Making Memories in the Kitchen: How to Cook with Your Kids
"Cooking with kids is not just about ingredients, recipes, and cooking. It's about harnessing imagination, empowerment, and creativity." — Guy Fieri
It seems as if we're always running to and fro, sacrificing good quality time with our kids for those things that we need to do. There's no judgment here; we all have those appointments, late working days, and every other obligation that we're struggling to make time for, but we're all too prone to carrying guilt on our shoulders, whether we deserve it or not. (Here's a tip: we don't deserve it. Love yourself.)
It's not a question of carving out more time for family. There's only so much time that you can claim for yourself and, while you can say no to some things, many of those obligations can't be put off. Instead, sometimes we just need to be more mindful of the time we do have — or find ways to combine needed chores with family time. Let's talk about cooking with your kids and creating bonds in the kitchen that will last a lifetime. Making something together is going to be far more precious than any gourmet meal, or takeout pizza, you've ever had. You'll also have an opportunity to teach them healthy habits and skills that will last a lifetime.
Find easy recipes.
You want cooking together to be a fun experience, so find some recipes that are both easy to follow and don't have many ingredients. You want to set yourself and your kids up for success. These nights should be something they look forward to and making sure that you have easy-to-follow recipes ready to go helps to keep frustration at bay. Easy recipes that take some assembly are perfect for cooking nights with kids because they give you all an opportunity to interact. Burger bombs — ground meat, shredded cheese, and a pickle wrapped in packaged biscuit dough, then baked — are a perfect example of a recipe that has everyone at the counter together.
Make sure that you're assigning age appropriate tasks.
The tasks you assign the children should not only be age appropriate, but also appropriate for their maturity level. Older kids can cut vegetables while younger kids love to assemble things like enchiladas or lasagna. Give some thought to who should do what task before getting started, just to keep everything running smoothly. Remember to rotate tasks, too, so that no one gets bored doing the same thing every time.
Do some meal planning before getting started.
This step is especially important if you have picky eaters. If they help plan the meal, they'll be far more likely to eat it. Having kids, picky and not picky alike, be a part of the whole process instills not only a sense of ownership but gives them something to look forward to. Even children who aren't usually picky can have their moments and having them help plan the meals that they will cook helps to cut down on dinner-time complaints.
It's really far simpler than you might think to get everyone together in the kitchen. You'll be making memories and using the time to really build bonds and strengthen relationships without having to carve extra time out of your day. It's also the perfect time to talk about nutrition and lay a groundwork for those healthy habits that you want to teach them. It's an intentional and mindful way to turn something that might otherwise be a chore into a fun bonding and learning time.
One more piece of advice: forgive the mistakes and, most importantly, have fun! Follow us to see more tips, tricks, and stories.