Cooking with Kids

I love to cook and to try new recipes. Luckily Jeff and the kids are up for new things, but I've found the best way to get the kids to try new foods or new recipes is to include them while I'm cooking.

I wish I had pictures of all the fun we have cooking and baking, but it doesn't happen. We're all usually pretty involved in the process.

The kids love to sift ingredients for cupcakes. They like to try food in new forms--grated celery and carrots, sauteed kale, and so many others when they get to choose what goes in and help put it in a recipe.

I posted a couple (or more) weeks ago about having a meal plan for our family. It's tough to sit down and plan out meals especially the busier our family gets. Between tumbling, AWANA and dance, we're on the go most week nights and I'm not always the parent home. The kids also like to know what's coming for supper and how they get to help.

I'd like to put up our two weeks worth of meals on the blog, not only to help me remember what we're eating and favorites, but to also help friends, family, and others get on board with meal planning. Let me tell you meal planning saves our butt financially. We're on a pretty tight food budget--$140 for two weeks and by planning what we're going to eat, we always have good meals at home. I can make almost any meal as good as going out. I know what is in our food and we don't have to spend what it would cost to eat out which gets expensive. I usually try to make enough for Jeff and sometimes the kids and I to eat lunch the next day.

Saturday--CopyKat Gnocchi Soup (I had all the ingredients since we didn't eat it last time)
Sunday--Date Night at HuHot--I'm going to try to do something like this at home for the kids
Monday--Hot Wings, Fries and Carrots
Tuesday--CrockPot Paella and apples
Wednesday--Chicken Marsala, Asparagus and Pasta
Thursday--Beef and Broccoli with Brown Rice
Friday--Chicken Pot Pie
Saturday--Steak, Baked/Roasted Potatoes, and Butterbeans
Sunday--Salmon California Rolls
Monday--Pork Milenese with Tortellini Salad
Tuesday--Quesadillas with Homemade Tortillas
Wednesday--Potato and Corn Chowder with Spinach
Thursday--Thai Fried Rice

Noah and Emma ask almost weekly for Fried Rice and soup (either gnocchi or broccoli cheese). They love the involvement with both meals, but they really do eat more/better when they are chowing down on veggies as we're cooking. They might not eat as much at the table, but that's okay they got a good bit in them helping out.