Cooking with Books ~ a fun way to have a kids cooking class!

[Today we have a guest post called Cooking with Books from homeschool mom of 2, Naomi Bieda, who loves reading and home cooking!]

Cooking with Books

I have learned a lot in my 10 years of homeschooling . . . one important lesson I have learned is that kids love to eat and most kids love to cook!  It may have been one of the biggest learning curves I had as a new homeschooling Mom is how much more cooking was involved in this new endeavor. 

I joined a local co-op our 2nd year of homeschooling and decided (or maybe was softly encouraged!) to teach a cooking class.  Since I have always loved to cook even as a young child, and reading is also a passion, I combined the two and came up with a class called “Cooking With Books!”  I would read a story at the beginning of class and then we would cook or bake something we read about.  

Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through affiliate links in this post.

Strawberry Shortcakes with Cook-A-Doodle-Doo

One of my absolute favorite children’s book is entitled Cook-A-Doodle-Doo! and it was definitely the favorite book of the class but not necessarily the favorite meal (I will tell you the favorite meal though later!) 

In this book, The Little Red Hen’s grandson decides he needs to quit settling for food and start cooking.  The recipe the barnyard animals make is Strawberry Shortcake so we made the fast version in our class since I only had one hour to read and bake/cook.  The children were able to cut up strawberries as part of learning to work safely with knives.

After we were done eating our creation, I went around filling their mouths with whipped topping I had purchased in a can as requested. They absolutely loved this!  

Tacos with Dragons Love Tacos

Another favorite was Dragons Love Tacos where we made tacos that day.  The children learned to shred cheese and took turns stirring the ground beef.  If there was measuring involved, I made sure to let each take a turn learning how to measure.  Each child also got an opportunity to dice tomatoes and cut lettuce.

“Eggs and Bacon” with Jack and the Baked Beanstalks

There are so many books you can use that are so fun to read. Another favorite of the class was Jack and the Baked Beanstalk where we made “eggs and bacon.”

Here’s how to make them!

Melt white chocolate, place two small pretzels rods on wax paper, place a dollop of the melted white chocolate over the pretzels, then add a yellow M&M for the “yolk”.  Super fun!

Thanksgiving Food with Cranberry Thanksgiving

At Thanksgiving time, we read a book about Thanksgiving. Any book will do, but here are two great ones: Cranberry Thanksgiving by Devlin and An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving by Alcott.

I had cooked a turkey breast at home which I brought to the class, but the children made mashed potatoes, corn, Stove Top stuffing, and canned cranberry sauce. That was their favorite meal, and one boy even stated “It’s the best Thanksgiving dinner I’ve ever had!”  

I hope this has inspired you to give this idea a try. Have you done Cooking with Books with some other books or recipes? Be sure to share in a comment below.

Free Knife Skills Class for “Cooking with Books”

Click here for the free Knife Skills Class that would go perfectly when you’re doing your cooking with books activities!

If you want to go even further in learning to cook with your kids, you might enjoy the Kids Cook Real Food ecourse!

Related Posts:

• • Homemade Tortillas with Josefina Cookbook
  • Eat Your Homework: Recipes to Make to do Math With
  • Empanadas with the Josefina Unit Study
  • Resurrection Rolls for Easter

Elementary Homeschool Giveaway:

(Update: Giveaway is now over.)

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