Monday, September 10, 2012

Spend a Night In With the Kids



It's a modern fact of life that working parents often find it hard to squish in quality time with their kids, even at weekends. For the kids themselves, the week is chock a block with classes, games and homework, while parents find themselves juggling long commutes and mundane tasks, both in and out of the office. Late evenings are the ideal time to catch up with our kids, by watching a fun movie together, playing a board game or even better, rustling up a yummy dinner together.




It's less hassle than you might think to invite your kids to help make a great evening meal by encouraging them to try their hand at a few essential but relatively harmless tasks. It may at first be quite tough to deal with their childish enthusiasm in trying to learn everything at once or their offers to help with the difficult tasks. If there are many kids in the family, then there could be real trouble on hand. Parents should work out an amicable schedule or delegate the tasks, so that each child gets to enjoy their time in the kitchen.




Encouraging children to help out with cooking and cleaning enables them to understand and appreciate the value and the goodness of homemade food, and to realise that home cooked food is as interesting and tasty as that from a restaurant. The experience also allows them to use kitchen tools safely and confidently, and learn how to prepare food for themselves and others.


Children can experiment with several simple recipes to cater to their tastes, while at the same time helping their parents to prepare a special dinner. Tempting meals usually contain a decent dose of butter and cream, making the meal really sumptuous. Dinners are no exception. Experimenting with a cheese and onion pie with a dash of Anchor butter, and Anchor dairy real cream or pepperoni pizza served with cream dips and a delicious dessert of Banana bread is a great way to spend an evening with the kids, getting them both to help prepare these recipes and relish them as well!

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7 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is really good advice! I've been having my kids help with the cooking since they were 2 or 3 years old (they also help with cleaning and laundry). And with our busy schedules, it definitely gives us time to spend together.

Stopping by from Crazy Mama's hop!

Anissa said...

Your newest follower via the Monday Mixer.
Anissa from Chasing Hailey
http://chasinghailey.blogspot.com/

Twisted Scottish Bastard said...

The best times we had with our kids was when we locked them in their rooms.

Always worked well, until our youngest had their ceiling collapse.

This did not end happily.

it cost us over £2500 to get it rebuilt and replastered.

I still won't forget the screams and he still has a fear of ceilings.

Becky {This Is Happiness} said...

Great advice. My daughter loves to help me cook and clean, I just need to slow down and let her do it more often. Thanks for stopping by from the mingle. Now following :) Have a wonderful day!

Alicia Lomas said...

Following you from Follow Me Wednesday. So glad I found you, you're hilarious!

Alicia
Quirktastic Adventures

Jill @ Create.Craft.Love. said...

Great tips! I love cooking with my little guy! He actually puts some fun into it! Thanks for linking up to the CHQ Blog Hop! Happy to be following along with you! Hope to see you back next week!

Judy@SavoringToday said...

Many benefits when everyone pitches-in! Good advice. Thanks for sharing on Hearth & Soul Hop. :)