The Bottom Line
Pros
- Dishes are healthy and kid-friendly
- Ingredients are easy to find—not too exotic
- Recipes are easy to follow
- Book design is stylish and appealing
- Fun extras (such as "Table Talk" conversation starters) appear throughout
Cons
- Encourages playing with food; not every parent will approve
- Beautiful photos, but kids may become frustrated if their finished product doesn't match the picture
Description
- Children's cookbook featuring (mostly) healthy recipes
- Includes many extras such as food-themed games, fascinating factoids, etiquette reminders, and helpful tips
- Based on favorites from Bean Sprouts, the authors' kids' cafe and cooking school in Middleton, Wisconsin
- Includes color photos of all dishes, plus line fun illustrations
Guide Review - Bean Appetit: Hip and Healthy Ways to Have Fun with Food
I am not a fan of kids' foods being presented in cutesy ways to entice them to eat—smiley faces, broccoli-tree forests, and so on. So I probably shouldn't like Bean Appetit: Hip and Healthy Ways to Have Fun with Food, by Shannon Payette Seip and Kelly Parthen. After all, it includes recipes for dragonfly-shaped sandwiches and a palm tree made out of a chicken breast, a piece of pineapple, and some spinach leaves.
But I like this book. I like it a lot, and so does my 8-year-old daughter. In fact, she grabbed it before I even had a chance to look at it, and immediately made a (long) list of all the recipe she wanted to try.
Perhaps it's because these presentations are more clever than most (see: sandwich made to look like piano keyboard), or because they're made with healthy ingredients that aren't always found in "kid food." Or maybe it's because the goal here is truly to interest kids in food and cooking—not just trick them into eating something they otherwise wouldn't.
Then again, maybe it was the beanpot-full of bean-and-pea puns that hooked me.
Whatever the reason, my family and I have had a lot of fun with this book. Aside from the recipes, which include breakfast foods; snacks; "outdoor eats" such as an adorable faux campfire made from cheese, pretzels, and grapes; and desserts. And yes, some of them contain sugar, chocolate, and other "once-in-awhile" foods. But we all need a little sweetness from time to time.
Overall, the recipes rely on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and other nutritious goodies for their flavors and colors. In the book's intro, you'll find recipes for a healthier flour blend (it contains whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, wheat germ, and flax meal) and a chickpea puree that can substitute for butter.
The book is peppered with activities, games, and other asides designed to get kids excited about cooking, eating, and nutrition. There's lots of encouragement to try new foods and tastes. My kid has certainly never expressed interest in eating mangoes before, but she's dying to try the Fla-Mango Soup recipe on page 73. You'll find chapters devoted to cooking-themed birthday parties, tea parties, book-themed foods, edible games, making money with your kitchen creations, and more. Bon appetit!
