Ben’s Beginners – Getting kids in the kitchen

Ever since they were big enough to sit on the kitchen sides, the girls have loved to help me bake cakes and cook our meals. There are always tasks that they can help with no matter how old, from helping to mix the cake mix, to chopping and peeling veg, to baking all by themselves now they are bigger. I’ll be honest – it’s great having kiddos big enough to pop in the kitchen and whip up some cakes, cheese straws or a quick lunch!

Speedy Biryani  bens beginners

Ben’s Beginners have teamed up with the Children’s Food Trust for the Big Cookathon 2015, encouraging families and children to learn how to cook together at home. They challenged us to cook up a Speedy Biryani that has been developed by BBQ extraordinaire DJ BBQ. Ben’s Beginners is a family cooking channel, full of recipes for children that are simple to make.

Miss Kiki joined me for cooking this dish, and she decided that she wanted peas and sweetcorn in the curry alongside the chicken.

I N G R E D I E N T S

1 Jar Uncle Ben’s korma sauce
500g cooked rice
2 chicken breasts
1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup peas
1/2 cup sweetcorn

kids in the kitchen ben's beginners

#bensbeginners

M E T H O D

1// Cook your rice and put to one side. 2// chop your chicken into bite sized pieces 3// heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan, add the chicken and cook for 5 mintues until it turns white on all sides 4// add in your jar of curry sauce, veg and rice 4// cook on a low heat for around 20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through

use what veg you like/have on hand – tomatoes, chopped onion and green beans are a good mix! Garnish with hard boiled eggs {if you remember to cook them first!} and a sprinkling of chopped corriander.

speedy biriani

Kiki managed this pretty much by herself, with just a little help on checking the chicken was cooked through… she even said it tasted as good as the curry from the takeaway so it was a definite winner! Do your kids love helping out in the kitchen?

kiki cooking

kids in the kitchen

6 Comments

  1. Kathryn

    March 7, 2015 at 12:23

    It’s great to get the kids in the kitchen learning to cook. Kiki looks like she did really well x

  2. Gill Crawshaw

    March 7, 2015 at 13:47

    It’s such a great idea to get kids in the kitchen to help you from the start. Eliza really loves cooking, and I’m trying to involve her – even if it’s her ‘chopping’ things for me or helping tip / pour things. Love that yours are now old enough to whip things up for you – all that hard work paying off! x

  3. Jess @ Along Came Cherry

    March 8, 2015 at 18:04

    I’m looking forward to when Cherry can help me with the cooking, and even more to when she can actually cook dinner on her own ;) x

    1. Jess @ Along Came Cherry

      March 8, 2015 at 18:10

      No idea why it’s showing this really old Gravatar photo!! It’s from four years ago, weird!!

  4. Vicky

    March 8, 2015 at 19:13

    I love having the kids in baking with me – cooking meals is a bit different though; I’m not the best cook in the world and tend to get easily flustered! I love the idea of teaching more kids to cook though, such a worthwhile skill.

  5. katie albury

    March 9, 2015 at 11:41

    This looks so yummy and I love how easy it sounds to make! I’m such a dragon in the kitchen…even as a Nanny I hate mess and I know I’m going to have to lighten up even more so with baby albury on the way! eek! x

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