Cookin' Up Some Fun!

I can remember when I was a little girl, sitting at the kitchen table watching my momma cook up a meal for our family.  They were usually pretty big, and always yummy, (yes, I blame her for ALL my poor eating habits!).  Some of my favorites were BBQ ribs, chicken noodle casserole, cabbage rolls, and vegetable soup.

Great, now I'm hungry.

Anyhow, I enjoyed watching my mom cook, but what was really fun was when she let me help.  It started with simple things like adding ingredients to a bowl.  Then she taught me how to make some basic things on my own, like eggs and french toast.  Before long, I was making complete dinners for my family, and I LOVED it!  It was a way for me to be creative and I also loved that with food, you can make people happy and show them you care.

These days, I am cooking for my own family, and let's just say it doesn't have exactly the same feeling as it used to. 

I mean, I still love to cook, but it gets a little frustrating when you have four different people who have four different tastes.  And everyone has an opinion.  An everyone likes to share their opinion.  Loudly.  Right after I have spent an hour in the kitchen cooking.

See my point?

But one thing that seems to help is letting my girls do some of the cooking with me.  (Could this be why my mom had me helping her in the kitchen too?  Hmmmm...)  They are definitely more likely to eat the food without complaining if they had a hand in preparing it.  Plus, I like spending the time with them, and creating memories for them that they will have forever. 

I can totally imagine them sitting down to blog some day about how their momma used to let them pull up a stool to the stove so that they could stir the soup, or mix the cake, or mash the potatoes.  I love thinking about that.

So even when it's not convenient, I try to let them help me as much as I can.  And one thing that makes it easier is having lots of kid-friendly recipes around.  These are recipes that are easier for little hands to help with, and also ones that they will like to eat.

Fortunately, I have a SUPER FAMOUS blogger friend who has a site that has TONS of kid-friendly recipes to choose from.  If you aren't already following Once A Month Mom, you TOTALLY should be!  Her site is mostly dedicated to meals that are freezer friendly, (you cook once, and you have a bunch of freezer meals to pull out all month long!).  It's super easy because she does all the work for you, (grocery lists, directions, etc.).  Plus, she has diet meals, food allergy meals, and KID-FRIENDLY MEALS!

And aren't you Lucky because tomorrow, Once a Month Mom is going to be guest posting right here!  I am so excited that I can hardly contain myself!  I mean a real blogger.  Uber famous.  Right here!

So make sure to come back tomorrow to check it out!  You DON'T want to miss this!

ALSO, if you haven't already, don't forget to enter for the Papa John's Giveaway!  Because we all know, a momma can't cook every night! :)