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Food Storage and Preparation
- When using eggs in a recipe, break them into a separate container
before adding them to other ingredients in case one has gone bad or
you get egg shell in the bowl.
- Use shortening to grease baking pans and cookie sheets. Margarine
and oil can be absorbed by the dough or batter preventing baked goods
from loosening from the pan.
- Don't over mix muffin batter. Stir only until lightly moistened
and still lumpy. Mixing too long causes muffins to be tough and have
'tunnels' in them.
- Cooking with kids can get messy. Consider protecting your countertop,
table, or other working surface with waxed paper. You can just gather
it up, crumbs, spills and all and throw it away when you finish. Don't
forget to protect the floor. A thick sheet of plastic or a plastic shower
curtain will do the job. Just take care not to slip on it!
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Food Safety
- Teach children not to touch the stove. When possible, use the back
burners when cooking so your child can not reach hot pans and turn the
pan handles to the rear of the stove.
- When you and your child are baking together, try using egg substitutes so you
can both sample the uncooked batter without concern about salmonella.
You can use a liquid pasteurized egg product which you can find in the
dairy section of your grocery. To substitute for one egg use 3 tablespoons
egg substitute and 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Egg substitutes are
fat free so the oil is necessary to improve the texture of baked goods.
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Nutrition
- To increase the number of vegetables your child eats try offering
them when she is most hungry. For example, when you are preparing dinner
let her 'snitch' some of the vegetable ingredients or give
her a plate of veggies with some dip to start on while the main course
is being prepared.
- Four grams of sugar is equivalent to one teaspoon. How many teaspoons
of sugar does your child's favorite breakfast cereal have per serving?
- If your child doesn't eat vegetables very well encourage him
to eat more fruit. The vitamin and fiber content of fruits is comparable
to vegetables.
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Fun with Food
- Use kitchen gadgets such as egg slicers and melon ball cutters to
make food more fun for fussy eaters. Even a two year old can learn to
help peel hard boiled eggs and slice them in a wire egg slicer.
- Make a placemat with construction paper or fabric. Use permanent markers
to draw the outlines of a plate, glass and silverware. This can be used
as a pattern to help a child learn how to set the table.
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Measurements/Substitutions
- To measure liquid ingredients accurately, place a glass measuring
cup on a level surface, pour in the liquid and bend down to read the
measurement markings at eye level.
- When substituting another fat for butter, solid margarine works best.
You can use exactly the same amount of margarine as of butter. If you
use vegetable oil, you may need to reduce the amount of other liquids
called for.
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