Fix-It and Forget-It

We found this great little document, compiled by the Better Kid Care Program at Penn State University, full of tips for teaching your child to cook. You’ll find ways to generate interest in cooking at various ages, tips for working with your child in the kitchen, a couple of easy snacks you and your child can create together, and a list of books to spark interest and teach skills.

And speaking of books, we have a couple of our own to recommend, if you’re looking for ways to engage your child in the kitchen. Fix-It and Forget-It Kids’ Cookbook is full of easy slow-cooker recipes for the younger set. Because the recipes don’t involve either the stove or the oven, they’re great for younger children just starting to show interest in the kitchen.

The Mayo Clinic Kids’ Cookbook is chock-full of healthy snacks, breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and desserts to create with your child. With easy-to-understand directions and simple ingredient lists, older children will be able to whip up meals on their own. Both cookbooks include beautiful full-color photos of each recipe.

The holidays are just around the corner. That means parties and house guests, and lots of hungry people raiding the fridge and the cupboards for snacks. It also means kids on break from school and looking for fun stuff to do. Continue Reading...

Mention macaroni and cheese in a group and you’ll probably ignite a frenzy of nostalgia. Who doesn’t have fond memories of this perennial childhood favorite? For that matter, what adult doesn’t occasionally experience a craving for that most noble of all culinary combinations, pasta and cheese? Continue Reading...

Recently we read about Matisse Reid in Parade Magazine. She’s only 10, but she has her own charming cooking blog. It’s a way for her to celebrate her love for food and cooking – privileges she could not enjoy until she had an intestine transplant last year.

Her situation gets our attention as parents, enthusiastic eaters, and also as cookbook authors. One of the projects we’re working on right now at Good Books is a kids’ cookbook with Mayo Clinic. Introducing kids to cooking and good food is a topic near to our hearts, so we’re enjoying the process. And reading what Matisse has to say about life and food on her blog is added inspiration as we put The Mayo Clinic Kids’ Cookbook together.

Happy eating and cooking, Matisse!
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Guys, this is an outfit from my home community that ought to inspire lots of copying across the country:

Power Packs Project

Look at what these people are doing—giving families some weekend help to make decent and nutritious meals when their kids can’t get breakfast or lunch at school.

A bunch of moms got this started when they realized that their kids’ classmates were hungry on weekends, or staying full by eating stuff that doesn’t satisfy.
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So what is it that makes people climb all over the place, putting spider webs on chimneys, bats on rooftops, and pumpkins and skeletons in their front yards? Why is Halloween such a magical holiday?

Merle thinks it’s all the pretending you can do when you’re behind a mask. I loved dressing up when I was little—except for the funny way my mask smelled after I’d been breathing inside it for a couple of hours.

And I loved taking our daughters to the second-hand clothing store so they could put together their own wild and crazy outfits. There was never a chance they’d be passing someone else on the street in the same outfit.
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Summer is a great time for kids to be in the kitchen. This recipe from our Fix-It and Forget-It Kids Cookbook is easy for kids to do themselves. They’ll feel very successful when they serve this chowder. (So have a second recipe ready for them to make tomorrow!)

This recipe doesn’t require knives. You can buy chopped onions and celery in the grocery store.

And get this: The recipe does not require a hot stove either because it is prepared in a slow cooker. The soup is a great lunch for any time of the year. Let the kids practice now while they’re out of school. And then they’ll be primed to make it for you when you need some kitchen relief!
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We work in a little town that’s renown in a number of ways. First, there’s its name, which we’ve become pretty immune to. Once you’ve attended lots of conventions with your badge identifying your location as “Intercourse, Pennsylvania,” and then survived untold numbers of snickers and snorts, you get sort of toughened up and weary of it all.

That is not true of the first-timers to our area. Many mornings as I drive into work, I spot yet another visitor standing next to the entrance sign to our village, while being photographed for the unbelieving folks back home.

That may be the first, most obvious thing about our town. But the number of Amish in this township quickly distinguishes it, too.

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Facing a little fear about having the kids at home all summer? Wondering how to keep them occupied in good ways? Wishing for a little hand-holding and inspiration about how to keep the days full but not too full?

Since we all seem inclined to eat whenever we’re kinda bored, and since we’re often perversely drawn to eat the wrong things, here’s a website that might give you some fresh ideas. Plus some companionship in the effort to teach kids how to eat well and to cook, too.
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Whatever you think of Jamie Oliver’s heavy-hitting approach to turning school lunches into real food, he has some inspired ideas and some easy-to-make recipes.
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