids in the family responsibility of food preparation instills confidence, both in their own ability and in the feeling that they can competently make important contributions to the welfare of the family. Does this Spark an idea?
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Equipment
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Owning his own collection of cooking equipment gives your junior chef a sense of authenticity and competence that fuel his motivation to create in the kitchen. Include measuring cups and spoons for both wet and dry ingredients, a wooden spoon, potholders, an apron, a child-size knife appropriate to her age and skill level, vegetable peeler, safety scissors, a rubber spatula and pint-size cutting board. The Global Gourmet recommends setting aside a special storage place for your kids' cooking gear such as "a large, lower kitchen drawer, an industrial-sized lunchbox, a portable tool kit, a cardboard file box or a plastic storage box."
Breakfast
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You may have heard the saying, "people support what they help create." When it comes to cooking with kids, children eat what they help make. Add a cup of colorful fruits such as blueberries, raspberries, sliced strawberries, apples, peaches or bananas to the pancake mix or let each child press the fruit combo of his choice into the batter just after it goes on the griddle for a personalized breakfast treat, recommends Disney Family Fun. Some children may wish to mound fruit on top in addition to or instead of the fruit within the pancake. Combine milk, banana slices, peanut butter, cinnamon, vanilla and cocoa powder in the blender to top off your morning meal with a peanut butter banana breakfast shake, suggests Cooking with Kids.
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Lunch and Dinner
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Whip up a batch of fresh pizza dough or buy a ready-made shell. Divide the round in fourths and let each child add her own sauce and toppings. If you have more than four people to feed, divide it into smaller sections or make a second pizza.
Add an extra twist to traditional toasted cheese and let the kids assemble a Monte Cristo sandwich using dijon mustard, swiss or cheddar cheese and thinly sliced deli ham. Dip the sandwich carefully in a mixture of eggs, milk and salt on both sides and toast to golden brown in the hot skillet.
Disney Family Fun reports that their kid testers "liked crushing the cornflakes and shaking the chicken pieces to coat them with topping" to make crunchy cornflake chicken. Crush some cornflakes and mix with flour, paprika, sage, salt, pepper and onion powder in a resealable plastic bag. Dip chicken pieces in milk and then shake inside the sealed bag to coat. Bake at 375 degrees for 50 minutes.
Snacks and Beverages
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Milk, ice and the flavorings of your choice will make a smoothie to suit any kid's taste buds. Add berries, bananas, lemons, lemonade powder, orange juice, yogurt, ice cream, chocolate chips, chocolate or caramel syrup, vanilla, almond, Oreos or almost anything a child can think of for a tasty beverage treat. Pour lemonade over sliced strawberries or raspberries for a tall cool glass of strawberry or raspberry lemonade. Add a scoop of sherbet and fruit chunks to a favorite punch for a frosty taste delight.
Growing kids need snacks once in a while but you can make healthy snacking fun and easy for them. Cooking with Kids recommends dipping apple, strawberry or kiwi slices in a fruit dip made of ricotta cheese, sugar, orange peel, orange juice and vanilla yogurt. Mix sliced strawberries with lemon juice and honey. Toss with mint leaves for a tasty, kid-friendly fruit salad snack.
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References
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