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10 Steps for Cooking-Up Family Memories
The kitchen is the
perfect place for making memories. When you spend time
baking, cooking and enjoying meals with your family,
you create happy memories you and your children will
cherish forever.
The benefits of preparing and enjoying
food as a family are clear. You save money and eat healthier
meals. You create opportunities to connect and communicate
with your children and spouse. And most importantly,
you show love for your family when you spend time cooking
and eating with them. Children of all ages need your
attention and your time. By working together to create
a meal or bake a batch of cookies, you spend valuable
time together.
So, here are 10 steps to get your family
cooking up memories.
Step 1:
Teach small children the fun of cooking by helping them
bake cookies and cakes. If you are short on time, you
can use a boxed cookie mix and spend more time decorating.
Step 2:
Encourage the littlest ones to play pretend cooking.
Kids love to play with real mixing bowls, strainers
and wooden spoons. These make harmless toys and can
be easily thrown in the dishwasher for quick cleanup.
Step 3:
If you live by your day-timer, schedule in baking cookies
with your kids. Our schedules can be so hectic that
something as simple as baking a batch of chocolate chip
cookies can get skipped over. Write it down and do it.
Step 4:
If you have teenagers, let them play their favorite
music while they wash the lettuce and set the table.
Step 5:
Work together with your spouse to prepare the dinner
and use the time to catch up on each other's day.
Step 6:
Even if you are in a rush preparing dinner, remember
to reduce your stress and focus on creating a fun atmosphere
that naturally encourages the whole family to participate.
Step 7:
When spending time preparing food with your children,
include lessons about healthy eating choices. Keep the
conversation positive and avoid listing foods they can't
have.
Step 8:
On days where you anticipate time will be tight, consider
taking a short cut by using a frozen stir-fry mix or
pasta with a jar of pre-made sauce. Your family will
appreciate your relaxed mood much more than a made-from-scratch
dinner.
Step 9:
Share the job of grocery shopping. One week have mom
take one of the children as a helper, the next week
dad can go with another child. Always work from a grocery
list and let your children help you retrieve items and
cross them off the list.
Step 10:
Have big family meals where you share about your day.
Keep the conversation fun and avoid negative lectures
over dinner. Remember to laugh.
Take these steps today and make your
kitchen a fun and memorable place for your whole family.
1howto.com
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