| for the family
| Story by Kristin Kemerling
Kids kick it in the kitchen
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t’s 5 p.m. and mom hasn’t had a chance to think about a meal. Her kids are bored, hungry and nagging her about what’s for dinner. She decides to cook some frozen chicken nuggets and a box of macaroni and cheese. But this doesn’t have to be the case. With a few clicks of the mouse, she can come across fun, easy and delicious step-by-step recipes geared for the kids to lend a hand. Where? At the Kids a Cookin’ website out of Kansas State University. The Kids a Cookin’ online resource allows for kids and their parents to download recipe podcasts and videos. Host and mom Karen Arnold works with a different child helper each episode, preparing various recipes such as fruit pizza, breakfast burritos, cinnamon biscuits, pretzels and many others. The site includes more than 100 recipes available to print and try at home, plus side dish suggestions and nutritional information. “Parents and kids need activities they can do together,” Arnold says. “An activity like cooking is even better when it’s done together. It gives kids a sense of pride and accomplishment. These are basic cooking skills that they’ll use forever and hopefully help them to make better food choices.”
Kids a Cookin’ shares recipes for you and your little ones
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above Turner, left, mom Tiffany and Taylor Thompson look up a fruit smoothie recipe on the Kids a Cookin’ website. right Younger brothers Jax and Judson enjoy the smoothies.
manhattan magazine
| Photography by Alan Honey