Do your kids like to be in the kitchen with you and help make meals for your family? Getting kids excited about trying new foods is not always easy. I have found allowing my oldest daughter who is 9 help me in the kitchen preparing dinner has been a blessing in so many ways. She is finding a passion for cooking at such an early age and has gone from being a picky eater to trying more foods because she has helped prepare and make the dishes we create together.

We made stuffed peppers with a harvest blend from Trader Joe’s (it has couscous, orzo, garbanzo beans and red quinoa) , chili beans and corn. Topped with a little shredded cheese. The girls made a few without the chili beans (because they are not that adventurous, yet) but, they loved the cooked peppers with the harvest blend and a little cheese melted on top. A delicious meal made together at home with my two favorite little chefs.

Let’s get cooking…

What you will need is:

Cubanelle Peppers

Trader Joe’s Harvest Grain

Chili Beans

Corn

Shredded Cheese

Olive Oil Spray

Salt and Pepper

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F

First, wash your peppers. I have taught the girls that whatever we bring home from the farm or grocery store we want to be sure to clean our produce before we eat it. I think it is an important detail for them to know. Our puppy loves to always see what the girls are doing in the kitchen (hoping he can get a taste, of course).

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While my daughter cleaned the peppers at the sink, I began to make the Harvest Grain blend on the stovetop and I heated my chili beans and corn in another pot.

Then, you need to cut your peppers in half and clean the seeds out of the pepper. We have these fantastic knives for kids from Handstand Kitchen that are easy for the kids to use. I told the girls to be even more safe in the kitchen and to make sure you don’t ruin the pepper, you can use a spoon to get the seeds out of the center of the pepper.

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Cooking together is so much fun. Her younger sister who is 6 has also been wanting to help in the kitchen more and her older sister likes to help guide her through making a dish.

Before you put the peppers onto the baking sheet be sure to spray the aluminum foil with olive oil. After the pepper halves are on the baking sheet, I spray the tops of the peppers with the olive oil spray, too. Then, season the peppers with salt and pepper.

Put the pepper halves in the oven for about 5 minutes at 375 degrees F.

Then, I set the counter up with the ingredients to fill the peppers with. This is fun because you can have each family member fill the peppers anyway they like.

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After you have filled the peppers bake them for another 20 minutes in the oven. They stuffed peppers were delicious and the girls were so proud of themselves for making such a yummy dish for our family to enjoy.

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From our kitchen to yours… ENJOY!