A little jaunt to our local library in Manchester resulted in borrowing what turned out to be an excellent recipe book – I hasten to add that I have not been paid to write this.
As a professional and a mum I have tried, and bought, my fair share of children’s cook books and as not the most patient mum in the world, I have found many very a frustrating recipe to make with my children in said recipe books. Sometimes it is because they contain expensive ingredients I don’t normally use, or they contain ingredients I can’t buy in my small local supermarket or worse still, they are far too complicated for young ones to take part in – cue stress head mum to enter my kitchen!
The author of this recipe book appears to have found the same issue which resulted in making this book. She does not pretend to be an expert on nutrition as many cook book authors do, no, she sets out to give ideas to mums (and dads, grandmas and other carers) on how to let their children get involved in cooking. It includes a very useful section in each recipe called ‘Parent prep’ which tells you what to do as the adult before the child is called in to take part and then has a section you can do together.
There is also information about the different motor skills they are practising, advice on adapting the recipes for those with allergies, as well as the skill level needed for each recipe.
So far we have made:
- overnight oats (my 7 and 3 year old did this together)
- banana and peanut butter cakes (minus the sugar and they didn’t taste too bad without)
- Chicken and ham pie (my 7 year old particularly was so chuffed because he felt like he actually made something rather than helped me) – next time I would use a soup with a lower salt content
They the above have all been a success and the boys have been over the moon with their achievements. They keep looking at the book to decide what to make next…so far they have decided on vegetable samosas and naan bread.
I would definitely recommend this book.
Oh, and the book title…The Tickle Fingers by Annabel Woolmer
Note, these recipes are not designed to be healthy recipes, they are designed to make cooking fun for carer and child. All food made should be eaten as part of a balanced diet which is age appropriate for the children eating it.