Sous Chef Zack

Zack loves to help me cook. Anytime I'm making anything it always, "what are you making?" I reply with ______. Zack says, "Oh, I can help you!" Depending on what I'm making, I let him help. If I intend on baking, I prep everything ahead of time and ask him to help. I'm not sure but it attribute his passion for cooking to being a clingy baby. For the first 12 months of his life I had to cook dinner one-armed (Zack in the other.) Trying to follow what all the baby-books say, I'd tell him what I was doing step by step. After awhile (meaning when my chubby baby got too heavy), I would let Zack sit on the counter in front of me as I prepared dinner/lunch/breakfast or baked something. I also believe this is why he's very good around the stove and oven.
Now that Zack is bigger, Zack has a chair that he pulls up to the counter and stand on. I've been looking for a child-size apron for him to wear when we cook (hint hint to grandma's reading this) but can't find one locally. Of course I've seen them on the internet, I've just been putting it off. I did however finally get him a little play kitchen.

In the photo above, I was making meatballs. I put on gloves when it came time to mix and form the meatballs. Zack wanted to help and asked to have gloves on too! Now whenever I cook something, he asks for gloves on.

On a side note: Today, as I started making lunch for the boys, I got side-tracked and started prepping for dinner, which turned into cooking meals and making snacks for the week. As I was slicing red peppers and grating carrots, I realized that I'm a foodie. This isnt exactly a new realization, I've always loved to cook and bake. But what I came up with today is the desire to share my passion and love for cooking. That means a new blog just for my culinary concoctions. I'll share any cool new tips I come across, recipes or ideas on how to sneak those veggies into meals without the fam realizing!
http://parmesan-cilantro.blogspot.com/