Great Family Meals the Kids Can Help Make

There are many things that you, as a parent, are responsible for teaching your kids. Valuable and helpful lessons are something you can give them throughout their childhood. One skill that shouldn’t be overlooked is how to prepare and cook various healthy meals. Teaching kids how to cook will help them as they grow into adults, and will also help them to learn about healthy eating.

For those with school-aged children or even pre-school kids who are looking for ways to get the kids involved in meal preparation, here are some great family meals that they can take part in.

Pasta – the Foundation of All Kinds of Great Meals

One of the easiest things to learn how to cook is olive garden chicken pasta. Not only is it quick and simple, it also acts as a versatile foundation for all kinds of great meals and recipes. You can add different sauces, meat, veggies, cheese, seafood, and a variety of spices. As far as from a kid’s point of view, the instructions for cooking pasta are pretty easy: just boil the water, drop the pasta in it, let it cook for 8-12 minutes, and drain it.

Of course, with that said, you don’t want to allow young ones too close to the stove. It may be a better idea to have them measure out the pasta, and then you can pour it into the bowl. They can be in charge of timing it. They can also take part in deciding what you will pair with the pasta.

Customized Individual Pizzas

Another meal that kids of all ages can help with is pizza. If you’re looking to save a little time, you can buy pizza dough at the store. Once you have your dough, cut it into equal sections giving each person in the family one section. Have kids use the rolling pin to roll out their own section, then they can add their toppings.

To help this meal move along smoother, you can set all toppings out in bowls so kids can pick and choose what they like. Toppings can include pizza sauce, extra virgin olive oil for drizzling on the dough, cheese, meat, veggies, and even fresh herbs such as basil and rosemary.

Their Own Take on Tacos

When it comes to kid-pleasers, tacos generally tick all the boxes. Again, this is an opportunity for kids to be creative and choose the flavor and toppings they prefer. You can start by choosing the protein for the taco itself, letting kids pick between a ground meat, grilled meat, or even grilled fish. From there they can help wash and chop up veggies, if they are old enough to safely use a knife, and place everything in bowls.

Don’t Forget the Kitchen Tools

As an added tip it’s a good idea to stock your kitchen with all the necessary tools that make meal preparation and clean-up easier. This can include things like a food processor, a blender, a garbage disposal unit such as the popular Insinkerator model 5 81, and an electric kettle.

There are just so many ways that kids can help in the kitchen and learn how to cook and make healthy choices.

Kelly Tate