It’s the quintessential toddler food – an entire meal in one bite. And if you keep some in the freezer, you’ll have some crazy, hectic weeknight dinners covered.

People all over the world eat dumplings. We just call them different things. The dumplings I grew up eating are jiaozi.

Jiaozi are a requisite dish during Chinese New Year because they symbolize prosperity. They’re good the other 50 weeks of the year too. They’re good for lunch or dinner or breakfast. They’re good steaming hot just out of the boiling pot, they’re good cold, eaten standing in front of the fridge. Between the filling and the wrapper, a dumpling covers at least three food groups. You can make a simple dipping sauce with soy sauce, vinegar and green onions, but I think dumplings are tastier on their own.

(Or if you prefer to go out for dumplings with the kids, check out The Best Places to Eat Dim Sum with Kids in the Seattle area.)

Homemade Jiaozi Dumplings

You can buy premade wrappers at an Asian grocery store, but why would you, when homemade wrappers are so much yummier and so ridiculously easy? All you need is all-purpose flour and very hot water (but not hot enough to scald you). Slowly pour the hot water onto the flour, kneading as you go, until you reach dough consistency. Then cut off a little piece of dough and flatten it with a rolling pin.

There are too many different types of filling to list here. The standard filling is a mix of chopped-up Chinese cabbage, green onion, pork, and shrimp, but you can use whatever type of meat, vegetable, and flavor you’d like. Spoon some filling into a wrapper, pinch it shut, and freeze the finished dumplings separated on cookie sheets. Once they’re frozen, you can dump them into a bag.

To cook, put frozen dumplings in a big pot of boiling water. Wait for the water to come to a boil again, and pour a glass of cold water on it. Repeat this step three times.

Top Places to Buy Dumplings To-Go

When I visit my mom, every time I turn around she’s whipped up another fresh batch of made-from-scratch dumplings. It’d kill her to hear this, but at times I’ve even resorted to frozen, pre-cooked, sodium-filled dumplings from Costco (which aren’t even Chinese. They’re Korean).

It used to be really hard to find restaurants selling frozen dumplings; the margin of profit is so much lower than serving a couple on a plate in-house. But because of the pandemic, many Chinese restaurants are now selling frozen dumplings.

Here are the best, in my opinion:

Szechuan Noodle Bowl
420 8th Ave. S., Seattle; facebook.com/szechuannoodlebowl

We loved the homey comfort food at Szechuan Noodle Bowl before the pandemic, and we love that they are now selling frozen dumplings. It’s a small, mom-and-pop shop – cooking directions, if you need them, are handwritten on notebook paper. Don’t dump out the water you use to boil the dumplings; they’re so flavorful, you’ll want to drink the cooking water as a fragrant broth. $40 for 50 dumplings. Cash preferred, Venmo accepted.

Xiao Chi Jie
278 106th Ave. NE, Bellevue; thexcj.com

One bite of these bad boys and I thought I’d died and gone to xiao long bao heaven. (For the uninitiated, xiao long bao are dumplings with a bit of soup inside.) The beautiful thing? XCJ delivers – free with a $99 minimum, so you can get a couple of bags to stash in the freezer. $40 for a bag of 50 xiao long bao.

Dough Zone
Various locations; doughzonedumplinghouse.com

Dough Zone is a chain, but it’s a local chain, started in Bellevue in 2014. It’s since grown to nine locations in the Seattle metro area (with a tenth location opening in Woodinville soon). The restaurant feels more upscale than its neighbors in Seattle’s International District, but the prices are lower than those at the gold standard of dumplings, Din Tai Fung (which does not sell its dumplings frozen). Frozen xiao long bao, $35 for 50 dumplings, are a bit smaller than those from XCJ.

Ping’s Dumpling House
508 S. King St., Seattle; Pings

Another tiny shop in the ID. The menu here is handwritten on a white board. The proprietor of Ping’s Dumplings, Ping Liu, is the nicest lady; she even tried to give us a free milk tea. (Seriously?) Ping handmakes her dumplings and her prices are unbeatable. $30 for 50 dumplings.

First published Jan 2, 2022. Updated December 12, 2024

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Breakfast before school: How busy families get it done

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Quick, healthful recipe from ‘Vegetarian Chinese Soul Food’

The post Easy Dinner Idea: Dumplings! appeared first on Seattle's Child.

One such dish is tostadas, a baked or fried corn tortilla topped with refried beans and toppings such as one’s choice of meat, veggies, cheese and salsa. Think of a massive nacho chip covered with your favorite toppings, only without that fake cheese sauce.

Sounds too adventurous for your little ones to try? Call it a “Mexican pizza” since they can eat tostadas with their hands just like a pizza slice. Allow them to choose their own adventure with a variety of toppings. This is what we did with our then-toddler, who loved anything with the word pizza in it. Just shy of 7, she now calls tostadas by their real name and appreciates the independence of adding her preferred toppings like queso fresco, a fresh and tangy Mexican cheese.

Prepping this meal is easy so long as you have homemade or canned beans on hand and corn tortillas to bake or fry. Or simply do what I do and buy the premade tostadas often found in the tortilla section at grocery stores, saving you those precious minutes when the family is teetering on hangry. Then, for toppings, use leftover ingredients from previous meals, like diced chicken breast or minced mini sweet peppers. Plus, the base is gluten-free and can be customized to meet anyone’s dietary needs or picky taste buds. Buen provecho!

Tostadas

Prep time: 20 minutes    |   Yields: 12 tostadas (4-5 servings)

Ingredients:*

12 tostada shells, store-bought or homemade

1 cup refried pinto or black beans, warmed

2 cups cooked protein of choice: shrimp, flaked fish, seasoned ground turkey, beef or chicken, or shredded beef, pork, or boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 cups thinly, shredded lettuce

1 large tomato, diced

1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced

½ cup crumbled cotija, queso fresco or any favorite shredded cheese like Monterey Jack or cheddar

Garnishes:

Salsa, hot sauce, pickled jalapeños, lime wedges, minced cilantro, sliced radishes, Mexican crema (crème fraîche or sour cream)

* Note: When considering toppings, remember to use what you have on hand, even if there isn’t enough of one ingredient for all 12 tostadas, because diners can choose their preferred options.

Directions:

1. Spread a tablespoon of refried beans into a thin layer on each tostada shell from the center to just inside the shells’ edges.

2. Top tostadas with a spoonful of protein, if using, followed by vegetables and cheese, respectively.

3. Add garnishes of your choice and serve immediately.

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Quick, healthful recipe from ‘Vegetarian Chinese Soul Food’

The post Make it a healthy tostada Tuesday! appeared first on Seattle's Child.

What do your kids eat for breakfast?

“They go through phases. Currently it’s cereal and milk. Other trends have been cinnamon toast, yogurt, English muffins, ube bread and bagels with cream cheese. I’ve added turkey sausages in the past, but they haven’t been popular lately. All are minimal prep in the morning.” — Allison, South Seattle; two boys, 5 and 11

“For my 7-year-old, usually cereal for a quick breakfast or if we are in a super hurry, it’s an apple or a Zbar as we walk to school, 2½ blocks. My 15-year-old is not a breakfast person, so she usually doesn’t eat before rushing for the bus.” — Janey, Capitol Hill; son, 7, and daughter, 15

“Yay for yogurt bowls! Plain yogurt with swirl-ins, typically jam and Marge granola. Or oatmeal with peanut butter.” — Noelle, North Seattle; two boys, 4 and 6

“Cereal, fruit, pancakes, waffles, croissants, French toast, smoothies, yogurt, oatmeal – we try to mix it up to keep it interesting, but we allow them to choose!” — Bothell mom; two kids, 5 and 7

“We make breakfast in the morning. Sometimes I’ll make a breakfast casserole so they can eat it for a few days or for snacks, but typically they eat frozen waffles, fruit, sausage or bacon and a milk/fruit smoothie. My youngest will also eat eggs if I’m making them.” — Jana, Queen Anne; three kids, ages 15, 13 and 4

What do you wish they would eat?

“For my 15-year-old, I wish she should have some kind of energy bar or something! But she has always been my stubborn eater and has never been a fan of easy protein snacks – no cheese sticks, granola or energy bars or yogurt. … My 7-year-old is a little easier, so I’m just happy he eats cereal. (We do negotiate the ratio of low-sugar Cheerios and Cinnamon Toast Crunch in his bowl each morning).” — Janey

“We are always trying to get more protein in our kids, so it would be awesome if they’d do eggs, but sadly they’re not into them anymore.” — Noelle

“I wish there was more protein in their breakfast. Something like an egg sandwich.” — Allison

What would your kids choose for breakfast, if given a choice?

“Blueberry pancakes and sausage for my 7-year-old. Crispy bacon and a croissant for my teen.” — Janey

“Doughnuts and chocolate milk.” — Jana

“Doughnuts. Waffles.” — Noelle

“The highest-sugar cereal money could buy.” — Allison

How do you eat?

“I either sit with them (usually with my cup of coffee) or putter around the kitchen. Occasionally we have ‘toast for the ride’ when we’ve run out of time.” — Allison

“I unload the dishwasher … drink my coffee, pack lunches and eat standing up while they both sit at the breakfast bar. Makes it easier!” — Bothell mom

Do the kids need wake-up calls?

“They are usually up but slow-moving. Occasionally they need to be woken up.” — Allison

“My middle-schooler is often up and ready. Her big and little brothers take some serious rousing.” — Jana

“One is up and at ’em early, the other would prefer to sleep, and though he is awake, isn’t typically ready to dive right into getting dressed and eating.” — Noelle

How much time does getting ready take?

“If we are super late, we have done it in 15 minutes! On a non-late day. usually 30 to 40 minutes.” — Janey

“Forty-five minutes to an hour. I’m working from home so my getting ready is minimal.” — Allison

“Hour and 15 minutes, give or take.” — Noelle

“I try and prepare backpacks at night and keep it simple in the morning.” — Allison

“They eat school lunch. I’ve packed in the past and probably did it at night about half the time.” — Allison

Readjusting to the old normal

“Pandemic mornings where only a few family members might leave the house are way easier than the ‘normal’ of all four of us (two adults and kids) leaving at the same time. We will try to keep adding in as much night-before prep as we can.” — Noelle

“We are all late sleepers by nature, and we all loved the late start with online school. So imagine there will be struggles to get to bed early and to be up and ready on time in the morning, especially with the two teenagers, since they have really shifted to staying up so much later.” — Jana

“I will give us an extra 30 minutes at first, and I think a new routine typically takes a couple weeks to get used to.” — Bothell mom

Tips for others

“The key for us seems to be to double- (and triple!) check that lunches, clothes, sports gear and backpack are ready before the kids go to bed. It only takes a few minutes, but seems to add on 20 minutes of scrambling if we wait until the morning.” — Jana

“Routine. Routine. Routine.” — Bothell mom

“Night-before prep, for both kids and adults. Our old nanny called not prepping beforehand ‘a failure to plan is a plan to fail’ ethos.” — Noelle

What about lunches?

“I would not call myself that organized. I just can’t bring myself to get lunch ready the night before, so after taking the youngest to school is when I usually deal with the aftermath of breakfast and lunch-making in the kitchen.” — Janey

“Dad makes the kids’ lunches. [He] usually does it in the morning, but it’s less stressful when it’s the night before.” — Noelle

“They used to eat the cafeteria lunch until they returned to school after the pandemic. Then they had to eat in their classrooms and they didn’t care for the prepackaged salads and sandwiches that were delivered to the classroom. So we started doing meal prep and making big batches of pasta, yogurt parfait containers, etc. on Sundays. So there wasn’t too much prep in the morning, more just throwing everything into a bag.” — Jana

The easiest part of getting ready

“Having the kids pick breakfast from a limited list of options.” — Allison

“Absolutely nothing.” — Jana

“Pouring cereal in a bowl.” — Janey

“They have three things after breakfast they know they have to do: Get dressed, make their bed and brush their teeth.” — Bothell mom

“Snuggling on the couch.” — Noelle

The hardest part

“Physically getting out of bed, myself included.” — Jana

“Getting the little kid dressed.” — Allison

“Making a balanced lunch that isn’t the same thing every day!” — Janey

“Being on time if they are in a cranky mood or slept too late.” — Bothell mom

“Getting all the things for all the people out the door at the same time.” — Noelle

For fun: The history of breakfast in the United States

More on getting kids ready for school:

Three tips for easing back-to-school jitters

How to get ready for kindergarten, from a Seattle mom who’s been there

Help your child get ready to head back to school

Breakfast-before-school idea:

Make-ahead and freeze: Blueberry cornbread waffles

The post Breakfast before school: How busy families get it done appeared first on Seattle's Child.

As leaves change color and temperatures drop, creeks and rivers play host to the magnificent adult fish as they journey back from the ocean to their birthplaces to spawn and die. Across the state, salmon have been making this same trek for eons, but due to factors such as climate change and dams, the once-flourishing runs are threatened.

A family trip out to these waterways is an opportunity for children to witness and learn about the salmon’s historic journey, and also, with the help of guides and signage, to understand just what is at risk for the Pacific Northwest’s beloved salmon.

Carkeek Park

950 NW Carkeek Park Rd., Seattle; seattle.gov/parks

Carkeek Park is home to Piper’s Creek, a beautiful waterway where chum salmon return to spawn. The creek could see hundreds of these adult salmon, which return after spending a few years at sea. The best time to see them is from mid-November to mid-December. Over the weekends, you might be able to talk with a Carkeek Park Salmon Steward (more on that program here), who can answer your questions at viewing areas. If you want an even more fish-filled outing, you can’t miss the fabulous sculpted salmon slide at the Carkeek playground. Kids (and adults) love jumping into its mouth to slide down – and out through its tail area.

Longfellow Creek

Delridge Way SW and SW Graham Street, West Seattle; seattle.gov/parks

This is a great spot to watch Coho and chum salmon as they travel across the 4 miles of this West Seattle creek. The Puget Soundkeeper Alliance recommends starting out at Dragonfly Garden, then heading south along the trail. For the best views, make sure to come in the early mornings and late afternoons. And don’t forget to peek under the bridges: That’s where the salmon like to hide.

North Creek Trail Park

North Creek Trail, Bothell; bothellwa.gov/1412/Salmon-SEEson

Autumn at this creek is prime salmon season in Bothell. In September there’s Chinook; in October there’s sockeye; and in November there’s Coho. City experts recommend walking along the North Creek paved trail and stopping at such spots as the pedestrian bridge, the North Creek Parkway vehicle bridge and behind the Country Inn & Suites.

Ballard Locks

Hiram M. Chittenden Ballard Locks, 3015 NW 54th St., Seattle; ballardlocks.org

September is a great time to watch Coho salmon make their way through the locks before traveling another 40 to 50 miles upriver to spawn. They’re known for their silver sides and metallic blue or green backs. See how many you can spot migrating through! The visitor center, walkway across the canal, botanical garden and newly renovated fish ladder viewing room are open to the public.

Salmon Days festival

Downtown Issaquah; salmondays.org

From fish carving and nature photography to crab cakes and a mouthwatering salmon barbecue, the Issaquah Salmon Days festival (Oct. 2 and 3) is a great way to celebrate the return of the salmon. Don’t forget to spend some time at Issaquah Creek, where you may be able to see some Chinook and Coho salmon swimming through. Also, the Issaquah Hatchery has resumed public tours, and here’s a family review of that experience.

This story was first published on Aug. 31, 2021 and updated October 2022.

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The post Fall day trip: Go see the salmon runs! appeared first on Seattle's Child.

The three of us recently went on a quest to visit and try as many bubble tea shops as we could to find some gems. Most shops follow the same formula for ordering bubble tea: You pick a drink, choose a size, customize your ice preference and state your sweetness level in percentage form. (Who knew ordering a boba could be a math lesson too?) When my kids were younger, I would ask for drinks that were not caffeinated – usually the milks, various flavors of fruit slushes or smoothies on the menu. If I’m ever stumped about what to order, I just ask what the most popular drink is and that’s the one I get.

Bubble tea closest to the Fremont Troll

DIY Tea Lab on North 34th Street is perfect if you’re exploring the city or have out-of-town guests in tow. Find parking near the Fremont Troll and walk about 10 minutes down the hill to where there’s a piece of the Berlin Wall; DIY Tea Lab is right nearby. It is attached to a Just Poke shop, which is convenient if you need lunch, and the grueling walk back up the hill to the Troll is worth this refreshing stop. We tried the flavor Life Is Peachy on our most recent visit.
DIY Tea Lab, 734 N. 34th St.

Bubble tea while you pick up groceries

At the Uwajimaya supermarket in the International District, you can grab bubble tea from Jardin Tea in the food court after you finish shopping. We tried the guava passionfruit oolong tea with pearls, and it was both beautiful and delicious. You can also wander over to Young Tea, one of the city’s most noteworthy boba places. Young Tea’s hibiscus juice is caffeine-free, and the shop often offers contests and deals on social media.

Uwajimaya, 600 5th Ave. S.; uwajimaya.com

Jardin Tea, jardintea.com

Young Tea, 609 S. Weller St.; youngteaglobal.com

Make your own boba at home

At Uwajimaya, you can pick up ready-made frozen bubble tea to make at home. The market also has key boba ingredients like dried tapioca pearls, rainbow jellies and wide bubble tea straws. The Works, a woman-owned maker space in Seattle, has also created a DIY bubble tea kit that we’ve tried and enjoyed at home. 
The Works, 151 12th Ave.; theworksseattle.com

Self-serve boba (and more)

For make-your-own bubble tea away from home, Boba Up in the University District is where you can get self-serve bubble tea buffet style, mixing and matching as many teas and ingredients as you like. You can’t miss bubble tea for sale in the U District, even if you aren’t trying to find it. In a one-mileish radius you can find bubble tea at the Oh Bear Cafe, Timeless Tea, Sharetea, Boba Smoothies, Mee Sum Pastry, Ding Tea and many others. (The standout here is Timeless Tea because of its realistic dog cakes and easy parking.)

Boba Up, 4141 University Way NE #103; bobaupseattle.com

Oh Bear Cafe, 4708 11th Ave. NE; facebook.com/ohbearcafe/

Timeless Tea, 1000 NE 50th St.; timelessteaseattle.com

Sharetea, 4730 University Way NE, Suite 109-110; 1992sharetea.com

Boba Smoothies, 1409 NE 45th St.; bobasmoothies.com

Mee Sum Pastry, 4343 University Way NE; meesum.com

Ding Tea, 4725 University Way NE; ding-tea-seattle.business.site

This article was first published on Aug. 31, 2021.

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The post Bring on the bubble tea! appeared first on Seattle's Child.

You could say painting is in her blood. Today, every room in Marita’s Rainbow House is painted a different color. Her walls are bright yellow, hot pink, polka-dotted and rainbow-swirled. Believe it or not, her style used to be Scandinavian minimalism.

(Photo by Joshua Huston)

“My design philosophy is just happy,” Marita says. “I love color. I love to experiment. If you don’t like it, change it. Just do what makes you happy.”

(Photo by Marita White)

Her 750-square-foot cottage, built in 1900, sits in downtown Bothell (within walking distance of a paint store, Sherwin-Williams). Marita, a single mama, lives there with her daughter, Farah; three ridiculously photogenic cats; and two dogs.

“I love how small it is, how cozy it is,” Marita says. “We’re almost always in the same room, all seven of us.”

(Photo by Marita White)

When the family moved in last August, the front room was initially a peachy pink. As soon as Farah saw it, she said, “Oh, this is a rainbow house,” and the name stuck. The first thing Marita did was add some green, and it snowballed from there. Farah helped pick out everything for their house.

“She’s 4 and she has great taste!” Marita says.

(Photo by Marita White)

Now there are 50 paint colors throughout the house. Marita’s mom was the person who’d taught her to paint, and together they painted every single wall of the Rainbow House. Marita makes a point of incorporating her daughter’s aesthetic, too, in the design of their home. 

“She’s pretty much, I would say, my coworker,” Marita says. “She helps me make all my decisions. It probably would be a lot less bright if she wasn’t around, in multiple ways.”

Farah picked the paint color for the bathroom — pink, her favorite. When they repainted the bedroom, Farah picked yellow. Together, they picked out the wallpaper in the front room. For Christmas, Farah asked if she could have a rainbow in her loft playroom. Marita used 30 different colors and added colorful noodles on the walls.

(Photo by Marita White)

“She lives there as much as I do. She deserves to love her house and have some agency over what it looks like,” Marita says. “I want her to come home and be happy. It’s amazing living in that environment. It really boosts your mood.”

For her laundry room, Marita really wanted polka dots, but wallpaper was too expensive. She bought a round sponge from Amazon, put Farah to bed, and freehanded a polka-dot pattern with black paint.

“I thrive on chaos,” Marita says. “I just put the paint on the walls and see what happens. Sometimes it’s terrible and you repaint and you figure it out.” 

You can visit @the_rainboww_house on Instagram.

This story was first published in July 2021.

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The post Got paint? Get inspired by the tiny Rainbow House appeared first on Seattle's Child.

I’m not sure how I let her get this far without knowing the difference between all’Amatriciana and Ariana Grande. Cooking is an essential life skill, and I’ve always been amazed when people tell me that they never set foot in the kitchen. It’s as if they said, “I try to avoid the bathroom – it’s just not my thing.”

You can imagine my horror when I learned that my daughter was surviving on Top Ramen and Kraft mac and cheese.

The first thing you realize when you try to teach someone to cook (or any other complicated, highly variable, multistep process) is that doing is not the same as teaching. It’s not enough to say “Chop that onion.” You have to explain how to peel it, how to hold the knife, which cuts to make, how large the pieces should be and what to do when your eyes start watering.

Then, for every ingredient or technique, you have to explain a vast amount of vocabulary that rivals the list of Inuit words for snow. Consider, for example, the different words we use just for applying heat to food: bake, boil, broil, braise, brown, blanch, caramelize, char, roast, poach, parboil, flambé, fry, pan-fry, deep-fry, air-fry, stir-fry, steam, scald, sauté, sear, simmer, stew, steep, sous vide… You get the idea.

In the end, we wound up focusing on one simple technique that she could use in an infinite number of ways, with a limited number of pots and pans. It goes like this:

1. Chop up some allium (onion, garlic, scallion, leek).
2. Sauté that in fat (oil, butter, bacon fat, ghee) until it smells good.
3. Add protein (meat, poultry, fish, tofu, fried eggs) and brown slightly.
4. Slice and add hard vegetables (broccoli, carrots, parsnips, asparagus, green beans) and a little water. Cover and cook until slightly soft.
5. Add sliced soft vegetables (bell pepper, squash, kale, snow peas) and cook until almost done.
6. Add your flavor of choice (pre-mixed spice blends, bottled sauces, hot chilis, fresh herbs).
7. Salt and pepper to taste.
8. Consider just a little sweetness (sugar, brown sugar, honey, molasses, sweet chili sauce, dried fruit) and/or acid (citrus juice, vinegar) to balance the flavors.
9. Serve hot with a grain product (rice, bread, noodles, couscous, quinoa).

It wasn’t the comprehensive cooking class I would have wished for, but it’ll provide enough healthy meals to last her indefinitely, and it’ll give her a foundation to build on.

With our 10-year-old, Pippa, we’ve taken a different approach. Rather than waiting until she’s suffering from Top Ramen malnutrition syndrome, we’ve conducted her culinary education with a more incremental, organic approach. I’m pleased to report that she loves to cook, and she’s gaining more confidence in the kitchen every day.

Here are a few guidelines that, at least for her, seem to be working.

Let kids try stuff. Good decisions require experience. Experience requires bad decisions. If left to their own devices, kids will cook up some spectacular food disasters. Let them. As long as they’re having fun, this is the best way to learn.

Let kids cook what they want to eat. Nothing motivates a child like their stomach. Yes, you may end up with a surplus of pizzas and cakes, but you can insist that they make some healthy stuff, too. Just don’t deny them the pure pleasure of creating what they love.

Insist that they clean up. With autonomy comes responsibility. It’s OK if they make a bit of a mess while they’re lost in the creative process, but they shouldn’t leave the kitchen looking like a FEMA site. If you have to clean up after them, you’ll hesitate when they want to cook something, and that’s a drag for everyone.

There’s safety in knowledge. It’s hard to be a cook without mastering the tools of the trade, which include a lot of fire and sharp objects. When you turn kids loose in the kitchen, the best way to ensure their safety is to teach them proper technique. How do you handle a chef’s knife? How do you use a gas burner? How do you take a hot pan out of the oven? Teach them step by step, explaining everything and assuming nothing. Then make them do it several times while you’re watching. That little bit of investment yields big dividends down the line.

The other day, Pippa made brunch for the whole family. It consisted of cheesy baked eggs (the shape and consistency of hockey pucks), rubbery crepes, mouth-puckering lemonade and a pile of slightly burnt bacon. She served it with great pride, and we ate it with all the gusto and kudos it deserved.

Jeff Lee uses every room in his house in Seattle.

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Originally published Sept. 2, 2021

The post Dad Next Door: Are your children creating kitchen nightmares? Good! appeared first on Seattle's Child.

For many parents whose lives are often a whirlwind of juggling responsibilities and shuttling kids from one activity to the next, the forced slowdown was a game-changer.

“There was a lot more togetherness during those early pandemic days,” recalls Shaun Van Eyk, a Greenwood father of two. “We did a lot more cooking and a lot of experimentation.”

Katherine Lee, a mother to a 10-year-old in Ballard, describes how the homebound lifestyle allowed her to reconnect with her husband and daughter.

“I was able to enjoy everything more,” she says. “I feel like we’ve gotten along better since the pandemic.”

Now, as life begins to resemble pre-pandemic days, families worry about losing that slower pace of life. As calendars fill up with meetings and after-school activities, what will become of family dinners?

Finding creative ways to incorporate family meals into an otherwise busy schedule is essential to retaining those moments of togetherness. In Tacoma, Tash Haynes and her husband, Ike, split their kitchen and home responsibilities based on their respective skills. That helps make mealtimes feel more balanced and equitable.

“We look at what we’re good at,” Tash Haynes explains, “and what is easiest for the person to accomplish in the quickest amount of time.”

But parents don’t have to do it all on their own. Getting kids involved and comfortable in the kitchen has enormous benefits for them and their families, both in the short term and for future years.

“It’s a great equalizer,” says Laura Vida of Mount Baker, owner and founder of FrogLegs Cooking School. “Cooking brings kids of all talents together in a fun way.”

Preparing food is a universally useful skill. Being able to cook a meal on their own also helps children develop self-confidence and pride. For Van Eyk, whose 11-year-old daughter suffers from anxiety, cooking is the boost she needs to have confidence in herself.

“Being accomplished at cooking, and getting praise for doing that,” he says, “it’s been really great for her. She’s really receptive to praise in those moments.”

For parents curious about how to get their kids started in cooking, the first step is to make cooking about discovery, rather than simply serving a utilitarian purpose.

“The key is to make it fun,” says Tash Haynes. “There are so many opportunities in the kitchen to bring in your kids’ interests. It’s about teaching boundaries and creating safe spaces, and then allowing the opportunity for exploration.”

Vida adds that having a good teacher, whether it’s a parent at home or a teacher in a cooking class, is also important.

“If you have an enthusiastic teacher that loves what they do, it sets the stage for a great learning environment,” she explains.

As for Lee and her husband, Chris Stearns, understanding where food comes from helps their daughter develop an interest in what food has to offer.

Says Lee, “If you grow your own food, and you involve them in the planting, growing and harvesting, they’ll be more interested in eating a healthier variety of food.”

Fortunately, parents have access to a wealth of resources to encourage kids to cook. Subscription boxes like Raddish Kids, which Haynes uses for her 8-year-old daughter, allow kids to create meals on their own. Taking classes or watching cooking shows can also spark an interest in food.

While some families rely on words of encouragement to reinforce helping around the house, other parents have more tangible methods for rewarding good behavior. Van Eyk and his wife use an allowance and chore tracker app called Rooster Money.

For Stearns, though, it’s less about how the reinforcement happens, but when it happens. In the end, the goal is to help kids make their own decisions about food.

“We try to build up our daughter’s successes when she’s doing something well,” he says. “We make sure we reinforce the good things.”

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“Spread them on a sheet pan and toast them until they’re crispy … and grind them up in your food processor into crumbs,” says Seattle food journalist Jill Lightner.

An inch of leftover salad dressing lingering in the fridge?

“If it’s like an Italian vinaigrette, it’s an amazing marinade for any vegetable.” Brush it on chicken thighs or burgers before grilling. Add it to soup.

Lightner should know. In her book “Scraps, Peels and Stems” (Skipstone Press) she offers good advice and recipes for how to waste less food, especially going into the holiday season. We need those skills; the Environmental Protection Agency estimates that as much as 40 percent of America’s food,

Why bother fighting waste, when life is busy enough and Seattle offers curbside composting? In the small picture as well as the big one, cutting food waste saves money. It helps the environment. Ultimately, it helps battle hunger.

“It doesn’t mean you have to eat foods that you dislike, and it doesn’t mean you have to staple your kids’ butts to the kitchen chair and say ‘You can’t get up until you finish your plate,’” she says.

Jill Lightner’s top tips:

• Foods aren’t necessarily spoiled just because they’ve passed a “sell by” date. Smells and visual cues are more useful (Is the milk curdled? Are the vegetables slimy?)
• Buy smaller containers of milk (or shelf-stable boxes) so you don’t wind up pouring out the last pint in the gallon.
• Instead of fresh seafood — our most-wasted food category — consider canned (it’s cheaper, too!) or frozen.
• Frozen unseasoned vegetables are nutritious and last much longer than fresh.
• Use up pantry odds and ends with flexible recipes like granola or muffins.
• Instead of lettuce, which often rots before it’s eaten, make lettuce-free salads or use hardy greens like kale, where you can toss a sliced handful into your pasta or inside a quesadilla.
• Make realistic meal plans. Better to order pizza on purpose one night than do it at the last minute and waste the ingredients for the dinner you’d planned.
• Help kids track what they’re not eating in their lunches, and change packing habits accordingly.
• Buy a smaller Thanksgiving turkey: Grocery stores tell you to plan on at least a pound per person, but half of that will give you a feast — and you’ll still have leftovers.

Here’s Lightner’s recipe for Use-It-Up Granola.

Seattle parent Rebekah Denn can confirm that the liquid in cans of beans makes a surprisingly good egg substitute in waffles.

This article was first published in November 2018.

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That’s the theory behind Child Wonder the World, a bright, cozy, global-themed toy store that opened in August in the Seahurst neighborhood of Burien. (Speaking of Burien, here’s a rundown of what else to do while you’re there.)

More than a shop, it’s also a place to play.

Once you’ve ducked under the ivy-covered entryway, there’s a whole mini-world to explore: a Moroccan vegetable market, a Ghanaian earth home, a Mexican clay oven, a zen sand garden and multicultural dolls just waiting to play their parts in a child’s story.

Owner Giselle Fuerte wants families to come and be immersed in cultures that are unfamiliar to them. The exhibits have informational signage and play prompts and will be rotated to highlight different parts of the world. There’s a media room with music, books and a reading nook.

The shop’s owner, Giselle Fuerte, wants families to come and be immersed in cultures that are unfamiliar to them.

The inspiration for Child Wonder the World? “There’s a whole great, big world out there,” Fuerte says. “Western culture is one of the valid ways to do things, but not the only way.”

“I want kids to grow up not thinking that people from elsewhere are ‘The Other,’ ” she adds.

Fuerte, a White Center resident and mom to a 6-year-old and 3-year-old twins, has been working on the store and play space since last winter after realizing that her work as a software developer was “not fulfilling my purpose.”

“Research shows that when children of color play with toys and characters that look like them, it builds their self-esteem and lays the foundation for leadership skills,” Fuerte wrote in the announcement of her new venture. “And white children develop compassion for other races when they see positive representations of people of color in media and toys.”

Fuerte has a master’s degree in teaching English as a second language and has cowritten a book, The Lying Liar Called Racism: A Love Letter, which gently introduces kids to the concept of racism. (“It’ll try to make you feel small, powerless, and bad about yourself. Never fear, though …”)

Fuerte identifies as Afro-Latin and spent part of her childhood in Panama. She also started a business called Real Life Bricks after her son noticed that the figurines in LEGO sets didn’t look like him. Real Life Bricks customizes the bricks with different skin tones and sells them online.

Merchandise at Child Wonder the World includes toys, games, books, dolls, clothing and jewelry, and Fuerte explains that everything “is bought either from people native to that country or someone legitimately working with them in an ethical and fair-trade manner.”

COVID precautions at Child Wonder the World include capacity limits, mandatory masks for those 3 and older, frequent disinfection of surfaces and an industrial-strength air purifier.

The play space is available for drop-in play for a fee for the entire day, and kids must be supervised by an adult.

Child Wonder the World, 2022 SW 152nd St., Suite D, Burien; childwondertheworld.com

This story was first published on Aug. 31, 2021.

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