National Geographic Kids Cook Book review

We received a copy of the book for review purposes and are a National Geographic Kids Insider for 2014.  All thoughts are our own.  No stunt cooking was involved in the post. I cook most of the food for the family, but I’m not really a cook.  I’m good at experimenting in the kitchen at things with things that, most of the time tastes great.  I sometimes don’t follow the recipes….so when things fall flat it’s usually my fault.   However, since our sons see me cooking I know that I should be using recipes, at least until they’re old enough to experiment on their own.  Our oldest has latched onto what he calls ‘my cook book’, which in reality is the National Geographic Kids Cook Book.

This is not a book of recipes that only kids will like.  Rather, it’s a book of recipes that anybody will like, with simplified ingredients and steps.  So, is this a simple cooking book for adults or an introduction to cooking book for children?  You decided, either way we’ve tried a handful of recipes from the book all with great success.

All of the recipes are broken down by what month they’re most appropriate.  In addition to the recipes the months have crafts, eco tips or other things to help mom or dad in the kitchen.

We do an adequate job in teaching our children about different foods.  Personally, I never had a blueberry or raspberry until I was a father.  Our children are already knee deep in all of the berries, tofu, sea weed and all manner of healthy foods.  I remember when I was in the 2^nd or 3^rd grade taking a kiwi to school and exclaiming this is a ‘kee-wee’ from New  Zealand.  I was sure to say the name of the fruit slow, just in case the kids didn’t understand me as I taught them this new and exotic thing.  Yeah, our kids won’t be doing that.

It’s a simple thing, but our oldest loves making smoothies.  He gets out the book every time we make them and turns to the page.  He’ll act frustrated when he can’t find it, blame his brother and then go to the month of May where he’ll find it.  Note to my son:  there is also a glossary in the back where you can look by the name.

He puts all of the ingredients into the blender, dumps the yogurt, juice and turns the blender on.  He is incredibly proud of himself when he does this and beams from ear to ear.

Here’s the thing….it’s a smoothie.  It’s simple to make and virtually impossible to mess up, but he loves doing it and it’s giving him confidence in the kitchen and making him more open to trying new things.  For a while he was so enthusiastic about cooking that he’d take the book with us to the grocery store.  Witness the photo below where he was frantically trying to tell me that we needed more fruit for the fruit salad.

Young adults will be able to use the National Geographic Kids Cook Book on their own without much assistance.  It’s important to state that the book doesn’t pander or talk down to them.  Most of the meal recipes are 4-6 steps and include everything needed including how many it will serve.

As with all things National Geographic the illustrations are big, they tell a story and help make reading the book effortless.