Cooking with Younger Kids: Easy Recipes
There is beginning to be an emphasis not only on families cooking and eating at home, but also on teaching children to cook. It’s actually very empowering for your kids to learn how to cook; it’s a step toward independence, and they will take those skills with them throughout their lives.
For younger kids, you’ll want to begin with easy recipes. This helps build confidence and teaches basic skills. Nonetheless, an adult should always be present, no matter how easy the recipe. A kitchen has all sorts of dangers, from hot stoves to sharp knives, that kids can get into.
Here are some easy recipes that you can cook with your kids.
1. Fruit and Cheese Kabobs
Healthy and sweet, fresh fruit appeals to lots of children, and cheese tends to be a kid favorite. Supervise the use of sharp skewers carefully; other than that, kids can get use their own ideas about how to make the kabobs. Put out bowls of various chopped fruits (frozen and canned are possibilities, too; just make sure that the fruits are not too soft to stick on a skewer or too hard to thread onto it) and some cheese cubes. Let your children thread together kabobs in whatever combinations they like. Fruits you might include could be:
* Fresh or canned pineapple
* Banana chunks (slices should be at least 1/2-inch thick)
* Melon
* Strawberries
* Peaches
2. Tuna Salad
Prepare a tasty tuna salad with your young child by preparing the simple ingredients beforehand. In separate containers, place:
* 1 can drained tuna
* 2 tablespoons chopped sweet pickle
* 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
Let your child mix all these ingredients together in another bowl. Then he/she can see how separate ingredients create something completely different when combined!
To take it a bit further, your child can then use the tuna salad to fill his/her own cucumber boat, tomato half, or sandwich.
3. Banana-Peanut Butter Balls
These make great snack food or healthful dessert.
In a bowl, your child can mash together 1 small, ripe banana and 1/2 cup of chunky peanut butter. He or she can then pour in 1/4 cup of flax meal and 1/4 cup of toasted wheat germ and stir it up. Both of you can form the mixture into balls about the size of quarters, and roll them in chopped peanuts, sesame seeds, mini chocolate chips, shredded coconut, or whatever you’d like. Put coated balls in a waxed-paper-covered tray and refrigerate until firm.
You can adjust this recipe to accommodate allergies and food preferences; you can use other nut butters and coatings if your child has a peanut allergy, for instance.
4. Salad
Learn about veggies early! Salads are a pretty forgiving medium, and children often enjoy the bright colors. Supervised tasks your kids can perform include:
* Shredding carrots with a vegetable peeler
* Tearing lettuce
* Dumping in pre-chopped ingredients, such as onions, radishes, and/or tomatoes
* Shredding cheese or sprinkling on pre-shredded cheese
* Tossing the salad
You can also grow tasty sprouts with your children and add these to salads and sandwiches. Apply the salad assembly idea to dishes like tacos and pizza, too.