photo courtesy of http://lifeasmom.com

When school starts, the leisurely, time-filled days of summer, well they just disappear. Calendars fill up with various activities and finding quality time to spend together as a family can be on the challenging side. But, the thing is, I love spending time with my kids, so I try to make sure we schedule in some time we can do something together each week they’re with me. Game night is pretty easy and whipping up a snacky supper is easy to do with the kids before the games begin.

The activities we plan usually involve food element (big surprise, I know ), even if just snacks to accompany a night of monopoly or maybe the pet shop game. On any given week, here are the steps this mom will follow to accomplish my goals of having some fun with my kiddies and getting them actively involved in food selection and planning:

1. Pick a day of the Week. Since I only have the kids every other week, I like to pick a day Wednesday or later, but whatever day is the most open for your family is what you should pick.
2. Select the Game(s). Make sure to choose the game or games well in advance, that way all participants have time to get on board. Lack of planning can cause some minor disturbances that can easily be avoided if all children involved agree on the game(s) that will be played.
3. Choose the Menu. Let everyone pick a menu item. Game night dinners for us can involve pizza, cheese and crackers, veggies and dip, soup…we each pick something and a theme usually emerges. The menu should be more snack-like in nature, easy to eat while playing. And something that the kids can easily help prepare. The bonding time of game night can and will begin well before the first roll of the dice if everyone works together to prep the food.
4. Pump Up The Event. Since we usually plan our events later in the week, once we have everything set, I bring it up in the evening or before bed, like a count-down to the day. If we have errands to run that involve the game night—like picking up food items, or maybe even a new game—we talk about the plans in the morning on the way to school.

By the day of the planned Game Night, the kids are psyched and as soon as we get in the door from school the afternoon the preparations begin. We work like well-oiled machine, preparing our menu and setting up for the festivities. Once all is ready, we eat, play and be merry for an evening of family, food and fun.

Grab your kids right now and plan a Family Game Night with a Snacky Supper. You will have lots of fun with your kids in the kitchen and enjoying some of that ‘quality-time’ we parents are always longing for.

Happy Family Cooking!

Alex, Soph and Mom

P.S. We’ll be sharing ideas for getting your ‘Kids in the Kitchen’ each week. To make sure you don’t miss one, sign up for our mailing list and we’ll make sure you get the weekly update.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we are finally back with Season II of Two Kids Cooking TV!  We’re kicking off our return by sharing a recipe from 45pounds.com.  45pounds is dedicated to helping overweight children by educating both parents and children about the principles of healthy eating. They have an online cookbook with lots of healthy, tasty recipes. Recently, they held a video contest and we used this recipe as our entry.  Alex loved these pork chops and we’ve made them a couple of times since taping this episode.

Here’s the recipe we used:



If you’re interested in checking out more recipes, meal plans, exercise DVDs and everything else 45pounds provides, check them out: http://www.45pounds.com.

Enjoy the show and Happy Family Cooking Everyone!

Alex, Soph and Mom
P.S. To stay in touch with the 2 Kids and Mom, make sure to ‘like’ us on facebook!

Yep, it’s another rerun, but we’re ending our summer filled with reruns with Aliens, Alien Treats that is

Enjoy the show and be ready for the new episodes…they are coming…we promise!

This week we’re rerunning one of our Thanksgiving episodes–Turkey Meatballs. Meatballs are not only easy to make with kids, but they’re fun too. All that squishing of meat and forming into balls–need I say more.

Enjoy the show!

Alex, Soph and Mom

P.S. The Two Kids Cooking Shop has just the tools your kids need to foster their inner-chef–check it out!

Alex and Soph LOVE shrimp. We eat a lot of it and their favorite way to cook it is with Lemon Garlic Sauce. As we shared when this episode originally ran in January 2010, this recipe is kind of like a shrimp scampi, but it replaces all that butter with a reduced broth. It’s really tasty and it’s actually kinda healthy.

We hope you enjoy the show!

Alex, Soph and Mom

P.S. Get the tools you need to enhance your child’s inner-chef at our new Two Kids Cooking Shop!

As I mentioned earlier this week, we’re on a little haitus…BUT, that doesn’t mean you won’t hear from us. We’re going to share a few of our favorite shows in reruns. We figure that since those TV shows do it, we can too, right?

Anyway, Pickley Tuna sandwiches are one of Alex’s favorites. In this episode, one of our very earliest, he demonstrates just how we make ‘em.

Enjoy the show!

Alex, Soph and Mom

P.S. Have you checked out our new Two Kids Cooking Shop yet?

We’ve been a bit quiet for the last couple of weeks, but we have a good reason—we’ve been putting final touches on our new online Shop! We’re still adding stuff as we test it out, but we couldn’t hold back sharing it any longer. Soooo, you can check out all of our Alex and Sophia approved products that support every kid’s inner-chef right here!

PLUS, if you sign-up for the mailing list, we’ll send you a discount code for 15% off on all orders from now until June 31, 2010!

Once you sign-up you’ll be one of the first to hear about:

• New Product Notifications
• Alex & Soph’s Product Reviews
• Discounts & Specials

Now go, check out the Shop!

Thanks again and Happy Cooking,

Alex, Sophia and Mom

P.S. We’ll be adding new products soon, and we’ll let you know when we do!

Walleye is the official state fish of Minnesota. It is also super tasty. So today Alex, Soph & I are sharing one way we Minnesotans like to eat our state fish–Pan Fried.

Fishing itself is a fun way to spend the day together as a family. Now, you don’t always catch walleye, but this recipe would work with any panfish – sunnies, crappies, perch, etc. Then, after catching your limit, hop of the lake and come on in for some family cooking fun–this is another one of our easy to cook with kids recipes. We’ll show you just how easy in this weeks show.

Enjoy!

Alex, Soph & Mom

P.S. Stop by our facebook page and become a fan!

Cooking is:

The preparation of food. The process or activity of preparing food for eating.*”

That’s a pretty simple definition, right?  There’s nothing in there about complicated techniques or exotic ingredients. Just plain and simple, ‘preparation of food.’ That means, cooking  can be as basic as washing and drying vegetables, or arranging pre-cut cheeses and meats on a platter, or sprinkling seasoning over chicken. All these things are cooking; And, kids could do any of them…even kids as young as 3.

Getting kids in the kitchen doing easy tasks starts them on an interactive journey with the food they eat. It provides them knowledge and some control over an essential part of their lives. Plus, when you focus on simple recipes that you can make together as a family, cooking can be lots of fun.

Cooking in general, doesn’t have to be super fancy and complicated. Although there are times when it is, when you bring the kids into the kitchen, the most basic recipes are fine–and they still count as cooking!

There are three tips that can help un-complicate the cooking process when working with kids:
- Use simple recipes or break more complex recipes into basic steps
- Assign or encourage age appropriate tasks for each child
- Review the process with all participants to make sure everyone knows the plan

Cooking is about getting food ready to eat–that’s it. It’s an activity that can easily be done as a family. And, with a little planning, delicious ingredients and a simple recipe, time spent with the kids in ‘the process or activity of preparing food for eating,’ will not only be easy, it will also always be remembered with fondness.

Now go, pick out a recipe, grab the kids, and cook something!

Alex, Soph and Mom

P.S. For even more tips on cooking with kids, sign-up for our mailing list (to the right)…you’ll get our free report, “Secrets to Making Cooking with Kids Stress-Free.”

*According to Encarta® World English Dictionary[North American Edition].

If we haven’t mentioned it, this past weekend was not only Sophia’s birthday, it was also the MN Fishing opener for 2010. So, in honor of all of the fisher people out there–including us–this is fish week!

That means that our The Kids Cook Monday is a fish dish, of course. Soooo, we are sharing a recipe we wanted try for Trout. I, the mom, cook lots of fish, but am not experienced in the Trout department. I have always wanted to try it though, so when I found this super easy recipe in ‘Joy of Cooking,’ I knew the kids and I could share it for the show.

The recipe is really easy to make with the kids, plus, Alex and I loved it! Soph wasn’t as enthusiastic, but I think it had more to do with the ‘whole fish’ thing than the taste. Enjoy the show!

Happy Fishing to All our Minnesota Fans!