Kids learning to cook with Julianna Banana

Juliette with her strawberry shortcake. We rushed the final step and the whip cream went on to a still warm cake so while not as tidy as Juliette hoped, we were able to share a delicious dessert with family.

[image of a 12 year old white girl sitting at a table with her face down low, behind a green plate with a home made strawberry shortcake.]

Making sure my kids learn to cook from a young age has always been a priority for me - partially so I know they have the skills they need when they move out, but also so that I don’t have to do as much of the cooking while they’re still at home.

That’s one of the reasons that I love that Julianna Banana is all about teaching kids these skills - and teaching them way better than just how to make Kraft Dinner or how to throw a frozen pizza in the oven! :)

Juliette got to try out the Holiday box last December, and this month she got the Summer box (and even made her first unboxing video - see below!).

Julianna Banana aims to inspire kids and families to get baking, cooking and creating in the kitchen all while learning about food, having fun, and gaining an appreciation for the importance of community and giving back.

They provide culinary experiences for kids and families, ranging from Classes to Culinary Boxes for Kids which combine the fun of a class with a collection of kid-friendly recipe cards, kitchen tools, science activities and more.

What exactly is a culinary box?

Finished pizza ready to eat!

[image of two 12 year olds standing in front of a patio door at night holding plates with pieces of the pizza they just made, ready to eat]

This box is a great mix of recipes, an experiment, an activity, kitchen tools, and support (you can join live online classes for some of the recipes!). My two 12 year olds were able to complete 3 of the recipes in a couple of days with very minimal support from me.

The Julianna Banana Summer Box contains

• A collection of kid-friendly recipe cards and booklet, summer faves like homemade strawberry jam, strawberry shortcake, homemade pizza, charcuterie and more.

• Locally sourced kitchen tools to get your junior chef cooking

• Teacher-crafted food science activity ; the science of ice cream!

• DIY Honey Lip Balm Kits; includes local HONEY 🍯 and Beeswax, tins, plus tags, gift pouch for gifting activity. Make one for a friend!

• handmade fabric jam jar covers and accessories. Make some jam, jar it and gift it! Recipe, fabric, tags and ribbon included.

• Julianna Banana Apron

• Functional storage box to store tools and recipes

• A complimentary LIVE virtual class August and September (we’ll make Pizza together), recipe included.

• Recipe notebook and additional kitchen tool, plus FREE shipping to Ottawa provided with Subscriptions ( set of Summer, Harvest and Holiday Boxes)

• Each one is individually curated and addressed to your junior chef.

A fundamental pillar of Julianna Banana is to support local businesses and to give back to the community. Materials in our Culinary Boxes including kitchen tools and accessories are sourced whenever possible from local vendors. Recipe cards are designed and printed in Ottawa and our Julianna Banana apron is made and printed in Canada.

Quinn adding the sugar to the strawberries as they made the jam

[image of a 12 year old white boy pouring sugar into a large pot of strawberries on a table top burner with a variety of kitchen tools around them and his sister’s arm in the corner]

What did we think?

• Juliette: Julianna Banana was awesome! It was super fun and I really enjoyed  making the recipes. And the meals were so delicious (the strawberry shortcake was my favourite)! I’ll definitely make them again!

• Quinn: Julianna Banana was good. It gave instructions that were easy to understand to make yummy meals that are just so good. My favourite recipe was the strawberry jam. I would do it again because it made cooking fun. I recommend it.

• Mom:
  The variety of kinds of recipes and activities was great! Desserts, something that will last a long time (jam), a main course and things for gifting (jam and lip balm.)

• I often think there aren’t enough activities that are easy for parents to do with their kid. This would make a great gift for a parent looking to have an activity for some quality bonding time.

• Aside from a few moments where I had to let go of how the kids interpreted the instructions and let them do their own thing (because I was looking for something I DIDN’T need to be involved in 😀), it was amazing. The kids were able to make 3 very different recipes independently that all tasted delicious!

• This was the first activity my twins have done together without arguing in a long time, and for that alone it was a great win!

3 jars of delicious strawberry jam made from scratch. Perfect for gifting, or, eating yourself if you’re these two! [Photo of two white 12 year olds standing in front of patio doors with a play structure and trampoline in the background, holding three jars of strawberry jam up while one gives a thumbs up]

How can you purchase one

You can sign up for the summer box, a bundle of three boxes, or individual online cooking classes from the Julianna Banana Web site. Summer boxes are ready for pick up and delivery this week!

Individual boxes are $65 and you can pick up at several locations around the city or for a fee have it delivered.

When you purchase the 3 box bundle it comes with free shipping in the Ottawa area.

We love working with Julianna Banana because the kids really do love the resources and all of the people we know who either purchased boxes or have taken classes have found them to be really well done and keep coming back to buy again. We also love that they are committed to supporting local and giving back to local charity. They are currently fundraising $3000 from Culinary Boxes and Classes for the Ottawa Network For Education.

Check them out!

Please note, Julianna Banana is a Kids in the Capital sponsor and we were provided the summer box. All thoughts and feedback are based on our personal experience with the box.

PB & J Energy Bites

I found this recipe on Pinterest the other day. They are such a great idea! Lately our family has been needing more quick snacks that are easy to grab-and-go, take to work, delicious (of course) and pack a nutrition punch. A couple tweeks to suit our family and we're ready to go!

I made a couple modifications, like leaving out the flax seed. Instead I used 1/4 cup chia seeds and 1/4 cup hemp hearts. To make them a bit healthier (this time) I swapped the chocolate chips for organic fruit juice sweetened Dried Cranberries. And now we have the J in PB& J!

These are great for kids too! Using a food processor to break down the oats and dried cranberries make them a lot easier to eat for the wee ones (my son, who’s 1 was able to munch on them, no problem!). You can use Sunflower Seed butter instead of peanut butter and then they are suitable for lunches at school. Or keep them as is and they can be a great after school snack.

Pop all the ingredients in a food processor and these bites come together in minutes!

Per bite: 10g fat | 3g fiber | 2 g sugar | 3g protein

PB & J Energy Bites

1 cup Rolled Oats (gluten-free) 1/2 cup Natural Peanut Butter (smooth or crunchy...I used crunchy) 1/2 cup Dried Cranberries (Organic fruit juice sweetened) 1/2 cup Unsweetened shredded Coconut 1/2 cup Honey 1/4 cup Chia seed 1/4 cup Hemp Hearts 1 tsp Vanilla Extract Option 1: (how I made these) *Toss all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until combined. Roll into balls approximately 1.5".

Option 2: *Use a stand mixer, or bowl & spoon to mix all the ingredients together. Roll into balls approximately 1.5".

Note: This recipe makes about 25 1.5” bites. We devoured them today, so I will definitely be doubling this up from now on!

Eryn is a mom to a cheerful and energetic little 10 month old boy. She is a Registered Holisitic Nutritionist & accepting new clients . When she's not chasing around a baby or talking nutrition, she enjoys quilting, crafting, cooking & everything in between and blogs about those and other adventures at Bringing Back Handmade.

Kid in the Kitchen

by Amy When I was a kid, my sister and I used to go over to a friend's house and her dad would gather us in the kitchen and we would make bread. I don't remember exactly how involved we were in the pre-dough stage, but we got to make our bread into shapes and then he would bake them and we would eat them. I knew when my kid started being able to help out in the kitchen – and being very excited to help out – that bread was going to be one of our projects.

Today she was looking for something to do and I decided it might be the right day. I found a recipe online (from Jamie Oliver) and we went out to get our ingredients.

When we got back into the kitchen she was a little impatient as I read through the recipe and figured things out, but once we got started she got her hands right in.

It was a little messy:

...But once it was time to knead the dough, she knew exactly what to do.

The problem with making bread is that you have to let it rise twice, so instead of just mixing, baking and then eating, there is a bit more of a wait, but we got through that extra time with a bit of a dance party.

Eventually the bread came out of the oven.

It smelled like bread and it looked like bread, but we had to taste:

I think she approved.

(And while we had all the ingredients out, and since we had bought yeast, we made some baked doughnuts too...

Amy is mom to two year old Maggie and a 6 year old schnauzer named Henry. You can read her blog at amyboughner.ca where she writes about motherhood and anything else that’s on her mind. She also shares a blog with her husband at boughner.ca where they talk together about parenting a daughter.

A veggie bread they'll love

by Krista When I first saw this recipe posted on @refashionista's blog I knew I had to try it. It's a recipe for bread that makes use of your leftover veggies. It looked very simple, and her description really sold it. I knew that I would love it, but secretly hoped the lils would too, so that I could get a few more portions of vegetable into them.

I was so excited to try this recipe that I actually bought and cooked far too many beets for our family. Armed with the leftovers the next day, I asked the lils if they wanted to make beet bread. They jumped at the idea, and even started singing a song that sounds remarkably like the Batman tune... "na-na-na-na-na-na-na-naaaa beet bread!" They knew what was going into it, yet were still excited. It might be because I compared it favourably to banana bread, or it might have been that it look like this just prior to going in the oven:

They sampled within minutes of it coming out of the oven, and were instantly in love. I get asked at least weekly to make beet bread and willingly oblige, as I love it too. You can make the recipe with any leftover vegetables, but truth be told I've never tried!

@Refashionista's Beet Bread (slightly modified by me)

1 cup white flour 3/4 cup whole wheat flour 1 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp cinnamon 3/4 - 1 cup sugar 1/3 cup salted butter, softened 2 eggs 1 cup mashed/pureed cooked beet 1/3 cup milk

-preheat oven to 350

- stir together flours, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon. Set aside.

- beat together sugar, butter and eggs until light and fluffy.

- blend in beets.

- add dry ingredients and milk, alternating, in three additions. Be careful not to overbeat.

- pour into a greased and floured loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes (until a toothpick comes out dry when testing).

My lil helpers. Woo is singing the beet bread song!

Krista is married to Willy and mom to a 4 year old son, Woo, and 2.5 year old daughter, Goose. You can find her at Life in the Hutch or on Twitter @kgraydonald