Easy Cooking for Kids E-Book

Amanda Grant

• Herausgeber: CICO Kidz
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 146

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

Help your little ones MASTER the science of COOKING with this HELPFUL book by Amanda Grant, featuring FUN and TASTY recipes for ages 3–11. Easy Cooking for Kids is the perfect introduction to the world of cooking for young chefs. In the book, Amanda Grant covers the essentials, from kitchen hygiene and safety to more than 50 fun, age-appropriate recipes designed to foster a love for cooking and learning. The book is divided into three main stages: Stage 1 (3–5 years), Stage 2 (5–7 years) and Stage 3 (7–11 years). Each stage includes recipes tailored to the abilities of children in those age groups, gently nurturing their development, self-confidence and independence. Easy Cooking for Kids includes essential techniques such as making crumble topping, Victoria sponge, pastry, white sauce and pizza dough. Children can also unleash their creativity with customisable recipes like sushi, fruit salad and decorative herb and flower ice bowls. With clear, step-by-step photographs and easy-to-follow instructions, this book makes cooking accessible, enjoyable and rewarding for kids.

Leseprobe

More than 50 fun and easy recipes for children aged 3+

Amanda Grant

Photography by Susan Bell

Dedicated to my family

This edition published in 2025 by CICO Books

An imprint of Ryland Peters & Small Ltd

20–21 Jockey’s Fields

1452 Davis Bugg Road

London WC1R 4BW

Warrenton, NC 27589

www.rylandpeters.com

Email: [email protected]

First published in 2011 as Cook School by Ryland Peters & Small

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Text © Amanda Grant 2011, 2025

Design, illustrations, and photography © Ryland Peters & Small 2011, 2025

The author’s moral rights have been asserted. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library. US Library of Congress CIP data has been applied for.

ISBN: 978-1-80065-458-7

E-ISBN: 978-1-80065-552-2

Printed in China

Prop and food stylist: Amanda Grant

Photoshoot assistants: Brenda Bishop and Esther Webb

Location researcher: Jess Walton

Designer: Geoff Borin

Senior designers: Iona Hoyle and Emily Breen

Editorial assistant: Danielle Rawlings

Senior editor: Céline Hughes

Indexer: Hilary Bird

Art director: Sally Powell

Creative director: Leslie Harrington

Head of production: Patricia Harrington

Publishing manager: Carmel Edmonds

Publishing director: Alison Starling

The authorised representative in the EEA is Authorised Rep Compliance Ltd.,

Ground Floor. 71 Lower Baggot Street,

Dublin, D01 P593, Ireland

www.arccompliance.com

notes

• All spoon measurements are level unless otherwise specified.

• Both American (Imperial and US cups) and British (Metric) measurements are included in the recipes for your convenience. It is important to work with one set of measurements and not alternate between the two within a recipe.

• Ovens should be preheated to the specified temperatures. We recommend using an oven thermometer and consulting the maker’s handbook for any special instructions. If using a fan-assisted oven, adjust the temperatures according to manufacturer’s instructions.

• All eggs are medium (UK) or large (US). It is recommended that free-range eggs be used.

• Recipes containing raw or partially cooked egg, or raw fish or shellfish, should not be served to the very young, very old, anyone with a compromised immune system or pregnant women.

Neither the author nor the publisher can be held responsible for any claim arising out of the information in this book. Always consult your health advisor or doctor if you have any concerns about your child’s health or nutrition.

contents

Foreword by Marguerite Patten, CBE

Introduction

Stage 1: 3–5 years

Stage 2: 5–7 years

Stage 3: 7–11 years

Index

Conversion chart

Acknowledgements

foreword by Marguerite Patten, CBE

Amanda Grant has written a practical and inspiring cookery book for young children.

Amanda has helped parents by producing excellent books on feeding children. Now she is showing children how to achieve a sense of achievement and pleasure by learning to cook.

The accepted method of teaching children to read is by giving them books, toys and information suitable for their age. This approach is followed here.

Interesting information and suitable recipes are given under the ages of 3–5 years, then 5–7 years and 7–11; in the case of food preparation, physical ability must also be considered.

Parents will be thrilled by the extra skills their children will develop.

introduction

Keep this book somewhere safe and enjoy it! You are about to learn some skills that you can use for the rest of your life. If you start cooking now, you will have lots of fun ahead of you making good food for you and your family and friends.

We all need to eat every day and it is much more exciting if you have helped to make some of those meals, instead of always eating food that others have made for you. Have you ever cooked a meal for anyone? When you do, you will see just how happy it makes people feel and how grateful they are for the time and care you have taken. This will make you feel proud too. It feels good when you cook for others.

the skills

Learning to cook is a bit like learning to read. When you learn to read, you learn the letters first and then you start to put the letters together to form words. It is similar to this when you learn to cook. You first learn some basic skills that you can later put together to make meals.

Cooking is not just about making something to eat; you will be practising maths (measuring, weighing, sharing), literacy (reading and writing if you jot down some notes about the recipes), geography (learning about food and where it comes from) and much more.

Cooking uses all your senses. You can look at food, smell it, touch it, taste it and listen to it as it cooks. This is something my mum taught me when I was young. I think that’s pretty exciting; I hope you do, too.

the recipes

This book has 3 main chapters – Stage 1 (3–5 years), Stage 2 (5–7 years) and Stage 3 (7–11 years). Even though the recipes in Stage 1 are suitable for children aged 3–5 years, if you are older than that and have just picked this book up you can still make the recipes from this section. The recipes in Stage 1 are great for mixing and matching with the other recipes in the book to make a complete meal. For example, crunchy paprika chicken (page 28) is great after pretty prawn/shrimp cocktails (page 58) for a special supper, or three fruit salad (page 44) is a lovely dessert to have after pizzas (page 88).

All the recipes have been tested by children. I have included classic favourites like crumble topping (page 76), pastry (page 112), white sauce (page 96) and pizza dough (page 88). This is because I think that these are the basic building blocks for learning to cook. I was fortunate to be taught these recipes by my mother, my grandmother and my design technology teacher.

There are also lots of other exciting recipes in the book which use some ingredients that we are lucky to find at the store today. You can have a go at making your own sushi (page 102), you can see how to use corn tortillas (page 106) and you can have fun adding herbs and flowers to water to make your own ice bowl (page 70).

Remember that food is expensive, so don’t be too disappointed if your parents don’t want you to cook every day of the week. But the more you offer to make food that you can all eat as a family, the more likely it is that you will be able to cook, as your parents can include your food in their weekly budget.

Meat-free meals are good for both you and the planet – where possible, why not try to swap meat, fish or chicken for veggie or meat-free alternatives?

the photos

The children in the pictures are my friends’ little ones, and they made the food you see in the photos with me.

your notes

As you work your way through a recipe, try to think about it: did you like cooking it and would you like to cook it again? You might like to write some notes in the book. I know that normally you are told not to write in books, but this one is for you to keep forever and you might find it handy to jot down a few comments to remind you of something for next time. For example, would you add more herbs or spice to a recipe? Or make double the amount so that you have enough for friends to share, too?

why we need to eat

The main reason why we need to eat good food is because it helps us to grow, develop and stay healthy. Ideally we need to eat 3 meals a day, with 2 small snacks in between. We also need to run around and play sport as much as possible, too, to help keep us fit and healthy.

There are certain types and amounts of food that we need to eat every day. We can eat everything, but we need to eat more of some foods than others. There are 5 main food groups:

1 Bread, rice, potatoes, pasta and other starchy foods

2 Fruit and vegetables

3 Milk and dairy foods

4 Meat, fish, eggs, beans and other non-dairy sources of protein

5 Foods and drinks that are high in fat and or sugar

Each day, ideally, we need to eat the following food:

• Each meal or snack should contain a food from the bread, cereals and potatoes section. This means that we eat these foods 5 times a day.

• Each meal or snack should also contain a fruit or vegetable. We need 5 portions of fresh fruits and vegetables a day.

• 3 portions of milk and dairy foods.

• 1 or 2 portions of meat, fish and alternatives a day.

We don’t need to eat foods from the fatty and sugary food section every day, as fats and sugars are often found in foods in the other food groups above, but we can have them as treats. Homemade cakes and cookies are good for putting into packed lunches.

Did you know that all the food we eat comes from plants or animals? If possible, try to visit a local farm to see where animals are looked after and where crops are grown.

before you start cooking

Always ask an adult before you start to make sure that they are happy you are cooking and to check that they will be around to help if you need it.

Try to find all the ingredients and the equipment that you will need for the recipe before you start. Oven mitts are especially important!

You might like to wear an apron. This can help keep the dirt from your clothes falling into the food and also stop the food that you cook going all over your clothes.

Wash your hands before you begin and dry them on a clean towel.

Always try to help clear up after you have made something, and help others with the washing up and drying or loading the dishwasher. Your parents are far more likely to let you cook if you don’t leave a huge mess behind.

This book is the beginning of your adventure with food and cooking!

Stage 1: 3–5 years

grown-ups: this page is for you

children: you can skip this bit and have fun cooking!

I am sure you already know this, but I can’t stress enough how cooking with children at this stage can have a positive benefit on their development in so many areas. As much as possible, try to let your child complete each step of the recipe on her own to help her to gain a sense of independence in the kitchen.

• Cooking will help your child with his physical development, for example his fine motor skills as well as his coordination of movement and eye-hand coordination. Just think about the range of physical skills that he needs to use scissors for cutting fresh herbs, to scoop flour from a container or bag or to brush melted butter onto dough.

• She can measure with spoons and is likely to be able to learn to count. This is why all the ingredients in this section need to be counted or measured with spoons (except for the chocolate kisses).

• He will start to work out how to share food evenly, e.g. dividing the fruit between the pies (page 42).

• She will start to understand the concept of time, e.g. how long things take to set or cook.

• Encouraging your child to cook at this stage can be helpful, as he can make a snack (page 26) or dinner for the family (page 28). He will become more confident with the recipes the more he makes them.

• Her attention span will be increasing and she will be able to choose to stop an activity and then come back to it again later.

• He will begin to sort things into simple categories, become interested in what causes things to happen and often ask ‘why?’

• She will begin to be able to understand the concept of ‘lots’ or ‘a little’; and she will be able to start to recognize primary colours.

• He will be able to help find the ingredients or equipment in the kitchen and match them to the pictures in the book.

• At this age, children love repetition. She will want to try the new skills over and over again.

• He is likely to be starting to enjoy the social element of sitting, talking and eating the food he has made with the rest of the family, and she can start to help with jobs like washing vegetables, and setting and clearing the table.

skills

You might find these skills useful for other things that you do (not just cooking), like watering the plants.

using an oven

Have you ever turned an oven on? Look at the recipe to see what temperature the oven needs to be at and then ask an adult to show you how to set the oven to that temperature. Most ovens have a little light that will go off when the oven has reached the right temperature. Always use oven mitts when you are putting food in or taking food out of the oven.

using a spoon to scoop

For example, you could try scooping some flour from a big bowl into a little bowl.

stirring & mixing

Try mixing ingredients together with different spoons, for example in the red dip on page 20.

counting

Practise counting the number of spoonfuls or ingredients that you need.

sorting

Look at the introduction on page 11 of the book to see the different categories of food. You could try sorting basic foods into each category.

spreading

Use a table knife to spread something soft like honey or butter onto toast. You will need to gently press the knife onto the food as you spread. Look at pages 26 and 27 for more spreading ideas.

pouring

Use small jugs/pitchers that are not too heavy, for pouring liquids from one container to another.

cutting with a table knife

A table knife is the knife you use to eat your meal with. It is not sharp. Practise cutting something soft like butter or avocado with a table knife.

opening & closing jars

Try opening the lid on a jar. Some jars will be very stiff and you will need some help opening them.

dipping

Sometimes you will need to coat a food in a crisp coating to protect the food when it is being cooked and to give it a lovely, crisp texture.

carry without spilling

Practise carrying liquids in containers without spilling them. The first time my son carried his fruit juice popsicles to the freezer with me when he was three years old we lost half the juice on the way to the freezer, but now we hardly ever have any spillages!

washing fruits & vegetables

Wash them in a bowl of water or put some water into the sink. It is a good idea to give salad vegetables and root vegetables, like carrots and potatoes that grow underneath the ground, a wash before they are eaten to remove the soil.

draining in a colander

A colander is like a bowl which has holes in it. It is useful for draining food like vegetables after you have washed them.

measuring with spoons

The recipes will either say ‘tablespoon’, which is a big spoon, or ‘teaspoon’, which is a small spoon. Make sure that you use the right spoon when you are measuring your ingredients.

sharing

In some recipes you will need to make sure that you share the food evenly, like sharing the fillings between tarts. You don’t want all of the filling in some of the tarts and none in the others!

freezing

Freezers help to keep food fresh for a long time without it going bad. How does food freeze? Most food contains lots of water. Freezing works by changing this water to ice. Put a liquid into a freezer and watch it change to a solid. The solid is called ice. See page 39 for fruit juice popsicles.

touching food

When you touch food, think about how it feels – is it cold, slimy, hard or soft? Just remember never to lick your fingers after you have touched raw meat or fish.

mashing

This is when you squash food using a potato masher, fork or mortar and pestle. Practise with soft fruits, e.g. page 36, or garlic, e.g. page 18.

tearing