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Kids in the Kitchen and a Day of Food

What are some ways you get your kids in the kitchen with you?

I think allowing them to cook with you, really cook even over the stove and cut with knives can be good for them.  Cooking ends up a reading lesson, a math lesson, a fine motor skills activity, bonding and confidence building, and a lesson to listen very closely to mama.

Plus, hey free labor 😉  (Ok, it’s actually more work, but worth it)

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Here are Maria and Elijah making dessert for us, brown rice crispy treats.  Our thought is the more they are comfortable with cooking, the better they will be at this very real and necessary skill.  Even teaching them the proper way to cut and cook, right along side us, can prevent future accidents and sharpen skills.

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Little best buds

 

I thought I would share just one random day of meals in our family.  We have been enjoying gardening, and needing to eat from it often to keep up!  We have been picking and picking, and there is more and more the next day.

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Plus, nothing like seeing your kids chowing chard.

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Breakfast//

So, for breakfast we usually do green smoothies, eggs from our chickens with chopped up veggies, or just plain to start.  Elijah craves eggs and can put down 4 just himself.  FOUR!!

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So this morning we had tomato omelets, mangoes and zucchini muffins that I made last night because I found a zucchini that was going soft.  Our rule as a family is to be good stewards of this earth and the food we have.  To chose wisely, eat healthy and not waste.  Our garden fits with this because our food doesn’t need to be trucked or bussed around the country or sprayed with pesticides.

 

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Smoothy faces.  The greens d’jour were beet greens that we pick, and they just keep growing back.  So selfless 😉

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Ok, so one of the main reasons I wanted to write this post is for this lunch recipe!  I told some friends I would share this Kale Pesto sandwich spread that we can’t even believe.  Never a better sandwich in our LIVESSSSS!!!!!!!

We were all flipping out, anyways.

Here was lunch:

Avocado Turkey Sandwiches with Kale Pesto

Sandwiches on Ezekiel Bread, which we have 100% switched to.  I had never known the reason or importance of sprouted anything, I thought it was just random.  In fact, when I would go pick bread, I couldn’t even handle all the options–whole wheat?  Gluten free?  Chia Seeds, honey nut?  Stop…

Well, ok, so after a little research, we discovered Ezekiel 4:9 and it’s not only the best, but soaking and sprouting has SO many health benefits.

Ok, and so here is the Kale Pesto!  So amazing.  We found the original recipe on How You Glow a website for more plant based eating.

-So we started out with the kale from our garden, SO happy to find a great recipe for it that wasn’t salad.

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Add the juice of an entire lemon and zest.IMG_4860

Their recipe calls for a mix of nuts like almonds and pine nuts, but we put brazil nuts because that’s what we had, and it was awesome!  1/4 cup of olive oil, splash of balsamic, salt and vinegar.  So simple, but OH MY GOSH!  Listen, anyone would like this.   My kids flipped.

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Meanwhile as I made this spread and toasted bread, the boys tried their hand at watercoloring butterflies.  Then switch to finger paint, because water colors weren’t cutting it in their book.

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After I ran all the ingredients through the food processor for a bit, I spread it on one side of the bread, avocado on the other and turkey in the middle.

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Our blueberries are in full bloom right now, they are so good, we want a couple more plants, cause yes.

And Voila!  The best sandwich you’ll have!  Plus, healthy is yes.  Who needs multivitamins when you can have kale pesto AmIRight?

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So our family loves this stuff, and I have this weird rule about not dissecting your sandwich, just pick it up and eat the darn thing, danggit!  But on kale pesto day, I will sometimes let them eat the pesto side first 😉

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My little painty-kale mess of a boy, in the zone.IMG_4892

 

Dinner//

Dinners are always random at our house.  We like to try new things, branch out (AKA cook whatever is in the fridge)  Today was South Western BBQ Chicken Salads.  Cook chicken with taco seasoning, red and green bell peppers, green onions a can or black beans and corn and one tomato cut up.  Dressing is bbq sauce mixed with ranch–which is GOOD.

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Hmm, now I feel weird we had salad this night.  I swear we don’t eat salad all the time, we have our fair share of fish tacos and burgers and pizza–although we are slowly shifting to less.  But with that garden wanting to give us so much food, and legit recipes that make it all better than any kind of take out, we’re happy.

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We still have kombucha daily, and love it.  We have been sharing scobies with friends so they can start brewing their own as well.  This morning we gave one with some starter liquid to Elijah’s awesome infant ed teacher.  Bring on the health!

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Ok, so share with me your recipes!  What are you fool proof, healthy recipes, bonus for anything plant-y.  We are also thinking about setting up a DIY Kombucha shop here with a little package of everything you will need to get going!

Do you let your kids cook with you?  It is not natural for me!  I usually like to take that time to do my own thing, but it has turned into something special.

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And we really don’t mind messes…which is helpful 😉

 

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Pin Kale Pesto here—–>http://www.pinterest.com/pin/181762534935714710

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  • Ally May 15, 2014, 6:39 pm

    That kale pesto looks so good! For us vegans, cashew cream is an absolute staple, and so easy to make! We put lots of basil in too and make stuffed shells with it.
    http://boldvegan.com/cashew-cheese-easy-recipe/

    Also, these banana oat pancakes are heaven. Especially with a handful of chocolate chips! http://mylittlecelebration.com/vegan-banana-oat-pancakes-revisited/

    • tinyteam May 15, 2014, 8:59 pm

      Oh my gosh, thank you for that cheese recipe!! Dairy is not our friend, so this is great!!

  • Jillian Burden May 15, 2014, 7:06 pm

    I am so inspired! I can’t wait to get things growing in our garden. Our temps are still dipping below freezing at night but I *think* this might be the last week of that!

    One of my favorite soup recipes with greens is Gwyneth Paltrow’s Broccoli Arugula Soup with cheese. Yum! I googled and found the recipe for you: http://weeathappy.blogspot.com/2012/09/broccoli-cheese-soup.html
    I make a loaf of bread in our bread machine with it- nothing like fresh warm bread to dip in your soup!

    Can you write your next post on how to not let messes bother you??? 😉

    Thanks for the inspiration!

    • tinyteam May 15, 2014, 9:01 pm

      My, our weather is opposite, it’s so hot here we are burning up (Actually, literally right now :/

      Ah, thank you for her recipe, I think I would like her stuff if I tried more of it, I will try this one. I literally have arugula waiting for this!

      I used to worry about messes….sort of, then I had three kids and we’re cured!! Seriously, there is nothing we can even do.

      Kisses friend! xoxo

  • Sue May 15, 2014, 8:43 pm

    We cooked with our boys from an early age. Now as young adults, they constantly impress their roommates and girlfriends with their cooking abilities.

    • tinyteam May 15, 2014, 9:03 pm

      I bet! That’s great. It’s really a very needed skill, we do eat three times a day! 🙂

  • Jezel Bow May 16, 2014, 7:41 am

    I let Rachel cook with me daily, set the table, she empties all 3 bathroom trash bins, shreds mail, she attempts to sweep

  • Megan Shehan May 16, 2014, 11:19 am

    Ranch and BBQ sauce for Salad Dressing, I gotta try that! I think having the kids cook is also great and they love making their own creations!

  • JLB May 16, 2014, 1:13 pm

    I have a super easy recipe for delicious Rice Krispy Treats.
    1/2 cup sunflower seed butter
    1/2 cup honey
    melt above over medium. Be careful not to cook too much. Just until combined and melted.
    Remove from heat.
    Add 1 cup of choc. chips–due to allergies we use dairy free, soy free chips from enjoy life. Stir until sort of melty.
    Add 5 cups of crispy rice cereal–we use gluten free due to celiac disease
    Mix–sometimes it will seem like all of the crispies are not coated completely. As long as they mostly are coated. it will be fine.
    Press into sprayed or greased 9 x 13 pan. Refrigerate. They are best if kept cool in the refrigerator, but we taken them in our cooler on picnics and the kids take them in their lunch boxes. Our whole family loves these things.

    • tinyteam May 20, 2014, 7:57 pm

      YUMMY! These are my FAVE desserts, thank you for the recipe, can’t wait to try!

  • Jezel Bow May 16, 2014, 1:50 pm

    My post was cut off.

    I think I mentioned we don’t drink caffeine. We drink water and almond milk.

    Breakfast I make smoothies with vanilla almond milk, kale, raw cashews, strawberries, blueberries, and chocolate whey protein. This is our daily routine.

    Lunch I make eggs ( cage free organic) with smoked ham, sprinkle cheese, salsa. Usually with fruit and a couple almonds.

    Dinner varies. We don’t eat condiments. The only salad we like is Caesar. I usually find a way to hide veggies in the food. Pasta with parsley and broccoli and bacon. Baked ziti. Tacos with carrots and squash.

    Snacks are fruit, nuts, protein bars, granola bars for Rachel. She also loves coconut vanilla yogurt.

    Anyways, if you need some recipes let me know 🙂 I have a really good halibut one:)

    Love your garden!!!

    • tinyteam May 20, 2014, 7:58 pm

      Mmm, I may need that halibut one! We love fish over here, our Russians are from a city on the sea. We do a lot of Salmon and Tilapia, but no halibut yet!

  • Melissa May 16, 2014, 8:58 pm

    Oooh! I’ve been wanting to ask if we can get some SCOBY from you guys–can we get on the wait list? :0)
    My healthy/vegan recipe started with learning to make sweet potato fries (toss in coconut oil & bake) & morphed into sweet potato fries tacos. So I figure as long as you put some taco seasoning on stuff it all tastes like tacos. We’ll fill it with whatever we have on hand: leftover rice, beans, sweet potatoes, corn, avocado slices…any/all of the above. The sweet potatoes kinda acts like the meat to give it a little more substance. Last week I made it and added Trader Joe’s broccoli slaw on top instead of lettuce. Let me know if you try it!

    • tinyteam May 20, 2014, 8:00 pm

      That all sounds like stuff we would LOVE. Broccoli slaw–so good! We are trying to substitute veggies for meat for often, too

  • Rachel May 16, 2014, 9:01 pm

    Your kids are truly the cutest. I love following your blog!

  • Samantha May 18, 2014, 9:15 am

    Love this post! I would love to see regular posts about your garden (what grows well for you guys) and kid friendly and approved recipes. I have such trouble with these little buggers

    • tinyteam May 20, 2014, 8:00 pm

      Hey, thanks for the feedback! I am actually glad you asked. Also, my chickens just ate all my gorgeous zucchini seedlings :/

  • Sue May 20, 2014, 8:44 pm

    Favorite salad:

    Black beans
    Avacado
    Cheese
    Lettuce
    Salsa
    Mix everything together and then add the salsa as dressing. SOOO YUMMY!

    You can add tortilla chips if you like something crunchy in there.

    Second fav. salad

    Frozen corn -1 bag
    2 cans black eyed peas
    Three med. size tomatoes
    1 clove of garlic minced
    1 bunch green onions chopped
    1/4 C parsley
    Your fav. Italian dressing. (I make my own. )

    Mix all together and eat! Best to let it sit for a few hours or even overnight. We scoop it up with taco chips, but it’s good alone too.

  • Marine ROSE May 23, 2014, 7:01 am

    Hi,
    sorry but I have to ask: does kumbucha contain alcohol? You say it is fermented. It sounds great and so healthy! For religious reason we do not eat alcohol so before attempting anything I just wanted to check. I know that for instance vinegar is also fermented but them the alcohol is sort of used up in the process and in ends up not having any alcohol. I don’t know if you see what I mean?
    I hope you don’t find my question offensive. I love your blog! And even though I live far away across the ocean (Switzerland, western Europe) you all inspire me a lot. We are trying to adopt, so I read with even more attention, to learn…
    Thanks a lot for taking the time to write your blog!