Kid Konnection: Kids in the Kitchen Cookbook

Every Saturday, I host a feature called Kid Konnection -- a regular weekend feature about anything related to children's books. This week, I'm going to share with you a fantastic cookbook geared especially towards kids!

Summary: TIME For Kids Kids in the Kitchen Cookbook, Fun Recipes for Kids to Make! features over 80 tasty recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, and more that kids and adults will love to make and eat together.

These homemade meals focus on utilizing fresh ingredients while encouraging the understanding of nutrition and kitchen safety. New twists and alternate recipes are included to enhance simple recipes into new favorites.

Filled with full-color photos and some illustrations, this book features step-by-step, easy-to-follow recipes. Kids will practice measuring ingredients, reading nutritional labels, and learn the basics of cooking.

All of the recipes were chosen from myRecipes.com. Recipes include:

• Applesauce Muffins
• Chocolate Chip Waffles
• Fruit Smoothies
• Sweet Potato Fries
• Fish and Chips
• Sloppy Joe Sliders
• Creamy Berry Fruit Pops
• And more...

Even the most picky eaters will find foods they will love inside this cookbook. -- Time

I am the first to admit that I'm not the best mom when it comes to letting my kids test out recipes in the kitchen. I am kind of a control freak and I'm never quite satisfied with how they clean up their messes. (And yes, I do realize I'm not doing them any favors by not teaching them to cook much beyond toast and pasta!) However, I thought that maybe the new cookbook TIME FOR KIDS: KIDS IN THE KITCHEN COOKBOOK: FUN RECIPES FOR KIDS TO MAKE! might change my mind. This cookbook which is geared towards kids (and their parents) is so much fun with its yummy recipes, colorful photos, and detailed directions.

I'm sure what I'm going to say next is going to tell you a lot about my cooking skills... I think KIDS IN THE KITCHEN is a fantastic cookbook. Of course, the entire cookbook has recipes easy enough for kids to make, but I actually like that feature too. I need quick and easy recipes given our schedule. If a recipe is too complicated, I don't even pretend that I'll make is someday.

But I also really liked that the recipes were kid-friendly. And by that I mean, the foods in this cookbook were ones that even picky eaters would like. They didn't use fancy ingredients, but there were plenty of healthy ones including lots of fruits and veggies. I actually found lots of recipes, including meal ideas, that sounded delicious.

I wanted Booking Son to look through this cookbook knowing that he probably wouldn't find many (if any) recipes that he could eat given his food allergies. (He's allergic to eggs, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, and shellfish.) Fortunately we marked quite a few recipes that we didn't need to modify at all and a few more that we could make if we substituted ingredients. We decided to try the Roasted Sweet Potato Fries first.

I almost hate to admit this, but I bought pre-cut sweet potatoes at Wegmans. They cost a fortune, but it did make the recipe so much easier to prepare. We added some olive oil and other seasonings (including fresh rosemary from our garden), and threw them in the oven. I am pretty sure that the wedges we used were thinner than the recipe called for, so I just adjusted the cooking time. Within 20 minutes we had very delicious sweet potato fries. Booking Son even ate them and declared them pretty good!

But KIDS IN THE KITCHEN is about more than just recipes. There are also instructions which will teach kids to measure ingredients, read nutritional labels and learn the basics of cooking. Additionally, this cookbook features: Kitchen Basics and The Young Chef’s Toolbox;  Smart Food Choices Mean Good Eats (Stay-Fit Tips and Goals for Good Health);  How to Avoid Kitchen Disaster; You Can Measure (Metric Equivalents);  Glossary;  A Word Search Puzzle;  Facts, World Records and Articles from TIME For Kids; and much more!

KIDS IN THE KITCHEN is a fantastic resource for kids and parents alike! Personally, I will be keeping this cookbook in mind as a future gift idea for budding chefs!

Thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy of this book.

Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads and is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page.  

If you'd like to participate in Kid Konnection and share a post about anything related to children's books (picture, middle grade, or young adult) from the past week, please leave a comment as well as a link below with your name/blog name and the title of the book! Feel free to grab the little button too!