This holiday season, spend family time cooking together

The holidays are a wonderful time of year when families can pause and enjoy each other's company, but too often, it becomes an exhausting experience. That's why this holiday season it's more important than ever to turn simple moments into shared enjoyment with your kids. A great way to do this is to create a family kitchen and invite your kids to cook with you. To encourage you to get started, Dairy Farmers of Canada have partnered with Canadian celebrity, Jake Goodman (from Nickelodeon's Max and Shred and Life with Boys) and his father Scott.  
For the Goodman family, cooking together has become a cherished tradition. "Not only does cooking together as a family give our children invaluable life skills, but it allows us to spend precious time together and create lasting memories," says Scott Goodman, father and lawyer.

To help other families get cooking together, Scott and Jake have great and simple tips to share. "The benefits of taking time to invite children into the kitchen are plenty. In fact, when children are welcomed into the family kitchen, they are more likely to try new foods, eat better and build the confidence they need to prepare meals and snacks for themselves," adds Scott.

To inspire parents to include their children in meal preparation, the Registered Dietitians at Dairy Farmers of Canada are sharing cooking suggestions, tips and recipes on FamilyKitchen.ca. Each recipe is broken down into three skill levels, to make involving the entire family in the kitchen easy.  Great recipes to cook as a family include Oven-Baked French Toast with Apples and Cinnamon Syrup, One Pot Macaroni and Cheese, and Minestrone Soup with Mozza Croutons – to name a few.

For beginners, starting out simply is key. Getting kids to wash produce, peel vegetables and measure ingredients is a good way to introduce them to the kitchen. Once they've mastered those tasks, they can work their way up to intermediate tasks such as chopping, frying and grilling. Eventually, they can take on more creative tasks like searing, sautéing and experimenting with ingredients.

To access more tips for involving your children in the kitchen this holiday season, as well as easy nutritious recipes, visit FamilyKitchen.ca.

About Dairy Farmers of Canada
Founded in 1934, Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) is the national organization defending the interest of Canadian dairy farmers and striving to create favourable conditions for the Canadian dairy industry. Working within supply management, DFC promotes safe, high quality, sustainable, and nutritious Canadian dairy products made from 100% Canadian milk through various marketing, nutrition, policy, and lobbying initiatives. Driven by a strong sense of community and pride, DFC and Canadian dairy farmers actively support a number of local and national initiatives. Visit dairyfarmers.ca for more information.

SOURCE Dairy Farmers of Canada (Marketing and Nutrition)