Today I am sharing 5 different cooking skills the girls learnt by preparing their own lunch (with a little help & supervision from me). It is school holiday time here and there are 6 weeks of them. So plenty of time for us to take our time and not rush the days away. It is the perfect time to learn new things around the home, at a relaxed, safe pace.

Today we made “Cheesy Baked Beans & Egg Bake” in individual ramekin dishes.

So easy and full of protein!

How to Make:

1. Half fill a ramekin dish with baked beans.
2. Crack an egg over the baked beans.
3. Sprinkle a child’s handful of grated cheese over the top of the egg.
4. Cook for 10 – 15 minutes in a moderate oven. (I cooked it until the cheese started browning).

The 5 skills relevant to the recipe are:

1. OPENING A RING PULL TIN CAN 

Ebony is 9 years old and who knows if she has the strength to open the baked beans can or not? I know she has found it too hard in the past, but maybe she is strong enough now. There is only one way to find out! She gave it a go and the answer is no-ish I had to pull it to the point it ‘gave way’ and then she could pull it back the rest of the way. She was happy with that!

2. WHAT TO DO WITH LEFTOVERS

The recipe doesn’t use all of the baked beans from the can. So what to do next? Leave it out for Mum or Dad? No! Find an empty container in the cupboard, empty the leftovers into the container and put it in the fridge. Place at the front of the fridge so it doesn’t get hidden at the back where it may start growing it’s own arms and legs.

3.RECYCLING

So the can is empty, now what? Time to wash out the can and put it in the recycling bin. Let’s see the job through from start to finish.

4. CRACKING AN EGG

My kids have been cracking eggs from a young age like most little tackers but I make sure they have lots of opportunity to do it as they still need practice. And they love doing it.

Normally I get them to crack the egg into a separate container so we can easily remove any egg shell with a spoon before it goes in with the main mixture.

Zoe, in particular, has really enjoyed getting better at cracking eggs. This time Zoe cracked her egg straight onto her baked beans with no shell. She was so proud of herself.

5.GRATING CHEESE

I have two lovely deep scars on my right index finger from getting distracted whilst grating cheese. Embarrassingly  I was well into my 20s on both occasions.  So my hope is that I might be able to prevent scarring my girls (in this way at least!) by getting them familiar with the cheese grater.

My advice for them is usually as follows: Fingers back. Hold the cheese or vegetable firmly. Hold the grater firmly. Don’t worry about grating right to the end – give your fingers a chance! Go slowly or at a medium pace – don’t rock the house with your grating, your knuckles will thank you for it.

So far – so good.

Ebony also switched on the oven and put the food into the oven. Both of these jobs require lots of safety awareness  - which I am not covering in this post but may do in a future post.  There are so many little steps in the preparation and consumption of food, it is important children are familiar with as many age-appropriate steps as possible. It might be harder to get them interested if it’s left until they are much older. They love to feel capable, independent and helpful. Food is essential to life, so knowing how to prepare food is essential!

And the finished product…

…accompanied well by toast soldiers. Yummo!

Does anyone have any cheese grater horror stories to share (to make me feel better)?

If not I’d love to hear about what your children like doing in the kitchen. Are they cooking up a storm or looking for your lolly stash like I used to?

Thanks so much for dropping by!