Becoming Crunchy

Posts Tagged ‘involving kids in the kitchen’

Welcome to the November Carnival of Natural Parenting: Kids in the Kitchen

This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month our participants have shared how kids get involved in cooking and feeding. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.

Some of the memories I cherish most from childhood are those of helping my mom in the kitchen. It was mostly the occasional baking for a treat or holiday; she actually wasn’t a huge fan of cooking for the most part, but she pretty much always let us help from as early as I can remember…starting off with stirring and eventually moving up to being able to complete each task.

From that point, I was never held back from experimenting in the kitchen.

We had this crazy 70′s style plastic case full of recipe cards that had a whole section of recipes for children. I think I made almost all of them – my mom was happy to buy the ingredients and I got my little brother in on the action. Now that I think about it those were probably some hideously disgusting recipes lol – but I was so proud of myself for putting it all together!

As we grew older my brother and I took over many of the cooking duties, and I continued to learn and experiment – we even hosted a ‘French’ dinner for my parents one night in the backyard, where I made quiche for the first time – so exotic!

I kind of laugh at myself now about it all, but I really do remember the joy I had in all of those activities – especially when I figured out how to make something really great and shared it with friends.

For me, it’s a rich legacy of tradition, creativity, and family all mixed together – so of course I can’t wait to pass all of it on to my own little ones.

I’ve actually been surprised at how easy it’s been already to involve my daughter in the kitchen – she’s only 14 months after all, but I’ve already seen several ways to include her… Read the rest of this entry »