I was on a group text with two of my out-of-town friends when Raddish, a cooking club for kids, came up. I was trying some online kids cooking classes with the kids but it was slow going. Intrigued by my friends’ cooking escapades, I decided to try it.
I am a big believer in teaching kids to cook. I consider it one of the life skills children need to learn to grow up healthy. And through my book The Family Dinner Solution, I already give my kids a job to help with dinner and they make their own (simple) dinner meal on Wednesday. But the seeds of desire hadn’t been planted yet. You know, the thing that takes learning to a higher level.
I believe that is what Raddish has done for us.
How it Works
When you first sign up, Raddish gives you the option of paying a bit extra if you have more than one child. This way, you can arrange for all your kids to get an apron and a cooking tool each month. For each monthly kit, you get laminated recipes that include all the food and cooking tools you’ll need (you have to actually buy the food at the grocery store). You get some fun games to play and dinner conversation starters (Table Talk). And you also get patches to iron on the apron when you’re done. Here’s an example from July’s kit — Hawaiian theme.
Each kit comes with about three recipes and there are bonuses thrown in. For example, the June box had a booklet with 10 mini-recipes teaching key skills like kneading dough and roasting veggies (we are almost done!). They also have live presentations for these skills on their Facebook page.
When we first tried it the kids were excited but getting the apron on Little D proved challenging. After a while, he’s usually the one who loses interest but that’s okay. Overall, Raddish has created a newfound excitement around cooking and is something we can all get into. It also exposes me to new recipes and cooking ideas.
The Best Part: Sharing Raddish
Back to my two friends who got me into this. Since we all were signed up, we decided to have a girls Raddish cooking weekend. We gathered for a weekend and made Chili Mac, breadsticks, and pineapple upside down cake (there was a salad too but we made that). The girls also made up a hula dance. It was lots of fun!
This is the best thing about Raddish: it’s best when it’s shared. Two of my kids’ favorite recipes include the ice cream and parmesan breadsticks. Big A always wants to make the ice cream when she has friends over. One time recently while trying to pry my son and his friends off video games, I encouraged the boys to make breadsticks. They loved it!
It Takes Some Work
The reality is it takes work. The recipes take time, there’s clean up, and it’s easy to get behind. For example, it’s not uncommon to get a new kit while still working on the previous one. But it’s the perfect activity for a lazy weekend and you have dinner, lunch, or snack to show for it. Sometimes I don’t feel like starting a Raddish recipe but am always glad I did.
What I like is it does a lot of the work for me. Yeah, I gotta shop but Raddish has already tested the recipes and printed out the materials. All we have to do is follow the steps. And so far, I’ve been happy with how the recipes have turned out.
If you’ve been wanting to get your kids cooking more but aren’t sure how to make it happen, consider giving Raddish a try.
Any other Raddish fans out there?
Disclosure: I received an influencer discount when signing up for Raddish
The post Want Your Kids to Cook? Try Raddish [Review] appeared first on Maryann Jacobsen.
