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Food for Families

In the Kitchen: Teaching Kitchen Safety

June 19, 2012 By Terri Thompson

The girls have always loved to help me in the kitchen.

They love to make cookies and smash the avocados when we make guacamole.

But, before they began spending a lot of time with me in the kitchen, it became essential to teach them some basic rules to keep them and me safe in the kitchen.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

Why is kitchen safety important?

It’s the first step in learning an important life skill.

It allows more independence in the kitchen.

It keeps mom and dad more relaxed when little helpers are in the kitchen.

Safety Skill #1: Never Touch a Sharp Knife! At 5 and 3, the girls are still too young to use a sharp knife. I keep things simple by restricting their use. It’s easy in our kitchen, because all of our sharp knives have similar black handles. They know that if they see that handle, they are not to touch the knife. Even if a sharp knife is in reach, they know to leave it alone.

Safety Skill #2: Hands Off! Stoves are HOT! The girls have been taught to never touch the stove when it is on. We don’t rest our hands on it, lean on it, or touch it. We also don’t lay anything down on top of it or touch a pan sitting on the stove. In order to show them just how hot the stove is, they watched me quickly melt butter in a pan. With this lesson learned, I am able to supervise, but not hover, while the girls are stirring something on the stove. (*Note: I don’t walk away when the girls are by the stove, but I do feel comfortable enough to reach for the salt or a spoon if needed)

Safety Skill #3: Always Stand Away From an Open Oven. When it’s time for an adult to open the oven door, the girls step back a few feet. They are too far away to touch anything and it also gives mom or dad room to work. I let them come closer one time to feel the hot air coming from the oven. Now, they walk away without being asked.

Safety Skill #4: Always Wash Your Hands Before You Start Cooking. We always stop in the bathroom before working in the kitchen. Clean hands are essential for food safety. I’ve taught this skill by example. The girls have watched me time and time again wash my hands before cooking or after handling such things as raw meat. We learn more about this safety skill every time we work in the kitchen.

These are my top 4 kitchen safety rules that I find essential to teach before allowing the girls to work with me in the kitchen. Obviously, these are not the only kitchen safety rules; we learn more each time we are in the kitchen. But, these have instilled confidence in the girls and have made our experiences in the kitchen much more fun and rewarding. If you’ve been hesitant about letting your kids help in the kitchen, these rules are a perfect starting point.

Cooking With Kids: Fruit Salad

February 6, 2012 By Terri Thompson

I don’t really write too many cooking posts.

It’s not that I don’t like to cook or never cook with the kids, but I just haven’t figured out how to do it and take pictures at the same time!

But, I did want to share the one project that gets the girls screaming with glee if I suggest it: fruit salad. They love to make it and they love to eat it.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

It’s always a collaborative project.

We each choose one to two fruits we want in the salad, which often results in a shopping trip.

The shopping is part of the fun for us, but this project most certainly does not need to involve shopping. Just use what you already have!

Bananas and blueberries always seem to be a mainstay in our salads. Lizzie loves the responsibility of cutting the banana. It’s the perfect fruit to teach knife skills. It’s soft, easy to cut, and usually stays put on the cutting board. AJ is typically responsible for adding the blueberries.

I’ll tackle the harder fruits, like apples or pears. When everything is in the bowl, the girls will take turns stirring. We don’t add anything else to the salad, just the fruit. Nothing else is needed.

Sometimes we use all fresh fruit, and sometimes we will use fruit from a can. This is usually because it’s winter and it’s sometimes hard to find fresh fruit that tastes good. If you want peaches in January, more than likely they’ll come from a can!

In this particular fruit salad, we used:

1 banana
Handful of blueberries
1 apple
1 small can pineapple
1 small can peaches

The best part about fruit salad is that anything will work and it always tastes good together. We worked together, combined our favorites, and came up with something even better than if we just ate a banana! There’s nothing better!

What is your favorite thing to cook with your kids?

Making Princess Wands

August 25, 2011 By Terri Thompson

This week our book basket is filled with books about princesses, but not your typical princess. You won’t find Cinderella, Belle or Arial in there. Not that there’s anything wrong with those lovely ladies, but we tend to read about them a lot.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

No, we needed to branch out a bit with our princesses, so our books are all about your not-so-very-ordinary princesses. Those gals with spunk who don’t mind getting a bit dirty. While searching for all those fun books (which I will share in a later post), we ran across this book, A Princess Cookbook: Simple Recipes for Kids by Sarah L. Schuette.

The recipes are easy, written in a step-by-step fashion with pictures of every step.  There is no actual cooking involved, just assembling and my 4-year-old had no problem completing an entire recipe herself. As you can see above, Lizzie decided to make Magic Wands.

All you need are large pretzel rods, pre-made frosting and colored-sugar sprinkles. She carefully spread the icing on the ends of her wand.

Then came the sprinkles…. lots and lots of sprinkles!All in all, this was a very satisfying project. We made a yummy snack and Lizzie had the satisfaction of “cooking” something all by herself.

AJ did join in with lots of Mommy help, but she wasn’t nearly as interested in the project. Licking the frosting off the pretzel was much more her style!

Yummy, yummy!

In the Kitchen: Easy Smoothies

June 22, 2011 By Terri Thompson

I’ve been playing around with smoothie combinations lately. I’ve found some good ones, but I keep coming back to one in particular, blackberry and peach. The ingredients are simple, but the results are yummy!

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

Blackberry-Peach Smoothie

1/3 c. low-fat vanilla yogurt
2/3 c. milk (skim, 1%, 2%, whatever you have on hand)
4-5 frozen peach slices
5-7 frozen blackberries

Add all ingredients to blender. Blend until smooth. Pour and enjoy!

*Note: The frozen fruit is essential to the texture of the smoothie. If you would like to use fresh fruit, you will need to freeze it ahead of time.

Oh yes, it’s that easy! Hope you enjoy!

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