Cooking with kids

My winter blues have gotten the best of me so cooking is what I have been doing to fill the time.  Since Braxton loves to help me cook I decided today was a good day to make something just for him.

Braxton and I made Chicken nuggets today by hand. Even though he had eaten already so we froze them for a later date.



4 pieces of whole wheat bread that I dried on the counter overnight
1 chicken breast (about 3/4 lb)
2 TBLS of Italian seasoning
2 TBLS of Kraft grated Parmesan cheese

 I started with 1 chicken breast because I was experimenting, Next time i will do a few more. which will call for upping all of the ingredients of coarse
I took the 4 pieces of bread ran them through the food processor to turn them into fine crumbs, I added the Italian seasoning and Parmesan cheese an mixed it all together.
Cut the chicken into whatever size pieces you choose and soak in milk for 5 min I put the bread crumbs in a bag then added the chicken so Braxton could shake it up. Baked at 400* for about 15 min. Let them cool for about 15min then stuck the whole pan in the freezer. Once they are frozen I will put them in a bag.
I ended up with probably 20 chicken nuggets in a bite size pieces.

I can't wait to see how they turn out when I reheat them for a meal.

I also let Braxton rip the bread into pieces and put it in the food processor. Once the bread was in there I plugged it in and let him push the buttons, he loves to have jobs to do. I think anytime you cook as long as you are not by a hot stove you should find something for the kids to do. Since I make 90% of my meals from scratch I can always find something.  even the simple things like adding the cut up veggies to a slow cooker makes them feel like they helped cook.  I think it gives them a chance to feel like they are contributing plus it helps to give them a love for healthy food.

I know many people are busy but I really hope that everyone takes the time to make just 1 home cooked meal a week and that you let the kids get involved, once you see how much they love it you will probably find yourself doing it more often.

Happy Cooking!