Kids Cooking Creative Veggies

Make Veggies Fun & Creative

Children love to cook when the food is made quickly and looks interesting. Potatoes are a good choice because they cook quickly and can be dressed up or dressed down for picky palettes. They fill kids up with a variety of vitamins and minerals.
  In 1995 potatoes became the first vegetable to be grown in space as an experiment for long voyages. The Incas in Peru started growing potatoes in 8,000 B.C., but the Spanish did not introduce them to Europe until 1536. Later the English brought them to Jamestown, Virginia.
  Thomas Jefferson introduced French fries in 1801. As we know, they taste good but are not healthy. Good alternatives to fries are roasted potatoes easily made with children’s help.
Roasted Potatoes
  Cut the potatoes to look like chunky fries. Adults can do the peeling and cutting into fourths the long way. Then children can use a table knife to

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cut them into strips. If they need help, put your hand over theirs to apply a little more muscle.
  Place in a bowl and add a few tablespoons of olive oil, enough to coat the potatoes.  Sprinkle a little salt and pepper and toss until evenly coated. Children will enjoy carefully pushing them around. Then kids can organize them on a cookie sheet in rows one layer thick. Place in a 450-degree oven for 15-20 minutes.  Check and gently stir or turn occasionally. When slightly cooled, children may dip in ketchup.
  For variety try some of the 3,800 kinds of potatoes. In the U.S. potatoes are blue, purple, red along with yellow and white. Add sweet potatoes (not real potatoes) for the orange color. If children will eat them, leave the skins on for more nutritional value.
Dinosaur Spuds
 

Baked Potatoes + Veggies

Baked potatoes can be made into many animals and objects by decorating them with vegetables like raw carrots, cooked peas, beans, and peas. Speed up the cooking time by placing in a microwave.  First cover one thoroughly washed baking potato with olive oil and pierce the skin on each side with a fork. Cook on high in the microwave for about three–five minutes, turn over and cook for about three more.  Test for "doneness." It should be squishy. Check on it or you will have a rock.
  To make dinosaurs cut two wedges off the top of the potato to use them for a dinosaur neck, head, and tail and set aside. Mash up the inside and add butter to melt. Carefully arrange one wedge to like a neck and head sticking out of the potato and add the other for a tail. Children can add little pieces of tomatoes, beans, or sweet pepper for eyes and tail plates. 
Photos: Fran Darling: fdarling fotos 
More Ideas and Activities....See the authors’ book “Learning Through the Seasons” at area bookstores and grandparentsteachtoo.org. For more help to prepare young children for success in school see the authors’ web site: www.grandparentsteachtoo.org. Also check our audio Podcasts WNMU Radio, 90; Youtube video activities; and join us on Pinterest