Cooking with Kids
The best way to teach a child to try and eat healthy food as well as be exposed to a variety of flavors, is to cook together, explaining about the ingredients, the recipe and food. This is great way to bring the family together, and parents’ life becomes much easier because after awhile kids become a real helpers and. You can start to teach kids in the kitchen at almost any age, there is always something they can do to help and they find this fun and special (well usually). If the child is very young, you can just show them how you are preparing the food, describe each step, and explain everything. Your child can help you peel onions or garlic, wash vegetables, mix a salad or decorate the finished dish. Start with a simple recipes, such as fruit salads, simple sandwiches, or a great one kids love is pizza. The older kids can begin working with a knife by peeling and cutting vegetables, cooking pasta, roasting vegetables or making pancakes.
My son, Nikita, has shown an interest in cooking and began helping in the kitchen a few years ago. Now he’s always watching cooking shows and last year he began to prepare some dishes himself. He even started his own cookbook where he puts the recipes he likes the most.
His the first favorite dish he cooked himself was bruschetta. He did a great job! Last summer when we were at the cabin with our family, he cooked bruschetta for everyone and it came out perfect, everybody asked for more. He was very proud and it just gave him more confidence to try to cook more and more.
Another of his favorite recipes is zucchini chips with garlic. This recipe is from my childhood, which I just changed a little bit.
My daughter Nicole, is also interested in cooking, and also loves to help in the kitchen. She likes to try different food, and in just a few years she has become a big ‘foodie’ eating meats like duck and rabbit, varieties of fruits and vegetables, and even octopus. Before I cooked separately for the kids, any meat for a dinner we said ‘its chicken’, because everything tastes like chicken 🙂 But also this wasn’t such a strange food. After they tried and enjoyed it we would tell them they actually ate octopus and after they weren’t hesitant to try new foods.
When your kids are interested in cooking and help prepare the meals, they will eat healthier and learn more about where their food comes from.
