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Book review: 'C is for Cooking'
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Finding the balance between cooking dinner (or breakfast or lunch) and keeping kids occupied is often the same as walking a tightrope wearing cement shoes. It's virtually impossible to do, but with a little persistence, dedication, sweat, and blood, along with someone holding your hand, it is possible. In this case, the helping hand is actually several furry hands and live on a street called Sesame.
'C is for Cooking; Recipes from the Street' by Susan McQuillan, M.S. R.D is perhaps one of the best cookbooks around. The recipes are nutritionally sound, easy to follow, do not involve fancy or unusual ingredients, are budget and family friendly, and, most importantly, each recipe has steps that can involve kids. The cookbook offers traditional kid foods like pancakes, chicken nuggets and chicken noodle soup, but there's also different recipes like Grover's African-Style Peanut Butter Soup or Abby Cadabby's Enchanting Butterflies and Flowers. It sounds simple, but the names really do make a difference with the kids!
The recipes include breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, drinks, sides and desserts. There are variations presented for each recipe, which you can use to suit your family's tastes (ex., for Big Bird's Spaghetti Pie, you can choose between ricotta cheese or cottage cheese, plain or flavored tomato sauce, ground turkey or beef). Many of the recipes are easily adapted into a vegetarian diet as well.
Each recipe features a different Sesame Street character, along with a tidbit about a particular food in the recipe or an introduction to a foreign word. This is a great way to engage your child in a conversation while you are cooking. You can use this to explore a different culture, discuss why a food is important in a healthy diet or even use it as an opportunity to be silly (ex., make up a rhyme or song about the food).
The beginning of the book gives a terrific overview of kitchen safety, tools needed for cooking, a breakdown of what tasks kids can perform (based on their age) , a "how-to" use the book, and a "note about nutrition". For those who have cooked with kids before, it's pretty basic, but it's very helpful and informative to a novice.
Cooking with kids is a great way to teach them a variety of skills from math (fractions, measuring and counting) to reading (directions, ingredient lists) to science (chemistry) to food safety (proper storage of food, importance of washing your hands). Kids who take part in cooking their food often take more interest in eating their food, eat more fruits and vegetables and, most importantly, it helps bring families together. Numerous studies have shown the benefits of family meals; preparing the food can be just as beneficial.
'C is for Cooking: Recipes from the Street' is a great way to get the whole family involved in cooking! Happy eating!
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