The Associated Press

The Spatulatta sisters, better known as Isabella and Olivia Gerasole, learned to make delicate pizzelle cookies from their grandmother, Hawaiian salads from their mother and acquired a love of all foods Italian from their dad.

They also learned how to turn all that quality kitchen time into a budding culinary career, with a cookbook and a James Beard Award-winning Web site to their credit. All by the age of 13 and 11.

“Your parents are the ones who teach you to have domestic abilities,” said the eldest, Isabella, as the siblings sat in their suburban Chicago kitchen after making basil pesto and caprese salad. “It’s a fun way to spend time with family, family history and family culture.”

In an era when many parents struggle just to get dinner on the table, never mind involve the kids in the prep, the Gerasole sisters are an enviable example of the difference a little stove time with the little ones can make.

Research repeatedly has shown children eat healthier foods, are more confident and learn valuable life and academic skills when they cook with their families. So for on-the-go parents looking to get cooking with their kids, the experts offer some easy advice.

Start by embracing the fact that they are children. Mistakes will happen, says Food Network host Guy Fieri.

“You can’t do everything for a kid in cooking and expect them to get the whole experience,” he said. “Yes, there’s the potential they’re going to drop the cookie sheet, but we’ve got to let them be involved.”

Fieri, who makes pizza and popcorn with his two young sons, urges parents to be cautious with kids in the kitchen but also give them enough freedom to make the experience meaningful. This includes involving them in decisions of what to make.

Barbara Beery, a kids cooking expert and president of the Batter Up Kids cooking school in Austin, Texas, said parents need to make sure their children are given age-appropriate tasks that won’t be too hard.

“If it’s too difficult it’s going to defeat the purpose,” Beery said.

She said 2-year-olds can scrub food clean, 3-year-olds can put toppings on a pizza or decorate cookies, 4-year-olds can crack eggs over a bowl or spread peanut butter with small spatulas and 5-year-olds can measure ingredients, stir with spoons or knead dough.

Choosing recipes wisely is key, Beery said. She suggests recipes that are simple to put together, have fewer ingredients, quick preparation and fast finish time. Parents also should have something to occupy children, a coloring book or games, while they’re waiting for the dish to cook.

Tanya Wenman Steel, editor-in-chief of recipe site Epicurious.com and co-author of “Real Food for Healthy Kids,” said parents should manage their kitchen time for efficiency and organization. Plan a night for cooking with the children so you aren’t trying to jam it in on busier days. She suggests making two or three dishes together on Sunday that can be leftover lunch and dinner the rest of the week.

“A roast chicken on Sunday can be lunch Monday,” she said. “A casserole type of food or a stew always tastes better the next day. You can keep up every day by doing something for the next day.”

More tips from Steel: Children can toss a big bag of lettuce from the grocer with olive oil and vinegar for a ready-made side dish. And they can microwave a baked potato or sweet potato and pair it with light sour cream. Younger children can make a simple dessert of fruit and ice cream.

Bridget Swinney, a registered dietitian, family eating expert and author of “Baby Bites,” a book about feeding babies and toddlers, said children love making dishes that include toppings, like pizza, tacos or pancakes. Parents can set out ingredients and let children decide what to add, she said.

“That’s when it’s really fun for kids to experiment and let their imagination go,” Swinney said.

Beery suggests parents put ingredients in muffin tins or other small containers that fit kid-sized hands. She also said while parents don’t have to buy kids cooking sets, kid-friendly smaller utensils do make cooking easier for children. And they enjoy having their own tools.

“They have to have appropriately sized tools to be able to manipulate them,” Beery said. “If they don’t, they’re not going to be able to do it.”

And don’t forget, children can help clean up, too. Beery suggests giving children their own colored sponges and having them wipe up as they go along. She also said setting out a scrap bowl for items like vegetable peels and extra pieces of dough can cut down on messes.

As for advice for the kids? Try to ignore how unhip your parents are.

“Parents can be a little bit embarrassing at times,” said Isabella Gerasole. “Maybe you don’t want to spend so much time with them sometimes. But really, they love you and they care about you. So it’s important. Spend some time with them by cooking with them in the kitchen.”

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Try out the following healthy, vegetable heavy recipes with your kids.

Rachael Ray described this offering to a 5-year-old tester as “a dream, rich, simple and delish.” It’s also easy to make and is loaded with 3 pounds of spinach and chard. That’s a lot. The kid agreed it was good. Except for the 3 pounds of greens.



Broken Florentine lasagna bake

Start to finish: 1 hour (15 minutes active)

Servings: 4

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter

4 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 cups milk

Salt and ground black pepper, to taste

Ground nutmeg, to taste

1 1/2 cups grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, divided

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 garlic clove, cracked

1 bunch green chard, stems removed and leaves roughly chopped

2 pounds spinach, tough stems removed and leaves roughly chopped

12-ounce box no-boil lasagna noodles

Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium saucepan over medium, melt the butter. Sprinkle the flour over the melted butter and cook for about 1 minute. Slowly whisk the milk into the butter-flour mixture, then season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Let the milk mixture heat and thicken a couple of minutes, then stir in about 1 cup of the Parmigiano-Reggiano. Set the sauce aside.

In a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high, heat the olive oil. Toss in the garlic clove and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the chard and wilt it down, about 2 minutes, then add the spinach, a few handfuls at a time as they wilt down. Season with salt and pepper.

Break the pasta sheets into large pieces. Toss them into the skillet and give them a good stir to incorporate them with the greens. Pour the sauce into the skillet, stirring again to evenly mix. Smooth the top down and sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of Parmigiano-Reggiano over it.

Cover the skillet with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil, then bake for another 15 minutes to brown the cheese.

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Holly Smith, a contestant on Food Network’s “The Next Iron Chef,” praises this vinegary tomato and bread soup as being the perfect kid food — they can get their hands messy while mashing the bread into the tomatoes.

That may be the case, but the 5-year-old tester still wouldn’t touch it. He doesn’t like tomatoes. His loss. It was delicious.



Papa al pomodoro

Start to finish: 20 minutes

Servings: 6

2 pounds tomatoes, cored and chopped

2 to 3 slices ciabatta, torn or cut into small chunks

1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic

2 tablespoons kosher salt

1 to 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper (to taste)

1 to 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 to 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

In a large non-reactive bowl, combine the tomatoes and bread. Set aside.

In a saute pan over medium, combine the olive oil and garlic. Cook, stirring often, until the garlic turns just golden. Remove the pan from the heat and stir into the tomatoes and bread.

Season with 1 tablespoon of the salt and the cayenne. Use your hands to mix and work the ingredients until uniformly chunky smooth. Add 1 tablespoon each of the balsamic and sherry vinegars. Mix well, then taste. Add more vinegar if desired. While mixing, discard any excess tomato skins.

Adjust seasonings, then mix in the basil. Serve at room temperature. If desired, drizzle with additional olive oil.