Cooking with your children always makes food taste better.

"Mommy, let me help!", shouts the little one from the nursery with joy.

Oh, and just about when lunch should already be in the pot and

and getting ready. The image of a "messy" kitchen pops into mind

and you suspect that instead of cooking lunch, you'll be cleaning up

all through lunch. But there's no point in overthinking it: Just wash your

hands... and straight to the kitchen to cook with your child.

There is, of course, a positive side: Children love being around their parents, being under their supervision and learning new things about food. So it only takes a little planning and child-friendly recipes to prepare a delicious and healthy meal together. Of course, cooking healthy meals for a child is not always easy, especially if the child is not very fond of eating. The best idea is to always have a few recipes on hand for children’s meals that the whole family has already enjoyed.

"I’ll do it!" - The child can mix, stir, sprinkle...

But what happens when your two-year-old wants to do it all by him-/herself? And if a grown-up steps in, there goes the fun. To avoid creating a bad mood, there are some chores that the child can easily do on his/her own.

So along with us, the children are cooking as well: They can mix ingredients, sprinkle cheese on the soufflé or spoon flour into a bowl. Of course, if in the meantime the flour dust is scattered everywhere and everyone looks like ghosts, just... open the window to let in some fresh air. Little helpers can also safely chop soft fruit and vegetables with a round, child-sized knife.

Create a good mood in the kitchen and let the child make decisions: Should we take the red or the blue bowl? Do you want to mix with the spoon or the whisk? When it comes to other more demanding chores in the kitchen, the child can simply join in: putting food on the electric scales, starting the food processor and turning on the mixer. And of course... anyone who doesn't plan to renovate the house immediately had better keep an eye on the mixing utensils and make sure the ingredients are deep enough in the bowl!

And now it's time to create some completely different "home made music" by turning the pot into a... drum!

When the child is nagging and no longer wants to participate in cooking, catch his/her attention with something else: Besides preparing food, there are many other chores in the kitchen: Sorting and folding napkins, putting the cutlery on the table or let hin/her draw something colourful to decorate the kitchen table.

A pleasant time-passing task is also tidying up the kitchen drawers. To do this, fill the low kitchen drawers with plastic bowls, cans with lids and pots. Bowls become towers, boxes become hiding places for blocks and a pot can be "transformed" into a drum. Okay, at this stage you have to show strong nerves, but in the meantime, lunch will probably already be ready.

Healthy recipes for children:

Strained yoghurt with banana and vanilla... yummy!

Cooking healthy with kids can be a piece of cake. No complicated recipes, special ingredients nor special utensils are needed. An example of an easy and delicious recipe is strained yogurt with banana and vanilla. It is suitable for breakfast, brunch or dessert.

Ingredients for four servings: Take 3 very ripe bananas (e.g. those with brown spots left over), add 500 g strained yoghurt GALPO, half a vanilla pod and a little mineral water. Maybe a little bit of honey to make it sweeter.

First, your kiddo can peel the bananas and cut them into pieces with a child's knife on a small cutting board. Have a bowl ready for the banana chunks, too. Meanwhile, carve the vanilla pod lengthwise with a sharp knife, scrape out the seeds and add them to the banana pieces. Now add the strained yoghurt to the bowl - the kids can do this, too. If you get a few drops in your face, it's not a disaster. Look on the bright side: it's good for the skin! Next, blend the banana chunks, vanilla and strained yogurt with a hand mixer. To make it sweeter, add a little honey. Finally, add a big gulp of mineral water, which will make the strained yogurt super fluffy. Enjoy!