Cooking with children

[BITCAT]

I have 4 children, from 9 to 2yrs, they all enjoy cooking and encourages them to eat, we've done pizza from scratch and made various cakes, mince pies at xmas etc... Do you cook with your children and does anyone have any good recipes for simple healthy treats or fun makes?

we make mushroom soup
mushrooms are easy to cut with blunt knives
and you need huge pile of mushrooms so it keeps them busy for a while

I generally have DS in the kitchen with me whenever I'm cooking supper, he's 4, I give him little jobs to do, washing veg,stirring, whisking, adding things to saucepans (under my upervision), Not sure if you'd want all 4 of them hovering over trying to help you, but you could give them all different jobs to do, should work with any meal.

Fun easy snacks might include:

Bread sticks, make with bread dough, roll out, cut with pizza cutter into strips, twist and bake. Lots of toppings can be added before cutting:grated cheese, poppy ro seseme seeds, paprika, parmesan, rosemary.....

make some dips for the bread sticks, like humous or cooked vegetable and chickpea dips.

5yo DD likes to cook with me. I don't particularly like baking, so we tend to cook - so more geerally savoury dishes.

She does some prep stuff for me - brushing and chopping mushrooms, carefully stabbing potatoes for jackets, cutting veggies (she has a children's knife from Pampered Chef), etc. She also mixes sauces, bashes herbs/spices, helps with marinades and helps when we are brading things like fish or nuggets.

She is a dab hand at making meat balls and burgers, fish cakes, breaded gougons, various fish dishes....

Now she is getting older she is actually a really useful helper in the kitchen.

when we lived in London ds from age 4 used to go to The Kids Cookery School in Acton during the holidays - it was brilliant - they did all kinds of healthy,proper food followed by a food quiz with fruit and vegetable naming. - was fab.I do recommend it for anyone in W London with children from that age upwards

hulababy, what is your dd's knife like ? Would it suit ds - 4 yrs?

I let my son help all the time. he's nearly 3. Mainly stirring, beating egss etc. In fact it's the best way of making him eat.

I did pay the price a month ago - I could smell something when I was upstairs - he'd made a peice of toadst all on his own. I'm now paranoid he'll try to use the stove.

Oblomov - This one. It isn't particularly sharp but DD manages to cut mushrooms, cucumber, tomatoes, courgette, peppers, etc with a sawing actin rather than a chopping one. She has had it about a year so yes, suitable for 4yo IME.

which one hulababy, your link didn't distinguish which actual knife.

my safe cutter? just perused for myself

Sorry about that. Yes, My Safe Cutter

we have that knife too hula

i am used to my peppers and cucumbers in mangled slices now thanks to that and the 'sawing' action

would recommend it

Love the idea of the breadsticks. Ds loves making scones - either with raisins or cheese. We also make Jamies American pancakes (with whisked egg white). He loves pressing the button on any of my whisks & processors.

Was going to have a go at biscuits tomorrow - anyone got any simple recipes please? (sorry to hijack)

200g plain flour, 50g lard, 50g marg, pinch of salt,75g caster sugar, 1 orange, 1 egg. Sieve flour and salt into bowl rub in cubed lard and marg, till it looks like breadcrumbs. Grate a little rind of orange add to mixture with caster sugar. Then stir, beat the egg and add mixing to make soft dough. Knead mixture on floured surface. Roll out till dough is 2mm thick. Using shaped pastry cutters cut them out and place on greased backing tray. Bake in oven for 30mins at 150oc or gas mark 2.

Sorry didn't finish, 1 of kids woke up last night... Now you can make icing, whilst biscuits cooling. 150g icing sugar, 1-2 tablespoons orange juice, few drops food colouring and some jelly tots, or choc buttons. Put icing sugar into bowl, then squeezed orange juice stir until smooth and glossy, then add food colouring and stir. Using a teaspoon, put a little icing onto each biscuit, add sweets or buttons. All done!!!Good fun for the kids, icing the best bit!!!

We do mini-quiches and make faces with peas for eyes and 1/4 tomatoes for mouths. Or else we decorate them with cut out pastry shapes.

DD is 3 1/2 and loves helping in the kitchen. Anything involving mixing, pouring, rolling out is fun. Pancakes were good too, she added the various toppings.