OK so we're starting a new DAY
Cooking with Emmy Monday
I used to cook with her all of the time when she was 1 and 2 and i was a SAHM. It was so much fun and with working full time and divorce and limited time that stopped so I want to start it again
We'll be having spaghetti. So anyone have ideas on how she can be involved today?
Oh she's 6
The only ideas I had so far were meatballs...I loved doing anything with my hands when i was a kid...heres to hoping emmy will
but for spaghetti what can she help with
also any other fun meals that are fun to make with kids you know of??
Also anyone use a pasta maker beore? I havent anbd wont be today buit for the future is it easy and something she could do with M. if we got one?
No, never used a pasta maker. Should try.
Meatballs - I put latex gloves on my kids (to keep the stuff out from their fingernails, etc.) and let them mix and mold. Each has their own bowl.
stirring the sauce...my kids were adding stuff to the sauce in Kindergarten...salt, pepper, olives, etc.
buttering the garlic bread.
YUM!!!! Have a blast!1
Be sure to add some math also! Measure the water you put on to boil. Measure the salt you put in the water. Let her break the spaghetti in half.
Take uncooked spaghetti noodles and put them THROUGH cut up hotdogs or precooked (ie: not frozen) meatballs. Then boil and you have spaghetti/hotdogs or spaghetti/meatballs in ONE! Saw this on Pinterest and it looks really cool!!
Let her make shapes with the spaghetti noodles while the water is boiling. Let her measure water and pour in before turning on the stove. I have not used a pasta maker but seen one in use and it seems pretty involved/messy/time consuming!
Let her make garlic bread - on french bread or regular bread (butter and garlic BEFORE you toast it).
While pasta is cooking/sauce is cooking, let her play with uncooked spaghetti noodles and playdo. See what designs she comes up with. Or let her count out froot loops or other circle items (pretzels, cheerios) and make patterns or J. practice counting while she munches on a snack :)
Candle light and maybe a nice table cloth to go with it?
She can do EVERYTHING (pretty much) in the kitchen that you do!
I am a foodie, I love to cook and eat, and I have always had my kids involved.
She can fill pots with water and start them to boil, crack eggs, measure ingredients, mix and stir.
Open cans (my kids were fascinated with the can opener) and chop and sautee veges. This is the perfect age to learn how to wash, slice and chop properly/safely.
Teach her about washing her hands, cleaning contaminated surfaces, pulling her hair back when near an open flame, etc. This stuff will stick with her for the rest of her life, you will be so surprised and pleased! My teenagers can cook almost anything, especially my youngest (13) who LOVES to bake :-)
I J. got a pasta maker and it's definitely something your child can help you with! She can turn the crank. My daughter is 11 and she LOVES turning the crank :)
You can also roll out the dough and cut it by hand with a clean play doh knife.
Have fun!
They figure out making pasta is work after a few times but I can still get Genna to lay the strips out to dry.
During the summer Genna fetches the tomatoes and herbs to make the sauce. I have to pick a time when there are plenty of tomatoes because she eats about the same amount she brings in.
She can help you break the noodles while you guide her hands in putting them in the pot slowly so she doesn't get burned.
She can add the sauce or stir the sauce
Other things they can do - crush/mash potoates, make lemonade, put things in the blender, add measured seasonings to dishes, roll dough etc
My four year old helped M. cook, six is well old enough. Even if all he does is stir something it flatten out something, anything you do to make her confident in herself is good for her.
I do the spaghetti/ hotdog thing too and let them roll meatballs. My girls love to make the crescent rolls for dinner and they were taught to use both oven and toaster oven for it. They are 8&5.
My 7year old boy as Ben flipping pancakes since 5.
Meatballs are definitely something she can do.
She can also help make a salad. I bought a plastic salad knife and even my 4 year old helps cut the lettuce (with supervision).
And if you want to go a different route with the bread, try making garlic knots. We use a really easy pizza dough recipe (a quick kind you don't have to wait for) and my seven year old helps M. cut it into strips using the pizza cutter all the time. Then you tie the strips into knots and bake them. He helps tie the knots and when they are done he "paints" on the garlic mixture we use.
At 6 my son could cut the tomatoes, grate cheese, break the spaghetti, set the table, crack eggs, measure bread crumbs. I did not have him make the meatballs (paranoid about E coli in raw beef) but I am sure he could have mixed the meatball ingredients and made meat balls. He could also wash and tear lettuce for salad, cut cucumbers, tomatoes,etc for salad.
We have made crepes, burritos and Asian dumplings together. All fun. I have not used our pasta machine with my son but that is a good idea.
she can eat the pasta
