Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Want To Cook Together?


Recently Kristine of the excellent blog Waiting for Kids asked if I wanted to start an online cooking group for moms. I was immediately intrigued by the idea, and after a few e-mails back and forth sharing ideas, we came up with the following approach.

We’d form a group of like-minded folks that want to cook new, interesting things and test them out on their kids (or if they don’t yet have kids, someone’s kids…i.e. nieces, nephews, godchildren, the neighbor's kids -- really any willing tot will do), honestly sharing the results with the rest of the group. It's key that we’re totally candid about how the dish went off with the kiddos…I know it’s tempting (trust me) to only blog out our culinary “hits”, but understanding the misses and why they didn’t work is key.

The group would cook around a specific, pre-determined ingredient or type of dish each week and can use a new recipe, something of our own creation, something from a magazine…no restrictions there, except that it has to be something you haven't made before.

Each member of the group would post their recipe and results on Monday, (that way folks can work the good ones into their weekly meal planning) and (this one is especially important to me) try to use as many local, organic ingredients as possible in the recipe. Also I’d like to try and focus half of the recipes on vegetarian options since there are so many good reasons, especially environmental, to keep our meat consumption limited.

Now granted every kid has different tastes, so there are no "one size fits all" recipes, but my hope is that a few recipes will surface each week that feel like sure fire winners, and at the end of the experiment, we can create a compilation of the “kid-approved” ones. My dream is to cobble together a little cookbook that we could sell online and donate any profits to the groups trying to fix the abysmal school lunch program in America!

I’d like to start on Monday, August 3rd and go for 10 weeks. I’ll link to everyone’s blog who is participating.

Right now, I’m thinking the weekly “plan” could go something like this:

Week one – Vegetarian
Week two – Poultry
Week three – Pork
Week four – Vegetarian
Week five – Dessert
Week six – Seafood
Week seven – Vegetarian
Week eight – Red Meat
Week nine -- Casserole (no ingredient requirement)
Week ten – Vegetarian

So what do you think? Who’s in?

37 comments:

  1. oh, this sounds awesome, unfortunately i'm 20 and (thankfully) without children and have no children in my life, but i just like recipes and cooking and hearing about new ones. so i'd still like to stalk, especially if you are doing a few vegetarian ones as i am a vegetarian who tries to buy local as much as possible and i could use some more inspiration!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I LOVE the idea. I fear I'm not creative enough in the kitchen!! I'm just kind of starting to get the hang of things. I'll watch and then if you decide to keep going maybe I can jump in then.

    ReplyDelete
  3. i really like your blog style! i'm a foodie too! what city are you in? i'm in dallas. if you're in dallas than i'd be up for the challenge!

    www.rabbitfoodrocks.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. This sounds great... I am all about local/organic lately! Count me in!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm in! Such a great idea! I can hardly wait to begin.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Love this idea...I'm in except I can't do the meat portions. My little 17 month old doesn't eat meat (because of me!) and rarely do we! But I do buy only local and organic...can I still join?

    Now...one question, do we post our recipes on one main blog or separately. Individual blogs maybe too difficult to keep up with.

    this is soooo exciting!

    Very similar to one of my favorite cookbooks - Petit Appetit

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm all in! This is just the kick in the butt I need to expand my culinary capabilities and my little ones taste buds!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm in! Don't know when you are starting but I'm up for a good challenge. Love that I have to stretch myself out of what I know. We're out next week but I'm for anything after that.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh, I'm definitely in if you still need willing moms! I've got a picky 2 yr. old boy (currently sustained on Annie's Organic Bunny Cereal) and a 2 mo. old little girl. This year we started a big garden in the front of the house I'd I'm excited to say my little guy loves Broccoli Rabe! More excuses to go to the Farmer's Market and buy locally are all right with me. Looking forward to hearing more!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I'm in! Would love to have new recipes that hopefully will appeal to a 3-year-old.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I'm eager to read and appreciate but not sure I'm qualified enough to contribute. :-) Great idea!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Count me in...I love the idea!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I'm in. I'm doing this anyway, just in a half-baked way. I'm happy to do it in an organized fashion. And I will tell you now: my little guy won't eat *anything* I try. But I'll dutifully report that every week!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I'm always up for a challenge - count me in!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I want to say yes but I'm not good at commitment! I think I can though.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I would love to this. I am constantly trying to get my two little ones and my husband to try new things. I grew up eating organic as we ate the produce from my family's garden. My father still produces more than we can eat. I love the idea of a little cookbook. I was an elementary school teacher for twelve years (going back this year to teach at my son's preschool). I saw first hand the sorry state of school lunches and could not believe no one complained. As teachers we tried, but the power rests with the PARENTS!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Great Idea.

    I'm definitely going to be stalking this one... I don't have kids, yet. But its good to know that this info will be here when I'm ready for it. I do live with a 1 year old, so maybe I can try some goods out on him. :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. I'm in...I need to get better about cooking a bigger variety of meals. I tend to stick to the same ones I know work.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I'm in too. I don't have kids yet, but I can find 10 families who would be willing to eat my experiments.

    Corrin
    www.clifandcorrin.com

    ReplyDelete
  20. I am in IF you remind me bc I am over commiting in all direction but this actually sounds fun!Plus I have to cook anyway- so there.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I'm in. I am a mom of 3, ages 7 and under. I'm a foodie, but they are not for the most part. My husband travels during the week, so I sometimes succomb to making them mac and cheese and heating up one of my Amy's frozen meals. It's easy, but it's just not how I want them to grow up.

    Love your blog! So glad I discovered it.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Okay, a friend of yours (Kim Price) recommended I try this so I think I will. May have to miss the first week due to be out of town the week prior as well as Monday, but will try and keep up. May do first two in the second week. Thanks for such a neat experiment!

    ReplyDelete
  23. I'm in! My 15-year-old son is one of the most particular eaters I've ever come across. To be honest, I'll be trying out the dishes on my adventurous 12-year-old daughter. But I'll try to remember to always ask my son each time if he wants to try it, even though I'm sure I'll get "the look."
    Lauri

    ReplyDelete
  24. Sounds challenging for parents and kids alike. I'll definitely be following along, and will try as time, summer travel, school, and activities permit. Oldest son is a little more adventuresome, especially if I include him in the preparations. He's already a grill master. My 9 yr old is picky, and totally prefers junk, whether it be salty or sweet.

    Great idea!

    ReplyDelete
  25. I'm in. I have a 6 and a 3 year old, and they fluctate wildly from experimental eaters to PB&J only. I have moved from Austin, to Dallas, to Paris, TX and it is increasingly difficult to buy local, but I think this will help me stay motivated to search out new sources. Thank you for the idea!

    ReplyDelete
  26. I am absolutely in. I am a big foodie and it pretty well rocked me to discover that one of my littlies (the one who loves food most, of course!) is both lactose and gluten intolerant. Lately, I've been busy trying to wrap my head around our new parameters without compromising standards. Hopefully this could add a useful dimension to things as so many families now have to manage food allergies.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Looks like I missed the start of this, but I would love to join in if you can squeeze me in or next time you decide to do this!

    ReplyDelete
  28. I WANT TO JOIN! I know I'm late, but I'll follow along even if I can't be part of it officially.

    ReplyDelete