[K55]Kids In The Kitchen Cookbook

Today's world is a busy place. The days are gone when Mom stayed at home with the kids and Dad was the breadwinner. Although numbers of working mothers have declined in recent years, 60% of all American mothers still work outside their homes. This severely limits the amount of quality time mothers spend with their children. One way to create more time, however, is to have children help you shop and prepare meals. Although it may seem easier to do it yourself, sharing the experience with a child can help the two of you bond as well as teach valuable lessons.

It's amazing how many children today don't know where food comes from. Many of them don't realize that a lot of canned foods are actually grown on farms. They don't even know that such things as cookies can be baked right at home and don't have to come from a package in the supermarket. Believe it or not, there are kids who have never even seen the inside of a grocery store. Too many moms find it easier to shop for food prior to picking their children up from childcare.

Cooking with your child can be a delightful time for both of you. Start by including your child in the selection of the foods you buy. Talk with him about nutrition and why some foods are better for him. Let her help you choose healthy food alternatives to processed snack foods. All the time you're teaching her about nutrition and good health, you can be walking up and down the grocery aisles and getting some exercise. Make sure you tell him why the exercise is good for him, too.

Once the child has helped you select healthy foods, keep him involved in turning them into nutritious meals. Being involved from early childhood on helps a child develop tastes for foods he might otherwise ignore. Once he's helped purchase the food and cook the meal, chances are he's going to feel invested enough in it to at least try the foods he's made.

In this fast food culture where so many people are overweight, all children need to be taught the value of lifestyles that include good eating and exercising. Children love to help Mommy or Daddy cook, and they learn a lot from the experience. For example, reading and math are both parts of cooking, yet children won't see it as such because they'll be having a great time.

Be sure to teach your child some fun, simple recipes, and even include a few sweet treats. You can melt a stick of butter and a bag of marshmallows in the top of a double boiler and then add the mixture to a large bowl of popcorn to form easy popcorn balls. No Bake Cookies are also a child pleaser and very easy to make. Melt a stick of butter in a saucepan with 2 c. sugar, 4 T cocoa, and 1/2 c. milk. Bring to a boil and remove from the heat. Stir in 1/2 c. peanut butter, 1 t. vanilla, and 3 c. quick oatmeal. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto wax paper.

By the time your child is a young teen, he or she will be cooking on their own. Although it will be harder to get them into the kitchen at this age, you can assign them one night a week to cook the meal for the entire family. Even though it won't seem like it then, your child will also grow up to cook for his own family, because you've provided that positive role model for him.