‘Cooking with kids? Just accept it’s going to be a mess in the kitchen’

Image: Mariët Mons and private property

“As a student I shared an apartment with my friend Elise. Even then we liked to cook, come up with recipes and spot nice restaurants. About twelve years ago, food blogs were just emerging and we decided to launch one too: Chickslovefood. Actually as a hobby, we did it in our spare hours. But unexpectedly our site grew very fast in a short time. Then we decided to go for it.

We have now published twelve cookbooks and a team of sixteen people around us, six of whom are employed by us. That took some getting used to: suddenly I was also ‘the boss’. I gradually had to learn to manage, also with the help of a coach. I found it difficult to address employees about things that I did not like or liked, while that is of course also part of entrepreneurship.

Easy recipes

Our success is largely due to our ‘5 or less’ pillar, in other words tasty dishes that you can make with five or fewer ingredients. That concept turned out to be a bull’s eye. A big misconception about healthy cooking is that it is difficult or takes a lot of time. With this we show that that is nonsense, you can just as easily make a lasagna without packages or bags. When devising recipes, we also take into account what our visitors want. Dishes with sweet potato, halloumi or oatmeal are always a hit. And our spring roll cake remains a stunner.

Also read – Having a child help in the kitchen: these are fun (and safe) chores per age >

Cooking together

Our new book Kids love cooking will be out soon, with recipes that you can make with your children. To be honest, I sometimes find it quite irritating to cook with my sons. The flour ends up on the floor and the eggs drip from the counter. But when you let that go and accept that it’s just going to be a mess, then it’s so much fun letting kids cook. Those proud faces are of course fantastic to see. And for me it is another great lesson in being patient.”

This article appears in Kek Mama 09-2022.

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