Big Kids Cooking

 

On Monday the Big Kids were busy creating magic in the kitchen cooking “Space Bundles” – crispy phyllo bundles filled with cooked veggies, herbs and cream cheese.

The kids were all excited to pick their own fillings to make their bundles uniquely their own.  Cooking with preschoolers is so much fun. They love being involved in preparing food and it’s usually a surefire way to get them to try new things!  Look for some tips below on how to make the cooking process kid friendly in the Cooking with Little Chefs section below.  The Phyllo Space Bundles were such a hit with the kids that we have posted the recipe below.

 

 

Recipe for Phyllo “Space Bundles”

Ingredients   1 pkg phyllo dough (found in the freezer section of most stores) 1/2 cup unsalted butter Your choice of fillings: -cooked yam -broccoli -tomatoes -peppers -cheese (feta, cheddar, cream cheese, any cheese you like!) -herbs/spices to taste -and anything else you like!

Instructions Thaw phyllo dough as per package instructions. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Slice all filling ingredients Melt butter in a sauce pan Unroll and unwrap the phyllo dough Slice the pile of sheets in half Grab one sheet of phyllo, then lightly brush a layer of melted butter all over the surface. Go as light with the butter as you can, and be careful not to press too hard. Place another sheet on top and repeat this process, acting quickly, until you have four buttered sheets in a stack. Cut your stack of buttered sheets in half again – put spoonfuls of filling ingredients in the middle of each square and top with some cheese Then, gently gather up each phyllo square into a little bundle. Just try to give the neck a very small pinch so that the bundles stay bundled. Put completed bundles onto a greased cookie sheet Repeat this process, until all the filling ingredients are gone! Then, when you’re ready to bake them, pop into a 375 degree oven for about 15 minutes—or until nice and golden brown.

***Recipe Adapted from http://www.yummly.com/recipe/external/Mushroom-Phyllo-Bundles-The-Pioneer-Woman-Cooks-_-Ree-Drummond-41301

 

Cooking with Little Chefs

You look at a recipe, it looks delicious, you think your child would love to eat it. You might be thinking…..”It would be so much easier, quicker, and create less of a mess if I just quickly whipped this up on my own, and then my child can enjoy eating it sooner.” This thought is totally valid and true! Cooking with kids is usually messy, food doesn’t always look that pretty, and little chefs are not yet aware of food safe ideas like not picking their nose and then touching ingredients (washing hands happens alot!) But cooking with kids provides a hands-on, real-life learning experience like no other!  Nevermind play kitchens; cooking with real kitchen tools and real ingredients offers an opportunity for your kids to learn about food using all their senses. Here are some tips to get your little chefs involved in the kitchen.

• Have them wear an apron and wash hands before starting – it gives them the signal that now they are doing an important job – cooking – and emphasizes that making a mess is not the goal but it’s okay if we get a little something on the apron.
• Get them up at the right level – either let them stand on a bench or chair, or have them sit high enough so that they can see what they are doing and so they have a good use of their arms when doing jobs like mixing, cutting, and assembling
• Let kids smell and taste ingredients as they go into a recipe – name all the ingredients and connect them to foods they know. For example “This is dried oregano, it is often used in pizza and spaghetti sauce! Doesn’t it smell delicious? Shall we put some into this dish?”
• Find ways for them to do the jobs you are doing on a smaller scale – For example if you are slicing vegetables, give them a butter knife or plastic knife and have them slice something soft like cheese, cucumbers, cooked potatoes or yams.
• They love mixing things but sometimes this gets messy, here are a few ways to keep things a bit cleaner when mixing :
  1. Use deep bowls
  2. Use mason jars with lids and let them shake the ingredients together
  3. Let them try different utensils for mixing – your child will likely pick which one works best for them
• De-emphasize perfection especially in what the food creation looks like – cooking is as much about the process as it is about the finished product. Little chefs will be so proud that they helped make something, no matter what it looks like.
• Involve them in clean-up even if you know they are not going to do a great job – giving them a cloth and having them clean up a little part of the table helps them understand that when we make a mess, we also help clean up.

Lastly, have fun with it!  Try new things. Teach them family recipes. Allow room for creativity. Talk and laugh with your little chef. Cooking is a life-skill and making cooking a fun activity early on can lead to a life-long love of preparing food.