Cooking with Kids and Easy Kitchen Ideas

Cooking for your family should not be a chore, but sometimes it ends up feeling that way. Here's a thought...Getting Dad and the kids in on making a meal or two can be lots of fun and take some of the stress off Mom at the same time. Set up a family night where everyone gets together and makes three or more meals for the next week.

Freezing pre-made meals that your family members enjoy will save time and be less stressful, making mealtime much more enjoyable for everyone. Then two nights a week could be reserved for hot home made meals, like pork chops, that don't taste so good reheated. And sometimes the kids will be happy with frozen pizza or hot dogs with macaroni and cheese. These are also very easy starter meals to begin bringing the kids into the kitchen with. And when it comes to "life skills", cooking is a reality for everyone. So cooking with kids is something everyone should consider anyway.

There are many things, like warming up pre-made meals, that are good activities that kids can do to help, and have some fun while doing it. Like when making breads; the children can knead the dough. Then can even punch the air out of it and knead it again after it has risen, to give mom that extra moment of peace. The little ones especially enjoy baking cakes and cookies, mixing the icing and smearing it all over the cake and themselves is great fun!

There are many meals that don't involve cooking that you could start the kids off with as well. Such as salads, sandwiches, and tortilla wraps. These types of meals would be good for getting them used to how things work in the kitchen before they are ready to start cooking.

Cooking is a terrific confidence booster for children of any age, it makes them feel more useful around the house. ( and less 'in the way' for the littlest ones).

Be sure to teach kitchen safety and the importance of supervision at all times. Discuss the meal and steps necessary with them before starting so that they have an idea of what they will need to do as well as an idea of how long it will take. This will help them enjoy the process more, and help with less impatience along the way. To make clean up easy have a sink of soapy water to soak the dishes as you get done with them.

Food and cooking are intimate parts of daily life and the heart of most great family memories. So have fun and start making lasting memories that could turn into lasting traditions for your family.