Easy recipes to cook with the kids

[seriousthistime]

For things they will eat!

What do you feed the kids that your DH/DW will also eat?  With the kids home for the summer, they are always hungry and asking what's for dinner.  And who wants to spend hours in the kitchen?

So please share recipes that the kids can help with, for meals that they will eat.  Menu ideas also welcome...

[Shooby]

DD loves making pepperoni rolls.   We make up bread dough with the Kitchen Aid mixer.  Then we let it rise an hour, punch it down and pull out golf ball size pieces of dough.  We roll that out and add a half slice of provolone cheese and about 5 pieces of sliced pepperoni.  Roll up and pinch and egg wash and bake.  Everyone loves them.

[Shooby]

Pancakes and scrambled eggs.  Kids enjoy making that.  My son likes to make cheesesteaks using steak ums, green pepper and onion and worscestershire.  And, then melt some mozarella and good buns.

[chiver78]

my mom used to do personal meat loaf dinners when I was a kid. we'd all help mix the ingredients in a big bowl (she'd crack the eggs) and then we'd get to shape individual portions for everyone.

when I was old enough to use the stove, I was in charge of making the cheese sauce for Kraft dinner that went along with chicken wings - when you're making 5 boxes' worth at a time, you make the sauce separately.

[Deleted]

Ages?

[seriousthistime]

10 and under.

[thyme4change]

My kids liked making meatloaf and mashed potatoes.  My daughter loves helping me make meatballs.  I make them out of turkey and I put mozzarella cheese in the middle, bread them and bake them.  All of that requires working with your hands, but no knives.

They also like to help me make empanadas.

[KaraBoo]

Pizzas (I buy the crust separately and lots of toppings and let the kids top their own).

Breakfast for dinner (I even let them crack the eggs with the rule they had to fish any shells out - I'd check the bowl for any strays before I'd let them mix it up).

Now that my kids are all teenagers, they're asking how to make certain things I make - DSS asked me how to make french toast a few weeks ago as I was cooking - so I showed him.  Apparently, we're now out of syrup when we had a full bottle at that point.  

They've been making grilled cheese sandwiches, ramen noodles, spam sandwiches, and mac and cheese for years now.

My biggest rule in the kitchen is - if you cook yourself breakfast or lunch and dirty up any pans, they need to be cleaned before I get home for dinner.

I'll also make multiple batches of a meal (meatloaf, chili, etc) and put in the freezer for later.  I'll mark on the lids how to cook the item, for how long and at what starting time.  I then ask the kids to start dinner for me before I get home.  Last night, the girls threw the meatloaf in the oven and peeled potatoes for me for mashed potatoes (they're 12 and 17).  More often than not, it's the 12 year old who will start dinner for me, rather than her sister.

[Apple]

Foods that you layer are easy for them to help with--pizza, lasagna, "lazy enchiladas" (you layer sauce, tortillas, beans, meat, cheese, sour cream, whatever else you want in them, just like you would with a lasagna).

My son started learning by taking a package of ramen noodles (he'd never had them before, I bought them for recovering after a surgery but didn't make them).  He wanted more than just noodles, so he added meat and vegetables.  Kind of a " soup".

Chili dogs, they can help make the chili.

Whenever we had taco night, as long as I can remember, it was my job to grate the cheese.  We had one of those shredders/grinders that clamped to the table, you'd put the cheese in the top and crank the handle--the shredder was a drum and the cheese would fall out into a bowl.  I LOVED getting to shred the cheese, lol.

Anything they can mash with their hands--fritters, meatloaf, meatballs

My son is 15 now, but when I do baked chicken I often let him figure out how he wants them seasoned.  He'll dig through the spice cabinet and come up with some new combo.

[seriousthistime]

Great ideas! Keep 'em coming...

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

I've made homemade "chicken nuggets" with Gwen.  I just chopped chicken thights/breasts into chunks.  I let her be in charge of cracking the egg and breading the chicken.  I was in charge of the stove/oven.  If she was older I would have let her help with that too.

Alton Brown has several episodes of Good Eats that involve cooking with kids if you want tips. 

[justme]

There's this taco dish thing I made the other night that little kids should help with (and everyone I've made it for loves). Take Grands biscuits and cut them into 4ths (a butter knife should be able to do this) and then arrange them in a pan (I usually use a 9x9 one, if you did a 9x13 it'd prob work, just be a thinner "crust") and bake it most of the way - pulling it out just when the tops start to turn golden brown. At the same time cook down some ground beef (~1lb) in a pan, once cooked through separate beef from fat and put beef in mixing bowl (I usually just push it over the edge of the pan leaving the fat in the pan, but with little kids you could use a colander or something instead). Mix in however much taco sauce you want with the ground beef (I don't over sauce mine) then spread the mixture over the mostly cooked biscuits. Spread shredded cheddar cheese (or any other cheese) on top and back in the oven til everything is warmed through and cheese is melted. Serve like that or with any other taco toppings you like.

[Deleted]

I melt down chocolate chips and then let the kids dip things - marshmallows, pretzel rods, etc. I will also put popcorn on a sheet tray and then drizzle it with melted chocolate. I put it in the fridge for about 15 minutes to cool and then let them have some.

I also got a lettuce knife from somewhere and I let them chop up lettuce for salad. It's not all that sharp so I don't have to worry about them cutting off a finger.

[kittensaver]

homemade pizza on the grill (the kids can pat out or roll out the dough and add the ingredients they want)

lettuce wraps (ditto, you put out good quality ingredients and they choose)

spring rolls (my kids loved putting in their favorite ingredients and dipping the rolls in plum or hoisin sauce)

zucchini or yellow squash "spagetti" with their favorite sauce (get/use a spiral slicer to turn squash into long "spagetti" strands, the kids loved using this tool)

pesto - my kids LOVED pesto - on fish, chicken, veges, pasta, tomatoes, pizza, fresh-out-of-the-oven bread, added on to garlic bread, mixed with mayo for a sandwich spread

panzanella (Sicilian tomato-bread salad, tons of recipes online); my kids loved tossing this salad with their hands

homemade popsicles (you control the ingredients so they are chemical-free and healthy)

yogurt-granola parfaits (they build from healthy ingredients you provide)

 

[kittensaver]

Jul 19, 2013 13:05:06 GMT -5 @beerwench said:

I melt down chocolate chips and then let the kids dip things - marshmallows, pretzel rods, etc. I will also put popcorn on a sheet tray and then drizzle it with melted chocolate. I put it in the fridge for about 15 minutes to cool and then let them have some.

I also got a lettuce knife from somewhere and I let them chop up lettuce for salad. It's not all that sharp so I don't have to worry about them cutting off a finger.

Those plastic lettuce knives are GREAT for kids!

[saveinla]

You can also do the fruit on a stick thing- have them cut bigger chunks of fruit and mix it with smaller ones like grape and strawberry and load them onto the skewers. I would also have them help with the salad - both fruit and veggies.

My son would cook pancakes, crepes , eggs etc. starting when he was 10.

[kittensaver]

My kids STILL ask for this dish when they visit:

www.lidiasitaly.com/recipes/detail/853

Super fast and easy, wonderful fresh ingredients. I've made it with cooked pasta, raw veges and with zucchini "spagetti"

[Deleted]

What is it with kids and food on a stick? That $1 package of wood skewers has saved me from so many headaches! 

[whoisjohngalt]

My boys make pancakes with my DH weekly, they love measuring all the ingredients and my 3 yr old cracks eggs better than a pro.

We've done meatballs, pizza, scrambled eggs - they can pretty much do most of it.

They also do most of the work for chicken Parmesan.   My 3 yr old also loves cutting mushrooms for chicken marsala.

Obvious things like cookies and any type of cakes that need mixing  -they are "in".

Salads - both 5 yr old and  3 yr old would cut up veggies - tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers.

My 5 yr old has been into "creating his own dish" -which so far has been carrots and frozen peas, but whatever

They are allowed to cut anything that they can cut with butter knife. 

They make their own sandwiches - they can put whatever they want on it - I've seen variations of "veggie" sub with strawberry jam or tuna and carrots.

Soups, of course, are easy enough for them too. 

[Deleted]

I let them take care of frozen veggies too: they can open the bag and it in a bowl and then I tell them what numbers to hit on the microwave. 

[whoisjohngalt]

Jul 19, 2013 13:48:08 GMT -5 @beerwench said:

I let them take care of frozen veggies too: they can open the bag and it in a bowl and then I tell them what numbers to hit on the microwave. 

That made me laugh out loud - literally.

ok...still laughing....

[Deleted]

I'm a benevolent dictator! 

[whoisjohngalt]

And I am VERY easily amused

[Deleted]

Lucky for me! 

[Apple]

All kids should know how to make a grilled cheese sandwich.

Not cooking, but smoothies are also a good treat for kids to make, have them pick out their own fruit. 

[ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ]

Kids can start learning to cook early. Not necessarily handling the stove, knives, or pots & pans, but when you're cooking, you can get them to help measure - also giving them a math lesson in the process. Get them to help measure the dry ingredients, and have them help put into the bowl in the order you need them (like when making a cake, or pancakes, or almost any dish. This will make them feel like they've achieved somethign and that they're actually cooking. Even the pizza idea above is a good place to start, allowing them to arrange the toppings onto the crust.

I wouldn't let a little kid operate the stove (or any electrical kitchen appliance) and definitely not until they're tall enough to reach the dials and have already learned a few basics - and even then under supervision til they get the hang of it. Kids can learn to beat eggs pretty young too.

But getting them to help prepare the ingredients before baking or cooking might get them enthused to become a real master of the kitchen.

My mom used to let us kids help with the mixing/stirring/measuring when she cooked or baked. -When making cupcakes, she'd get one of us to put the cupcake liners into the pan - and then help frost them when they were done (which always meant getting to lick the spoon or the beaters for the mixer).

Picking veggies in the garden and then helping wash/clean them was also part of cooking so we helped with that too, which came in handy when we were old enough to handle using the stove.

[Shooby]

  I think that if you enjoy cooking, then you can impart that enthusiasm to your kids.