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One of my cooking dreams came true the other day: Eliana and I officially cooked together for the first time! Yay! Over the last many months, she has certainly spent time in the kitchen with me while I cook, but she hasn’t really been so engaged in the process. But, now that she has a big step stool that lets her stand at counter height, she can get in on the action!

This little moment represents another piece in my process of creating a teeny tiny foodie: Get your little foodie into the kitchen while you cook. Find a way for the little one to be at counter height so they can see, and even be part of, the action. Even if she simply plays with toys at the counter, being in the cooking environment is all part of the experience.

•  If your little foodie wants to be involved in the action? Dole out tasks he can do safely, such as:
• -Helping you mix or stir ingredients
• -Washing produce
• -Sampling ingredients along the way (safety permitting, of course)

Have you come up with ways to get your little foodie involved in cooking? PLEASE SHARE your ideas in the comments section below!

Mixing dry ingredients for beet pancakes.

Woohoo! Raw yams rock!

Happy Cooking with your Little Foodie!

And just for fun, here’s a photo history of “cooking” with my teeny tiny foodie over the last year:

In January 2012 when she started eating solids, Eliana hung out on the counter in the Bumbo seat while I cooked or even when I fed her. (I know, I know, not at all safe.)

“Snacking” on some bread

Once she got stronger and could get herself out of the Bumbo seat, there were months when she didn’t cook with me at all. (Sad, sad, Mommy).  Instead, she  began to come into the kitchen to do gross things like lick the items in the recycling bin. Blech!

I think I can get there before she grabs me!

After a while, she began to come into the kitchen and hang out on the floor and play while I cooked. Sometimes she played with ingredients…

Why would life give me lemons?

And sometimes she played with tools…

What are these things for?

Then all of a sudden, the little chef wanted to cook, too! I tried to harness her cooking curiosity and let her actually see what was going on.

What’s cookin’, Mommy?

Which brings me to today: Cooking with my teeny tiny foodie!

So this is how the magic happens!

Here’s the recipe for our Apple Muffins.

Want to see a couple of videos from when we cooked apple muffins? Check them out below:

Mommy’s Sous Chef

I Want to Help!

I’ll be uploading more to our new YouTube channel:

teeny tiny foodie on YouTube! Check it out!

Here are more recipes that we’ve cooked together and more examples of how Eliana’s been helping out since December 2012.

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