About 6 weeks ago, I started really watching what we are eating as a family, and intentionally teaching the kids about decisions that we make concerning what we eat. It all started out as a reason to help Scott and I drop a few pounds, but it's turned into something more life transformational. I found a few ITouch apps that are calorie counters and restaurant guides, as well as found a podcast that is specifically geared toward healthy kids.
3 weeks ago, I started getting the kids involved with planning and cooking 1 meal a week. Sydney has been sick this week, so we are behind on this week's menu, but i wanted to share with you the meals that they have chosen and made.
Elijah first chose to make banana pancakes - he learned the hard way that you
have to hold a pan by it's handle, not the hot metal part. Even with a small burn on the tips of 2 fingers, he still learned a lot. He really like mashing up the bananas. For his second meal, he chose Tilipia (fish) with cauliflower and fruit salad. We baked the fish in the oven, steamed the cauliflower and chopped up his favorite fruits. He was so proud of this meal, that we took a picture of it. :)Sydney's first week, she chose her meal by looking through one of my cooking magazines. She chose Almond crusted chicken and broccoli (they have to chose a vegetable to go with their meals). It was made in a saute pan on the stove top, so I did most of the cooking, but she liked dredging the chicken and crushing up the almonds to make the coating. She loves putting veggies in the steamer basket and watching them steam up. Her second meal was chicken and rice - we had some left over shredded chicken and made a casserole with it and some rice. She learned how to make rice in my pressure cooker. She especially likes putting a little bit of crushed potato chips on the top. In the course of eating both of these meals she said "I'm a good cook" or "This is so good". I told Scott that if I had made either of those meals, she would have sat down and before even tasting it said "I don't like this."
It's been revelatory having them in the kitchen. They are learning to think through meal planning and everything that it takes to prepare a meal. Elijah is already getting good with a knife (he is WELL supervised, no worries) and Sydney knows where most of the pots/pans/measuring cups type of stuff is in the kitchen. It's been fun - I would recommend it to any of you with your kids/grandkids/nieces and nephews. Oh, 1 other tip for kids. Use compartmentalized plates - they are fun for the kids, but they really do give good portion control to what's on the plate. (Just make sure you use a bigger space for the fruits/veggies and the smaller one for chips/cookies)
I think Sydney is making pork chops tonight - we'll see how this one goes!
