20 Recipes Every Kids Should Know {A Book Review + Kids Cooking Prize Pack Giveaway} #MayFlowers

Welcome to the May Flowers Giveaway Hop hosted by Review Wire Media and Chatty Patty's Place!

From now through May 24, hop along to all participating blogs for your chance to win a wide variety of family friendly prizes. There is no limit to how many you can win, so after you've entered my giveaway be sure to hop along to enter them all! Good luck!!

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**Book received for consideration. Post contains affiliate link. All thoughts are 100% my own.

Do your kids help out in the kitchen?

It's no secret to those who have been following for awhile that my 5-year-old has a love of cooking, and has since she was very little. This is a love that I truly want to encourage, but even long before this became evident, I knew that I wanted my children to learn to cook, at least the basics anyway! Today, I'm sharing my top 3 reasons why I thought it was important they had this skill:

• It's a must have life skill. To be honest, when I first got married and went out on my own, my cooking skills were bare minimum. Baking I could do... but cooking? I had to figure it out on my own. To be honest, many don't know how to cook these days! I wanted my children to at least know the basics so they could prepare simple and healthy meals for themselves when the time comes and not rely on takeout and convenience meals. 
• It helps teach them to make healthy choices. When we get kids involved in the kitchen, it can be a great way to teach them about nutrition and healthy food choices. By allowing them to be part of the process, it's much more appealing to them!
• It shows them where their food comes from. I read somewhere several years ago that when asked where simple foods like meat or produce came from... most kids did not know! That blew my mind and I knew that was something I wanted to work on with my kids. We talk about farms and gardening, which animals produce which cuts of meats, where the fruits and vegetables are grown, etc. In addition, by cooking they see the work that goes into the food they eat and get a better appreciation for it.

These are just a few of the great reasons to encourage your kids to help out in the kitchen, but in our house the number one reason is certainly the fun! We are always looking for fun new recipes to explore, and today I'm excited to share with you a fantastic cookbook that fits the bill, '20 Recipes Kids Should Know':

The perfect book for children, this fun and engaging cookbook is written and photographed by a pair of young sisters for budding chefs.

Whether they're helping stir cake batter or producing their own YouTube cooking channel, kids of all ages are getting increasingly busy in the kitchen. This cookbook features twenty classic recipes that are fun, healthy, adaptable, and easy to prepare. From banana bread and the perfect grilled cheese to breaded chicken and apple pie, each recipe is written in a clear, accessible style that young cooks of every level will be able to follow. The author is a young chef whose love of cooking developed from her own family's food traditions like baking popovers with her grandmother and Sunday-night pizza making. By teaching kids basic recipes that can be adapted in endless ways, this book is the perfect launching pad to finding their way around the kitchen--or launching their own cooking careers.

ESME and CALISTA WASHBURN are sisters living in New York City. Esme, who is in middle school, is an amateur chef and cooking enthusiast. She has learned everything she knows from her grandmother. Calista, a recent high school graduate and budding photographer, loves helping out in the kitchen and eating the delicious food that Esme cooks.

Because of my daughter's love of cooking, we have looked at a LOT of kids' cookbooks over the last few years. In doing so, we have learned that not all kids' cookbooks are created equal. In fact, many are barely even cookbooks, instead just showing super simple plate layouts and pairings with absolutely no cooking involved. Yes, I've even seen some that simple tell you how to do things like make a PB&J. Now, that might be okay for some... but my daughter even at 5-years-old is capable of so much more than that.We want cookbooks that are going to teach her recipes that aren't just for kids, but that the whole family can actually enjoy too. This cookbook is just the kind that we need and want.

Each of the 20 recipes are REAL recipes that kids will love to make- such as mashed potatoes, homemade macaroni and cheese, homemade noodles, apple pie, etc. These are essential recipes that we should all know. They are recipes that do require a little bit of work, but that are very easy to follow along for chefs of all ages. To be honest, though it is intended for children, I can see how these easy to follow classic recipes would be very appealing to ANY novice cook regardless of their age.

Each recipe is accompanied by stunning color images that are sure to grab attention. Personally, I've always been a fan of cookbooks with larger color photos anyway, but for children I feel this is even more important. They tend to be visual learners and need that little extra color and fun to grab their attention!

If you're looking for a great cookbook for kids, this one is one that I would definitely recommend! We love it in our home!

Visit the links below to purchase your copy.

Find at Your Local Bookstore.

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20 Recipes on GoodReads

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One winner will receive a copy of 20 Recipes Kids Should Know by Esme and Calista Washburn, a porcelain rainbow bowl from HAY like the ones the girls use in the book, and a set of 6 stack-able rainbow measuring cups. Enter using the giveaway form below:

Entry-Form

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