April 01, 2007
Spark Creativity with cooking
April 2007
Kids Cooking Activities Newsletter
....helping kids learn and grow up in the kitchen
Head Chef: Debbie Madson
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The Head Chef Notes
Spring is here. As fruit trees start to blossom it is a great time to teach kids about food facts. Watching an apricot tree as it flowers and grows fruit can be a great learning experience for kids about healthy food.
Kids Cooking Activities is really blossoming also. Have you seen what is new this month?
Get kids involved in learning about other cultures and trying ethnic recipes with our World Studies International recipes. I'm still adding to these pages. Please let me know if you have an International recipe you'd like to share.
I have a few new additions that will be popping up this spring as well,including the Kids Cooking Activities, kids cooking lessons book. I'm working on a few bonuses including a dinner menu planning book. Easy, healthy and kid friendly meals is something my readers search for everyday so I'm hoping this will help with the sometimes crazy dinnertime.
Ask the Head Chef
What is a kid friendly asparagus recipe?Asparagus are great boiled and drizzled with melted butter. See how to cook asparagus on our asparagus food facts page.
Here is another asparagus recipe to try.
Asparagus Risotto
1 tablespoon butter
1 onion, finely chopped
3/4 lb asparagus, cut in 1 inch pieces
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 1/2 cups short grain rice
4 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup cream
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
In saucepan melt butter and sauté onions and garlic several minutes until onions are transparent. Add rice and stir until coated. When rice starts to look shiny like glass add chicken broth. Bring to a boil and add asparagus. Cover and turn heat to medium-low. Allow to steam and cook for about 10 minutes or until rice is fluffy and done. Stir in cream, Parmesan cheese and basil until well combined. Serve immediately.
Please email me with your questions.
Our featured kids cooking product review
We have this kids cooking software and we really enjoy it. I love the fact that the kids learn a lot about cooking from what ingredients are to nutrition facts.
This CD also has lots of recipes to try, cooking definitions and a cooking game section.
The President of the Cook N Club software put this together with his kids. This video demonstration in itself is fun to watch!
Cook N for kids CD demonstration video.
Spark Kids Creativity with cooking
Kids are naturally artistic and creative. Being creative and playing with your food is one way a child can learn and explore food and cooking. It can be as easy as forming mashed potato hills and broccoli trees or arranging your lunch into a face or animal. Use some of these ideas to channel your kids creativity. They will see instant results and can eat their artistic work too.For older chefs helping them be creative in cooking can be as simple as getting them involved in planning dinner and other meals each week. Give them a list of ingredients and ask what could we do with this? Or they can invent and create their own version of a recipe. Lasagna or any pasta dish can be easily changed and made into something new and unique.
The process of baking and putting food together for a meal is creative in itself, you can also help kids see the artistic nature of cooking with these recipes and ideas. For younger chefs check out these ideas
Creating bagel faces
Creating flowers blooming
Other recipes to try with younger or older chefs (they too may enjoy the creative nature of these recipes)
Banana dog
Banana(dog body)
pretzel sticks(for legs)
marshmallows(for eyes)
peanut halves (for ears)
licorice (for tail and whiskers)
Create your banana dog by spreading peanut butter over the top (to look like fur) and adding all the body parts.
Animal sandwich
Cut out animal shapes out of bread and decorate with fruits and vegetables. For example an owl cookie cutter, bread, peanut butter or other spread and banana slices can easily be transformed into a eatable owl. Add banana slices for feathers and banana cut in pieces for eyes. Use whatever shapes and fruits and vegetables you have available. This is where the creativity comes in.
Vegetable Platters
Transform a vegetable platter into a creation. You can make an animal, turkey, rabbit or be an artist and design an abstract design.
Enjoy and let the creativity in all of us flow!
Kid Chef Section:
Some Kid Friendly Breakfast meals
Do you have an experience cooking with your kids that you'd like to share with our readers? A recipe your kids enjoy making with you? Or a picture of your kids cooking?Please send it to us to share.
Waffle Egg sandwich
8 eggs
¼ teaspoon salt
pepper
1 Tablespoon butter
8 waffles
8 bacon strips, cooked and drained
Beat eggs and season with salt and pepper. Cook eggs in skillet in butter. As the eggs set, lift edges, letting uncooked portion flow underneath. When eggs are completely set, cut into four wedges. Prepare waffles. Make sandwiches out of 2 waffles with egg and bacon inside.
Waffle Ham and Cheese sandwich
Prepare several ham and cheese sandwiches by putting a slice of cheese and ham in between two slices of bread. Butter outside of bread. Place in hot waffle iron and bake until golden and crisp.
Coming up next month....
Gardening and cooking hand in hand
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