Strollerderby : cooking with kids

5 Best Cookbooks for Kids

SunnyChanel — Fri, 01 May 2009 04:19:00 GMT

Spending time in the kitchen, creating a delectable dish with your kids, is an exceptionally satisfying and enriching endeavor. Maybe you find joy just spending the time with your offspring or perhaps you’re just prepping them for the day when they can make you dinner for a change. Regardless, teaching our kids how to make a decent meal or two is one of our responsibilities as parents. Here are five of the best Kid’s Cookbook choices out there to help you lead them to culinary greatness.

Kitchen for Kids: 100 Amazing Recipes Your Children Can Really Make (above)
by Jennifer Low
One of the big pluses of this book is that this collection of recipes are made without the use of knives or stove top flames and are all created from scratch. Yup, safety first. The collection off 100 recipes includes items like a Paddy Thai Noodles, One-Potato-Two Bread and a Strawberry-Fudge Striped Cake. $16.57 here.

Pretend Soup and Other Real Recipes: A Cookbook for Preschoolers & Up
By Mollie Katzen and Ann Henderson
Pretend Soup and Other Real Recipes was created by the author of the legendary Moosewood Cookbook - Mollie Katzen along with the educator Ann Henderson. This book includes two sets of instructions, one set in words for parents and one set is in easy to follow picture based recipes. All of them are healthy options and include goodies Hide and Seek Muffins, Green Spaghetti and Carrot Pennies. $12.21 here.

The Family Kitchen: Easy and Delicious Recipes for Parents and Kids to Make and Enjoy Together
by Debra Ponzek
The Family Kitchen makes the chore of cooking an educational and (hopefully) tasty playdate for the whole family. Each recipe includes a list of tasks that the kids can assist in. Kids learn kitchen safety, beginning cooking tips and techniques. The 125 recipes include items like Grilled Spicy Red Snapper Tacos, Garden Vegetable Soup and Double Hot Chocolate with Homemade Marshmallows. $16.50 here.

DK Children's Cookbook
by Katharine Ibbs
DK Books is known for the graphically strong and compellingly designed releases. The Children’s Cook Book – Quick and Tasty Recipes for Young Chefs includes easy to follow recipes along with oodles of full color photographs with basic cooking fundamentals like how to boil an egg and how to cut the tops of strawberries. The 50 recipes include such tempting choices like Sausage Popovers, Blueberry Pancakes, Chicken Curry. $12.23 here.

The Usborne First Cookbook
by Angela Wilkes
The Usborne First Cookbook is an introduction to the culinary arts including a primer on kitchen equipment, handy hints, and a glossary of kitchen terms. This cookbook includes a collection of simple easy to make recipes such as French Toast, Ice Cream Sundaes and Marmalade Gingerbread. $12.91 here

Parents Need To Eat, Too -- Right?

Kate Tuttle — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 19:31:00 GMT

So, we all know that once you have a new baby in the house everything falls apart -- your cleanliness standards, your ability to read grown-up books for more than a pages, your capacity to stay up past 10 pm (with the caveat that you're often up after midnight, attending to the wee one). But one of the saddest losses that can come along with new parenthood is your pre-baby passion for cooking good food. And for a lot of us, once the babe gets older it doesn't get much better: meals consist of mac-and-cheese and applesauce, no matter how many times we resolve to diversify.

Enter Debbie Koenig. A Brooklyn mom and freelance food writer, Koenig has started teaching mom-and-kid-friendly cooking classes in her own Williamsburg kitchen, and documenting the results (and advice) on her blog, Words to Eat By.

The cooking series, titled Parents Need to Eat Too, has included Hail Mary Pasta and Whaddya Got Fried Rice, both featuring free-form recipes based on, well, whatever you've got in your kitchen. Another early post laid out just what that ought to be, in an incredibly helpful tour of Koenig's own pantry and refrigerator staples.

Not all of us live in Brooklyn, of course (a sad realization I have every time I climb into a cab taking me to the shuttle home to Boston!), but even if you can't take her cooking class, blogs like this help remind us that we're not alone -- and that even the tiredest, most energy-deprived mom can climb back out of the culinary basement into a place more sunny, well-lit, and nourishing.

More by this author:

They Say: Bilingual Babies Learn Better

Why Are We So Shocked When Women Kill?

(Public) Breastfeeding Now Legal in Massachusetts

Terrible Ideas, Cookbook Edition

Kate Tuttle — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:01:00 GMT

Okay, so we all know the economy's in the crapper. But no matter how bad things get, we'll be looking for better eats than this. Is there any excuse for a cookbook title this unappetizing?

I mean, I realize it's the lovable bear's name and all, but why not call it "Cooking With Winnie"? And no, this is a real book, unlike those lists of imaginary hilarious book titles (like "Bi-Curious George," and "What Is That Dog Doing To That Other Dog?").

It makes you wonder how many people -- writers, editors, designers, marketers, publicists -- saw this title and didn't notice anything wrong (in which case, ewww) or didn't say anything.

More by this author:

They Say: Bilingual Babies Learn Better

Why Are We So Shocked When Women Kill?

(Public) Breastfeeding Now Legal in Massachusetts

Kitchenista: It's Chocolate Chip Cookie Week!

JeanneSager — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:07:00 GMT

When I was a kid, my tastes for chocolate chip cookies were almost sacriligious. I prefered them out of the box to fresh from the oven.

Boxed cookie were verboten in my house - making their soft, chocolatey goodness so much sweeter when I got my hands on a box. Because the boxed cookies, found at the end of the grocery aisle with the donuts and coffee cakes, were far and away THE best. No sleeves of Chips Ahoy for me.

Fortunately, I've learned the error of my ways. So my family can celebrate Chocolate Chip Cookie Week the way it was meant to be honored - muching on homemade goodies a la my old French friend Nes-lay Toulouse (yes, that's Nestle Tollhouse to you party poopers).

Because like Monica in one of my favorite Friends episodes, I have resigned myself to the fact that all my home tinkering can't improve on the original . . . with one exception. I leave the chips up to my daughter. She's allowed to pull anything I have in the closet out for CCC baking - the white chips, the caramel swirled chips, the half butterscotch, the semi-sweet, the dark, the milk chocolate - and they all go in one big batch.

Yes - it's my kid who has improved on the classic chocolate chip cookie recipe. It seems fitting - chocolate chip cookies are, after all, the ultimate kid treat. Is there any kid that WON'T eat them?

Are you ready to celebrate? Chocolate Chip Cookie Week is the second week of March, and courtesy of Nestle Tollhouse, here's their famous recipe:

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) chips - they call for Nestle Tollhouse, of course, but throw in EVERYTHING you've got
1 cup chopped nuts (with all the nut allergies, I leave these out)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375° F.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake for nine to eleven minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for two minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Image: Very Best Baking

Kitchenista: How to Cook With What's Left in the Kitchen

Would You Let the Kid Eat Dog Food?

Kitchenista -- Snow Ice Cream

Brett Singer — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

With yesterday's record snow fall, lots of kids doubtless indulged in the snow ball fights, snow angels, and the requisite snowperson ("snowman" seems so last century). But if you want something new, why not try making...drum roll please...

Snow Ice Cream!

This is a real thing, and Valerie Reiss over at Beliefnet's new blog FreshLiving actually went the extra mile and made some. Just to report back on how to do it, and to make absolutely certain that it wasn't poison. Tough job, but somebody's got to do it.

The recipe is pretty basic:

2-3 cups clean snow
2 TBs half-and-half
1 TB maple syrup
1 TB cocoa powder
1 dash pure vanilla
"Add ingredients to medium-small bowl, smoosh with a spoon, serve and enjoy!"

It would never occur to me to do something like this. Then again, I live in Manhattan, where most of the snow turns brown within minutes of landing. Valerie scooped some fresh powder off of her fire escape, other city dwellers could try a park; Central should work, although personally I'd watch out for stray dog mess. Or wait until the next snow fall.

So I haven't tried snow ice cream, but it sounds like just making it would be a hit with kids. One to file away for the next snow day.

Source: Beliefnet FreshLiving

Image: All Recipes (also another way to make it)

Celebrate the Holiday - It's Bake Pizza Week

JeanneSager — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 17:26:00 GMT

Sometimes the "holidays" are just darn silly (kiss a pig day? really?) But who am I to pooh pooh a week dedicated to our kids' favorite food? Especially when I might get an extra slice of mushrooms and extra cheese out of the deal?

It is, after all, Great American Pizza Bake Week (kicked off yesterday by Pizza Pie Day).

Apparently, pizza is so popular (do you know a kid who doesn't like it? Really?), it's celebrated in October - which is Pizza Month and again the second week of January which is Pizza Week.

This week is by far the best on the parenting front, however, because instead of calling out for a pie, it's one week when you can show them how you get your hands (and your counters) dirty. It's bake your OWN pizza week.

Inspired of late by our own Keri Fisher's mouth-watering Kitchenista posts, I've taken a renewed interest in getting my daughter into the kitchen with me - and at three, she's the perfect age for helping. Pizza, in particular, is one of those foods that kids can be a real help in making.

If you want to go real simple, go the English muffin route - they can break them open at almost any age, they can spoon on jarred sauce, they can sprinkle them with cheese and cover them with toppings. If you're ambitious to make your own dough, measure out the ingredients, and let them pour them into the mixing bowl. When the dough has to be kneaded, let their little fists do some punching. And when it's rolled out and ready to go - once again, let them at the sauce (homemade, jarred or canned - it doesn't matter), the cheese and the toppings.

Nothing makes a kid like eating dinner like getting involved in the making.

Image: Steffens Dinners

Cooking With Your Kids = Getting Your Kids to Cook

Karen Murphy — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 11:32:00 GMT

Which in my case = letting go of the reins enough to let the kids in the kitchen. Anyone else have this problem? Theoretically, I have no problem with my kids cooking. I would love for them to cook. It's a life skill I know they'll need eventually, and cooking together can be a lot of fun, a bonding experience. Plus it can unbond YOU from the kitchen. So why can't I embrace these concepts?

Seriously, I am creating a monster here, a family of kids who expect to be served, yet I don't know what to do about it. Because letting them in to my domain, letting them make messes and break eggs seems like so much work. How do you make the transition? it's not like my kids don't already have an interest in cooking, because they do. They even make up recipes. But somehow, going from purely theoretical to practical seems like a huge step.

Newsday suggests starting with things like making pizza. Okay, done that. On English muffins, on homemade pizza dough, whatever. But one can eat only so much pizza. My kids watch "Top Chef" with me; that's not enough, is it? But how do you take them from stirring the weekly pancake batter to making an entire meal at age 10 (according to the article in Newsday)? I made my first meal for my family when I was about 12 or so and based on the feedback chose never to cook again for them; what do you do when your kid sucks as a cook?

Anybody? Thoughts? Other than the obvious, of course ("start slow", "supervise", etc.). I know my kids want to cook, and I want them to, yet how to bridge the gap without just binding and gagging myself for the evening?

Kitchenista: Cupcake Cuteness

Patti — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 18:00:00 GMT

When a friend showed up to our barbecue last weekend with this pan of cupcakes, I assumed she'd picked them up at Whole Foods (it's what I would have done). Turns out these treats were home baked, and the pretty little daisies were placed with the help of a five-year-old kitchen accomplice. Slices of marshmallow naturally warp themselves into flower petal-ish shapes when cut, and surround a gumdrop center. Fun to make, fun to eat, and a week later my kids are still wistfully reminiscing about them.

Kitchenista: Kids Make Homemade Veggie Tacos

Karen Murphy — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 18:53:00 GMT

I never thought I would say this, but the Teletubbies are BRILLIANT. My 3-year old sometimes insists on watching that strangely hypnotic brain-sucking show, and a couple of weeks ago the video segment showed kids making their own tacos with homemade tortillas. "Hmm," I thought. "I know an easy homemade tortilla recipe, and the kids would like adding their own black beans, chopped tomatoes, lettuce, and cheese, and we'd have an awesome meal!"

An awesome meal that I WOULD NOT HAVE TO COOK.

See what I mean? Brilliant!

BLACK BEAN SOFT TACOS

1. Have kids make the tortillas we already talked about (double the recipe to make 8-10).

2. Make-ahead your own black beans (EASY! I will tell you how!*) or open a can (EASIER!).

3. Chop tomatoes and lettuce. Some green pepper and scallions are nice, too. Olives, anyone? Be creative!

4. Kids can grate cheese at a pretty young age. Fingers? Those too!

5. Set everything out in little bowls and let the kids pile on their own ingredients.

6. Do I sense you standing around, margarita in hand, enjoying your own taco? Why yes I do!

*Seriously. Black beans, or ANY beans (pintos are nice): Rinse 1 cup beans and place in a pot with about 3 cups water. Bring to a simmer, and cook at a bare simmer, covered, for about 2 hours. No soaking! No parboiling! Check from time to time and when barely soft add some chopped onion and garlic; another 30 minutes should do and you're ready to season them with salt and whatever.

P.S. If you totally cheat and use packaged flour tortillas I swear I won't tell. And here's a recipe all organic-y from Wild Oats if you want more ideas (with avocado! yes!).

Kitchenista: Kids Can Make Tortillas!

Karen Murphy — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 21:48:00 GMT

Until I read this from our friends at Parenthacks, I had totally forgotten just how easy and how very satisfying making homemade tortillas is. Simple ingredients, kid-friendly in the making and the eating, and best of all, they're very very easy and totally FUN!

HOMEMADE TORTILLAS

1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water

In a large bowl, toss the flour and salt together. Make a well in the flour, add water, and mix everything together till the dough holds together. Knead briefly in the bowl, adding a bit more flour as necessary. Divide the dough into four parts, and, with a floured rolling pin, roll each out into a thin, 6-inch, uh, circle. (They needn't actually resemble circles). Cook in an ungreased skillet over medium heat till little brown spots appear on the tortilla. Flip and repeat. Spread with butter (and honey, jam, or savory fillings) and eat.

NOTE: This is the recipe straight from Parenthacks. Did you notice it says "divide into four parts"? Does anyone else think that if you're going to go to the ~~trouble~~ fun of mixing, rolling, and flipping, you should make WAAAY more than a paltry four? Plus, I've got three kids, which would mean that each of us only gets...one. Seriously not enough. Feel free to quadruple the recipe. At least. Leftovers can be wrapped and taste great the next day. Trust me.

Kitchenista: Mac and Cheese Revisited (Yet Again)

Patti — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 18:00:00 GMT

For awhile now, I've been pondering The Mac and Cheese Question. Between facing the truth about "natural" macaroni and cheese products, reading The Omnivore's Dilemma, and just a general consciousness-raising about food processing and production in general, I'm just not so crazy about putting a box of bright-orange noodles on the table and calling it lunch. Come wintertime I'm more than happy to undergo the process of making a big pan of baked mac from scratch, but my kids want their cheesy noodles year-round, and finding an alternative to the Blue Box (or the purple one) that's quick and easy, that both tastes good and is good, has been a trick: bechamel sauce takes time, grated cheese alone is too stringy. But I think I've got it now. Ladies and gents, your lunch is ready:

Mac & Cheese

Boil your choice of pasta according to the package directions (any shape that floats your boat, and may I suggest spinach-filled tortellini or ravioli?). When the pasta is cooked, drain it and return it to the pan. Then add a generous spoonful of plain yogurt—whole milk for the littlest diners or the skinny minis, reduced or nonfat for everyone else—and stir it up. Add your favorite grated cheese to your taste and stir until melted (thin with a little milk if necessary). If you like, add peas or other leftover vegetables, shredded chicken or chopped ham, or whatever your favorite mac and cheese add-ins might be (I'm a purist myself). This is definitely a meal that's ripe for child-participation, too.

Vegans and the lactose-intolerant need not despair, this works with soygurt and cheese substitutes. Try soy feta, it doesn't really melt but if you throw some chopped tomatoes in at the end, you'll have yourself a delicious Greek-ish flavor.

Is it really quick? As fast as making Kraft according to the package instructions if you use pre-grated cheese or do the grating while you wait for the pasta to cook. I timed it. And you can control where the ingredients come from, how they were manufactured, and what their fat and nutrient contents are. Gotta love being in control in some sense, even if you're serving up mac & cheese by request for the fourth day in a row.

Kitchenista: Lake Cake

Patti — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 16:01:00 GMT

As you read this, I'm on an airplane from San Francisco to Minneapolis, knitting something, drinking terrible wine, and changing DVDs every hour and a half or so. Then I'll ride in a minivan for two hours, at the end of which I'll tuck my kids, then myself, into bed at my in-laws' cabin in Wisconsin where I'll be spending the week. Jealous? You'll be even more so when you get a load of one of our family's favorite summer-at-the-lake traditions, the annual Lake Cake.

My sister-in-law Susan introduced this cake to the family when her daughters were just old enough to help decorate, and it's been on the menu every year since. It's just not summer until we find some new twist: Swedish fish to embed in the Jello lake, gummi inner tubes for the Teddy Grahams to float in, a replica of our floating swim dock made out of part of a candy bar, a graham cracker cabin. It's the summer version of decorating a gingerbread house, and we expect it will be something my nieces and my own girls will probably be orchestrating for their own kids in a couple of decades, when they'll hopefully be serving it on the deck at the same cabin.

The original recipe comes from Woman's Day and is presented as a layer cake, but in the interest of having more to decorate, we make it as a sheet cake. I have yet to eat a piece of "lake", but the rest of the family fights for those slices (*shudder*). It's ripe for variation—swimming pool, ocean, Mediterranean—blue Jello is incredibly versatile (*shudder again*).