My Junior Master Chef's

We are definitely a foodie family and love watching cooking programs on the telly.

Emma has told me, when she grows up, she wants to have a cooking program on the tv just like Jamie Oliver, but for people with allergies.

On the first Monday of the holidays I asked the kids to choose two meals each that they would like to have for dinner that week.  They were excited and out came the favourites and some that we hadn't had for ages.  Here is the menu they created.

Monday - Bacon & Egg Pie (Big Boy)
Tuesday - Schnitzel with vegies (Emma)
Wednesday - Macaroni Cheese (Bear)
Thursday - Chicken Curry (Hubby)
Friday - Minestrone (Emma)
Saturday - Burgers (Big Boy)
Sunday - Roast Chicken (Bear)

"Guess what?" I said to the kids "Not only did you get to choose what we will eat, you are gonna cook it too!"

They have been loving watching Junior MasterChef.  The kids on it are amazing and they are the same age as my kids and they can turn out gourmet meals.  This inspired me to get my kids into the kitchen and to let them go for it.  Just like on the the show, we judged each of the meals on taste and presentation.

They were so excited and relished being in charge of the kitchen.  Giving up control to the kids is really hard.  Some of the meals they chose weren't safe for Emma so they had to make her something special that would make her happy.  I think the big boy now has a bigger appreciation for her allergies and why we dont eat things that she cant very often.

The big boy did all his meals completely by himself

Emma's snazzy schnitzel
Yep you do see right, there are brussel sprouts on the plate
Yep she chose them, she always does
They're one of her favourite veggies
We call them baby cabbages

Bear's creative plate of Emma's cheeseless Macaroni Cheese

The next week we did it again, this time we added in a couple of desserts

Monday - Mexican Mince (Bear)

Tuesday - Pumpkin Soup with foccaicia bread (Big Boy)

Wednesday - Sushi, followed by fudge cake with raspberry coulis (Emma)

Thursday - Beef Olives (Emma was not impressed as they didn't have any olives in them!) (Me)

Friday - Chicken Pies, followed by Bear's microwave pudding (Bear)

Saturday - Baked potatoes (Emma)

Sunday - Lasagne, followed by Pavlova (with cupcakes for Emma instead) (Big Boy)

 

Emma's first attempt at making sushi
Love how she plated this

Emma's Fantastic fudge cake

Cupcakes trying to look like pavlova

My big boy spent almost all of sunday afternoon in the kitchen, making pavlova, then cupcakes, then lasagne.  He had to be so very careful to avoid cross contamination and he did an absolutely amazing job and it all tasted very yummy.  

They were so careful with their plating up and really thought about what would go well with each dish.  When it came to the desserts, they totally wowed us with melted chocolate decorations and little extra touches, like Emma serving Raspberry coulis with her cake.

I was blown away by how clever my kids are at cooking.  

And now, even though they are back to school, we are going to continue having kids cooking nights.  And we are being more varied with the menu planning to make sure we keep getting a whole range of different meals to broaden their taste and make them try new foods.

I'm looking forward to trying their next efforts this week.

Barbs x.