Zane, my nine year old son, takes a spoonful of the Mac ‘N Cheese he’s just helped me cook from scratch and slowly chews with a pensive look on his face, “Mmmm mom, I think it needs more salt.” I felt myself beaming with pride as I encourage him further, “So what else do you think we can add to it to make it incredible?!” He then rushes to the spice cabinet excitedly and turns around with a bottle in his hand and declares as if in a testimonial, “How about we sprinkle some Tajin and make it a Mexican Mac ‘N Cheese?’ Tajin is a Mexican seasoning made up of chili peppers, lime and salt and is used in several Mexican dishes. It was introduced to Zane at his best friend’s kitchen, where they both spent time cooking quesadillas and fajitas with Marco’s mom, Cecilia.
One of the greatest benefits of involving your kids in the kitchen is you teach them how to make the right food choices; you help them shape a more positive approach towards food. It all starts at the grocery store, where you can show them how the freshest of ingredients, which are in season, are the basis of the most delicious meals. I’ve taught my kids when mangoes are in season, you can pick out the best piece just by sniffing out its sweet fragrance, and the same goes for melons and pineapples. Let your nose do the choosing for you. My kids enjoy their apples firm and crunchy so they know what to look out for when they feel for the perfect one. When kids come in direct contact with the fruits and vegetables, understand and are made part of the decision-making process for the entire meal preparation, they develop a sense of appreciation and respect for good food. It also nurtures their creativity, sense of achievement and self-esteem and are likely to be less picky about their food.
My favourite part of cooking with my kids is the bonding time I get to catch up on with them. It allows us a chance to communicate in a relaxed atmosphere, where they feel comfortable and confident. There are usually lots of stories to share as they help season and sauté the ground beef, tear up lettuce leaves and shred cheddar cheese for their designated Taco Tuesday. After a long day at school, it’s the perfect and healthy way to create good vibes and positive memories as they assemble their personalized taco shells. More than that, it also creates a sense of team-work between all three of them as they hand out cooking chores to each other, share time on the stove and watch out for each others’ safety. So it’s very typical of both Adrian and Zane to get up earlier than everyone else on a Friday morning and whip up a few blueberry pancakes for the family.
You can’t imagine the number of different skills you can help your child sharpen just by following a recipe. It improves their reading and comprehension, as you ask them to read out loud new words and explain to you the step-by-step directions. Math skills come into play and baking can be a great way for children to learn about arithmetic, fractions, decimals and the importance of time management. Cooking is also real life science in the kitchen. My kids have experimented with freezing coke cans, roasting whole eggs to making play-dough from flour. These simple chemical reactions have taught them so much about changes from liquids to solids, liquids and gases, dissolving and emulsions.
Kitchen tasks and chores should be assigned to kids according to their age group. You can start as early as babies in their high chair, as you let them experiment with their hands and get their lunch everywhere except in their mouth. At two and three years, kids can venture into the kitchen and help with rinsing vegetables, transferring pre-measured items into containers, throwing out trash, mixing with a spoon, pouring or piping. When they hit four and five years, their motor skills have developed enough to handle tasks such as measuring ingredients, whisking, arranging cupcake liners in the pan and cutting foods with an unsharpened knife. Once they reach six to eight years they can handle new tasks such as gathering, clearing, washing produce, cracking eggs, shredding cheese and washing dishes with adult supervision. As they advance between ages nine to twelve, they can handle the recipe from A to Z, operate the right equipment and then clean up as well. By their teenage years, kids are ready to take on more advanced recipes, plan meals, get creative with their cooking and even their food presentations. The most important point is to make sure the kitchen is a safe environment for your kids to work in so you can leave happy, lasting impressions.
