When my children were young, I was madly involved in learning all about early childhood matters, I took up early childhood courses, bought many and different types of home teaching materials to teach my children. Naturally, part of the learning I gained was to involve children in my daily activities. One of the childhood kitchen memory that my Abi remember distinctly was, I set a small table and stools for her and her little sister in the kitchen corner for them to learn to squeeze orange juice and enjoyed the orange juice they made themselves. She said: those times were wonderful memory!
Now that my Abi is turning into adulthood soon. It is my mission as a mum, wanting her to learn as much of cooking skills from me so that she can fly away from me with confidence and can apply the know-how skills in kitchen to nourish herself daily.
I often find myself in kitchen learning to appreciate food and learnt to be so much more patience in baking, fermenting or cooking. Spending time with your children in kitchen is to teach your children PATIENCE -the fruit of the spirit in Bible. All these activities be it baking, fermenting or cooking our children need to wait patiently from the beginning to the end result and then they get to enjoy yummy and nourishing food.
During this day, Abi and I cooked 3 dishes meal:
Steamed Buckwheat with ghee
Baked free range chicken wings with spices & mushroom
Stir-fried broccoli
The photos evidence of how much fun and bonding time we had during our cooking time together!
We washed the vegetables and pineapple, prepping and marinating the chicken wings, stir-fried the broccoli, Abi was surprised to learn that the baked chicken wings was so easy to prepare and tasted so yummy! She learned that it is not a difficult task to cook but what was important to make the kitchen job easier is Planning. We need to plan ahead what we want to cook and thus a weekly simple meal plan is handy to come into picture.
Every effort that I put in to spend time with my children in the kitchen, I am adding lifetime album into their memory bank, just like how Abi recalled her memory of her childhood orange juice squeezing time in Singapore. I always recalled my childhood memory how my mum taught me some kitchen skills and performed some tasks in the kitchen, those were beautiful memory that stays with me forever and formed part of me today.
Your effort will not go to waste by teaching your children spending time to learn to ferment, to bake, to cook in the kitchen, no matter how young or how old are they. These are life skills that you are imparting it to them.They will THANK YOU for it one day!
Home cook food is the best! It’s where the memory bank collection of your children lives and will stay forever in your children’s heart.
Whenever Abi is away from me for an extended period of time, she will say: “Mum, I miss your nutritious food, I want to come home soon!” this is because nourishing food can nourish body, soul and mind.
Let’s invite your child into your kitchen. Today is the day, the day that you can make a difference to your child’s life.
In health and love,
Hui, Sydney