Meal Monday: Arroz Con Grandules
We’ve been cooking with a bitty girl in our home since she was a toddler. Now we’re entering the pre-teen years.
This year we’re starting something new in our home that I hope is beneficial to everyone: Meal Mondays! What is meal Monday you may ask? Every Monday my daughter, N (age 10) cooks dinner for the family from start to finish. We started this for a couple of reasons.
N loves to cook and sometimes it’s hard to carve out the time during the week to allow her time in the kitchen. Having a weekly schedule means that we’re more likely to hold to it.
It helps grow important life skills. During my first week in college I called my mom to ask how much water goes in a pot of rice and how much laundry soap in needed in the washer.
We’re working on executive functioning skills. Having a set day a week where N cooks a meal means that she’s aware of the schedule and isn’t surprised. It also means she needs to have her afternoon assignments completed and her room cleaned in order to begin on time.
Over the last 6 weeks, N has learned valuable kitchen skills like sharpening a knife, using a variety of tools (like the food processor), and how to prep for a cooking a meal, a valuable skill I didn’t learn until well into adulthood. This last month she’s been making Arroz con Grandules, a recipe from the Caribbean.
One part of the recipe calls for Sofrito, which is hard to find in stores and is most delicious when you make it yourself.
Ingredients:
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 onion
1 bunch of cilantro 1 head of garlic
Directions:
Roughly chop all ingredients and place in a food processor.
Blend on medium
Store in a jar in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
I hope this inspires you to try something new with your kids in the kitchen!
