Cooking with Your Children: Recipes to Make Together

Cooking with your children is a great way to help them develop an interest in food from an early age. It’s also a fun way to spend time together while doing something that’s both healthy and creative.

You already know how important learning is for your children. And of course you’re a role model for them. So, we want to give you a few ideas for cooking with your children that will not only be fun for them, but also a learning experience. 

Cooking is one of the most entertaining and healthy activities you can do with your family. Your children not only learn about the ingredients and how to cook them, but they also participate in the entire process.

Cooking provides children with a space to connect by playing with food . It also helps them understand that food doesn’t only come from the supermarket, or that cooking isn’t something that only moms and dads do. These are both important lessons.

Reasons for cooking with your children

• Cooking with your children increases their interest in foods they aren’t normally attracted to. Take advantage of the opportunity to cook with fruits and vegetables in an original way.
• Learning to cook also teaches children to identify and distinguish different flavors. They can prepare all types of ingredients and know what food group they belong to, how they taste, and what they go well with.
• Children learn better eating habits by learning to cook. You can begin by choosing the recipe you’re going to prepare, then purchase the necessary ingredients, and know how long you have to wait to eat it, etc.

So don’t hesitate for another minute. Look for the best recipes that adapt to your child’s age and development and… dig in!

Always put safety first, of course. Keep your child out of harm’s way by avoiding dangerous activities, like using fire or hot oil.

As for everything else, relax! Kids love getting their hands dirty and you’ll love watching them have fun in such a healthy way.

Fun recipes for cooking with your children

Here you’ll find four simple recipes that allow your children to participate in the entire process. So pull out your aprons and get cooking!

1. Pumpkin bread

This is a great recipe for fall, especially around Halloween!

Ingredients:

• 2/3 C cooked pumpkin
• 2 eggs
• 1 C flour
• 3/4 C granulated sugar
• 2.5 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 packet of yeast

Instructions:

1. Wash, peal, chop and cook the pumpkin in a saucepan with boiling water until soft.
2. As the pumpkin is cooking, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter a loaf pan or cake pan.
3. Use a beater to mix 2/3 C of the pumpkin with the flour, eggs, oil, yeast and sugar.
4. Pour the mixture into the buttered loaf pan or cake pan.
5. Bake for 30 minutes.

2. Cheese sticks

Ingredients:

• Mozzarella cheese cut into rectangular pieces, approximately 3/4 inches thick
• Bread crumbs
• 2 eggs
• Olive oil

Instructions:

1. Beat the eggs and set them aside in a bowl.
2. Pour the bread crumbs in another bowl.
3. Coat each cheese stick with egg and then with bread crumbs and set aside on a plate.
4. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan until hot but not smoking.
5. Fry the coated cheese sticks until golden brown.
6. Remove the cheese sticks from the oil and place on a plate lined with paper towl. Place another paper towel on top to absorb excess oil.

3. Butter cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 C flour
• 7 Tbsp. butter
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 C granulated sugar
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 glass of water

Instructions:

1. Mix all of the above ingredients to form a dough. Shape the dough into a ball and refridgerate for one hour.
2. Before removing the chilled dough from the refrigerator, preheat the oven to 400 degrees, and butter a cookie sheet.
3. Stretch the dough out on a counter or table using a rolling pin until the dough is about 1/2 inch thick.
4. Let your children choose their favorite cookie cutter shapes to cut cookies from the dough. Place the cookies on the buttered cookie sheet.
5. Bake the cookies for 15 minutes in the 400 degree oven.

4. Grilled apples

Ingredients:

• 4 apples
• 1 glass of peach juice
• 4 Tbsp. chopped almonds
• 1 Tbsp. granulated sugar
• Your choice of ice cream flavors

Recipe:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Wash and core the apples.
3. Mix the sugar, peach juice and almonds. Pour the mixture inside the apples.
4. Poke the surface of the apples in various spots and place them in the oven.
5. Bake for 20-30 minutes at 400 degrees.
6. Once the apples are finished, serve them with a scoop of ice cream.

These are just a few examples of recipes that you can make along with your children. And there are so many other options.

Don’t hesitate to look for more ideas or even create your own!