Hello and happy Friday!! Kids in the Kitchen is a new series I’ll be doing on my blog every Friday, because every Thursday night Wil and I will be doing a kids cooking lesson with his daughter, Charlotte, and her sister Nora. They are super fun to be around and are very excited about learning how to cook and helping make dinner every week. We’re letting them pick out the food they want to make the week before so that when they come over on Thursdays we can get right into the kitchen!
Last night’s menu was:
- Simply Seasoned Grilled Steak (fish for me)
- Mashed Potatoes
- Steamed Zucchini
We started each of the kids on one job – Charlotte peeling the potatoes:
And Nora chopping up the zucchini:
Charlotte moved on to chopping up the potatoes:
And then Wil taught them about steaming the potatoes:
While those were steaming, we played some Apples to Apples:
And then it was back in the kitchen to learn about a restaurant secret for mashed potatoes… After the potatoes are steamed/boiled, you put them in the oven to dry them out.
Good to know!
Charlotte helped season the steak and fish:
And then Wil grilled all the meat up and we steamed the zucchini while the girls helped mixed in milk and butter to the potatoes. Once everything we ready, we ate out on the balcony because it was still pretty nice out…
My plate:
I ate about half of that huge hunk of fish and way more zucchini… so good!
I think its such a fun thing to have your kids get involved with cooking and planning the meals. I’m looking forward to teaching them about healthy eating and not making meat the center of your meal (clearly not demonstrated last night!). Next week we are doing homemade pasta with veggies and salmon!
And the winner of the Adora Giveaway is Nimyah, who said “Ok, I was having this discussion with a friend the other day of which I preferred. Without a doubt it has to be Milk Chocolate. Dark Chocolate just seems too rich, however is great for baking. With the Milk Chocolate, I would have to make some smores smoothies! adding Peanut Butter will just be an added treat.” Congrats!! Please email me your shipping information to bethklein at gmail dot com.
If you have kids, do they help you in the kitchen at all or with meal planning? If you don’t yet have kids but plan to, do you see yourself having them involved?
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Beth's Journey 
I don’t have kids yet, but I’m definitely going to get them involved in the kitchen. My mom did the same for me, and I’m so happy that she did. Great post!
What a cute idea! I know I always loved helping out in the kitchen growing up 🙂
Great idea. My cats would like to learn how to cook. Does that count?
Haha.
I would definitely let the kids in the kitchen and help plan meals. I think it would be a great way to get them to eat healthy. My mom always let me pick out what I wanted to eat!
Great topic! And it is funny because I started do meal planning the same way. When my honey gets his kids every other weekend, the kids and I create a meal plan for the following visit. It cuts down on the guess work of what they will and wont eat. Like you I am also trying to guide them to picking healthy foods or showing them how to make meals they already like more healthy. Im not a great cook, so we are learning together in that area, makes it more of an adventure, ha!
Trust me I still have a LOT to learn, especially when dating a chef! My brother in law said something funny about it the other day… “It’s like living with Picasso and one day he’s like, ‘OK you make a painting today!'”. Ha!
My three sons are 26, 23, & 21 years old.
When they were younger I decided that since I loved to cook, I would help them get used to being comfortable in the kitchen. We started with them making the no bake desserts. So while I was cooking in the kitchen, they would take turns and would make our dessert for the evening. I would put out all the utensils and bowls for them. They would read the directions and I was right there helping them or answering their questions. They learned how to measure dry ingredients and liquid items, how to grease a pan etc…It gave me one on one time with my son’s as well.
It was so gratifying when we ate our dinner to hear the excitement in their voice as they described how they made the dessert.
We then moved on to macaroni & cheese, etc…
The rule was when I wasn’t home they could only use the toaster or microwave oven. They became very inventive.
Today, they all love to cook and they still call me when they have questions on cooking. It is something that we all share together… I even have them each make something for our holiday meals.
Maria in Waterford, Michigan
Aww Maria thank you for sharing! I love the idea of giving them something to be in charge of making so they “own” it.
Awesome!!! I’d love to get my kids involved in the kitchen…once I have them and all.
I have 3 kids at home. Our oldest has actually prepared a meal or two by herself to show how proud she is with what she is learning in Home Ec.
The 2 younger ones enjoy helping me cook, especially bake. Involving kids in cooking is a great way to expose them to a variety of new foods tastes. They are much more likely to try something new if they are involved in preparing it.
My son is still pretty little (3 years old) so I do involve him but on a limited basis. It depends on how complicated the recipe is. But I let him stir, add stuff when baking, and set the table.
No kids in my life, but I think its important skill for every kid to learn. We even have a little kids cooking school in my neighborhood!
No kids here — but when we do I will for sure involve them in cooking. I loved cooking with my dad and baking with my mom when I was younger, so of course I want my kids to do the same!
That’s such a good idea, cooking with the kids! You could probably do a vlog about it and make it a mini-tv show (via internet? haha) love it! aaand I very much enjoyed your last post with the tofu + the avocado fries. I never, ever thought of baking avocado with a nice breading and enjoying them that way. It’s such a good idea, especially for those that only use avocado in all the obvious dishes (sandwiches, tacos, burgers) – love trying new things!
just wanted to quickly wish you a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!
I have video of my daughter skinning garlic when she was 2 years old – it definitely is a great way to get kids interested in new foods if they are involved.
What a great new tradition to start! 😀
Apples to apples is pretty much the best!
My daughter mainly likes to make cookies and cupcakes. She is 15. When she was really little she’d make strange concoctions that you’d have to eat as not to hurt her feelings. I was always afraid to ask what the ingredients were! Some were really good though!