Cooking with Kids: Sloppy Turkey Joes
I pulled a fast one on my kids this week. “Guess what?” I said. “Tonight, it’s your job to cook dinner!”
My Daughter: “Hooray! Let me get my apron!”
My Son (incredulously): “What? Mom, that’s your job. And SpongeBob is on right now.”
“Nope,” I said, with a smile. “Tonight, we’re changing the rules and you are reponsible for making dinner.”
Reluctantly, my son turned off the TV and joined us in the kitchen to make Rachel Ray’s Sloppy Turkey Joes.
I love Rachel’s recipes for kids because they are written especially for kids. Also, she leaves nothing out. For example, this recipe begins with telling your kids how exactly to open a package of ground turkey. And what to do if your hands actually touch the turkey (Answer: Go wash them!)
The ingredients for this recipe score well on the NuVal scale:
After my son (who was in charge of reading the recipe), opened up the package of ground turkey, my daughter browned it:
I was right there to make sure she did not get burned!
My son measured the ingredients for Rachel’s “Special Sauce”
And my daughter mixed it up. She loves to mix.
You can see the exact instructions (again, written so well for kids) on the Rachel Ray site here. We paired it with the recommended celery sticks and carrots sticks but we also added our favorite French fries: Cascadian Farms Organic Shoestring Fries (NuVal score: 81).
In keeping with the theme of Role Reversal, the kids sat in Mom & Dad’s seats at the table. And the Sloppy Turkey Joes were enjoyed by all.
It’s interesting to note that I first made this recipe about 2 years ago and the kids did not like it then. This week, they gobbled them up. And they thought that it was sooooooooo funny to eat something “sloppy.” So, I guess it is true. If you keep trying new foods, your kids will eventually eat them.
Honestly, it probably would have been easier, faster, and way less messy to let the kids continue watching SpongeBob and just make the Sloppy Turkey Joes myself. But I am hoping that there will be a day when I will say, “Your turn to make dinner!” and it will magically appear on the table. We’ll get there!
Posted by: Melissa 10 comments
Posted in: Cooking with Kids
Tags: Sloppy Turkey Joes
on Mar 26th, 2010 at 9:45 am
That’s great that you are teaching your kids to cook at such a young age! I only remember helping bake cookies, but not too often, although my mom didn’t have the time to cook back then. Rachel Ray is just the best!
on Mar 26th, 2010 at 10:53 am
Those look wonderful! I love sloppy joes and turkey!
P.S. Kiddos are adorable!
on Mar 26th, 2010 at 10:58 am
I always wondered about the best way to open a package of ground turkey . . . oh the things I learn from your blog!
on Mar 26th, 2010 at 2:53 pm
This sounds absolutely delicious!! May I suggest one additional ingredient which not only will add even more richness to the ground turkey but will also drive up the nutritional value and NUVAL score even higher…..ground up cooked lentils!! it’s delicious nutritious and one of my favorite ingredient to “hide” into my special dishes. The kids also LOVE them hidden in turkey burgers and turkey meatloaf too. I am Dr David Katz’s wife (he invented the ONQI on which NUVAL is based) and we have 5 kids so we love what you’re doing. Your blog is just wonderful!
on Mar 26th, 2010 at 2:59 pm
Love the pics! Busy Mom’s are great at teaching kids to cook! We learned at such young ages too, and now are great cooks!
on Mar 26th, 2010 at 3:03 pm
super cute and yes maybe someday they will be serving mom in bed!
on Mar 26th, 2010 at 3:06 pm
Catherine -
Thank you for the wonderful suggestion. I just bought some cooked lentils from Trader Joe’s so I will try it! Thanks for the kind words as well!
Melissa
on Mar 26th, 2010 at 4:51 pm
I am one of those people who love Rachael Ray all around but I think the work she is doing with cooking with kids and the fight against childhood obesity is amazing!
on Mar 30th, 2010 at 11:05 am
Love the recipe. Nice alternative to ground beef. Love the chefs, looks like they work well together.
on May 21st, 2010 at 10:54 am
Great story, and its a great way to get kids to enjoy eating healthy and appreciating good food.
I think you and your kids might really like WAT-AAH. They are making it “fun” and “cool” for kids to drink water instead of sodas and sugary drinks. My kids love the colorful bottles and funny videos that wat-aah posts online.
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=BC3796CB622E57BB