I vividly remember bringing my first sweet 6-ish pound baby home from the hospital, nestling him in the coveted ‘Rock N’ Play’ sleeper and promptly wondering “ok, what in the world are we supposed to do now.”
The early weeks were wrought with sleepless nights, milk stained EVERYTHING and countless hours of TV. Guys, I know you know what I’m talking about here. Babies are sweet, and cuddly, and smell good. But, they are kind of boring.
Then. THEN. My baby turned into a KID. And life has been SO. MUCH. MORE. FUN.
My last post was about all the funny stuff my kids utter – and while one of my favorite things to observe has been the emergence of their little personalities, one of my favorite things to DO with my little ones is cook.
After many trial and error sessions with my own precious angels, I thought I’d share with you some advice to make YOUR meal prep go a bit smoother. You’re welcome!
1. Find some kid friendly recipes
While this likely means no crème brulee, there are TONS of great things you can make with tiny helpers. Our ‘go-to’ menu items include mini pizzas, tacos, soups, and more. Check out our KMB recipes page for more ideas!
2. Get the right tools
Sure, a spatula is pretty easy to wield for most grown adults, but it’s about the same length as my three-year-old’s arm. I found some great {inexpensive!!} kid-sized-but-real kitchen tools recently, and my kids LOVE having real spoons and spatulas that are just like mine…but don’t take out half my kitchen when they start swinging them like swords.
3. Prep ingredients ahead of time
On the whole, kids are pretty impatient characters. They don’t understand why they can’t help with the chopping, pre-heating and other assorted not-for-tiny-helper tasks. I try to get everything chopped, measured and ready before I invite my mini-master chefs.
4. Have jobs for the cooking time
Similar to the prep stage, my kids believe I can wiggle my nose and bewitch the dish to be instantly cooked. They don’t really love the concept of 20+ minutes of baking time, so I have other jobs lined up so they can stay busy. We set the table, put away the ingredients and pour drinks. It helps pass the time, and gets you some additional help for the not-so-fun tasks.
5. Take a deep breath
The counters will be messy, the floors littered with eggshells and assorted unidentified ingredients. Swiffer later, mama!
