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Are you wondering what to do
with your kids during the Christmas break? How about cooking with them in the
kitchen?
Start by making a few
basic kitchen rules. Here are my basic kitchen rules*:
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Wash hands before handling
food and after handling raw meat, seafood and eggs
-
Wear an apron- one of my
biggies- keeps the food off of us and us off of the food
-
Clean up after yourself-
this keeps the kitchen safer for others as well
-
Walk with the knife tip or
kitchen scissors pointed down
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Absolutely NO goofing
around in the kitchen
What involving the kids
in the kitchen helps them with:
-
Math skills- cooking is a
real life application of math, maybe as simple as counting the number of eggs
needed in a recipe, to more complex fractions if halving or doubling a recipe
-
Working on organizational
skills- this is my thing. Way back when I talked about mise en place (or
everything in its place) making sure all of the ingredients are available as
well as gathering all of the utensils, pots and bowls needed to make the recipe
before starting to cook
-
Following instructions- who
doesn’t need this skill? Especially in baking, a recipe won’t turn out if the
instructions aren’t followed closely
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Responsibility- involving your kids in the mealtime choices, preparation and cleanup helps them
learn about completing a project from beginning to end, gives them a sense of
significance and there’s a greater chance that they will eat it. Encourage them to at least take a bite, reminding them that they helped in the
kitchen with the food preparation.
So,
where do you start with your kids? It depends on how old they are:
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Start with a peeler-
carrots and potatoes are a great start. Make mashed potatoes and carrot sticks
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Manual hand mixer- mix cake
batters, scramble eggs
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Manual hand chopper- chop
onions, mushrooms, herbs
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Box grater- grate soft
cheeses, like mozzarella
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Rolling pin- roll out
bread, pizza or cookie dough
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Kitchen scissors- cut
softer veggies like peppers and lettuces
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Paring knife- start with
cutting soft items like mushrooms
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Manual can opener- this
takes work for small hands
Try
this recipe with your kids:
Festive Green Beans and
Bacon
7 slices bacon, cooked,
drained and cut up with kitchen scissors
2 - 9-ounce packages frozen whole green beans, thawed
6 medium carrots, peeled and cut into small dice
2 tablespoons butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Melt the butter over medium
low heat and add carrots and garlic. Cook about 5 minutes, until crisp tender.
Stir green beans and pepper into carrots. Heat another 3-5 minutes until beans
are hot. Transfer to a serving bowl and top with crumbled bacon.
* Please refer to the October 10, 2005 show for my
comprehensive Kitchen Safety Tip Sheet.
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