Including (or Managing!) Your Kids While Cooking

The reality is, we gotta cook, and we’ve got kids in the house. Laura gives you the inside scoop on how that goes down in her house, and gives real life tips on how to make it happen without unnecessary stress.

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Links Mentioned

New Mama Nutrition Manual

Transcript

You’re listening to The Love & Lettuce Podcast, episode number 25. You’re listening to the loving lettuce podcast episode number 25. Let’s talk about incorporating or rather managing your kids in the kitchen while you’re cooking because that is real life. Let’s get into it.

Hey, this is Laura Lima, holistic nutritionist and founder of New Mama Nation and host of The Love & Lettuce Podcast. I am here to help mamas know what to eat to give them energy and help them feel fantastic so they can better enjoy life with their littles. And remember, this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and does not replace medical advice from your healthcare provider, and is not intended to diagnose or treat any medical condition. As always, please consult your healthcare provider to find out what is right for you. With that said, let’s get to the show!

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This is a question that I’ve gotten a lot of because when we think about real life, our kids are with us as we’re cooking, and maybe we have a newborn, maybe we have a toddler preschooler, all three who knows. That is what I will have soon. Right now, the newborn is not here yet, but will be literally any day at the time of this recording. I am do quote unquote, do expected in one week from today. So this is super exciting. But right now I have a toddler. And I have a preschooler. So an almost two and an almost four year old. And so what I first like to tell people when they asked me like how do you incorporate your kids into the kitchen? Well, the first thing is, I like to have things ready to go.

And this means having a plan.

And I talk a lot about this. In my new mama nutrition manual. It’s my online program. And we really get into the nitty gritty of actually what I call the PSP protocol, the Plan Shop Prep protocol. Because planning is such a huge part of cooking, and just having healthy foods to eat throughout the week. But especially, so when we have littles because you know, it’s not like having a teenager. Now I’m not saying that it’s easier to have a teenager, don’t get me wrong. So if you have one or two or more, oh my gosh, all the power to you that is going to come with its own set of issues. I know. But my point here is, it’s not like having a teenager that can take after or look after himself or herself, where they can just, you know, do their homework, be on their phone, whatever, and not even care about you being in the kitchen.

This is the ultimate time when we have little kids when we have to keep them entertained. And we have to keep an eye on them. But we also have to bring dinner to the table, not just for them, but for us too. Because if we don’t nourish our bodies, nobody is going to do it for us. And if we don’t nourish our bodies, we’re not going to have energy. We’re not going to have the brain bandwidth. We’re not going to have to patience. We are not going to be the mums that we want to be. That sounds dramatic. And it is, but it’s also true.

You need to nourish your body in order to have your proper, amazing ideal health in order to feel amazing. And the only way that you can do that is to get food on the table. Literally and figuratively get food on the table and then get it into your body. So the question for us with littles is…

How the heck do we incorporate our littles or rather manage our littles when we’re in the kitchen trying to prepare dinner for the umpteenth time that day for the umpteenth time that week.

Oh my goodness. So yeah, the first part is to plan and I talk all about this in my new mama nutrition manual. So to find out more, and to sign up for the course, just go to http://bit.ly/newmamas for the new mama nutrition manual. The manual talks all about planning, because it is so imperative to plan when we have little kids. It’s also imperative to plan if we don’t have little kids, because our lives are busy. I don’t know about you, but my life is busy. I in fact, I do know about you, your life is busy too. And without a plan, things go awry. Not only could they go awry, but they do. They will. There’s like no question. You can see how passionate I am about this.

So what does having a plan mean?

Well, it means having a meal plan. And what I mean by that is having a dinner plan doesn’t have to be planning out every single meal. In fact, I think that can be overkill sometimes. Because that can just be like an added stressor for you. Maybe, depending on how you tend to work and what kind of person you are. But what I suggest having is a dinner plan. So five dinners, Monday through Friday, what am I going to make? Include leftovers on that meal plan and on that dinner plan. And know that the plan is very fluid, very flexible. So if you’re like, oh man, you know, I wrote down when I was going to have chicken thighs with asparagus and sweet potatoes tonight. But now, I forgot to defrost the chicken. But I actually have leftover burgers in the fridge… great have leftover burgers, that plan can change!

The great thing about that plan is that if you didn’t have those burgers in the fridge, then you would know what you’re making tonight. So the plan is always fluid and flexible. But the idea is that you have to have it in the first place. So that if these things don’t come up, then you have a plan. You know what you’re making, you know what you’re prepping for in the morning. So for example, I know I just gave you the example of forgetting to defrost chicken thighs. That can happen. For sure there are backup dinners that you can go to in those cases. But when you know that you’re making chicken thighs tonight, in the morning, or even last night, the night before – take the chicken thighs out of the freezer, put them either in a fridge if it’s the night before, or put them on the counter if it’s the day of and that is part of your prep as part of your plan. So that by the time dinner time comes or I should say dinner prep time comes, it is ready to go.

So the planning is huge. And if you do it, you will save yourself so much stress come actual dinner cooking time, because you’re going to know what is coming. So that was huge to talk about. Planning is key. And knowing what is coming is key. But let’s talk about Okay, great. I’ve planned I know what I’m gonna make, or I don’t because I didn’t plan. Either way. I have to make dinner right now. And I’ve got kids or a kid in the house.

Wear your little on your back

In a carrier obviously. Or on your front if they’re like really little. Now I have my Maggie okay, my Maggie is almost two years old. She is a stage flat five cleaner. And when I say that, I mean it like holy cow. I’m actually like what’s going to happen when this new baby comes? I’m trying to talk about this new baby that’s coming. Obviously she doesn’t totally get it. But oh my goodness, I hope she transitions.

Well, I already feel bad. But anyway, Maggie just loves to be with mom. And so the suggestions I’m going to give today. Yes, they do work for Maggie. But not every time and not for long periods of time. So oftentimes no matter what else I do, she’s just like, No, I want you to hold me. No, I don’t want to go on my Learning Tower. No, I would like you to hold me please. So I actually bought a new baby carrier because I have a few but I wanted one with buckles. I haven’t ever gotten one with buckles.

And for some reason. I just like for me, I know some mums love the wrap type of slings or carriers. I don’t know why but I just couldn’t ever get into them. So I wanted a buckle one, one that I could put on my back or even on my hip. And so I invested in that. And 100% I would suggest doing that. If you also have a cleaner or if you just are like you know what? Yeah, I need to have two hands to cook and I need a baby therefore, on my back or on my front if it’s really little. So invest in a baby carrier 100% and bring it out come mealtime just be ready with it in case you need it.

Measure out the ingredients and store them

Next tip for you, depending on your kids age and stage, you could have to measure out the ingredients and store them. So for me now, I mentioned having a Learning Tower, I do have a Learning Tower for each girl, I absolutely recommend having a Learning Tower. I had never heard of these before having kids. And when Ellie was about one, one and a half, somehow I heard about them,and I was like, actually, I think it was on Instagram. And I was like, I need that right now. Because Learning Tower is almost like having a chair or a stool at the counter where kids can stand on.

But it’s safe, because it’s enclosed on all sides. And the ones that I have. And really, most of the ones that I’ve seen online have different levels. So you can put the wooden foot piece like the stool piece to different heights as they grow. It’s so fantastic. So I have my two learning towers set up beside each other facing me on the counter, like at the counter. You can also have it beside you. It depends on your counter setup, or like your kitchen setup. Oh my gosh, game changer for sure. So look into a Learning Tower, and I 100% suggest investing in them.

We actually bought one online, our first one for Ellie. And then when I was pregnant with Maggie, my father in law said I can make this. He’s Portuguese. He does so much. Like he just does so much. Working with his hands. He’s like, Yep, I can construct that. No problem done. So he basically just used Ellie’s Learning Tower as a template. And he made one. So Ellie now has her own, Maggie has her own. It’s fantastic. And now I have to get him to make another one. One day for baby. Okay, that’s a side note for me. But, yeah, huge.

So what I do is I have the girls at each of their towers. So they’re at the table or they’re at the counter. I give each of them a bowl, and I let them feel like they’re part of the process. So sometimes I’ll throw in some ingredients to each of their bowl bowls. And I’ll have them mix them together. Because they’re they feel like they’re part of the cooking process. Now, obviously, it depends on like I said their age and stage, I’m not going to give these like thickly cut carrots to my two year old Maggie. But I could give them to Ellie who’s almost four, I feel more confident that she knows to bite into them and or not eat them depending on what I’m giving her. So obviously it depends on the stage that they’re at. And you’ll know that based on your kids.

But yeah, getting them part of the cooking process. I do find that really helps because it gives them something to do makes them feel important. And it is important to get them part of the cooking process because this is life. You want them to have those not only skills, but that ideally passion for cooking. And if not passion, just this idea that this is what we do. We feed ourselves, we nourish our bodies. This is how we feel good. So I want my kids to make that connection. So they can stir the ingredients. Sometimes I’ll give them random ingredients to so like some kind of seeds, or nuts that I’m not even incorporating into dinner at all. But it just gives them something to measure out.

They each have spoons, measuring cups, and it’s fun for them. I’ll also so my next tip for you is I’ll put out a snack for them. And so they get to watch me cook while they eat. This is like often what I do. And it’s so helpful because they can get on and off their learning towers themselves. Although Maggie, she’s just learning to climb up. She hasn’t quite learned how to climb off of it. But I just haven’t practiced enough with her. But in any case, it’s so nice because they can have that snack, they can watch me cook. I think that’s an important thing for them to do. And they can eat so win win for all of us!

Set up a game or a toy/toys for them to play with

So luckily for me, my playroom is right in front of my kitchen so I can watch them for the most part. While I’m cooking. I know we don’t all have that ability. But you can always set up the toy or the game in the kitchen as well on the floor on the counter if they have some kind of Learning Tower. And what I like to do is ideally, and obviously this is not possible every day. I totally get it but, what I like to do is have a toy or a game that’s new.

For one that they haven’t seen in a while. So it’s a good idea as a side note, to cycle out your toys and games, because it’s like, Oh, I haven’t seen this in a month, or, you know, two months or whatever, haven’t seen this in a while mum, this one looks fun. And then they go to that toy. Whereas if it’s been sitting in the playroom, or it’s just one that they played with all the time, it’s not as fun and exciting. So if you can switch things up, maybe bring out a new toy every few days, once a week, one that they don’t always mean new one that they haven’t seen in a while. Amazing, highly recommend that.

Put on the tv

And finally, heck, yes, I will put the TV on and stick them in front of it. And yes, they will also have a snack in front of the TV. There’s no shame. I 100% subscribe to this. This belief that this is totally a fine, a good thing for me to do. And sometimes a necessary thing. There’s no guilt, there’s no shame. So they’re either going to be watching quote, unquote, babies on YouTube. Ellie just has always called it babies who want to watch babies. It could mean the Come Play With Me, which is like Ana and Elsa, it could mean Daniel the Tiger, or Daniel Tiger, I should say, it could mean anything kid related on YouTube. Or I’ll put on Little Baby Van, which is Maggie’s favorite on Netflix. And that is fine.

Oftentimes, they’ll go into the family room watching TV, go to the playroom, come to the kitchen, because we’re being realistic, right, they’re not just going to stick to the one thing I’ve set up for them. So they’ll come to the kitchen. Next, maybe they’ll have a snack there. Or maybe they’ll mix a few things there. And then they’ll go back. So it really is a mix of all of the ones I’ve suggested.

And going back to incorporating them into the cooking process. My daughter’s well, especially Maggie, sorry, especially Ellie, my older one. She loves to measure things out. So yeah, and she loves to crack the eggs and stir them, scramble them, maybe let’s do that, too. So wherever you can incorporate them, I know it gets extra messy. I know, it’s now one other thing that you have to clean, believe me, I feel the same way. But I also know it’s important for them. I also know that it’s fun for them. And they’re having fun. That’s the idea. They’re being distracted while I’m cooking. So even though yes, it’s one extra thing for me to clean and to explain to them. I do feel like the benefits outweigh the extra cleaning, for sure.

You have time

Now, I’m going to finish again, because I want to remind you of this point, that when you already know what you’re going to be making, you actually have time to think about how to allow your kids to help you or how to manage them while you’re cooking that food rather than already being stressed about figuring out what to make. And then having the added stress of managing your kids in the kitchen. So when you have that plan when you know you’re already making, when you already know what you’re making, I should say you become more open to having them help out. Having that plan is huge.

So if you want more help with that, plus, if you want to know what the heck should I be making what foods should I focus on? What foods should I be avoiding? Because they slow me down? They make me sluggish they they take away my brain power and my focus. They create hormonal imbalances and give me more mood swings. What are those foods I should be avoiding? How about cravings? I have a lot of them. How do I conquer them once and for all. And you know, having a done for me meal plan would be really helpful, including all three meals plus snack options for seven days, recipes and a shopping list to go with that.

So that’s all included in the new mama nutrition manual. So get your hands on it. Go to bit.ly/newmamas for new mama nutrition manual. I hope this has helped. Let me know if you have any other tips and tricks because we all have them.

Mums of littles. We are forced to create our own tips and tricks. I would love to hear yours. Feel free to DM me on Instagram @lauraannlima and we will chat. You have an amazing week. I will talk to you soon mama.

Thanks for listening to the love and lettuce podcast to find out how to work with me and for more great info Check out newmamanation.com. This is Laura until next time love and lettuce.