Jenny Chandler - Cool Kids Cook: Delicious recipes and fabulous facts to turn into a kitchen whizz

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 with 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 around 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 like a bombsite 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? Cool Kids Cook aims to inspire and teach children around the 713 age group, although theres nothing to stop you 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 great time to engage and share a common interest with a child. Children are often nervous of trying different ingredients, which is not surprising; we are hard-wired 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 to eating usually take 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 a great way to start; such as a courgette in a stir-fry, or beetroot 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 different 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 tin; they know it will work.

The emphasis of this book is on tasty dishes that children and their families will enjoy tucking in to together rather than elaborate party food. There are some treats, because children love to bake sweet things; but there are many more healthy dishes too: its about building a balance without creating any sense of deprivation. Children will require different levels of help and supervision depending on their age, their familiarity with the kitchen environment (Ive met 9 year olds who would put many an adult to shame) and the particular dish theyre cooking. For this reason Ive not graded the recipes by difficulty; only you can gauge how much assistance your young cook might need. You may begin by cooking the recipes with your child but try to give them some ownership of the dish, allowing them to choose variations and encouraging them to taste and season the food. When we invite children to help with shopping, to enjoy cooking and take pride in their results theyll not only become more adventurous with their choices, they will relish their food too.

BE SAFE Read through the recipe with the cook and work out where they may require assistance. Knives, heat and electricity all pose real dangers but by familiarising yourself and your child with the blue Getting Started pages you can create a safe environment. Always be on hand when kids are cooking, you never know when they will need you. There seem to be lots of rules, but once youve got into the habit of working safely in the kitchen you wont need to read them every time. ALWAYS LET AN ADULT KNOW WHEN YOURE PLANNING TO COOK. Cooking can be great fun but there are plenty of potential hazards.