Tips for Cooking as a Family

Cooking as a family offers plenty of advantages. It allows you to spend quality time together, strengthen family bonds, and encourage your children to take an interest in nutrition and healthy eating. Cooking together will also make cooking more enjoyable and seem like less of a chore. Preparing meals together can be a challenge, but it’s definitely worth the extra time and effort. Here are some tips for cooking as a family.

Let your children pick a recipe

Letting your children pick recipes is a great way to get them involved in cooking and encourage them to spend time in the kitchen. Look through cooking blogs and food websites together and ask your kids to choose some recipes that they would like to try making. Your kids are more likely to get a sense of ownership and pride if they prepare a dish that they have chosen. Trying new recipes is also an excellent way to encourage children to try new ingredients and foods. Some easy kid-friendly recipes to try include pasta casserole, homemade pizza, and stuffed pittas.

Give everyone a role

Giving everyone in your family a role during cooking will help to ensure that meal preparation runs as smoothly as possible. Make sure that the tasks you allocate are age-appropriate. You wouldn’t give a three-year-old responsibility for chopping vegetables with a sharp knife, for example. A better idea would be to ask them to help you weigh ingredients on a scale or wash vegetables in the sink. According to momables.com, older children (aged 8 years+) can help with a variety of cooking tasks, including using the stand mixer, using a can opener, and chopping vegetables with supervision.

Once children reach the age of 10, they should be able to do most cooking tasks independently. However, it is important to provide proper safety equipment and supervision. Establish a set of rules for your children while using the kitchen. For instance, tell them to always wash their hands after touching raw chicken and use protective mittens when handling hot dishes.

Make cooking fun!

Make cooking a fun activity for your family by listening to music or creating fun cooking games and competitions. Injecting some fun into cooking will make the experience more exciting and avoid it becoming boring or routine. Some other easy ways to make cooking fun for your family include planning themed dinners, trying new recipes, and joining cooking classes. You can also make cooking more exciting for kids by creating food art and decorating dishes using tools like coffee stencils and other food prints.

Buy child-friendly utensils 

Your children will be unable to apply their skills in the kitchen and complete cooking tasks effectively if they don’t have age-appropriate tools. Fortunately, there are plenty of child-friendly kitchen utensils that you can purchase for your little ones. This includes knives, baking sets, and aprons. Your children will get excited about having their own kitchen tools and it’ll make it far easier for them to do cooking activities and improve their skills in the kitchen.