Between the oldest who doesn’t like broccoli and the youngest who only wants pasta… It’s hard to stay relaxed when it’s time to sit down to eat!
Then it’s time to involve children from an early age in the kitchen.
These autumn holidays can be an opportunity to take the time to cook differently, to think together, as a family, about menus and to peel, cut, season together! Remember that children are into mimicry: if you eat fat, in a hurry and in a disjointed way, there is a good chance that they will eat the same way.
It is therefore important to vary the pleasures, to discover new textures, different flavors. These little seeds that we parents are going to plant will put them on the path to eating well.
So, okay, few kids prefer green beans over pasta. But here are some tips for making them taste (“We taste before saying we don’t like”)
First tip remember that, in the mind of a child, when it’s ugly on the plate, it means it’s not good. So how? You have to work on aesthetics. Have fun with the vegetables, make them in the form of small cubes with lots of colors. It will be nicer than a piece of carrot that does not look like much. The principle is to make them want to, to arouse their interest, to encourage children to eat vegetables, fruits, things that they may be less used to consuming, by adding them to a plate. in which there will be things they definitely like (pasta, rice).
Another tip: work the vegetables into crispy form, in a paste or in a gratin. Anything crispy, anything golden works great with kids!
Concretely: you can work an assortment of small vegetables, cut them into small pieces, with different colors, brown them in a little olive oil with a little garlic, onion. And make a crumble with parmesan, flour, butter or breadcrumbs… You put all that in the oven.. It will brown. Serve alone or with something else!
Before heading to the market and making your shopping list: let’s take the time to take stock of seasonal fruits and vegetables.
The point with Aude Berteau, the chef and creator of Kitchen on course, in Nice,
which provides cooking lessons for all ages, from 3 years old!
“For the fall, all the products will be with more orange, brown colors.
So: squash, squash, pumpkin, carrots, chestnuts, and on the fruit side pears, apples. There is still reason until December; then the mandarins and clementines will be there within a month.
And then we start having everything that is cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli. Things, which give a little less desire, but which also announce winter. It is up to us to work on them in a sympathetic way.
Finally, a tip for making your children taste mushrooms: change your Bolognese sauce!
Replace minced meat with mushrooms. Brown pieces of mushrooms, a little onion, a little garlic, you cook all this with the tomato sauce. And visually, you will have the impression of having a Bolognese; the grainy aspect will be there, and the mushrooms will be better perceived by the children than if they were arranged in large pieces on the plate!
When you are a parent, you know that it can be a real cross to make children eat vegetables. The toddler who refuses to swallow what is green is not a legend!
To rediscover the pleasure of cooking and initiate your children, treat yourself to family cooking class in Nice.
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