Everything kids need to know about cooking this summer

Do dandelions belong in a garden? How do you stay safe while cooking? How do you combat boredom during the summer months? 

CBC Saskatchewan is hearing from children this summer in a miniseries featuring advice from kids for kids (and adults). This week it's all about cooking.

To apply to have your child chosen for a piece, email [email protected].

What do you enjoy about cooking? 

"What I enjoy about cooking is that sometimes you can just put a bunch of food together and see if it tastes good," said nine-year-old Yva Montgomery. "And if it doesn't, you can take some stuff out or put it in. And if you keep trying, normally at the end it will taste really good."

"I really like that cooking brings my family together and we all love to enjoy the food that we eat," said Mia Eiswirth, 13. "It's good family bonding."

"I enjoy in cooking that you can see all the ingredients mixed together and you get to do it. So it's fun," said Isaiah Lovelace, 11, from Saskatoon. 

"I like it when Mommy and Daddy make macaronis," said five-year-old Diego Mendez. "It has cheese and it has my favourite food.… It's so nice to help."

Where do you get your cooking ideas? 

"I'll have dreams of me cooking food that sounds or looks really good. "I'm like, 'I'm going to try making that," said Yva.

"So I'll get cooking ideas from having dreams or I'll find really cool food that looks good on the internet and then I'll try making it."

Zaelia Hildebrandt, 10, is inspired to find recipes based on the food she eats.

"If I eat a banana, I'm like, 'This is really good. I should make some banana bread.'"

Mia says she sometimes gets ideas from her parents.

"My mom is a really big cooker. I always learn from my grandma — she loves baking — and I always get new recipes from online," she said. 

"I usually get them sometimes from recipes online, YouTube or my parents," said Isaiah. "I usually search up how to make a smoothie, like a protein smoothie or a fruit smoothie or how to make brownies or muffins or something like that."

How do you make sure you're safe while cooking? 

"If it's something hard like that, you should always have parent supervision so you don't hurt yourself or make a mess," said Isaiah.

"Always make sure that you don't leave the stove or oven unattended while cooking and always turn it off," said Mia. "And you can always take your pots and pans off the burner because you just got to be safe [rather] than sorry."

Diego says it's important to use oven gloves, and kids "should ask their parents too to help them make food."

Yva said "you either want to have an adult near you when you are cooking, or if you need to use something sharp and you want to try doing it on your own, at least have an adult by you to make sure it's safe.

"And you don't actually burn yourself or cut yourself."

What's your advice for kids that don't know where to start? 

"Start off with your favourite or a simple food to build your confidence," said Mia. "You could try no-bake cakes or no-bake cookies. You could make simple ones, just you got to build up your confidence and then you could work your way up to using bigger things."

Zaelia suggests starting with "something like ramen noodles, and then you can also help your parents with supper. And then you can even try using the oven after a little bit." 

Isaiah also suggests starting with something easy,  "like toast and just butter with the knife so you can get used to using a butter knife."

"Then you could start asking your parents if you could start harder stuff," he said.

"They need to look in a recipe book and ask their parents for help," Diego said. 

"Even just try cooking, like, toast by yourself or waffles," Yva said. "And then as you get older, you can use more sharp stuff and use more hot things.… Don't really be scared to learn new stuff."