Chandler - Great food for kids: Delicious Recipes and Fabulous Facts to Turn you into a Kitchen Whiz

Jenny Chandler DEDICATION For Imi, a great cook in the making and my favorite daughter ever! ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Huge Thanks: To all of the children whove inspired and made this book happen, especially my gorgeous Imi; you did a great job of cooking your way through virtually every recipe and giving me plenty of advice along the way. To the exceptionally keen school friends whove taken part in our Monday Night Cooking Club, you created some fabulous suppers and helped narrow down the recipes for the final cut. And to all the pupils at Hotwells Primary School, your curiosity and creativity sparked so many ideas during our cooking sessions. To the great team at Pavilion, especially my editor, Emily Preece-Morrison. I love working with you; you always understand where Im headed, help steer the way, and then do the most incredible job of tailoring all the ideas and excess text into a stunning book. Youre a legend.

To Kathy Steer for meticulous copyediting and Laura Russell and Clare Clewley for doing the most amazing job with the design and layout, youve made the recipes come to life. To everyone involved with the shoot, youve achieved the engaging, fun, and informative look that I so hoped for; Rob Wicks, you set the ball rolling with your gorgeous shots; Wei Tang, you brought your special magic into the styling and were so fab to work with too; Valerie Berry, you not only produced some gorgeous-looking food but did such a great job with the young uns, even throwing in a bit of reflexology when required; Alex James Gray, your organization and attention to detail is second to none; Deirdre Rooney, you absolutely captured the spirit of kids cooking with your beautiful photographs. To the very patient, talented and photogenic young cooks; Imogen Bassett, Alpha Djenguet, Jonas and Piers Clarke, Sam and Maddie Fisher, Annabelle Frainer-Law, Ethan Goodman-Ancell, Joe and Charlie Ives, Matthew Jervis, Rhys Morrison, Theo Nearney, Saskia Portman, Dylan and Jake Turner. To Damien Weighill, your quirky illustrations are truly inspired and give the entire book so much energy; you nailed it. Lastly, I am so grateful to my now husband, Peter and the rest of my family and friends whove listened to me rambling, stressing (not that often) and enthusing about this book for many, many months; we got there. The Kids Intro Cooking is one of the most useful, rewarding, and fun things that youll ever learn to do.

Whether you hope to become a rocket scientist, play football, teach music, or win an Olympic gold medal, one things for sure, youll always have to eat. When you can make your own food, the whole business of eating becomes much more exciting and enjoyable. Food is so important; its not just about grabbing a snack every time you feel bored or even feeling full at the end of a meal, its about fueling your body with the right food so that it runs like a well-oiled engine. When youre young, the body has so much to do; youre constantly learning, growing, and running circles around all the adults in your life. Youve probably heard people say you are what you eat, and its pretty true. If you eat lots of junk food and sugar, you wont have as much strength and drive to do all the challenging things in life.

Dont worry, this certainly isnt a diet book: its not full of strict rules to follow, but there will be plenty of healthy food facts along the way. Being adventurous in the kitchen gets you trying lots of different ingredients, and the more variety we have in our diets the better. Every fruit, vegetable, fish, or whatever else you choose to put on your plate has a different mix of the vital calories and nutrients that we all need. So, get out there tasting and discovering new foods and eat to thrive, not just to survive. The great thing about cooking is that once youve mastered a technique you can create all sorts of variations. Start with a simple key recipe, then move on to the other suggestions in this book and finally, once youre really confident, add your own touches too.

A meatball could be Italian-style with spaghetti, Moroccan-style with couscous, or Vietnamese-style with a spicy dipping sauce. Its up to you to decide. There are plenty of options and ideas for many of the recipes in the book; thats because we dont all like the same things and so you can tailor-make a dish to suit you, your family or friends. As well as enjoying yourself, when you prepare a meal youll earn lots of brownie points around the house too. Grown-ups love to have a day off, or in some cases they might not be well enough or have the time to cook, so this is your moment to step in and shine. Imagine inviting your friends over for a meal youve cooked: with a bit of practice youll be able to.

Just remember to let an adult know when you plan to cook and dont leave the kitchen looking like its a disaster zone or you might not get invited back! You may start out needing quite a bit of adult help with some of the recipes, but youll soon be cooking up a storm. Be sure to read the safety pages: cooking can be dangerous if youre not on the ball. This book is filled with real dishes, not childrens food: stuff that youll still love making when youre a teenager, a student, and for many years to come. So what are you waiting for? Lets get going with some REAL COOKING. And a Few Words for the Adults Great Food for Kids aims to inspire and teach children around the seven-to-thirteen age group, although theres nothing to stop you from making the recipes with younger siblings or even using the book for some inspiration yourself. Learning to cook at a young age has so many benefits: it instills a love of real food that can last a lifetime and provides the building blocks of a vital skill that many adults sadly still seem to lack.

Understanding where food comes from, and the difference between processed junk and home-cooked meals, helps create healthy eating habits. Its also fun, and a perfect time to engage and share a common interest with a child. Children are often hesitant to try unfamiliar ingredients, which is not surprising; we are hardwired to be suspicious of new foods. Our hunter-gatherer ancestors didnt want their kids tasting every berry they came across; it was a matter of survival. Thankfully, as we grow up our inquisitive nature, along with peer pressure and a more relaxed attitude towards eating, usually takes over. Its in our interest to eat a really varied diet.

Time and time again I see kids overcoming their fears and hang-ups about a certain food when they prepare it themselves. Including a new ingredient in a familiar mix is an excellent way to start; such as zucchini in a stir-fry, or beets in an ever-popular chocolate muffin. Most recipes in this book have a simple basic version allowing kids to learn a technique. Once they are familiar with the technique, then its great to move on to a variation. This builds confidence and independence as they begin to go it alone. Once a child can make The Cake they can transform the result with some minor tweaks: theyve mastered the recipe; have the right cake pan; they know it will work.