Have the Kids Cook Dinner? (A New Kids Cookbook That Makes it Easy and Fun!) - The Artful Parent (2024)

• , Creative Family Living

A kids cookbook that helps kids cook dinner? Yes, please! This is a review of The Ultimate Kids Cookbook by Tiffany Dahle which features easy, family-friendly recipes kids can cook themselves or with parental help.

Cooking with kids has always been one of our things. Along with art activities and nature exploration. Somewhere along the way, though, we veered off course, and most of the cooking the kids did revolved around desserts. (Actually I think we veered off course right near the beginning and all fingers point to me and anytime celebration cakes and cherry pie and scone obsessions.)

But my friend Tiffany Dahle of Peanut Blossomis the author of a new kids cookbook that promises something novel and lovely.

Have the kids cook dinner!

Here’s a brief video showing snippets of Daphne cooking dinner for the first time using simple recipes fromThe Ultimate Kids Cookbook:

And here’s a review of the kids cookbook:

The Ultimate Kids Cookbook: Fun One-Pot Recipes the Whole Family Will Love!

It’s filled with easy recipes kids can make, yes. But also instruction on basic cooking skills such as chopping onions, sauteing vegetables, and making the perfect pot of rice.

And what I like best is the suggested collaboration between parents and children. Because cooking for the family should be a family affair, right?

Each recipe is broken down into three instruction sections:

1. Hey kids, please get us started!Prep steps the kids can take on their own such as chop an onion in a manual food processor and measure herbs in a small bowl.
2. Parents, it’s your turn! Add the butter to the soup pot and turn the heat on.
3. Teamwork gets it done! This is everything else. Basically cooking the soup.

Daphne, age 8, made dinner for the family for the first time the other day using The Ultimate Kids Cookbook as her guide.

As someone who already knew her way around the kitchen and was already used to regular, adult cookbooks (albeit to make chocolate chip cookies and such), Daphne is familiar with traditional “adult” cookbook instructions. Once she got into her groove and grasped the 3-part instructions (kids – parents – together) in The Ultimate Kids’ Cookbook, she plowed through the recipes. She did most of the steps herself, for the most part, only asking for help when she needed it!

Daphne cooked the Way Better Than Canned Tomato Basil Soup, Grilled Harvest Ham & Cheese Sandwiches, and corn on the cob…

…and she was so proud when dinner was ready!

Plus, everyone but Daphne (who actually doesn’t care for tomato anything) said that the tomato soup recipe was the best homemade tomato soup we had ever eaten. And she made it again for the second time last night!

Easy recipes for kids

Here are just some of the easy recipes in this cookbook for kids:

BREAKFAST RECIPES

• Orange-Blueberry Pancakes
• Pretend Huevos Rancheros
• Pumpkin Patch Waffles
• Easy Cherry Almond Scones

SOUPS & SANDWICHES

• Country Captain Chicken Soup
• Ooey Gooey Cheesy Lasagna Soup
• Zippy French Dip Sandwiches
• Cheesy Chicken Quesadillas

EASY DINNER RECIPES

• School Night Chicken Fajitas
• Not Just for Tuesday Tacos
• Magic Crunch Coated Fish
• Cozy Country Potato Pie

And so much more!

So if you’re looking for a cookbook with recipes for kids to cook by themselves (or with a bit of help), I highly recommend getting a copy of The Ultimate Kids Cookbook for your family!

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• big kids, cooking, preschoolers