3 Recipes You Can Cook with Your Children
Cooking with children has many pros and cons. We want our children to learn this skill but worry that the kitchen is too dangerous. The following three recipes are simple enough that you can cook them with your children without overwhelming your kitchen space or yourself. Each recipe is also easy to customize, so you don’t have to worry about pleasing picky eaters.
Breakfast: Cheesy Egg Bites
We have a full blog already about these hashbrown cups with egg and cheese, but we wanted to explain how you can incorporate your children into this cooking process. First, you need to assemble the ingredients:
- 20 ounces of shredded potato (homemade or store-bought)
- ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese or cheese of your choice
- 5 tablespoons melted, unsalted butter
- 12 eggs
- Desired seasonings—we recommend chopped parsley and ground pepper
Pour the shredded potatoes, cheese, and butter into a bowl and mix. This step is a great opportunity for children to practice their pouring and mixing and develop their fine motor skills. Scoop the potato mixture into a greased muffin tin. Older children are often very good at this. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 minutes. While baking, scramble the eggs together with your desired seasonings. Older children can crack eggs while the younger ones help mix. Pour the scrambled eggs on top of the hashbrown cups and bake for an additional 12-14 minutes.
Lunch: Turkey and Cream Cheese Pinwheels
You can also include your children in cooking the food for their lunches with the following recipe:
- 4 large romaine lettuce leaves
- 4 ounces of whipped cream cheese in your desired flavor
- 4 ten-inch tortillas
- 8 ounces of turkey sandwich meat or sandwich meat of choice
- 1 cup of desired veggies
Place a tortilla down on the work surface and place one romaine lettuce leaf on top of it. Place two slices of lunch meat on top of the lettuce. Children can help place all these food items. Roughly spread two tablespoons of cream cheese on top of the turkey meat. Older children can do this with a butter knife. Sprinkle ¼ cup of desired veggies, such as shredded carrots, on top of the cream cheese. Children can do this carefully. Roll the wrap up tightly and slice it into one-inch pieces, creating pinwheels.
Dinner: Chicken and Veggie Rice Bowls
You can make cooking a fun family bonding activity in many ways, and everyone cooking dinner together is one of them. This recipe is slightly more involved than the ones above, but still a great choice for cooking with children. Here are the ingredients:
- 1 cup rice of choice
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 clove of crushed garlic
- 12 ounces of chopped raw chicken
- 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 11/3 cup frozen mixed vegetables
- 1 sliced avocado
Cook rice according to package directions. Children can help measure the rice and pour the water. Drizzle olive oil into a wok or skillet and fry the crushed garlic until it turns golden. Place the raw chicken into the wok and cook thoroughly. Stir in hoisin sauce and let cook for two minutes. Older children can help stir if they understand heat safety precautions. Steam frozen veggies in a separate pan. Serve in bowls with rice on the bottom and chicken, veggies, and avocado slices on top.
These three recipes you can cook with your children allow them to learn important life skills. While this learning process is messy, it’s also worth it to see your children thrive in the kitchen.
