Kids Cook Real Food Blog

Mac and cheese is a cinch in the Instant Pot! It comes together so quickly and easily you might think you forgot a step the first time you try it! 😉 You don’t even need to be able to boil water or know when pasta is done for it to come out perfect! Since my daughter Leah can’t have dairy anymore, we’ve had to let this one go for now, but it’s a great recipe to have on hand for quick lunches or a dinner side. It’s easily made with either gluten-free or regular pasta. Grab your FREE Instant Pot Guidebook This mac and cheese recipe is from our Instant Pot SkillLab which teaches kids how to use an Instant [Read more...]

Imagine waking up on a Saturday morning without a kid yell-whispering “I’m hungry!” in your face. Instead, you come out of your room to see your kids preparing breakfast! Sounds like a dream huh? Now, I’m not saying you should send your 3-year-old to the kitchen to make breakfast for the family, but you might be surprised what your slightly older kids can make on their own! FREE DOWNLOAD: Paleo Snacks for Kids In our Kids Cook Real Food eCourse, kids will learn to crack eggs in the Intermediate level and can then complete this recipe on their own with a little help using the stove. Older kids can do it all on their own or help intermediate kids. This [Read more...]

Homemade dressing time!! We use this recipe in our Kids Cook Real Food course for intermediate kids to practice measuring… But today we are going to go ironic on that. My goal is to show families how flexible cooking from scratch can be, and how much room there is for error. So we aren’t really even using a recipe. (But don’t worry! I’ve included the original recipe and variations below for you!) FREE DOWNLOAD: Paleo Snacks for Kids Watch as John learns how to crush whole garlic cloves, and as always, we will share all the substitutions you could use for this homemade Italian dressing (including how to make it Greek!). Homemade Salad Dressing Recipe Made by Kids Ingredients 3/4 [Read more...]

These brownies have a very surprising ingredient that you probably have in your pantry right now…sometimes we serve them as breakfast because they have so many redeeming qualities and just some honey as a sweetener. 🙂 FREE DOWNLOAD: 10 Snacks Kids can Make Healthy Dessert Recipe The recipe is from my eBook “The Everything Beans Book.” I know, a brownie recipe in a bean book? You’ll have to trust me on this one. No one will ever, ever guess what your secret ingredient is, and they’ll all be blown away that there’s not one speck of flour in the whole thing. Can you guess the secret ingredient now? That’s right! Black beans form the base of this grain-free dessert recipe! RELATED: [Read more...]

I think summer is the perfect time to get the kids in the kitchen and working together as a family, cooking and eating healthy food. An online summer camp at home has so many benefits for busy moms: no driving around no waste of gas no packing lunches connection together with kids and knowing what they are doing instead of asking and receiving the “I don’t know” shrug Several in-person camps have transitioned to online platforms giving you even more options this year for virtual summer camps! Kids Cook Real Food Virtual Summer Camp Ages: 2-teen Price: totally FREE Dates: June 17-24 Details: Instead of teaching “kid recipes” like many kids cooking classes, we teach real skills like using a [Read more...]

Some of these interviews challenge my brain so much!! If you’ve ever said, “Geez, stop whining,” to your kids, OR thought you were doing one better by pleasantly singing, “I hear a whiny voice!” — be ready to be challenged! Suzanne Tucker is a physical therapist and parent educator who is on a mission to raise an emotionally healthy world. Not sure what emotional health might look like? Dig in! FREE DOWNLOAD: 3 Ways to Build Brain Resilience Emotional intelligence is what we see and what we do — that’s how Suzanne explains it to kids, while the “official” definition is “self-awareness and awareness of others + self-care and social skills.” How do we build healthy emotional intelligence in our kids? [Read more...]

Rice and beans are a classic frugal meal made from shelf-stable pantry staples. Today we’ll show you how to make our favorite rice and bean meal in the Instant Pot and give you some options to mix up the flavors in this cheap family dinner. Recipes Kids Can Make If your kids are old enough to use the Instant Pot or stove then they can make this recipe! In our Kids Cook Real Food Course we make rice and beans in lesson 5. Beginner kids sort and soak dried beans, intermediate students make the rice and the advanced class teaches how to cook beans. Grab your FREE Instant Pot Guidebook Our Instant Pot skill lab your kids can learn all [Read more...]

We’re all about connection at Kids Cook Real Food, and today we get to learn about how to connect the heart and the brain to improve your physical, mental, and emotional health! The HeartMath Institute is all about the heart, not mushy-gushy stuff but real science-backed strategies to bring more heart to the world. In today’s conversation with Director of Education Jeff Goelitz, you’ll learn: How the heart plays a role in people’s lives. What heart-focused breathing is, why it helps, and how to do it (so simple!). How stress affects kids (and what they really need from their parents). Some simple strategies to increase resilience and GRIT in our kids FREE DOWNLOAD: 10 Foods that Fight Depression Why we [Read more...]

I can’t justify spending over $1 each on brand name fruit and nut bars when it’s so easy to make them at home. Here are 2 varieties of nutrient-dense, enzyme-rich bars that are easy to pack, easy to eat, and fairly painless to put together. These quick and easy homemade energy bites can be formed into balls or pressed and cut into bars. As long as your child is comfortable using a food processor, they can make them all by themselves! It’s my 8 year old demonstrating in the video! FREE DOWNLOAD: 10 Snacks Kids can Make Healthy Snacks for Kids These energy bites have simple ingredients and are naturally gluten, dairy, and egg-free. We’ve also included a nut-free version! [Read more...]

What if I told you you might have to throw away half of the healthy food you worked so hard to put on the dinner table? What if I told you that can basically happen AFTER your kids eat everything on their plate?!?! Healthy food is only the first part of being nourished — we need to make sure the entire system of digestion is working correctly for all the hard work to count! mind blown Today I get to talk to Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner Tara Hunkin about getting your child’s digestion on “tract” (pun! ha!) for optimal health. Whether your child feels anxious or exhibits signs of ADHD, whether you know they’re constipated, they have some diarrhea or [Read more...]