It’s a bit crazy. But I believe that cooking with kids is actually possible. And granted, at least in my kitchen its not all Martha Stewart/Betty Crocker/Julia Childs like…sometime my mommy growl comes out and says “ (Insert child’s name here) if you (eat the dough again/throw the flour in the air/pick your nose/etc) you will be taken out of the kitchen and not allowed to cook with mommy again”. Just so you have an accurate idea of what our cooking sessions are actually like and don’t think it’s all roses and smiles and rainbows over here.
But I found a great aide in cooking with kids that has helped me relax and give them more opportunities and gain more skills and helped me allow them to do more. It’s called Radish Kids, and each month in the mail they get a box with an apron patch, a kitchen tool, and 3 recipes as well as tips and tricks, info on the region in the world where the food came from or history about it or something else that is actually educational. They even include cards with ideas to talk about during your meal. They also include ideas and substitutions for the recipes. For example in July they were suppose to make BBQ chicken flatbread, but none of the kids are big BBQ fans, so instead they made chicken pesto flatbread which was amazing.
For younger kids there are a lot of the parts of the recipes that they can do. I don’t let Caedmon or Edric near the knives yet, because I value the tips of their fingers, but Leighton is old enough and overly careful enough that I’m ok with him cutting up things and learning proper knife handling and safety. Edric is learning how to measure carefully and they are all learning important food safety tips like how to handle raw chicken and the importance of cleaning up after using it. And the importance of cleaning the dishes after one has used or made a mess with them.
Yes I would/could make whatever they are making much quicker with a far less mess, but they are learning and I have really come to enjoy the times that we get to spend cooking together….even if my mommy growl has to come out from time to time.
Hiking Mommy 