Quick! Need help- baking with kids

[plain jane]

I wanted to get dd7 an Easy Bake Oven for X-mas. The food is gross but she is cute and girly and loves to help bake. I know she would just *LOVE* this.

 

Thing is, I know I won't.:001_huh: The packages are expensive and full of crud. :ack2:

 

Instead, dh and I have decided to get her some real baking things and let her use the oven.

 

I want to put together a gift for her for X-mas that includes some spoons, bowls, measuring cups, etc. that would be all her own. I also want to include a kids recipe book or two.

 

I can still get free shipping from amazon (my prime ran out and I don't want to pay to renew) so I need to order today.

 

I need some recommendations for books that I can buy for dd. She'd like to make things like cookies or muffins.

 

Also, my oldest has expressed great interest in cooking for the family. I'm thinking of putting together something similar for her, but for cooking meals. Are there any meals cookbooks for kids that are good (both in taste and ease of use for kids)?

[Lady Marmalade]

Annabel Karmel has several good cookbooks out for younger kids. We've made plenty of her recipes over the years, and there has been nothing we've made that's been bad.

 

For the older girl I would highly recommend the Spatulatta cookbook. No dud recipes in that book either.

[black_midori]

Hmmmm - we have a convection toaster oven & now I'm thinking this would be a great tool to use as an "easy bake" for the kids!! Thanks for booting my thoughts towards that! :)

[plain jane]

Annabel Karmel has several good cookbooks out for younger kids. We've made plenty of her recipes over the years, and there has been nothing we've made that's been bad.

 

For the older girl I would highly recommend the Spatulatta cookbook. No dud recipes in that book either.

 

Thanks, I will look into those.

[happi duck]

Honest Pretzels

 

Amazon.com Review

Ever separate an egg with a funnel? Ever make a grilled cheese and broccoli sandwich? Ever follow your kids into the kitchen and help them with recipes they have chosen to prepare?

Mollie Katzen makes all this and more ever so painless. She wrote Pretend Soup for preschool cooks after working with young kids in a preschool setting. Honest Pretzels is the next step. These are more advanced recipes demanding more advanced techniques for children ages 8 and up. It's a kid's cookbook for a more sophisticated palate--those ready for Not-from-a-Box Macaroni and Cheese or Spunky Chili. All the recipes in the book are vegetarian.

 

Typically, each recipe is introduced with a list of ingredients, the amount of time it's going to take, a list of tools, and a note about where a child might want to ask an adult for help. The actual directions are broken out into separate "cards," many of them illustrated. At no time and in no place is the language patronizing.

 

Skills your child will develop include making and handling yeasted dough; making filled, shaped, healthy pastries; slicing, mincing, and grating; seasoning with herbs and spices; sautéing, pureeing, measuring, layering, assembling; dividing, estimating, timing, deciding; separating eggs, beating egg whites, folding a puffy batter; making simple, standard sauces; and basic kitchen safety and common sense.

That's quite a list. How did you measure up when you were 8--let alone now? Here's a good chance to give your child a leg up in the kitchen, while staying out of the way. --Schuyler Ingle

 

http://www.amazon.com/Honest-Pretzels-Other-Amazing-Recipes/dp/1883672880

[Deb in NZ]

google 'easybake oven mixes'. I've seen some homemade mixes on the web that are the right proportions for the easybake oven. I'd make up a few in ziploc bags so that she could bake right away.

 

JMHO,

[plain jane]

google 'easybake oven mixes'. I've seen some homemade mixes on the web that are the right proportions for the easybake oven. I'd make up a few in ziploc bags so that she could bake right away.

 

JMHO,

 

Oh, brilliant!! Thank you!!!!

 

I can't find a kids' book I like so I'm revisiting the Easy Bake Oven idea. It's not a necessary gift or even the most practical but I know she'd love it.

[*********]

google 'easybake oven mixes'. I've seen some homemade mixes on the web that are the right proportions for the easybake oven. I'd make up a few in ziploc bags so that she could bake right away.

 

JMHO,

 

I was gonna suggest this, too. I'm *sure* you can make your own 'mixes'.

 

I would have LOVED an Easy Bake as a young girl. I bet your dd will be thrilled. Just think of all the cute stuff you can do; find cute containers for the homemade mixes, print out recipes for them, make cute labels...

[KatieJ]

google 'easybake oven mixes'. I've seen some homemade mixes on the web that are the right proportions for the easybake oven. I'd make up a few in ziploc bags so that she could bake right away.

 

JMHO,

 

:iagree:

My son and his wife bought an Easy Bake Oven for our granddaughter. We had Christmas with that family over Thanksgiving when they were here. After the 2 mixes were gone, they found some recipes on the web and they were much better! I think it was a Peanut butter cookies recipe.

[Deb in NZ]

Homemade mixes are so much cheaper, healthier, & just taste better. ;) My dd is a bit old for an EasyBake Oven, but I do make up homemade mixes for her to take back to uni with her to bake in her flat. I like to make up "just add water" mixes for those weeks that $ is tight.

 

I need to do some for home before our new school year begins in February. When I have some homemade mixes on hand, a few logs of slice & bake cookies in the freezer, & a frozen meal or 2 in the freezer as well, life runs so much smoother. We eat a lot healthier & the budget is in better shape as well. :tongue_smilie: