Toby chopping parsley

Anna making Tomato Bisque

Serve with a smile!

Thumbs up! The dough is ready to rise!

Anna making homemade taco seasoning for Double Decker Tacos

Scotty’s Giant Meatballs

Making Pepperoni Pizza Rolls

Anna making sure our pasta is al dente

Scotty makes Nachos for his after school snack

Scotty making Huevos Rancheros

“Never do for a child what he can do for himself.”

Before I became a stay-at-home mom I was an elementary school teacher and this was one of my favorite quotes.  And now, as a mother of three children, I try my hardest to live by it.  However, as most of you know, the task of letting kids do for themselves is not always easy.  Usually it’s just plain quicker to do it ourselves.

Luckily, the teacher in me keeps coming out and reminding me that when a child takes responsibility and learns to do things for him/herself they gain confidence and grow in so many ways.  And this lesson is so much more important than the speed or quality of the task at hand.

That is why I have been letting my kids be in charge of cooking dinner for the family, one night per kid every week.  This includes planning a healthy entree and veggie side.

What my kids have learned, through cooking for each other, goes far beyond measuring and whisking.  They have learned how much time and effort it takes to prepare a meal.  And how easily things can go wrong.  Most importantly, they have learned how feelings can get hurt when their efforts go unappreciated.

Looking for a meatball recipe on What’s For Dinner, Gena 🙂

Here’s how it works for us:

• Each chef needs to decide what they’ll be cooking that week so that I can have all the groceries needed.  I let them choose the meal, as long as it is healthy.  It is important for them to learn from each other’s choices as well, good or bad.  My favorite was when Anna made Strawberry Soup.  It actually turned out great!
• The chef for the evening finds the recipe they want to make, usually from my blog. 🙂  Scotty wanted spaghetti and meatballs and found my meatball recipe under meatball subs.
  

  Making breadcrumbs

• I’m always in the kitchen with them.  I teach them how to be safe near the gas stove, how to safely and very carefully use a knife, how to contain raw meat in one place, how to thoroughly scrub their hands and under their fingernails if they’ve touched raw meat and how to put something in the oven without touching the hot parts.  When Scotty wanted to cut the onion on his own, crying from the fumes, I was right there with him, watching to make sure he was being VERY careful.
• They have to follow all the instructions on the recipe.  I don’t help them one bit.  If they use too much or too little of an ingredient I want them to learn from the result.
• The chef is in charge of clean-up after the meal.  (We need to get better about following through on this step, baby steps…)  🙂
• The rest of the family is usually great about thanking the chef.
  

  Very carefully chopping an onion

Enjoy the pictures below of Scotty making “giant” meatballs.  He served them with spaghetti and marinara.  For his vegetable he chose celery.  🙂

Thanks Chef Scotty, it was delicious!!

This meatball recipe is from Meatball Subs.  For more Kids in the Kitchen ideas, read here.

Happy Cooking Little Chefs!  ~ Gena

Mixing all the ingredients together

Scotty’s giant meatballs ar ready to go in the oven!

Being careful not to touch hot oven door

Adding marinara to the spaghetti

Dinner is served..!!