The Benefit of Letting Your Kids into the Kitchen

Dinner prep around our house has always been a family affair.  From the time the children were pretty small (4 or 5-years-old) I've consistently given them age appropriate jobs in the kitchen to help get dinner on the table.  See below for some job ideas.    Now that my kids are older (the ones at home are 9, 12, 14, and 17), I have a house full of competent cooks who are happy to help in the kitchen.

Of course, not every child helps with every meal, but on any given night if you peeked into our kitchen  you'd see a collaborative effort of me and children willingly doing their part to help prepare for dinner (cleaning up, on the other hand, is worthy of a whole different blogpost).   You might see one child  standing at the garbage peeling vegetables, another whipping together the ingredients for a sauce, and one of the older kids standing at the cutting board chopping ingredients.  They don't often stay in the kitchen the whole time dinner is being prepared, but even if all they have time for is a few minutes of helping, my workload is still reduced and they take pride in the fact that they've done their part and contributed in some way to the meal.    It's honestly often one of my favorite times of the day.

Lately, though,  I've realized that a lot of people are intimidated by sharing the kitchen with their children.  Even my 17-year-old daughter's friends, whose moms are excellent cooks,  have very limited experience in the kitchen.  When talking to my friends as to why this is, I hear a variety of excuses about how their kitchen isn't big enough, or that their kids liked to help when they were small, but not anymore, or just that they just don't like the mess the kids make.

I'm here to say that it's worth the mess and worth the crowdedness, to let them in.   The benefits of not  just tolerating their presence, but welcoming them in and utilizing their help to help create family meals, is incalculably beneficial to you and to your children.

But it takes effort.

There will be messes.  There will frustrating moments when they make a preventable error.  There will be times when you bump into each other.

But that's how children learn and the benefits of having them there go far beyond just helping them to become better cooks.  It's bonding time with mom (or dad) and time when they learn how to positively contribute to the dynamics of the family.
  

Benefits
Confidence--Kids are bombarded on so many sides with things that they can't do and often shoved into a corner with an electronic device when their presence is inconvenient; so I say welcome them in instead.    Let them help you!   Make them your partners and  give them opportunities to  legitimately help getting a meal ready.   Over time as their skills and  contributions increase, their confidence will grow as well.

Skills for the future--boys and girls stand a lot to gain from knowing their way around the kitchen.   If they are taught well when they are young, they will have a better foundation on which to develop healthy habits and gain the ability to cook for themselves and their future families when they leave home.

Health--when they have practice and familiarity with making food from scratch, they are less likely to turn to processed foods when given the choice.  They recognize the superior taste and nutrition of homemade meals, and you can also use the time in the kitchen together to talk with them about the cost benefits as well.

Helping you--When you give them jobs that actually contribute to the preparation of the meal, you will lessen your own workload.   Young children require a lot of supervision, but if they learn those skills at your side when they're young, they can lend a much larger, more independent role when they're older.

Cooperation--what better way to learn how to work with others than under the direct supervision of a parent doing something that has to be done anyway?


Hints
Start small, no matter their age.   Just ask them to do one thing that will legitimately make your life a little easier (even if it's just opening a couple of cans or stirring the pot for 5 minutes), and thank them profusely for their help.  

Make sure they are well-instructed and supervised, not only for safety reasons, but to build a cooperative spirit and to help reduce their frustration level if something goes wrong.   This is not time for you watch tv or jump in the shower, but a time to work side-by-side with them.

Make their jobs real, actual jobs that benefit you and legitimately help in the meal prep.  The kids will know that if they are not actually contributing to the meal and it will negate the benefits to you and to them if you are just making up easy jobs for them to keep them out of your hair.

Be consistent.  If you only ask them to help when you're making a specific dish or when they're not busy, they won't get in the habit of helping.  Even on a crazy night when kids have lots of homework, they can chip in for a few minutes.   A little brain break never hurt anyone, and besides, the faster dinner gets on the table the happier everyone is!

Express gratitude to ALL those that help---At the dinner table make sure you thank each person individually for the part they played in preparing that meal.   My kids eat this gratitude up and love to tell daddy (or guests) the part they played in making the meal.   Never criticize a child who didn't help, but make sure that even a person who just opened a can gets thanked.

Don't make a big deal about or get angry if they burn something, or add an incorrect ingredient, or in some way make a preventable error.   Simply explain how it could be prevented in the future and go with it.  You might have to start something over, or put up with an overcooked portion of the meal, but if you get negative with them you will make them more hesitant to help in the future.  Compliment what they did right and move past it!

Allow their contributions to grow in importance as they grow older and gain skills.   If you still have your 10-year-old stirring pots (and baking the occasional batch of cookies) for you, then you are not utilizing their potential.    Give them bigger jobs.   Show them the recipe and let them take ownership of part of the meal.    See below for more specific ideas, but a 10-year-old is definitely old enough to measure and add spices, make sauces and marinades, peel vegetables, etc.   If properly trained, teens can be entirely in charge of side dishes or even make entire meals themselves.

Related to the one above, don't overwhelm them either.  If you haven't been having them help all along, don't expect them to jump in and be able to do things without any experience.  Additionally, if they're having an off day or feeling overwhelmed already, don't force them.  This should be a joyful experience and not one where mom is yelling at the kids every day to get them to help.  That's why I highly encourage having them start with small, but helpful tasks on a very consistent basis (at least a few times per week), then build from there.

In addition to having them help with dinner, give them opportunities to be independent in the kitchen.  Let them whip up a batch of cookies by themselves (tweaking the recipe if they want).   Let them make pancakes, or fry themselves an egg.  Don't stand over their shoulder, but let them experiment (even if it means making something that turns out gross)!   These kinds of experiences will boost their confidence, help them gain culinary creativity,  and help hone their skills for helping with bigger kitchen jobs eventually.

Use the summertime when your schedule is less structured to give them more responsibility in the kitchen.  This is a great time to let them plan menus, take over entire meals (with you as the assistant instead of the head chef), and in general really amp up their skills.

Hurdles/Excuses to overcome

My kids aren't interested in helping.  If you give them a series of small jobs on a consistent basis and let them know how much you appreciate their help, even the most reluctant helper will start to realize that they're not just performing some empty thankless task, but that they are actually contributing in a visible way to help get a meal on the table.  This will not come overnight.   It may take years, but if you continue having them help, in even small ways that are more palatable to them, it will make a difference.

I don't have time to deal with their messes/errors. I promise that putting up with their messes now will pay for itself over and over again as they get older.  Let them make the mess.  Let them experiment and make errors.   That's what it takes to learn and someday when they're 14 and you're not feeling well and they  go and prepare an entire meal from scratch, because they feel confident in the kitchen, you will be glad for those messes they made when they were 8.

My kitchen is too small.   We've recently redone our kitchen, so it's not tight anymore, but up until a year-and-a-half ago our kitchen was very small too.   Think outside the box.   Prep work can be done at the kitchen table, the garbage can can be moved, kids can help in shifts.  If you wait until your kitchen is "big enough",  if you're like me, you could be waiting an awful long time  and miss years' worth of opportunities to allow your children to learn and to gain confidence in the kitchen.  

Cookbooks for Kids:
My kids usually just make our normal family recipes, but for someone who's looking to be a bit more independent, a cookbook for kids can be fun.  We have this one ,  this one , and this one that my kids have enjoyed.


Kitchen jobs for kids: (with proper instruction and supervision)

ages 4-6 
stirring
measuring and adding ingredients (teach them how to do it properly first and stay near them)
getting spices and other ingredients out of the cupboard and fridge (good reading practice)
setting the table
spooning batter (or sour cream or salsa or whatever) into a pan or bowl
rolling cookie balls
spreading frosting, butter, or jam over cakes, toast, etc.
making their own sandwiches (put out pre-cut ingredients and let them put it together themselves)
opening boxes

ages 6-9 (all of the above, plus the following)
opening cans
draining and rinsing canned goods
independently making sauces, marinades, and dressings
grating cheese
cracking eggs
whisking
*peeling vegetables
*slicing (avocados and bananas are good things to practice on, since they can use a butter knife)
*heating things on a griddle--tortillas, pancakes, etc
*frying eggs
reading the recipe (for someone who is standing at the stove and can't get to the recipe)

ages 10-11 (all of the above and the following)
*coarse chopping
*sautéing
*cooking noodles, rice, etc.
pressing garlic
independent baking (cookies, cakes, pancakes, biscuits, cornbread, etc)
tweaking recipes to make them their own
making entire meals once a month or so
menu planning

ages 12-up (all of the above and the following)
cooking meals independently (I have them take charge of a meal weekly in the summertime)
dicing onions and other vegetables that need to be chopped finely
baking bread
basically anything an adult can do

*close adult supervision is highly encouraged during any activity which requires the use of heat or sharp utensils.

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What about you?  How involved are your kids in the kitchen?  Do you have any other great ideas? 

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Gingerbread Cookie Tree

  Who knew that a few different sized star shaped cookies stacked on top of each other could so easily  create such a fun edible holiday decoration as this gingerbread cookie tree?  My family was enamored with it and I laughed that it took them a couple of days before they would even venture to start eating it.  It would be perfect as part of a gingerbread house display or as a stand-alone "wow" display at a party!  You could easily make the trees shorter  if you desired by just using fewer cookies.  Enjoy!   

Recipe Source:  Washington Post Food Section

Click here for printable recipe. 

Posted by Lara.


The ingredients:


GINGERBREAD COOKIES:
3 cups flour, plus more if needed
1 Tbs. ground cinnamon
1 Tbs. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. sea salt
3/4 tsp. baking soda
10 Tbs. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup molasses
2 Tbs. milk

ROYAL ICING:
1 lb. powdered sugar
2 egg whites
1 Tbs. freshly squeezed lime or lemon juice
dark-green food coloring gel
Colored sanding sugar, for garnish (optional)
Edible silver pearls, for garnish (optional)

6-7 star shaped cookie cutters (I bought a 4-piece graduated cookie cutter set and a 4 piece graduated fondant cutter set (in the cake aisle at the craft store), but I would have bought this inexpensive cookie cutter kit from Amazon that was created for just this purpose if I had seen it first)

Directions: 

FOR THE COOKIES: 
Combine the flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt and baking soda in large bowl. Whisk to aerate and mix well.

Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer; beat on low speed, then on medium speed until well incorporated. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the molasses and milk; beat on low speed until incorporated.

Add the flour mixture in thirds, beating on low speed until well combined after the first two additions and stopping to scrape down the bowl after each addition. After the last of the flour is added, beat on low speed until just incorporated. The dough will pull away from the sides of the bowl and be soft yet very pliable.

Prepare 6 sheets of parchment paper about 18 by 13 inches (baking sheet size). Divide the dough into thirds; place each portion of dough between two sheets of the parchment; roll the dough to a thickness of about 1/4 inch. Stack them onto a baking sheet and freeze for at least 1 hour before cutting the cookies.



Preheat the oven to 325 degrees, with racks positioned in the upper and lower middle of the oven. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper.

Working with one portion of dough at a time (while the other two remain in the freezer), peel away both sides of parchment paper, but lay the dough back down on one piece of the parchment.  (my kids that these frozen dough sheets were hilarious)

Use the seven graduated sizes of cookie cutters to cut 3 cookies each, for a total of 21 cookies.

Cut the cookies while the dough is frozen and position them on the parchment-lined baking sheets. If the dough defrosts too much to easily move cookies that have been cut out, replace the top sheet of parchment and refreeze until the dough is easy to work with. Do that as many times as needed; scraps can be re-rolled twice. Use all of the dough.

Bake the cookies on the upper and lower racks for 9 to 10 minutes, then rotate the sheets top to bottom and front to back. Bake for 9 to 10 minutes, until the cookies have browned but do not appear to be burned on the bottoms; a few minutes after you rotate the baking sheets, check the smaller-size cookies for doneness, removing any that might be done sooner.   NOTE:  I just baked them one pan at a time for 8-10 minutes) 


Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

FOR THE ICING:
(NOTE:  I used a regular buttercream frosting recipe for the following pictures.   If you use the icing recipe included here it will result in a shinier, smoother icing.  )

Working in batches, combine the confectioners' sugar and egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer. Beat on low speed until all is well blended. Add the lemon or lime juice, beating until the icing is smooth and fluffy and holds a soft peak, adding water if needed. The yield is about 2 1/2 cups, about half of which is used in this recipe. You will have leftover icing, which can be refrigerated (see headnote). Cover the bowl with a dampened dish towel until ready to use. (Exposed royal icing will begin to crust over, rendering it lumpy and difficult to apply, and the final product will be uneven.)

To assemble: Use half of the icing to cover the tops of the cookies; sprinkle the exposed star tips with the sanding sugar. Let dry for 1 hour. Alternatively, use enough food color gel to color all of the icing. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a small leaf tip and decorate the star tips. If desired, place silver pearls on some or all of the star tips. Let dry for 1 hour.

Use some of the remaining icing as "glue" to stack and build the cookie tree, using a pastry bag fitted with the round tip to place the icing at the center of each cookie, making sure they are centered atop each other as you work. Offset the stars so their points do not line up directly. Let the cookie tree set for 1 hour before serving.


Display on a platter covered with a mini tree skirt for an extra dose of festivity!

Enjoy!

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Brownie Santa Hats

I saw these online somewhere last year.  I don't remember where I saw it first, but now it is all over the internet, so I don't even know who to thank.  Anyway, these are cute and super easy.  You can get your kids involved to make these as well.  The hardest part might be finding decent strawberries this time of year. Ho Ho HO! 

Click here for printable recipe.

Post by: Jen

Ingredients:

brownie cake mix
 eggs
vegetable oil
Cool Whip
Strawberries

Equipment needed:
mini muffin tin
Piping bag with star tip (not totally necessary because you could use a sandwich baggie if needed)

Directions:
Grease 2 mini muffin tins (with spray).  Preheat oven to 350 degrees or whatever it says on the back of your brownie box.

 Follow the directions on the back of the brownie box.  Mix in your eggs and oil well.

Spoon batter into mini muffin tins.  It may only take one or one and half tablespoons of batter.

Bake in oven for 10-15 minutes (depending on how done in the middle you like your brownies.  If not sure, then cook them until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean.

Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, wash and dry the strawberries you are going to use.  You will be using one strawberry per mini brownie. (unless you manage to eat a couple brownies while they're warm of course).  Cut of the tops of the strawberries so they can stand up flat.

Spoon the Cool Whip into a piping bag fitted with a star tip.  Or just use a sandwich baggie with a little corned cut out.  But then you may not have a cute dollop of cream on top to look like a ball.  * Use Cool Whip because it will last longer when piped.  If you are serving these immediately, then you can use real whipped cream but it won't hold it's shape for long . OR if you have a recipe you like for decorating whipped cream then use that.

Squirt out some cream on top of the cooled brownie.

Push the strawberry into the middle a little bit so that some of the cream will come up the bottom sides of the berry.

Pipe a little dollop of cream on top to look like the top of Santa's hat.

And now you have cute Santa's hats that are chocolaty and semi good for you thanks to the strawberry.

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Spiderweb Rice Krispy Treats

I love experimenting with Rice Krispy treats.  So when I volunteered to provide a treat for my son's Halloween party, I came up with these.  Plus it helped that I recently came to own Wilton's Spider Mix sprinkles.  They were a huge hit in the classroom.

Click here for printable recipe.

Post by: Jen

Ingredients:

 1/4 c butter/margarine
2/3-3/4 box rice krispies (or actually measure what it indicated on the box)
1 bag mini marshmallows
4 oz white chocolate (or white candy coating or almond bark)
spider sprinkles (OR if you don't have any, just melt down dark chocolate and pipe some out.  When the chocolate hardens, then you have your own chocolate spiders!)
toothpick

Directions:
Melt butter in large nonstick saucepan.  Add the bag of marshmallows and slowly melt with the butter.  Stir them around to evenly distribute the heat.

 Add the cereal and fold it into the marshmallows until all the cereal is coated.

 Line a jelly roll pan (or 9x13 pan for thicker ones) with parchment paper.  Spray it first with nonstick spray. Press the marshmallow mixture into the pan.

 Cut into circles, OR squares and then round off the edges of the squares.

IF you have the Wilton's Spider sprinkle mixture, separate out the spiders.  You will need to work quickly before the chocolate hardens. So have your spiders prepped.

 Cut up your chocolate into small pieces.  Place into a baggie and melt in microwave at 20 second intervals.  Make sure to squeeze the bag all over to evenly melt the chocolate.  If you have one unmelted piece of chocolate it will cause your baggie to get clogged and thus bursting.

 When all the chocolate is melted, then snip a TINY hole in corner of it.  This will be your little piping bag for the spider webs.

 Start in the middle and pipe a spiral around the treat.  Don't forget to twist the baggie closed at the top.  You don't want chocolate oozing out the top.

Use a toothpick and start at the middle, drag the toothpick from the center moving outward.  This will make a spider web effect. 

Add a spider to a part that has a lot of chocolate in order for it to stick.  Add extra sprinkles if desired.

 Make sure you only pipe out about 5-6 at a time.  You want to make sure that the chocolate is still wet in order for the sprinkles to stick.  So I piped 5 spirals, then dragged the toothpick, then sprinkled.  Then I moved on to five more at a time.

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