A guide to cooking for kids

Cooking for and with kids can be great fun. There are lots of ideas that you can put together and can get really creative. However, there are times that cooking can become difficult, especially when you are unsure of what foods you can use in the meals.

Main meal ideas

Play with the colours
When cooking for toddlers or children, the trick is to keep the food bright and colourful. If the food looks bland, then a child will believe that it tastes bland, even if it doesn't. While looking bright, you need to make sure that it remains healthy. Some children won't eat vegetables that they can see. While it can make the cooking difficult, you can also make the cooking fun by finding the best ways of masking your ingredients. Tips
Spring rolls and samosas can be hand-made and you can add any vegetables you want. Peppers and carrots are usually the best options. You can also add bits of chicken or prawns to add some protein into the mix. Dressing up pasta with all kinds of sauces
Pasta is a popular food with children as it is so easy to eat. You can add all sorts to the pasta and even have fun creating your own sauces. Tomato sauces are the easiest to make and are also cheap but you could also looking cheese sauces or mushroom sauces. You could even slowly introduce different types of food.

Kids can snack healthily

Snacks that look appetising
All kids like snacks but most of them can be high in fat and sugars. Fruit can often come across as boring to children so it is important to find healthy and easy snacks for them to eat. To ensure that they get enough fruit each day, you could put it in jellies. Children are more likely going to eat the delicious snack. For those kids who have a really sweet tooth
If you do want to add something sweet to their day, you could make your own cookies and muffins. You can involve your children so they feel like they have contributed to their meals. This is also a great way to encourage them to eat your homemade meals.
Tips
When you are making snacks, consider making them look fun and interesting. You could look at creating weird and wonderful shapes, such as cartoon characters or even gingerbread men and houses.