Thanks to Hormel Foods for inviting me to be a part of The Pantry Project: a special website with resources and ideas for stocking and cooking from our pantries while sheltering in place.
While families shelter in place and try to minimize excursions to shop for food and other essentials, parents find themselves having to cook for their kids more frequently than ever – while simultaneously limiting themselves to what they have in their pantries. Many of us are finding the simple act of preparing a meal under these circumstances to be one of the many daunting challenges of this unprecedented time.
It is precisely this challenge that has inspired Hormel Foods – the company behind so many iconic and beloved brands – to start The Pantry Project: a resource for families looking to stock their pantries the right way and cook wholesome, delicious meals from those pantries.
Hormel kindly invited me to participate in The Pantry Project as one of their featured chefs, and asked me to talk about a subject that is dear to my heart: cooking with your kids. From a young age, my kids have joined me in the kitchen to bake sweet treats and help prepare family meals. Now that they are teenagers, both of my kids are able to prepare simple meals and snacks for themselves, which has been a big help now that all four of us are all eating three meals a day at home!
If you are wondering how to get your kids cooking in a way that is both safe and age-appropriate, be sure to check out my blog post on The Pantry Project home page. I share my tested tips and tricks for bringing kids into the kitchen – from the best equipment to use to what tasks are appropriate for which ages.
I also share ways to incorporate learning into your kitchen adventures. Yes, we are all learning to homeschool our kids on top of everything else these days! But don’t be scared. I give you plenty of ideas for easy (and fun!) ways to make cooking educational – from talking about ratios and equivalents in baking to researching where different ingredients come from for an unusual (and tasty!) history lesson.
Lastly, what would a post on cooking with kids be without recipes? I give you three recipes – ranging from super-simple to slightly more advanced – that are especially suitable for young chefs and rely on easy-to-find pantry ingredients. You’ll find recipes for a totally customizable nut butter granola; a quick and easy Chicken Tinga – perfect for Taco Tuesday – and a Japanese-inspired turkey meatball with quick-pickled cucumbers.
You can also catch the video from the Instagram Live I did with TV personality Laurie March. Laurie and I had a lively conversation on all of the above topics AND I demonstrate how to make the nut butter granola. So be sure to check it out!