One of our best Support Group Meetings!

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I opened up and shared that Pistachio Salad is one of the first things our little kids make (Dump and Stir - a tin of crushed pineapple, a 500 ml. container of sottage cheese, container of Cool Whip and a pkg of Pistachio Pudding - dry.  Pour wet ingredients in bowl and stir.  Add Pistachio Pudding and stir well.  May be made a day ahead of time and kept in frig.  Tastes better if made before.) 

 

Our older girls make one meal (start to finish) each week.

 

Then I shared the website to Kid's Cooking.  Why Teach Kids Cooking Activities?

 

They also have a page on their website for no reading recipes for little ones - all w/ pictures.  Very cool.

 

And then the moms started to share.

 

From a mom of many (who never cooked or baked in her childhood)

- Her kids cook every day.  She doesn't buy any snacks from the store and has a child that needs gluten free.  The gluten free recipes are done first OR on a separate day - so no chance of wheat contamination.  Homemade cakes rather than cake mixes.

        She has two helpers w/ meals each week.  They cut vegies, make salads and help clean up.   Her kids don't make separate meals yet, but perhaps later.  The kids do almost all the baking  (11 in the family)

 

Mom of one - never cooked in her childhood.  13 year old daughter is making meals because she wanted more say into what they were eating.  Mom helps daughter as needed.   (Her tip - substitute corn flakes for pecans in recipes.  She said they taste amazingly the same)

 

Mom of seven - she was in the kitchen so much when she was growing up, she took it over.  Her kids like to cook and bake and do so often.  Her 13 year old makes bread for the family each week.

 

Mom of three - All her kids (9, 6, 3) want to cook.  LOVES Jean Pare's "Kids Do Snacks" and "Kids Do Baking".  Kids have done both books.  She mushes up beans and vegies to put in meals and sauces (to avoid complaining from husband and kids - for extra nutrition).   9 year old made spaghetti and couldn't believe she was adding mushed beans to the sauce.

smile

 

Mom of four - not allowed to be in the kitchen when growing up.  Her kids cook separately to avoid squabbling.  One year, she went through an entire cookbook - gave each child a section and they cooked through it. 

 

One mom reminded us to do Crockpot Meals.  She makes almost any recipe into a Crockpot recipe and loves not having to worry about supper during the day.

 

Mom of four - cooked and baked when growing up.  Kids want to cook.

 

Mom of three - cooked often in youth, even canned.  Her 6 and 10 year old are not cooking independently, but help often.  Her oldest likes to make scrambled eggs and toast.  Husband made bread once - some of her containers in the kitchen were unlabeled and the bread tasted funny.  He showed her the containers he used and he had used the vitamins for her iguana - she labeled her containers the next week!

 

Mom of 4 - didn't cook or clean when growing up because her family had maids.  Husband taught her how to cook AND he loves cooking.  Does all the meals when he

is home.

        Her kids bake weekly.  S - banana loaf / R - lemon loaf or cookies, but they use limes instead of lemons / oldest likes to make no bake cookies - quick and easy / and she wasn't sure what the youngest makes.... 

        Husband doesn't follow recipes, so the boys don't either, sometimes.

        The daughter and cousins baked lots to sell a couple of years ago (after church) to donate to a charity for 3rd World Families (buy a goat kinda thing).  They ended up donating the money to where it was needed most.  (Loved this story - very cool)

 

Mom of one - baked and cooked often when growing up.  7 year old son loves "Kids Do Snacks"  Her funny story was when he (at 3 1/2) put water, coffee beans, shredded bread, cut up apples, cinnamon and more in a big pot, trying to make something to eat....

 

Then we went on to talk about some parenting tips.....

  

Mom #1 had a Mediating Moment that day.  Young son was grumpy unloading silverware from dishwasher. Mom asked son "What would happen if you didn't do this?"  Younger  daughter (passing through kitchen) - "It would be gross - raw meat in my cereal tomorrow morning."  (Mom smiled - she was cutting up chicken for supper)  Son agreed that would  be "Disgusting" (exact word!) and went to work.  She found it was neat to watch him think about the consequences of his actions. 

 

Mom #2 shared that when children misbehave - there is always something underrneath it.  Talk about it.

 

Mom #4 shared that her husband says "If you want to see change, you have to work at it."

 

Mom #5 shared that she is waiting for her child to answer questions longer....  and seeing great results.  He needs more time to think and process what he is going to say.

 

Some other show and tells were:

 

A Bullying Seminar in our town - had some great discussion about this, as well.

        One mom shared that she worked w/ a bully on a Community Project - very difficult - hard to set boundaries. 

        Another mom had a High School daughter bullied - talked about setting boundaries and walking away.

 

All in all, it was a great meeting - with lots to go home and think about.  I hope you enjoyed reading the above!{jcomments off}