Kids in the kitchen

Use technology to get the family cooking

By Madeleine Greey

Lise Hendlisz was tired of the rushing-to-make-dinner drudgery that often resulted in “less than enthusiastic” responses from her children. So together Lise and her husband, Ed Glassman, decided to divvy up dinner duties with their two teens. Now you’ll find Dominique, 16, and Nathaniel, 14, cooking supper, alternating cooking duties for a week. They both look after setting the table every day.

Of course, Dominique and Nathaniel didn’t become overnight Emerils. Their training began back in kindergarten with simple tasks such as breaking eggs and stirring pancake batter. Hendlisz says learning to cook is as important for children to master as any other independence skill, such as making beds or doing homework.

Search one of the many kid-friendly web sites.

Online solutions for missing ingredients

Now that Nathaniel has mastered the art of following a recipe, he is using technology to branch out. “Sometimes I search the Net for recipes when I actually have a recipe but am missing one of the ingredients,” he explains. “I find a bunch of similar recipes online, compare them and then get ideas on how to change my original recipe.”

On some nights you’ll even find his mom searching the web to find a new recipe. But beware: while thousands of recipes are available, most are untested, especially if they come from blogs or private sites. Magazines provide tested, professional recipes. Epicurious, for example, draws on past issues of Gourmet and Bon Appetit.

Surfing the web for recipes

Toronto dietitian Sue Mah says, “Even though I have over 60 cookbooks, I surf the Net regularly for new recipe ideas.” She recently searched for a recipe for ratatouille. “I had taken my kids to see Ratatouille (the movie) and thought it would be nice for them to try.”

Mah is passionate about getting her kids Abbey, 5, and Ben, 7, excited about cooking, and she makes a point of including technology in the process.

One of the kids’ favourite game sites is NickJr. That’s where Abbey boosted her kitchen knowledge by helping Dora the Explorer find all the ingredients to make a Spanish recipe. Another game went truly interactive when Abbey learned about Chinese dumplings online and then promptly asked her mother to make some.

Another great way to find recipes online is by using a search engine such as Bing. Type in a keyword or phrase such as “pancake recipe” or “desserts” and hit the Search button to display results from around the web.

Show your kids how easy it is to download a recipe and place it into their very own ‘Recipes’ folder.

Children can keep folders or Word documents on the computer to keep track of the recipes they’ve collected. In Vista, go to Start > Documents. From there, click on Organize > New Folder and name it using your child’s name. Create a folder for each child and help them store their favourite recipes.

Increase their food knowledge

Mah knows that games such as those at NickJr not only help Abbey and Ben learn reading, typing and computing skills but also get them excited about food and cooking. Mah sees plenty of benefits:

More exposure to food means fewer food fears. Picky eaters are more likely to try new foods if they’ve helped shop, prepare or cook.
Kitchen skills develop math and science skills. Kids learn about numbers, volume and chemical reactions without even realizing it.
Cooking confidence goes hand-in-hand with nutritional understanding. Kids learn how to plan well-rounded meals and make healthy choices.

Like Mah, you can make cooking a regular part of family life. Get your little chefs in the kitchen on the weekend or after dinner instead of during stressful weekday dinnertimes.

Have older kids search for recipes online from trusted web sites such as the Food Network, Epicurious or Cookingwithkids.com. While they may not have time to try them all out, your kids will never be short of recipes.

Start simple

Keep it simple by starting out with breakfast foods and snacks. Try this one:

Depending on their age, kids can measure, pour and even chop to help out in the kitchen.

Super smoothie

Start with 2 cups of frozen strawberries, blueberries or raspberries (or a mix) in a blender. Pour in 1½ cups each of milk and orange juice. Now add 1 cup of vanilla yogurt. Make sure the lid is on tight. Blend, serve and enjoy!

“I’m a kid in the kitchen,” admits Mah, and she extends that enthusiasm to her children. “I never force them to cook, and my goal is to be their team leader.”

Spending time in the kitchen with your kids can be a lot of fun. It’s educational and a great way to spend time as a family.

Turns out she’s succeeded. When Mah recently asked Abbey if their homemade cookies were as good as the ones from the store, the five-year-old quipped: “Let’s make a batch and see!”