Fun With Food: Ages 0-6-Years

“Go play it yourself! Wait! Do not touch!”. How often do we say these words when we need to cook dinner, and the kid is eager to help at all costs? And both girls and boys behave this way. And then, when a daughter or son grows up, one can only wonder – where did that go? Well, you need to more often pull back the child – and soon his or her desire to help will disappear, you can be sure.

The normal desire of a child to help in such an exciting business, which is cooking, needs to be cared for and cherished. No matter how complex the dish, no matter how busy you are, you can always find something for your baby to handle. Peel boiled potatoes or eggs. Wash the vegetables. Make sandwiches or garnish a salad. Stir or even chop something. It doesn’t matter that the filling is falling out of the crooked dumpling, the cream is smeared on clothes, and flour is picturesquely scattered on the floor. Is a piece of dough, a stain on clothes, or a dirty floor really worth the hurt and disappointment of your little baby? Of course not. And there will be many benefits from the fact that you cook a new interesting, funny dish with your child.

The basic essentials in the kitchen

When we involve a child in work in the kitchen, we not only prepare him or her for adult life or get more hands ready to help, but we also implement a lot of other useful aspects. First, the fact that the child has been entrusted with “adult” work becomes a very important moment for him or her in realizing his/her importance and need. Second, while working in the kitchen, the child learns independence, responsibility, new and necessary skills. Third, the kitchen is an ideal “training ground” for teaching mathematics and logic. After all, you need to count how many eggs, tablespoons of sugar or salt, drops of lemon juice to put, and so on. You need to navigate in time. Fourth, homemade food is much tastier. This means that your fastidious-little baby will cease to suffer from lack of appetite. Fifth, cooking is a creative process. This means that we not only teach the kid to cook but also increase his or her creative potential. In a word, you can list it endlessly. But in order to get only joy and pleasure from kitchen witchcraft, you need to remember a few simple rules.

The most important thing is to explain to the child how to behave correctly in the kitchen and strictly follow this. After all, there are so many dangerous objects around – which means that there should be no running or pampering here. In order to wash less, sew or buy a personal apron for your young chef (you can use an oilcloth). Pick up a stable stool or other support for the baby so that he or she can easily reach the sink, stove or table. And be sure to explain that you need to put things in order after cooking. By the way, children usually love to wash dishes – after all, they are so interested in fiddling with water.

Of course, everything will not work out right away. Do not scold the kid for this. Yes, it seems to you that there is nothing easier than making a neat pie. But remember – was it that neat when you first baked the pies? Become aware that it will take longer than usual to prepare meals with your child. But after all, at this time you will communicate with your baby – which means that it will be spent pleasantly and profitably. So, here are some funny recipes for children to cook.

Cooking sandwiches with the child

The most affordable recipe for children to cook is sandwiches. You can even cut all the ingredients you need for this dish yourself. And let the kid lay them out on bread – as it comes to mind. After all, even a banal sausage sandwich can turn into a funny face. It is enough just to make eyes from halves of olives, a luxurious mustache from dill and draw a mouth with ketchup.

Hot sandwiches are a good recipe kids can make for Sunday breakfast. A preschooler can cut bread and cheese on their own and put it all in the microwave. And what difference does it make if the sandwiches are likely to be thick and crooked? Just imagine how proud and happy your child will be!

There is also a more complex recipe for children – morning sandwiches. It is necessary to add a drop of mustard, finely chopped parsley, mayonnaise. Spread the bread with this mixture, add sausage on top (you can replace it with a slice of boiled meat), cover everything with cheese and put in the microwave or oven. The sandwiches are ready as soon as the cheese melts.

Culinary geography of recipes that children cook

You can create a wonderful occasion to get acquainted with geography from joint culinary creativity. To do this, it is enough sometimes to cook some national dish. First, you need to find a country on the map, read about the climate there, what kind of people live in it, about their customs, culture, traditions. And then cook dinner in the traditions of this country. For example, quesadillas are Mexican tortillas.

Recipe for making quesadillas for children: first you need to make tortillas, which will serve as blanks. We need two glasses of flour, a teaspoon of salt and 50 grams of lard (can be replaced with grated margarine or butter). Put all this in a bowl and grind thoroughly to form small crumbs. Then pour in a little one and a half glasses of hot water and knead the dough. Divide it into twelve parts, roll each thinly into a round tortilla. Let your baby try the test. The task is difficult – but very interesting. Moreover, it is always possible to correct what has turned out – and one or two cakes can be baked “as is” – just imagine how many impressions there will be. The tortillas are fried in a dry frying pan for a minute. They should come out as if slightly under-baked, pale. Do not overdo it – otherwise, our cakes will become brittle. Then put the filling into the tortillas and they turn into quesadillas. Almost anything is suitable for the filling. For example, here is a very tasty option: boiled chicken, corn, grated cheese, bell peppers, sour cream, a little parsley. Put the mixture on half a flatbread (here’s another thing for the baby), fold it in half, fastening the edges with a toothpick, and put it in the microwave or oven until the cheese melts.

An excellent recipe for children to cook – a favorite dish of most young Italian gourmets. We are, of course, talking about pizza. By the way, “pizza” in translation from Italian means “pie”.

If you don’t want to mess around, you can buy ready-made pizza dough. But it will be much more interesting for the baby to cook pizza with his/her mother – from start to finish. Mix a tablespoon of sugar and 7 grams of dry yeast in a bowl with 4 tablespoons of water (all we need is a glass of warm water), set aside for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, combine a teaspoon of salt and 350 grams of flour. Make a slide on the board with a depression in the center. Pour in a tablespoon of vegetable oil, prepared yeast, the remaining water. Knead the dough for 5 minutes, put in a warm place for about half an hour. During this time, the dough should double in size. Knead again for a couple of minutes, roll it into a layer about half a centimeter thick and put it on a baking sheet, previously greased with vegetable oil. It remains only to prepare the filling. The essential ingredients of any pizza are tomatoes (or tomato paste) and cheese.

You can simply put tomato slices on the dough, sprinkle cheese on top, and bake like that. You can use boiled chicken or beef. Diced ham or any other sausage is fine. A pizza with fish and other seafood like squid or shrimp will work well. Vegetarians can use mushrooms, onions, bell peppers, or even pre-fried zucchini or eggplant. For example, one of the options: chicken plus canned pineapple in small pieces, plus cheese, plus herbs. Let the child choose the pizza with which filling he or she wants.

Cook a delicious dessert with your child

That’s what will be not only cooked with pleasure but also eaten with delight. And there are just a great many recipes for children to cook sweet dishes that are available for cooking with a child. Here are at least apples in a puff.

Grate a pack of margarine (250 g) on ​​a fairly coarse grater or chop with a knife, grind with flour (you need 3 glasses) until a homogeneous mixture of crumbs appears. Add a glass of sour cream and half a teaspoon of baking soda, quenched with a tablespoon of vinegar. Knead the dough well. Cut sixteen medium-sized apples in half and core. Divide the dough into 32 parts, roll each part into a ball, then flatten it by hand into a cake. Place an apple on top of each cake. Wrap and join the edges of the cake together – carefully, there should be no holes in the dough. Dip the convex side in sugar.  Lay out the resulting puffs with the flat side down on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Bake over medium heat until the puffs are golden brown.

Even if the child is very small, he or she will be able to wash the apples, put the chopped halves on the dough. Older children can wrap apples in dough – it turns out to be very elastic. They can dip the puffs in sugar and put on a baking sheet.

Biscuit apple pie is a delicious dish that kids can cook. Wash 6 apples, peel, cut into small cubes. Sprinkle with sugar (about a tablespoon), stir. Separate the 4 whites from the yolks, beat until stiff. Continue whipping, slowly pour a glass of sugar into the whites (this is where you need more hands), then pour out the yolks. Add flour in small portions and mix the dough with a spoon. This is the most crucial stage, you need to mix carefully Pour the sliced ​​apples into the bottom of the cake tin, greased with margarine, and carefully place the dough on top. Gently put it in the oven (it should already be preheated). Bake it over medium heat for 15-20 minutes. The dough should take on a golden hue. One of the main criteria for readiness is the amazing smell that has filled the kitchen. Gently pry the finished pie with a spatula, separating it from the bottom and walls of the form, then turn the form over, laying out the pie so that the apples are on top.

Another favorite recipe for children to cook is curly shortbread cookies. After all, these cookies can be cut out of a layer of dough with funny molds. Preparing the dough is easy, you will need 250 g of melted margarine, two glasses of sugar, three eggs, a bag of vanilla sugar, two teaspoons of baking powder for the dough, mix well, add 2.5-3 cups of flour, knead the dough thoroughly again. The finished dough should be elastic. Roll it into a large board 0.5 to 1 cm thick. And then the fun begins. Give your child the molds – and let him/her squeeze cookies out of the dough and transfer them to a sheet, previously lined with paper. Bake until golden brown over medium heat. You can use scraps of dough to mold your own wondrous animals.

As you can see, cooking with a child is easy and fun, and it is worth trying for both the child and the adult. And the recipes children can cook are always tastier! Bon appetit!