NOTE: The following giveaway is open to Canadians only.
When kids learn to cook, they build healthier eating habits for life.
There’s no doubt about this. Developing a respect and appreciation, for both the ingredients and process of seeing a meal through to completion, is paramount for making wise food choices. As a young girl, I loved being “invited” into my mom’s kitchen to learn about foods, discover cultural traditions and of course, sample the ingredients along the way. (Though “licking the bowl” is now considered taboo! Boo hoo!)
Today, I have a young, enthusiastic sous chef who shadows me in the kitchen. Together, we tackle meal planning, work together to prep the meal and often, he’ll help me serve. (He’s great at garnish.)
However, I know that this isn’t the norm; many parents aren’t teaching cooking skills because they lack the confidence to do so. In fact, less than half of Canadian parents feel highly skilled at creating a balanced meal, and even have trouble with the most common kitchen tasks, like seasoning, chopping and pan frying. At the same time, 98% of Canadian parents think it is important to cook with their children.
So, we’ve got a situation where we know it’s important to teach our kids these essential life skills, but we simply don’t have the confidence to carry out the instruction. Here’s where Ben’s Beginners comes in.
Uncle Ben’s believes in getting more families cooking together, because cooking is a life skill as essential as reading and writing. The Ben’s Beginners activities and recipes are a great place to get started; you can find interactive activities that teach basic cooking skills like peeling and stirring, as well as easy and delicious recipes for kids and parents to cook together.
The best part? The meals include family favourites such as Meatballs & Rice, Cranberry Rice Stuffed Pork Chops and more! All of the recipes are extremely easy to follow and include fun online activities (we love the interactive checklist) to keep kids engaged. This past weekend, I summoned my little sous chef and together, we made a savoury Chicken, Broccoli & Rice Casserole.
First, Reid checked to ensure we had all ingredients. The visual prompts are great for children, as it helps them to identify ingredients and keeps them on task. For this particular lesson, the main skill to be practiced was chopping. However, since the recipe called for a fine dice – and that’s a little challenging for a 6-year old – we decided to work on his measurement skills instead. (Remember: an adult is the best person to decide what tasks are appropriate for the child.)
Great job, Reid! You deserve an “A” for effort.
The online lessons allow you to work at your own pace, and even provide a chance for children to develop an awareness for the ingredients they’re using. Reid, being given the task to separate the little heads of broccoli (a perfect job for his little hands!) instantly became curious about the vegetable.
“Can I eat it raw?” he asked. “Go for it,” I replied. “But it tastes better raw with a little ranch dressing!” He sampled it and deciding he wasn’t a fan. C’est la vie!
Do you love to cook with your kids? The Ben’s Beginners Cooking Contest awards three (3) Grand Prize winners $10,000 CAD which may be used towards a Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP)! To enter, simply take a photo of yourself (and your kids!) cooking a rice-based dish and upload it to the contest website.
The contest ends on October 30th, so get cooking!
As for us? Well, we popped the Chicken, Broccoli & Rice Casserole in the oven and cleaned the kitchen while it heated through. In the end, we enjoyed a creamy rice dish – packed with chicken and veggie goodness – which the whole family loved.
The best part: we made it together.
Have I inspired you to cook with your kids? One lucky reader will win an Uncle Ben’s #LookWhatWeMade prize pack valued at $150! The prize pack includes a selection of Uncle Ben’s products, cookware and kitchenware for you to enjoy!
Simply fill the form below with your qualifying entries. Good luck all – and don’t forget to enter the Ben’s Beginners Cooking Contest!
We cook with the grandkids all the time and their favourite dish to make together Fried Salmon and baked potato loaded with peppers and onions and homemade salsa
The girls love making soups with me. I want them to get comfortable cutting and preparing meals from start to finish.
kids love making cookies!
We cook with the kids as much as possible, I have just started teaching my oldest how to use kitchen tools
My kids love helping me in the kitchen. Ages four and five. Mind you I don’t cook much my mother in law does lol. But when I do they love helping me making naan pizzas. Just get naan bread from frozen section and add sauce toppings and baked for ten minutes until bottom is golden brown. So yummy and easy
Lena, thank you for including grandkids! We are just starting to bake cookies together and I have a feeling that by Christmas I will have my own little sous chef! The sky’s the limit! :)
My favourite thing to make with my grandchildren is cookies.
My three little girls LOVE to cook. I think our favourite meal to make together is homemade pizza- they help me prep all the toppings and have blast making their very own pizza!
My granddaughter and I make homemade pizza and banana bread together. She loves to help.
My kid love to help me in the kitchen!
My little guy is still really young to help in the kitchen but he loves to help decorate cookies and other baked goods
My daughter loves baking so we make cookies and cakes together.
Yes, we make chili & cookies
I bake with my daughter often! We like to make cookies.
I love baking cookies with my niece!
My 8 year old LOVES cooking! So much so we read cookbooks as bedtime stories. She’s in healthy cooking school and she enjoys making chilis and my favourite dish she makes is Swedish meatballs but in a patty for a nice juicy burger!
Oh wow this would be an awesome prize to win, when my granddaughter gets a wee bit older she will be helping me out in the kitchen, she loves helping out, but she also likes to be clean she does not like when her hands are dirty!
We cook together and our favorite to make is pizza
I love to bake traditional recipes with my grandchildren that I baked with my grandmother
We love to bake together, cupcakes, muffins, cookies…
The kids love making cookies !
Me and my Grandson love to make cookies and for a meal we love to make Jambalaya its a huge favorite in our home :)
My grandson love to make rice pudding with me.
My kids are always helping in the kitchen ,one of our favourite food to make together is pizza , and we are always baking too ,cookies & cakes
I love to cook with my niece and nephew so much fun, homemade pizza, lasagna and we bake cookies too!
I don’t cook with my kids! but we bake. :)
Chicken and Rice Soup is a favourite here to make when we have little helpers around.
My 5yr old grandson and I love to spend time in the kitchen together. He’s been helping me since he was 3. He loves mixing ingredients and measuring chocolate chips! haha
My grandson loves to help out in the kitchen with the cooking and baking. His favourite thing to make are the gingerbread cookies on Christmas Eve, he likes to decorate a special one for Santa.
We love baking cookies and cupcakes
my son and I bake cookies. he also loves to cook some things with me, he helps me get ingredients and helps with the overall baking and cooking. he really enjoys it
I love cooking with my kids. My daughter’s favorite dish that we make together is Shepards Pie.
This looks like something fun to do with my grandsons !
Homemade pizzas!
My daughters love to help bake cookies and help make pizza.
We love to make rice krispie squares, Uncle Ben’s rice and hotdogs.
I love cooking with the grandchildren. They love helping me make carrot cake.
Always cook pizza with my nieces and nephews when they come to visit!
With my niece and nephew we like to make cookies together.
We love to bake cookies and make pizza.
My grandkids & I make banana muffins
I think it is important to cook with kids, letting them get to know food.
Cream of mushroom soup with tuna and rice are the best comfort food ever
We love to bake together and make homemade pizzas.
Yes, we make cookies or cake :)
We’ve just started cooking more with the kids helping. Our favorite is making pizza…they love getting the toppings ready.
I try to cook with my oldest, most of the time it just ends up with her sitting at the island playing on her tablet. She is autistic so it’s hard to get her to do certain things but when it comes to cookies she seems quite interested lol
I loved cooking and baking with my daughters! Now I get to visit their homes for dinner! Great payoff!
I cooked with my kids and now I cook with my grandkids! My girls loved baking cookies of all kinds and my grandchildren are partial to making tacos and individual pizzas!
I love cooking with my kids. It gets them interested in the food. We love baking cookies and lasagna together.
We love to make all kinds of cookies and mini muffins! Yum!
We make Jello together. It’s fast and easy, just how I like my well nvm.
Love baking cookie and muffins with my niece.
I did the occasional baking with my cousins making cookies or muffins.
I have been volunteering with Growing Chefs for years, and love teaching the kids how to prepare healthy meals. The best thing to make with them is a veggie stir fry!
The girls believe in eating healthy so a nice piece of salmon and sauteed vegetables.
I like to bake – as a kid, i loved making cheese buns with my grandma.
We love to make pancakes!
I cook with my grandkids – I turn a blind eye to the mess.
we enjoy making mac n cheese and chocolate brownies
we enjoy making desserts, like cookies, and cupcakes, or homemade pizza, together.
I used to always make pizza and cookies with my son when he was smaller. :)
It would have to be homemade pizza for the win! ‘U nephews love to sprinkle the cheese on top and make smiley faces with the pepperoni
Uncle Ben’s Rice is our first choice for dinner because it”s easier, convient & faster. Better than peeling potatoes & boiling a big pot of water for pasta.
Sophie helps me cook all the time.Her favourite thing to make is chicken pot pie.
My kids both are good at cooking. My son played a lot of hockey. I would get him to start supper when he had a game or practice in the night.
I love cooking with my nephew. He really loves to bake cookies!
My kids and I use to love making cabbage roll guts ( they didn’t like cabbage but they loved the guts)
I cook with my kids. We like making sushi together. Tacos are also a good one. They’re our favourites for team cooking because there are lots of jobs to do so we can all have a job.
I make spaghetti and cookies with my great-nephew.
We make mini pizzas in which they creat their own toppings.
I cook with my kids! Our favourite thing to make is pizza!
I like to bake cookies with my little grandson!
We like baking cookies and making smoothies and a mexican shephard’s pie together.
I do cook with my kids. I try to get them involved with dinner, and especially baking.
It would be terrific to win
an Uncle Ben’s #LookWhatWeMade prize pack.
In response to your questions of
Do you cook with your kids or grandkids?
What is your favourite dish to make together?
I don’t have any children but i like to
bake Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookies
with my niece.
Thank you for having this giveaway.
we love cooking together. we make a lot of different kinds of casseroles
My son is 7 and he loves to help me in the kitchen.
We like making chicken pie and baking cakes.
Lots of baking together!
I cook with my niece! She is a vegetarian so we cook lots of stir frys and crock pot veggie meals!
We love cooking together. Our favourite thing to make is pizza!
We make pizzas together
No. Maybe… toast.
Our favorite dish to make together is homemade mac n’ cheese, my kids love it!
My grand-daughter and I make cakes cookies,pasta, lasagna together
I cook with my niece and nephews. Our favorite is home made pizza! :)
I love baking with my niece and nephews but cookies are our specialty
We love to make homemade pizzas and tacos.
We like to make mini pizzas with everyone’s favourite toppings and stir frys
My 9 year old has just started to show interest in helping me in the kitchen, and he likes to help no matter what I make. His favourite is to help me make banana bread, and to help me make soup (adding in the vegetables, stirring, etc).
I cook with my kids all the time. Our favourite thing to make is pizza.
We make rice krispie squares
I love to cook with my grandchildren. We usually make and decorate sugar cookies or make fun foods like tacos or pizza.
We just started teaching our girls how to help in the kitchen.
They love anything they get to ‘help’ with the stove.
I love to cook but unfortunately my daughter doesn’t enjoy it as much. I’m afraid that when she ventures out on her own, she’s gonna be enjoying her meals from fast food establishments.
I cook with my God Daughter and we like to bake and make pasta dishes
peanut butter cookies are our favourite thing to make together
I don’t have children or grandchildren but if I did, we’d make cookies
I would love to work in the kitchen with kids! Just don’t have any yet
We live in an older home with a tiny hobbit sized kitchen so the kids and I don’t cook much together from lack of room!
I love to cook with my kids. Our favorite thing to make is macaroni casserole
I don’t have kids to cook with, but when I was little I loved to make muffins with my grandma :)
I bake with the girls..they aren’t fans of cooking
My little cousins love making meatballs!
Yes we do love cooking and baking together, and our favorite dish to make together is pizza
My nieces love to bake Christmas treats
they always help for any baked goods, its their favourite but they also love to do homemade pizza’s and help cook tacos
My daughter only has an interest in baking and we love to make cupcakes and muffins.
We used to love baking and decorating cookies.
Your little man is the most precious thing!! We like to make mac and cheese and muffins!
I used to bake cookies with my godchild.
Home made bread
The kids love to help out in the kitchen. Out favourite dish to make is fried rice
We make cookies!
I have made pancakes with my son… he’s pretty young still, so not much cooking.. yet!
I don’t get get to cook with my grandkids but I do with little one and she helps me make lunch each day.
My granddaughter loves making cookies and cakes so when we get together there’s usually sweets around.
My baby is too young to help, so he watches me as I cook! I love cooking with my niece – we enjoy making cookies together!
We like to make sushi
WE like to cook chicken fried rice,with Uncle Ben’s.
Me and my daughter love to cook chili and bake cake together.
We love to make cookies and banana bread together.
I love to bake with my niece and nephews. I think it is great having them in the kitcben learning at a young age. I have to try the recipe you and your son made. It looks delicious. Thank you for the chance. I would love to cook a home made meal for my family. this would be the perfect starter kit. @silvananiro
my nieces love to bake cookies when they are over
baking cookies. thanks
yes I love baking and cooking with kids
one of our faves is lasagna rollups.
I love cooking as well as baking with the grandkids, they have their weekend sleepovers every week. On Sat we make their favorite, homemade pasta & meat balls then bake for a night time snack!
My girl loves to help out in the kitchen! Pasta is always a favorite!
When my niece is over she loves to help me cook and bake. Cookies are her favourite because she likes rolling them into balls. She also likes zesting lemons and limes with me because she thinks they smell really good.
My Mom always cooked with me when I was little! We used to make all sorts of things together, especially dinner, spare ribs and fried rice!
We love making food together.
Yes, I do cook with my kids. Our favourite thing to make together is apple crisp because my boys love using the peeler!
Baking with kids is always fun to enjoy the finished products!
Yes love to cook with the grand kids. they love to make and decorate cookies.
My son loves cooking with me !
Stir fries are fun and easy.
We enjoy making pizzas.
I make cookies with my niece, that’s about all though.
I don’t cook with my kids but we usually bake things together, like cookies, cakes and muffins
I mostly bake with my kids rather than cook meals with them. Our favourite thing to make is my Grandma’s banana muffin recipe. We also love to make pumpkin pie (it’s always one of our items we contribute to the Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners), and bake cookies.
cookies are the favorite around here!
love making rice krispies squares, our fave!!!
My girls love to bake with me. They like to measure the dry ingredients and crack the eggs. My little one likes it when she mixes the ingredients together and I let her lick the paddle after.
We like to make cookies!
I cook with my mum– we bake, usually brownies!
I love to bake with my kids – we make cookies and cakes!
Yes I do and we love making chocolate chip cookies together.
WE LOVE TO COOK WE MAKE COOKIES PIES
We have a tradition at Christmas, my nieces and nephews and I make smartie cookies!
I often bake and cook with my daughter, she loves mixes and adding ingredients, she also likes to taste test hahaha
we are teaching both our boys to cook. the eldest is learning to BBQ and the youngest has started with peeling the veggies for stir fries for now.
Yes, I cooked with our kids. No grandchildren to cook with yet. We would make cakes and cookies together.
we love making cookies and pizzas together
Yes, we cook together, mostly pasta and baking!
We bake cookies together, I mostly supervise while they cook though and give them pointers.
They help with baking mostly and pizza assembly
Yes, I do.
My boys and I cook together sometimes. After school can be a bit chaotic with homework and activities, so most of the time our cooking time happens on the weekends. My six year old likes to help the most and his signature dish is “Kyle Eggs.” :)
love making pizza with my kids
My 4 year old likes to help me make pancakes and cookies.
We love to make individual pizza’s as well as bake cookies.
We like to bake muffins
We love making pancakes together, and salads!
I cook with my kids… And rice with Stirfry !
We love to make pizza, and do lots of baking!
i love to make banana bread with my son
We like to make cookies.
My son loves making pesto with me because he gets to pick the basil leaves off our plants in the garden & watch the blender blend everything together.
We love making stir fry…everyone helps out.
We don’t cook that much together but when we do it is usually cookies or snacks.
Love cooking with kids.. Always a fresh prespective with lots of joy if more clean up!
I love to cook with my daughter. We cook and bake many things but our favorite is fried rice with bacon.
I cook and bake with my sons, it is a great way to stay connected, talk about the day and teach them culinary skills, i love it!
Love cooking, one day will do so with my kids for sure!
My kids love to cook with me, vegan burger is a fav!
we do cook together, we love to make pork chops and rice together
We usually bake together, but cooking a rice based casserole is a great idea to branch out.
Love baking cookie and muffins
We like to bake cakes together
Always an adventure cooking with kids. Cookies, preferably with chocolate chips tend to be a favourite around here!
I try and cook with my little one at least once a week.
I love cooking and baking with the kids because they are such natural comedians and such fun.We love making pizza together and baking cakes.They are great with decorating them as well.
Definitely NOT as often as I would like to. But we do love to make our homemade pizzas with whatever we want on it.
We cook all the time with Uncle Bens in particular cassaroles
We love to make homemade turkey vegetable soup….lots of prep but always worth it.
No, my son is still too young to help with cooking. At the moment he just likes trying on our oven mitts and stands aside. I have a feeling it won’t be long before he becomes my little helper.
We love making stir fries. Lots of veggies on a bed or noodles or rice.
Yes, we like deviled eggs and mac n cheese. They really enjoy helping with sweets as well.
I cooked with all my kids but my daughter, who is my youngest loves cooking/baking and does it all (almost) herself!!
I cook with my daughter and we make cajun fettucine together and also jambalaya, of course with Uncle Ben’s Rice
I don’t have kids but when my niece was younger she loved to help me bake cookies.
I cook with my kids often. We love making homemade pizza
We’ve only really made pizza together for a meal. We bake together often though, lots of cookies.
My girls love making cookies and smoothies with Mommy :).