Looking for activities for your children? Turn your kitchen into a place of creativity and amaze your children! In this blog, we will explore 5 different ways to spice up recipes with freeze-dried fruit while turning your kitchen time into a fun classroom.
1) Edible Paint for Baking
Let your creativity run wild with edible paint made from freeze-dried fruit; try it for cake decorating and adding design to your latest batch of homemade bread. Blend the fruit with a little water and paint away! You can use a paintbrush to add details to the fondant on a cake. If cake decorating isn’t your thing, paint the top of your bread dough to have an interesting design after baking. The paint can also be used for entertaining the little ones in a non-toxic way while you’re busy in the kitchen.
While cooking, you can teach about mixing colours (for the little ones), what are colours and why we see them (for tweens) and even the names and properties of the fruit pigments (for the teens).
2) Colourful, Kid-Friendly Pasta
No artificial food dye here! Have an imaginative and healthy family dinner with coloured pasta made with freeze-dried fruit. Add a little grinded-up fruit to your dough and get wild with the colour combinations. Stay straightforward with one solid colour or go crazy by making some multicolour noodles. Transforming your noodles from dull to vibrant will be sure to encourage even the pickiest of eaters to finish their plates. This is the perfect opportunity to talk about the benefits of fruits in our diet.
Teach your children about the benefits of a varied diet, how to add colour (and nutrients) to a dish and even mention that the dose makes the poison (eating any food in moderation is good. What we can’t do is eat one specific food all the time).
3) Mocktail Fun
Use freeze-dried fruits to add some creativity to your mocktails and party away with your family. Effortlessly add a slice of your favourite fruit to a juice glass to add a couple of berries to sparkling water and let the flavour come out. It is a great opportunity to let your children learn about mixology ow how to add flavour and decoration to what would be a tasteless drink.
Wanna add education to it? Let’s talk about design, marketing and presentation – why we humans are a visual species and that creating things appealing to the eyes can be more interesting to everyone else, sell more and be considered a high-value item.
4) Vibrant Charcuterie Board
Not a kid's favourite, but it could be a great step in teaching your children about one of the silly pleasures in life and the importance of a varied diet. Impress your family with a colourful and creative charcuterie board by adding some dried fruit. The freeze-dried fruit adds a unique crunch and sweetness to your board! Put your innovation to the test by arranging the fruit in special designs for the occasion, such as a decorated egg for Easter or flowers for Mother’s Day. Add cheese, crackers, pretzels, dips and other toppings to make the boards complete. Don’t forget to snap a pic for the Gram before you chow down!
Yet again, another way to teach children about the importance of a varied diet as well as showcasing how we can eat what we want and still have a healthy lifestyle. Food fear-mongering content is everywhere nowadays and it is important to teach our children to have a healthy relationship with food.
5) DIY Instant Oatmeal
Save yourself some time and effort in the morning with some homemade instant oatmeal. Get inventive by mixing and matching different dried fruits and toppings with instant oats and your choice of sweetener. Store it in an airtight container to keep it fresh. Just pour in some boiling water when you want to eat it and you are ready to go! By being able to control the ingredients, you can make a much healthier and cheaper alternative to commercial instant oatmeal. Some topping options for your oatmeal could be:
● freeze-dried strawberries
● Raspberries
● bananas
● cherries
● powdered peanut butter
● cacao powder
● chia seeds
● hemp hearts
● protein powder
● brown sugar
● Stevia
● cinnamon
As you’ve seen, freeze-dried fruit is versatile and adds uniqueness to many different recipes. Put your imagination to the test by trying these ideas in your future dishes!
Do not forget to bring the classroom to the kitchen and teach your children how important to vary their diets and have some fun while eating and playing with their parents.
For more information on how to teach your children to have a healthy relationship with food, please visit: Healthy eating for parents and children - Canada's Food Guide
For more activities, please visit: Cooking & Food Science STEM Activities for Kids (sciencebuddies.org)
Written by Tynikka Cadle
College of New Caledonia Student
Digital Content Creation Course
Professor Melanie Law
Edited by Nikolas Zetouni
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