Cooking with Children

When I was little one of my fondest memories was going over to my Grandma’s house where she’d show me how to make lots of things such as cool-aide and other little treats. I knew that when I grew up cooking with children of my own would be something I’d do. Cooking and baking and treat making is now something I am able to share with my two step-daughters and is something we dearly love.

We’ve done a lot in our kitchen. We’ve made Halloween candy from a kit we got at the store, muffins and cupcakes, cookies, pizza, tacos and fudge. Oh and our biggest cooking event to date a “surprise” father’s day breakfast last year. It didn’t turn out exactly right, but we all had fun and Larry ate the edible bits with good grace and the girls had fun. I never said everything we made was edible!

Well if you are wondering how we manage cooking with children and end up with mostly good things to eat, here are some tips you can use with your kids.

Let everyone have a turn. Let each kid take turns mixing, adding eggs, milk, mix, etc., putting things onto cookie sheets and into muffin papers. This lets each kid feel like he or she has contributed to the effort. Also letting them do one or two cookies, muffins, and the like all on their own will let them feel special and they can show off their very own items.

Divide up some of the work by age. If you have kids who are a bit apart in age letting the younger kids do easier parts of a job and the older kids more complex parts can work well. For example if we are baking I’ll let the youngest gather up all the eggs, measuring cups and the like while the oldest gets to run the oven.

Work on skills they may be working on in school. When we make things, even if it is something we’ve made before I’ll have the youngest, because she needs the work the most, read the directions. Most packages of say muffins or pancakes have pictures to go along with the words and this can help beginning readers or those with some trouble with words figure out what we need to do. Additionally working with a timer can help in telling time and figuring out how much time is left. Have clear rules of who can be where. A kitchen, if not treated with respect can be a dangerous place for young kids. This is why it is very very important to have clear rules of who can be where. The oldest for example is allowed near the stove. She’s in Junior High and has had classes at school in home management and knows the rules for stove safety. The youngest is still in early grade school and is only allowed near the stove if either her sister or I are there to help her. Like wise because of my blindness we’ve made it a practice to announce if we are moving from stove to counter or sink with hot food. We’ll say “Hot pan coming through” or the like. That way everyone knows to move out of the way and everyone knows if it is safe to go to the sink or counter or wherever.

Be mindful of kitchen safety. You can place yourself between a small child and a heat source, like the stove. You can place your hands over the hands of small children to help them stir, chop, knead or other kitchen tasks. This will let you know exactly where those little hands are, while allowing smaller children to help out. Talk to the kids, asking them to describe what they are doing. This will aid you in knowing what they are doing and it will help the child to be clear about what they are supposed to be doing.

Everyone helps in cleaning up. Another rule in our house is everyone helps clean up. If you’ve made the mess, you help clear it up. This helps teach responsibility, and as a parent has the extra added bonus of minimizing my time spent doing kitchen cleaning. Sneaky, no?

I find that cooking with children, while at times a bit hectic is very rewarding. They not only get to work on the skills such as reading, telling time and following directions, but it also teaches teamwork and responsibility. And it’s fun. And can help bring a family (in my case a step family) closer together.

The thing the girls like best? I think? Is that we all agree to donate a few of our goodies to their dad. If we make muffins we will split them up evenly and then we’ll vote on how many of our personal stash to give to their dad who may not be home when we do the cooking. This teaches math and also how to share nicely. They love taking Larry’s share of stuff down to his computer desk and leaving it so he’ll find it later.

I’ll close with two recipes that are very popular round here that you might want to try with your kids. I hope that if you try these or any others with your kiddos that you have as much fun as we do. Good luck and good eats!

My Famous Homemade Pizza:

PIZZA CRUST

You’ll need:

1 20oz package dry active yeast

1 cup warm water

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups flower

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/8 cup garlic powder

1/8 cup Italian seasoning

Instructions Dissolve the active yeast in the water, mix and let stand about 10 minutes. Then mix everything together in bowl. Dough should form a nice ball. If too dry add a splash of water. You’ll want the dough to be mostly dry. Need And then turn out on to well flowered surface. Need again, replace in bowl and set aside. Dough should rise. Let stand about 30 minutes.

PIZZA TOPPINGS This part is up to each person what they want, but this is what I do.

You’ll need:

1 pound ground beef

1 pound ground Italian sausage

1 large package pepperoni

1 very large bag shredded mozzarella cheese

1 large onion

1 green pepper

1 can pizza sauce

Instructions: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Brown the ground beef. Season with a dash of salt and some garlic and Italian seasoning. Drain and set aside. Brown the Italian sausage. Likewise set aside.

OPTIONAL: Larry and the girls dislike veggies on their pizza so I did not do this for the pizza I made for them but you can chop onions and green pepper up finely and sauté in olive oil. Then mix with the ground beef mixture as you brown it.

Alright you’re pretty much done. You’ve got your ground meats nicely browned and drained. You’ve got your cheese and pepperoni and your pizza dough nicely risen in the bowl on the side and your oven is nice and hot. Turn your dough out on the nicely flowered surface and roll out flat so that it will cover your pizza pan with a bit sticking over the edges. Lightly grease the pizza pan with the olive oil. Also, if you want a good crunchy taste to your pizza put a dusting of cornmeal on the bottom of the pan. Then place the rolled out dough in the pan and pat into place. With the leftover bits of dough you’ve got sticking out the sides, roll to form a small crust edge. Next put down a light layer of cheese. This provides a nice surface for everything to stick to and hopefully will prevent all the topping from falling off the pizza. Add sauce, then more cheese, the meats, then pepperoni then a final layer of cheese. It is important to switch between cheese and topping because the cheese is like a “glue”. Pop into the oven and bake for about half an hour.

Rocky Road Fudge

I got this from a back issue of the Braille Monitor and it is a hit round here not only because it is easy to make but because it is good and doesn’t last very long once it’s made!

Ingredients:

1 12-ounce package semi-sweet chocolate morsels

1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups miniature marshmallows

1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts

Method: Line a 13-by-9-inch baking pan with foil; grease lightly. Microwave morsels and sweetened condensed milk in large, microwave-safe bowl on high (100 Percent) power for one minute; stir. Microwave at additional ten-to-twenty-second intervals, stirring until smooth. Stir in vanilla extract. Fold in marshmallows and nuts. Press mixture into prepared baking pan. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Lift from pan; remove foil. Cut into pieces.