Cooking with Toddlers: Kale Chips

In an effort to encourage vegetable consumption, I invited my toddler to make Kale Chips with me.

Kale is a 'super' green food. Full of goodness.

Meaning, kids won't touch it with a ten foot pole.

Well, Kale Chips have been a big hit with all the foodie blogs lately and the prep is toddler friendly so I thought we would give it a try.

Here's how you can take it for a spin and see if it gets your kids to eat their veggies.




Ingredients:

1 bunch Kale
1/2 tsp Salt
2 to 3 tbsp Olive Oil

Instructions

1. Wash the kale.

2.Pull green leaves off the stem and rip into bite sized pieces. My toddler was very good at this part.

3. Toss leaves with olive oil and salt. My toddler pronounced this step as 'squishy'.

4.Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 375F for about 10 minutes. (These can burn fast, so keep an eye on them.)

Kale chips are crispy just like real chips but more delicate--they won't work for dipping so be forewarned. My toddler did actually eat a few which is more green vegetation than her system has seen in a while. So this recipe was a win for this mommy.

Cooking with Toddlers: Popcorn on the Cob

One of the cool things we brought home with us from the pumpkin patch was popcorn on the cob. This is popcorn, dried on the cob. You pop it in a paper bag and microwave for 1 to 2 minutes just like store bought microwave popcorn.

The really cool thing is the popped kernels that stay on the cob which your toddler can pick off and marvel at.

We had a lot of fun with this simple 'recipe'.

Cooking with Toddlers: Cajun Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

We recently came back from the pumpkin patch with our own Great Pumpkin and I decided to let our toddler try her hand at roasting pumpkin seeds.

This recipe also sparked a good conversation about what seeds are.

Here's the super simple super easy recipe for about 1 - 1 1/2 cups of pumpkin seeds.

Ingredients

1 - 1 1/2 cup fresh pumpkin seeds
1tsp salt
1 tbsp Cajun Seasoning (we used McCormick brand)
2tsp brown sugar

Instructions

1. Separate seeds from pulp together. Some toddlers will LOVE this, others will not like it. My toddler did not care for the slime, but did eventually help me pick out the slime free seeds.

This is the most tedious part of the recipe and takes some time, so think about watching Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin while you dig out the seeds. So long as you're using a large mixing bowl, this is not very messy and pumpkin guts don't really stain anything.

2. Parents should preheat oven to 300F.

3.Have your toddler rinse the seeds in a colander.

4.Parent melts 1.5 tbsp butter in microwave.

5.Toddler pours seeds into a mixing bowl.

6.Toddler pours in butter.

7. Toddler adds in spices: 1tsp salt, 1tbsp cajun season, 2 tsp brown sugar

8. Mix thoroughly and spread thinly on a baking sheet

9. Bake for 10-20 minutes (check frequently as these burn fast).

Let cool and enjoy! These taste great on salads or you can eat them like potato chips.

Toddler Activities: Easy Cooking with Toddlers

Toddlers aren't really ready to be sous chefs, even though they desperately want to be allowed full run of the kitchen. Sometimes, I can manage to include my toddler in cooking, but most of the time, I need her out of the way and happy so I can get something made and in the oven.

How do I avoid whining and meltdowns? Simple.

I save all my old spice bottles and have purged my cookie decorating supplies (you really don't want me to use 5 year old sprinkles on your cookies, right?). When I need to cook, the toddler gets spice jars filled with flour and sugar along with all the cookie sprinkles.

She also gets a spoon, some water, a measuring cup and a mixing bowl.

She can make whatever she wants (and she does, with gusto) while I get dinner together. It is a win-win for everyone.

Except, the floor gets kind of trashed in the process (sugar always ends up on the floor) so you'll probably have to mop when you're done.