Christmas Cooking with Children
Published on: December 06, 2019
Foodie and mum Frederiek gives some delicious and easy festive recipes to enjoy with kids.
By Frederiek Ilona Schrijver-Bollen
Christmas is just around the corner, and what is Christmas without delicious food? As long as I can remember, my family always had a full dinner table at Christmas. Every year we would celebrate at one of our relative’s homes, and the trick was that the host would make the main course, and the other families would bring other food and drinks.
I love this tradition, but now having small kids of my own, I have no idea how they made sure all of us little people ate with so many elaborate dishes on offer. I love those kinds of meals, but I have no idea if my kids would stay put for all that time.
I do know of another way to make them stay at the dinner table though, and that is by giving them some fun dishes to try.
The recipes need to be fun for them to eat, but also fun for me to make, so I try to mix easy recipes with some ready-made ingredients that include vegetables and fruits as well. Here are some of my favorite easy recipes — I hope you like them too!
Christmas Tree Watermelon
This recipe was a great hit at last year’s kindergarten year-end celebration. I wanted to bring something healthy but fun, and these watermelon Christmas Trees really hit the spot!Ingredients
- 1/2 watermelon
- 2 Tablespoons of yogurt
- A handful of pomegranate seeds or chopped up dried cranberries
Preparation
- Cut watermelon into small wedges of about 1cm.
- Cut the watermelon into triangles, making sure each triangle has a piece of rind left.
- With a sharp knife, cut out the tree base by cutting the sides, and leaving a small piece of rind in the middle. This will be the trunk of the tree!
- Place the watermelon wedges on a baking tray (or flat board that fits in your freezer).
- Place yogurt in a piping bag, or a small ziplock bag and cut off the corner to pipe.
- Pipe the yogurt onto the watermelon wedges to make a garland, or decorate it how you like!
- Use the pomegranate or dried cranberries to make Christmas baubles on the tree.
- Place the tray in the freezer until yogurt is firm.
Christmas Tree Pizza
Pizza is always a hit with kids — not just to eat, but to decorate as well. At Christmas time I like to make something delicious for everyone, and even though I find it important that the kids enjoy eating with the grown-ups, I find it more important that they have fun on these occasions.
So this super easy Christmas tree pizza is definitely on the menu this year!
Ingredients
- 1 roll of ready-made pizza dough, or you can make your own if you wish.
- 1 can of tomato puree
- 75 grams grated cheese
- 1 mozzarella ball
- 1 green bell pepper
- Cherry tomatoes
- Black olives
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
- Unroll the pizza dough on a baking tray. With a sharp knife cut the dough into the shape of a Christmas Tree. I don’t like to waste food so, I knead the pizza dough that is left, roll it out and make some more figures. My daughter is especially fond of my tiny snowman pizza.
- Spread some tomato puree on the tree, leaving the edges free.
- Sprinkle the grated cheese over the pizza, after which you can start the real decorating. I chose to use green bell pepper, mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, and black olives, but you can work with the ingredients that your kids love!
- Cut the bell pepper into thin strips, and place it over the Christmas tree like a garland.
- Cut the black olives and cherry tomatoes into slices, so that they can become the balls in the tree.
- And last but not least, slice the mozzarella into small cubes for an extra snowball effect (or just some added flavor!)
- Put the Christmas tree pizza in the oven and bake until golden brown for about 15-20 minutes (depending on the thickness of the pizza).
Gingerbread Nice Cream
For a while now I have been trying to find a yummy but healthy alternative to ice cream and I think I have found it. Banana nice cream is basically the vegan/dairy-free alternative to ice cream, by blending frozen banana slices into a kitchen aid. You can mix this base up with any kind of spices to change the flavor.
While Christmas is usually associated with snow and ice-skating, we all know that Christmas in Bangkok is not. So instead of having ice outside, why not have it inside?
This nice cream flavored with gingerbread will bring you right into the Christmas mood!
Ingredients
- 2 medium-sized bananas, pre-frozen in slices
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Steps
- Place all the ingredients in a food processor (make sure the frozen banana is already cut into slices, as many food processors will have difficulty processing whole frozen bananas).
- Blitz until smooth and creamy. This will take a few minutes – it will become very crumbly, but trust me keep on going until it gets the creamy texture you’re hoping for! At one point you’ll hear the food processor making a different sound, and you’ll know it’s almost done.
- If necessary, scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl and continue to blitz.
- Before you place it in a bowl, try the nice cream to see if it needs any more spices. You may also choose to serve it with gingerbread men cookies for an even bigger treat!
About the Author
Frey has been living in Southeast Asia for the past decade, working in the hospitality and wellness industry. Since moving to Bangkok, she has joined her friend Joëlle at My Healthy Bangkok. As a mom of two, she focuses on healthy and easy dishes for the entire family.The views expressed in the articles in this magazine are not necessarily those of BAMBI committee members and we assume no responsibility for them or their effects. BAMBI News welcomes volunteer contributors to our magazine. Please contact editor@bambiweb.org.
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