Cooking With the Kids

I love cooking with my kids. Teaching my kids how to make good healthy food is very important to me. Giving them essential life skills is an integral part of our home school way of life. Tonight the kids all took part in making dinner. We had chicken enchiladas with rice and corn. It seems like such a labor intensive and complicated meal but if you plan ahead just a bit, making a meal where every one is involved can be a lot of fun.
I had prepped chicken that just needed to be heated up. Princess K put it in the microwave for me. Miss H pulled the cilantro leaves off the stems and got the rice going in the rice cooker. Little Man got a lesson in chopping green onions with a chef’s knife. He was so excited to get to do such a grown up task and took it seriously.

We made an assembly line to put them together. Even Little G was part of the fun and in charge of putting the shredded cheese in the tortillas before I rolled them up. They were so proud of themselves that they made dinner. This is not the first time they have made dinner and I know it will not be the last.

When I make a meal with all of the kids I think through the steps involved and who would be able to do each step. Kids love helping and they are more likely to eat what they took a part in preparing. Little Man tries to be a picky eater. There are many times where he will choose not to eat what is put in front of him. However, he will at least try a dish that he helped prepare. Most times he will find he likes it. If you have a picky eater, try getting them in the kitchen to prepare the food with you. Even if they don’t do much or mostly watch, the time spent together will not go to waste.