Kids in the Kitchen
The school holidays are upon us and I think the question parents dread the most is, ‘What can we eat?’ Here are my five best ideas for feeding them and keeping them occupied at the same time! All it will take on your behalf is a little preparation and potentially some clean up!
- Blend it! Smoothies and smoothie bowls are so much fun when you get it right! Try our Frozen Princess Smoothie Bowl and let them decorate to their hearts content. You know it can take a long time to get those garnishes just right! You could even run a little competition for the best photo of the finished result. Failing that, eating them is always a lot of fun, and you can rest assured it will fill them up with healthy fuel for the morning at least.
- Roll it! Think wraps, tortillas, sushi rolls, crepes. Provide them with loads of fillings and let them at it. If you have older kids to occupy you could get them on crepe duty. Cooking crepes is kind of fun. Let’s see who can toss the crepe the highest. (Oops!) You could also get them onto rolling Bliss Balls! Simple as it comes and they are edible within 30 minutes. That should keep everyone busy for a while.
- Skewer it! For something a little more taxing, get organised with plenty of bamboo skewers. If you plan on using meat or veggies on them, make sure they are soaked in plenty of water before use. Now let them at it. Chicken cubes, pineapple, sausage cut into pieces, capsicum, onion, little tomatoes. You name it, they can skewer it. Dinner is ready, fire up the BBQ and you are sorted. Easier than that of course is fruit and marshmallow skewers. No cooking involved and they can eat them immediately. Just be careful with the pointy ends with the younger crew.
- Pizza it! There is nothing that doesn’t taste better than when on a pizza, am I right? So get the bases sorted, and then provide them with pesto, tomato paste, passata, cheeses, meats, mushrooms, capsicum, pineapple, herbs, even thinly sliced potatoes and let them at it! You will be delighted with the results as will they, and I’m pretty sure it will use up a few hours! A word of warning, there may be some cleaning involved afterwards, but just look the other way and enjoy the momentary peace.
- Bake it! This will take a little more supervision than the other ideas unless you have older children, but who doesn’t love a fresh batch of cookies or cupcakes? When the baking is done it is time to allow for some creative flair. Make a batch of frosting and spread out the options. Sprinkles go a long way if the cake or frosting isn’t quite perfect. But there will be plenty of happy little sticky faces with a baking project especially when all the decorating is done!