I am a big believer in having my kids cook along with me as
soon as they are able and that means as young as three years old. My kids have
always been in the kitchen with me not because I love cooking or am a very patient
mom it’s mostly for pragmatic reasons. When my kids are cooking along with me I
am keeping them busy, keeping them out of trouble, they are supervised, we are
making memories, we are getting dinner done and on the table and all this while
also teaching them valuable life skills. Now that’s a kitchen win to celebrate
every time!
This weekend I took some time out from my usual crazy
schedule and decided to make a double batch of Pistachio Chocolate Cream Puffs.
I wanted to double the batch to make some to give to a few of our neighbors nearby
and when my kids saw what I was doing they jumped right in and started cooking
along with me. My oldest son took over the more complicated part of making and
cooking the cream puff batter and my little ones helped me fill the cream puffs
with the pistachio pudding filling and cover them with Reynolds KITCHENS™ Quick Cut™ Plastic Wrap.
I think her favorite part about helping with the cream puffs was getting to use the built-in
slide cutter to help cut the plastic wrap. My favorite part was watching
everybody get along and enjoy cooking together. Usually when I cook with my
kids we are making lunch or dinner so to have them jump in on making this
special Sunday treat with me, made it all that much more sweet. Super mom-win moment!
5 Mom Hacks To Successful Cooking With Your Kids:
Young cooks are better eaters: There are so many benefits to cooking with kids
early in life besides important life skills and keeping them busy; did you know
kids are more likely to eat more of their meal if they have helped cook it? Got
a kid who doesn’t like veggies? Try having them help you cook up a vegetable
rich dish in the kitchen, talk about the vegetables and have fun sampling the vegetables with your little chef while you are prepping and cooking them.
Little things make a big impact: There are lots of small tasks that little ones
can do that can help make them feel like they are contributing in a big way to
the family meal. Let them pour, dump, scoop and sous chef their little hearts
out in the kitchen. Thanks to Reynolds KITCHENS™ QuickCut™ Plastic Wrap there is one more cooking tasks easy enough for my three year
old to help mom out with.
Finally! A plastic wrap that doesn’t make me want to scream!
There are no sharp teeth on this plastic wrap for kiddos (or grown ups) to hurt themselves on and from the get go you can just easily roll the plastic out and use the built-in slide cutter to cut a clean strait line every time. So easy my three year old can use it, no problem.
Set the cooking mood: Cooking can be stressful so teaching someone how to cook and being someone who is little and trying to learn how to cook can also be stressful. Take an extra second and put on some calming non-vocal music to play in the kitchen to set the tone before you get started. The non-vocal music is important because you will still be able to read the recipe and have full conversations with your child without that added distraction. Non-vocal music is a great source to enhance concentration.
Set the cooking mood: Cooking can be stressful so teaching someone how to cook and being someone who is little and trying to learn how to cook can also be stressful. Take an extra second and put on some calming non-vocal music to play in the kitchen to set the tone before you get started. The non-vocal music is important because you will still be able to read the recipe and have full conversations with your child without that added distraction. Non-vocal music is a great source to enhance concentration.
Narrate your cooking actions: This is a great mom hack for little ones to keep their attention longer and help them learn beginning cooking terms. “We need to get the bag of flour out! Now we scoop two cups of flour and put it into the mixing bowl. Scoop one cup! Careful, Careful… hold the scoop over the bowl, now slowly dump it into the bowl. There you go! Yay! You did it! Now let’s get the second scoop because we need two scoops of flour.”
Start with realistic expectations: I find if you go in with the mind set of this is a teaching experience and you are here to make memories, everybody enjoys cooking together more. Be ok with food coming out a little funky, dinner taking a little longer to get on the table, and finding spaghetti sauce in unexpected places.
TIP inside a tip: Use plastic
wrap as a splash guard and cover your tablet or phone if you are using your device
to read the recipe while cooking with kids. Try to add an additional twenty
minutes to your cooking time to allow for teaching and learning. Have kids help
you with quick fast dinners as well. Kids love pouring the noodles into the pot
of mac and cheese.
Teaching these cooking life skills early pays off big time for you and your kiddos and is worth every single effort you put into it even if it doesn’t feel like it in the early
years. Remember to celebrate your kitchen wins where you can find them and keep
it simple. Getting your children more involved in dinner doesn’t have to be hard
and complicated. Cooking with your kids can be quick and easy with just a few
little mom hacks at your tool belt.
My family and I are so excited to have discover Reynolds
KITCHENS™ Quick Cut™ Plastic Wrap, that makes kitchen tasks and food storage just that much smoother for us busy moms. Plastic wrap can be a pain in the butt to work with and now Reynolds has made things easier with some very thoughtful and innovative solutions with its built-in slide cutter, for easy clean cuts, and the Starter Edge to find the start of the roll in a cinch. This is a mom-win for everybody.
Head over to Reynolds Kitchen to use their store locator and get your Reynolds KITCHENS™ Quick Cut™ Plastic Wrap.
What do you do to help learning to cook fun for your kids and the whole family? We would love to hear your kitchen hacks and tips as well.
Ingredients
- 1 cup Water
- 1/2 cup Butter
- 1/8 teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup Flour
- 4 Eggs
- 1 box Pistachio Instant Pudding Mix
- 8oz Milk Chocolate Chips
- 1/4 cup Creamer
- 2 cups Milk
- 1/4 cup Pistachio Nuts Chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 f. Grease baking sheet with baking spray. In medium sauce pan combine water butter and salt. Bring to boil. Mix in flour all at once and stir quickly. Cook and stir until it forms into a ball. Remove from heat. Let cool for 10 minutes.
- Mix eggs into dough until well mixed.
- Using a spoon drop about 12 dough blobs onto backing sheet. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.
- While dough is baking make instant pistachio pudding mix by the box directions. Refrigerate until firm.
- Easy Chocolate Ganache: In small sauce pan on medium heat, add milk chocolate chips and creamer together. You can substitute the creamer for heavy cream if you would like. Gently stir chocolate mixture over heat until the chocolate is melted and mixed into a nice chocolate sauce. Remove from heat.
- Once the puffs are cooked and cooled down you can open the puffs up on one side and spoon in the pudding. Then top the cream puffs with a little chocolate ganache drizzle and chopped pistachios. Serve cold.
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