Healthy Diet for July 31 – What’s Cooking with Kids

Are your kids or grandkids already bored with summer activities and looking for something new to do? (See June 11.) Then bring playtime into the kitchen.

Children feel important when they help prepare food for themselves and their family. They often eat foods they wouldn’t otherwise when they help prepare them. Kitchen time can nurture close family bonds and lifelong memories as you cook, create, and taste together.

Get a children’s cookbook from the library or bookstore, or go online for easy and fun children’s recipes.

Together find kid-friendly recipes that match your child’s skills. For starters, try these simple ideas:

• Fruit smoothies. Shake juice, milk or frozen yogurt, and ice in a sealed container.
• Homemade pretzels. Shape thawed, whole-wheat freezer dough into alphabet letters. Bake them.
• Toaster pizza. Top pita bread with tomato sauce, chopped veggies, and grated cheese. Help kids safely bake it in the toaster oven.
• Bananas crunch. Roll peeled bananas in peanut butter or yogurt and crushed cereal, then freeze.