Get the Whole Fam in on Meal Prep!

I think it’s important that we teach our kids how to help out at home. We need to prepare them for the life ahead of them, and while it takes way longer and is never done the way we want it, we need to teach our children the life-skills that will make them successful adults. I read tonight that, “A Mother’s job is to teach her children not need her anymore.”

Part of making a well-rounded child is to teach them to cook. We’ve been getting my 8-year-old son to make supper once a week…or we’re trying at least. The days get away from me! He can make taco salad (I make and freeze the meat ahead of time, so he just has to heat it up in the microwave), grilled cheese, Walsh Rarebit, and naan pizza. It takes him forever, but he’s getting better – and it’s so nice not to have to cook one night a week!

But I thought we’d give our little girls a chance to join in the “fun” too. We decided to have a “Family Chop.” Read on for all the details!

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Supplies:

• Children
• Cutting board for each participant
• Knife for each participant
• Vegetable peelers
• Bowl for chopped veg
• Bowl for refuse
• Vegetables. We made a stir fry, so we had carrots, celery, broccoli, peppers and onion.
• I also put rice and chicken in our stir fry, which I cooked.

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Instructions:

1. Sit around your table, or an island. Somewhere you’ll have enough surface for everyone.

2. Put the bowls for chopped vegetables and refuse in an easily accessible place (this makes it more likely that they’re used!), and carefully explain what each bowl is for.

3. Take time to demonstrate how each utensil (different knives, peeler, julienne peeler, etc.) is to be used.

4. Give each person a cutting board and a knife. Be sure that your knives are age-appropriate, and that there is constant supervision. Nobody wants to end family time with a trip to the ER #beentheredonethat. We gave our three-year-old a toddler knife, but then also held her hands while she tried out a real paring knife.

5. Lastly, toss your vegetables in the middle of the table (pre-washed), along with the vegetable peelers, etc. and sit around and chat while peeling and chopping the veg. Don’t they look so happy?!

I fried it all up, cooked the rice and served it. They all proudly ate the meal that they helped to make!

A Nice Family Chop Dessert:

If you want to make a nice dessert to compliment Family Chop, why not make a nice fruit salad? Slice some apples, pears, banana (how lovely would that be for a toddler to chop!?), pineapple, strawberries, and whatever fruit you’ve got kicking around, family chop it up and throw it in a bowl. Delicious!

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A Note to my Followers:

If you’re a regular here at But First We Craft you may notice that my kids look SO LITTLE in these pictures, and also that their hair is way shorter…AND that the dining room is red again! Well, that’s because I started this post about a year ago. I discovered it again tonight and remembered what a lovely time we had that night.

And how awesome is it that my son is getting better at cooking?! He can fry eggs now, too, although we’ve been remiss in how much we’ve taught him this year. This post is inspiring me too 🙌! We’ve also started teaching my 6-year-old daughter how to cook, and my youngest is ALWAYS cambering to get into the kitchen to help me. So, I hope you enjoy this little trip down memory lane, and are inspired to get your little ones cooking, too!

What do you have your children cook? Can you think of other great meals or snacks to make at a Family Chop? I always like reading your comments, and I LOVE getting new ideas to try out with my little chefs! Bon Appétit!