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Cooking with kids – PS

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PS: CLEAN UP & CELEBRATE!

The wrap up of our 4-part series on cooking with kids
By Jamila T, chief area manager & veggie fairy godmother:

(TIP 1: Start with projects)
(TIP 2: Let them do hard things)
(TIP 3: Set kitchen ground rules)
(TIP 4: Use common sense)

Involve the kids in clean up and celebrate the accomplishment! Good kitchen habits extend beyond preparing food. When you’re cooking with kids, clean up is important too! Enlist your children’s help in washing pots and wiping counters. Quick clean-up will make you more inclined to do another kitchen project in the future.

Lastly… celebrate! You made it. Gobble up a muffin with a big glob of strawberry jam and pat your kid on the back. Don’t forget to pat yourself on the back because you taught your child something today…. and you survived the lesson!

THIS WEEK’S CHALLENGE
Encourage the kids to show off what they learned!

THIS WEEK’S RECIPE

SAUSAGE STRATA

Ingredients:
1 lb sausage or ham
6 slices of bread, cubed
2 c cheddar cheese, shredded
6 eggs
2 c milk
1 t salt
1 t ground dry mustard
optional: chopped broccoli or other veggies

Directions (Watch the video!):
1. Place sausage in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until evenly brown. Drain and set aside.
2. Lightly grease a 7×11-inch baking dish. In the dish, layer bread cubes, sausage, and cheddar cheese.
3. In a bowl, beat together eggs, milk, salt, and mustard. Pour the egg mixture over the bread cube mixture.
4. Cover the filled baking dish and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.
5. Remove the dish from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking and uncover it. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
6. Bake 50 to 60 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
7. Optional: Top with mushrooms and onions — we’ve got a yummy how-to in this week’s newsletter!

Success?
Celebrate some more by posting a picture on our Facebook page!

Cooking with kids – Tip #4

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USE COMMON SENSE

Fourth in a 4-part series on cooking with kids
By Jamila T, chief area manager & veggie fairy godmother:

(TIP 1: Start with projects)
(TIP 2: Let them do hard things)
(TIP 3: Set kitchen ground rules)
(PS: Clean up & celebrate!)

Common sense is key when you’re cooking with kids. While it’s important to give children challenging, meaningful tasks, it’s equally important to make sure those tasks are appropriate for their ability. Appropriate tasks build confidence and character, and will ultimately be a rewarding experience for everyone. Not to mention, your little ones will actually help you… not just “help” you.

So… cooking with a three-year-old? Leave the chef knife in the butcher block and opt for one with a small blade. Better yet, select a recipe that calls for tearing rather than cutting!

THIS WEEK’S CHALLENGE
Tearing and baking. If you have tiny helpers, let them try their hand at tearing kale leaves from the stems. Older kids? Put them on oven duty!

THIS WEEK’S RECIPE

KALE CHIPS

Ingredients:
kale
olive oil
salt
optional seasonings: roasted sesame seeds, finely grated Parmesan, paprika, chili powder, flax seeds, nutritional yeast, brown sugar, taco seasoning, lemon or lime zest

Directions (watch the video!):
1. Tear kale from stems.
2. Wash and dry torn kale.
3. In a large bowl, toss kale with oil and salt.
4. Arrange in single layer on baking sheet and sprinkle on seasonings if desired.
5. Bake 20 minutes at 300 degrees F.

Success?
Celebrate by posting a picture on our Facebook page!

Want to try another recipe project? It’s in the PS post, and here’s what you’ll need:
Add sweet potatoes, Bella Vita sourdough bread, Trickling Springs Creamery whole milk, Saddle Ridge Farm eggs, and maple breakfast sausage to your basket when the Seasonal Roots online farmers market menu opens on Friday.

Cooking with kids – Tip #3

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SET KITCHEN GROUND RULES

Third in a 4-part series on cooking with kids
By Jamila T, chief area manager & veggie fairy godmother:

(TIP 1: Start with projects)
(TIP 2: Let them do hard things)
(TIP 4: Use common sense)
(PS: Clean up & celebrate!)

Kids love to taste things and will often gobble ingredients without considering food safety. Before getting started on any cooking project when you’re cooking with kids, set some kitchen ground rules.

  • Discuss ways to keep themselves safe around hot elements and sharp tools.
  • Also request that they ask before tasting ingredients.
  • Designate a bowl that is specifically for samples and drop something in there from time to time. A “tasting bowl” gives kids an opportunity to explore without worry.

    • THIS WEEK’S CHALLENGE
    Dicing! Watch this video and learn to dice like a pro!

    THIS WEEK’S RECIPE
    ROOT VEGETABLE CANDY
    Use a variety of Seasonal Roots root veggies for a local, fresh, kid-pleasing dish!

    Ingredients:
    4-6 c root vegetables such as celery root, parsnips, carrots, beets, sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
    olive oil for drizzling
    salt and pepper to taste
    Tasty Tip: Not beet fans? Use golden beets which blend beautifully with carrots and sweet potatoes.

    Directions:
    1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
    2. Throw diced vegetables on a large baking sheet. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss with your hands, then arrange in a flat layer on the baking sheet.
    3. Roast 30-40 minutes or until vegetables are golden brown.
    4. Allow to cool to room temperature and eat as a snack, or serve them as a side dish with pork chops, roasted chicken, etc.

    Success?
    Celebrate by posting a picture on our Facebook page!

    Cooking with kids – Tip #2

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    LET THEM DO HARD THINGS

    Second in a 4-part series on cooking with kids
    By Jamila T, chief area manager & veggie fairy godmother:

    (TIP 1: Start with projects)
    (TIP 3: Set kitchen ground rules)
    (TIP 4: Use common sense)
    (PS: Clean up & celebrate!)

    Knives are important culinary tools, even when you’re cooking with kids. Instead of limiting your child’s involvement in the kitchen, teach them how to responsibly handle sharps and other tools. Expectations should be reasonable and based on age, but kids are capable of more than stirring bowls and pushing buttons.

    Let them cut vegetables, flip pancakes, and stir sauces. If they are strong and confident enough, let them add and remove things from the oven. Just use your best judgement based on your child’s maturity level and abilities. You know them best!

    This week’s challenge

    Chopping! Use a knife small enough for them to handle safely. Show them how to keep their fingertips out of the way.

    This week’s recipe

    SUMMER FRUIT SKILLET JAM

    Ingredients:
    1 qt LOCAL fruit (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, peaches, etc), chopped
    1 small SAUNDERS BROS apple, peeled, grated
    ½ c ALFREDO’S BEEHIVE honey
    ½ lemon/lime/orange, juiced

    Directions:
    1. Combine ingredients in 12-inch skillet. Cook on medium-high for about 8 minutes.
    2. Mash the fruit as it cooks, stirring frequently. Caution: Warm jam bubbles and pops!
    3. Once a spoon can be pulled through the pan without fruit immediately filling the empty space, the jam is finished.
    4. Pour into a glass container and cool to room temperature before refrigerating. Jam will firm as it cools.

    Success?

    Celebrate by posting a picture on our Facebook page!

    Want to be ready for next week’s recipe?

    Add a variety of fresh, local root vegetables to your basket when the Seasonal Roots home-delivered farmers market menu opens on Friday.

    Cooking With Kids – Tip #1

    /in , /by

    START WITH PROJECTS

    First in a 4-part series on cooking with kids
    By Jamila T, chief area manager & veggie fairy godmother:

    (TIP 2: Let them do hard things)
    (TIP 3: Set kitchen ground rules)
    (TIP 4: Use common sense)
    (PS: Clean up & celebrate!)

    Confession: I love to cook. I HATE cooking with my kids.

    I have four of them, and every adventure that begins in the kitchen ends in a mess. A big one. They eat half of what I am preparing and poke holes in the rest. Boredom is inevitable, which leads to wandering during tasks or frustration. It is borderline terrible, but in my eyes, it is terribly necessary.

    Learning to cook is an important life skill and will empower kids to make wise food choices. Time in the kitchen is also an opportunity to model practical applications of math, reading, and following instructions. It gives my girls time to hone fine motor skills, explore food science, and practice the art of patience. Cooking with kids is important, even if it drives me crazy.

    Does cooking with the kids in your life make your brain hurt? Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing my favorite tips. Here’s the first one.

    1. Start with projects

    Family meals tend to be more time sensitive than cooking projects. Projects like zucchini muffins will allow your child to experiment with new skills, without ruining dinner. Once skills like grating, chopping, tearing greens, and peeling garlic (my personal favorite), have been mastered, they can graduate to meal prep. Trust me, your children will revel in simple tasks. Plus, it is very helpful to have little fingers peeling garlic cloves while you sauté chicken.

    Ready to dive in?

    Challenge the kids with grating zucchini and make these zucchini muffins. Instead of Greek yogurt, substitute Seasonal Roots’ Trickling Springs Creamery yogurt made from grass-fed milk for extra goodness. You can also use yellow summer squash instead of zucchini — pretty much the same taste and texture.

    Mission accomplished?

    Celebrate by posting a picture on our Facebook page!

    Want to be ready for next week’s recipe?

    Add honey and summer fruit like strawberries, blueberries, or peaches to your basket when the Seasonal Roots home-delivered farmers market menu opens on Friday.