Getting your kid to eat what you cook

The Learning Tower
http://www.forsmallhands.com/

Lots of fabulous moms out there have had their children involved in their cooking from a very young age. I found myself very hesitant to have my kids “cook” (I put cook in quotes because I leave the kids out of any heating or cutting parts of cooking) with me when they were younger because I was paranoid of them falling off of the chairs they would need to stand on. I know that there are products out there designed to keep the kiddos safe while boosting their height but I wasn’t quite ready to spend the money on something like The Learning Tower pictured here. It may seem overprotective that I was so paranoid about them falling but I can’t help but have anxiety after DS’ fall last summer resulting in an obvious broken arm. Shutter….

Anyway, I’m finally mostly comfortable with the kids standing on chairs next to me while we cook in the kitchen. I can’t believe what a difference it has made in their eating habits to have them help me cook. The littles are generally very good eaters but when I work hard on a time consuming casserole they suddenly get very picky and don’t eat very well. I’ve figured out that they generally like to know what they are eating. Mixing things together leads to hesitant eaters.

Recently though, I have discovered that if I have the kids help me make our meal, even when it is mixed together, they are much more excited to eat it! We have had lots of fun blending things up in our Magic Bullet. We have made hummus, and basil pesto sauce most recently. The kids were much more excited about eating their pasta and pesto pizza after having helped make it!

I don’t know about you, but I find myself stuck in a cooking rut on many occasions and having the kids join me in the cooking process has really helped. It also helps them cooperate and behave better right before meal time. My kids get crankiest when they are getting tired and are hungry and, wouldn’t you know, they are always tired and hungry whenever I’m trying to make lunch or dinner!

What’s your favorite thing to “cook”  with your littles? Leave a recipe to share with other parents below and help get out of your cooking rut!