A kitchen helper

My kids are good eaters. Lucille is 21 months now and loves to eat. She ate everything we gave her as a baby - but I'll admit we had some issues switching her to real foods vs. pureed. Veggies that she LOVED pureed - she wasn't so fond of as whole foods. And meats weren't really her favorite.

I decided to conduct an experiment and invite her into the kitchen while cooking and let her nibble on things. The difference was amazing. It started with rotisserie chicken. I've got a bit of an obsession with cooking with rotisserie chicken, because it is so good - and SO easy. Bring Lucille in the kitchen while pulling the chicken off the bone - she ate some and loved it! That was her first meat.

Other things that followed: pepperoni while making pizza, carrots while making baby food and sweet potato while roasting it. It has been a slow process - but it has been the easiest way to get her to eat a meal closer to the meal that we are eating.

And in addition, she loves to cook - so much that Santa got her a play kitchen for Christmas. Now she makes us "coffee" and "apple pie" every morning. She also loves to help us do the dishes, clear the plates, set the table, sweep the floor and make the babies food. We're taking full advantage of this stage. She also got this broom set for Christmas from her aunt - which she also loves.

My next purchase to aid our little kitchen helper is one of these GuideCraft Kitchen Helpers. Because obviously I can't continue to leave her on the counter. She's too squirmy.

Any other things I need to know about from kitchen loving toddlers? I would love to find a toddler's cooking class in the Sacramento area. Any mom's know about one?