There’s no beating food you’ve cooked yourself, especially if you’ve made it with the whole family to enjoy as a meal later. The benefits of cooking together are endless: not only does it offer a fun, healthy dose of quality family time, but children can also learn to love cooking, food and family meals from a young age, not to mention any leftovers you can pop into a Tupperware container for another meal. Here are some quick and easy ideas for cooking as a family, having a great time, eating well and finishing off with some popcorn and a session of Netflix!
Homemade pizza
Kneading is a great stress-busting exercise and kids love getting covered in flour. Once you’ve made the dough, let your imagination run wild! In the world of pizzas, the sky’s the limit. How about getting each member of the family to choose an ingredient? You can also make sweet pizzas, such as chocolate spread and banana, for example.
Devilled eggs, oh yeah!
Kids have a great time removing the shell and yolks and making their favourite filling. All you need is some tuna and mayonnaise, or get the little devils to make their own Marie Rose dressing. Then they can arrange the devilled eggs on a tray as finger food. Yum!
Heart-shaped puff pastry
All you need to do is buy the puff pastry, sprinkle some sugar on top and let the kids shape it into hearts. Once they’ve mastered the technique, try filling the hearts with some chocolate spread. Paint with some egg before baking to give them a golden finish (the kids won’t need much persuading), pop them in the oven… et voilà!
Mug cakes
One of the wonders of the modern world has to be mixing a few ingredients in a mug (milk, cocoa powder, biscuits, eggs…), popping it in the microwave and, hey presto!, watching a delicious sponge emerge. Mug cakes (or how to turn your microwave into a top hat) rarely fail. Once you’ve discovered them, there’s no looking back.
Fruit brochettes
When children are old enough to start using knives, it’s a good idea to make some multicoloured fruit brochettes. Fancy giving them a fresh twist? Melt some cooking chocolate and pour it on top. Or maybe you’re one of those deadly serious parents If so, make the most of the opportunity to practise the names of different colours and kinds of fruit in another language.
