Kids in the Kitchen

Welcome to this weeks Kids in the Kitchen. It’s a little late, again, because I was waiting for the first of May so I could start a new linky for this month.

We didn’t have many people share last month so I’m hoping there will be more joining in this month. I’ll have to see what I can do to inspire you all. It was lovely to see the beautiful Miss T from The Beesley Buzz back in the kitchen having a go at Hot Cross Buns. Mum was not entirely happy with the results, but I always say, if it’s edible then it’s a success, so well done Miss T.

This week I’ve been writing some guest posts for Cake-Cetera, here is our recipe for Rocky Road on their blog. Cake-Cetera deliver delicious looking treats like french macarons and cake pops to your door.

I don’t have a recipe for you today, instead I’m going to share some tips for cooking with your children.

 1. Start with hygiene. Teach them the importance of hand washing, before they start cooking and in-between using raw, cooked and ready-to-eat foods.

 2. Know that with their help it’s going to take longer and allow for this. The more they cook the quicker and easier it will be for them, but in the beginning it seems to take forever.

3. Plan ahead, get everything ready for them and do as much preparation as possible especially when they are really young.

4. Be prepared for mess, and lots of it. If it can be spilled it will be, that’s almost a   guarantee when kids are helping. The more little hands you have in there, the more mess there will be.

5. Teach them to clean up their mess..make it fun and they will do it. See, it’s not all that bad.

6. Take into consideration the child’s age. Smaller children will get bored quickly so save them fun easy jobs like rolling pastry, kneading dough, cutting shapes or filling  cupcake cases. They will love these jobs. Older children will be able to help with measuring ingredients, cutting up food, stirring and mixing.

7. Kids get bored. It can be frustrating but it happens, they will just say they’ve had enough and stop co-operating half way through a recipe. I’ve felt like that half way through cooking dinner but I’m an adult and I don’t have other pressing things to get on with like playing out with my friends, watching cartoons or playing Minecraft.

8. Keep them safe. Until they are old enough, or experienced enough then it’s an adults job to put things in and take them out the oven, or stir hot pans on the hob. Keep pan handles facing inwards and sharp knives out of the way. Make sure they have something safe to stand on if they are not high enough to reach the counter. Don’t leave them unattended (even if you are not doing anything hot…I made the mistake of leaving mine to break up some chocolate once..oh my, never again!)

So now it’s over to you, get in the kitchen with your kids and come and share what you’ve cooked,