Get kids involved in the kitchen

I try to get my kids to help out in the kitchen when I cook. Angelica has also recently expressed an interest in “slow” food, ever since she found out what fast food meant.

“Does this mean we eat the food slowly?” she asked one day, at McDonald's. I told her “slow” food meant food cooked from scratch, from natural whole foods, instead of fast food, or processed foods, such as commercial patties, nuggets and fries.

Burger patties, chicken nuggets and fries can be slow foods too, if we make them from scratch.

So now, she insists on helping me make “slow” food.

Both my daughters help me with pastas and salads, when we have them on the weekends. Lauren is my official “leafer.” I just give her two heads of butter head lettuce, and off she goes. They still won't eat the salad, which they consider yucky, but makers eventually turn into eaters, right? And salads are a great way for them to help in the kitchen, as it doesn't involve flames, and there's no way to do it wrongly. If anything falls on the floor, we'll just wash it and it's good again.

Part of the slow food movement is also about growing our own food. I've started a little herb garden in the backyard, but we have yet to plant vegetables.

When I saw the sprouter at the local organic shop, I decided to try it. I got a sprouter and alfalfa seeds, and the kids have been having a blast with it. In fact, I think it's the perfect way to introduce kids to planting our food.

All we do is sprinkle a tablespoon of seeds in the sprouter and keep it watered for the next two or three days. The seeds sprout fast and the kids love checking in on the growth every morning. Now they're asking to “grow more stuff.” 

I'll introduce them to planting in soil next. We have some vegetable seeds waiting to be planted.

More planting adventures to come!

For more, go to www.angelolli.com.