5 Ways to Make Holiday Memories with Your Kids in the Kitchen

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Time spent in the kitchen over the holidays should be full of sweet smells and wonderful memories. We hope these ideas help your family make extra special memories this year. This post is sponsored by DairyPure – thanks for reading and sharing.

The most important part of the holidays is spending extra time together with your family and friends. And when you’re a parent, that means making the most of those special moments with your kids.

We find the kitchen to be a main hub of family activity all year round… but even more so during the holiday season.

When kids are off school and there’s no homework to be done, you can relax and take more time to enjoy cooking, baking and eating together.

5 Ways to Spend Quality Time with Your Kids in the Kitchen during the Holidays

1. Bake and Decorate Holiday Cookies and Treats
   There’s nothing better than baking Christmas cookies with mom!

   Those memories of baking and decorating cookies and treats together will last a lifetime. I remember so clearly my mom’s shortbread from my childhood. A glass of milk and a couple of shortbread cookies were the best treat… second only to spending time with my mom.

   

   Now that I’m a mother myself, I try to often take time to bake with my kids. But life gets busy, and so I love to use the extra time when they’re on school vacation to bake up lots of treats together.
    

2. Make DIY Christmas Gifts
   Not everything you make in the kitchen you have to eat. The kitchen is a great work area for putting together various DIY gifts for teachers, family and friends.

   

   Making your own gifts is such a blessing all around. The recipient knows you took time and care to create their gift, you spend time with your kids making the gifts, and you can save money and teach your kids the value of doing tasks yourself.
    

3. Spend Extra Time Reading Together
   When the cookies are in the oven, pull out a book and read aloud together.

   Reading to my kids is literally my favorite way to spend time with my girls!

   My girls are now 8 and 10 years old, but I still read to them every day. We take turns reading so they practise as well and they’re always begging for another chapter.

   When they’re anxious for their cookies or cakes to come out of the oven, reading a book together makes the time fly.
    

4. Try New Dinner Recipes
   Many kids can be picky about trying new foods.

   If you can involve your children in choosing and cooking new dinner recipes, you have a better chance of them actually eating it.

   Again, the extra time over Christmas vacation is the perfect opportunity to cook dinner together. (Since somehow little helpers can often make the job take a lot longer.)
    

5. Make a Special Breakfast or Brunch
   We love big breakfasts with pancakes, eggs and bacon.

   One way you can make breakfast or brunch extra special is by adding new ingredients to your pancakes. You can simply toss in a few chocolate chips or bits of fruit. My girls love pancakes made in different shapes or the first letter of their names.

   We also love pumpkin pancakes! You can make pancakes even more fun by turning them into lollipop pancakes.

   

   

   To make pumpkin pancakes, simply add some pumpkin puree, nutmeg and cinnamon to your favorite pancake recipe.

   If you’re making lollipop pancakes, make them small – about a teaspoon of batter – so that they fit the lollipop sticks and are not too heavy.

   Once you place your teaspoon of batter in the pan, allow it to cook for a minute or so and then gently place your stick on to the batter, allowing it to sink in slightly. Then, if necessary, add a small amount of batter on top of the stick to cover it.

   Your kids will be thrilled with their exciting new breakfast.

For all that holiday baking, make sure you stay stocked up on baking essentials like flour, sugar, eggs, and DairyPure Milk.

You’ll be happy to know that DairyPure is the only milk backed by an exclusive Five-Point Purity Promise. All DairyPure milk:

1. Contains no artificial growth hormones
2. Is tested for antibiotics
3. Is continually quality tested to ensure purity
4. Only comes from cows fed a healthy diet and
5. Is cold shipped fresh from your local dairy

DairyPure is available in the dairy case at grocery stores nationwide in whole, 2% reduced fat, 1% low fat and skim/fat free milks, as well as creams.

Studies show milk is a big part of our lives…

According to a new survey by Wakefield Research:

• 71% frequently worry about the purity or quality of the milk they serve their children
• 65% drink milk most often at breakfast
• 82% would make a separate trip to the store if they ran out of milk
• 43% say milk and cereal reminds them most of childhood
• 91% say milk goes best with something sweet, such as cake

Janice and I definitely fit in with most of those surveyed. We absolutely care about the quality of milk we serve… and we love breakfast cereal with milk.

We also have a standing rule that whenever one of us is at the grocery store, we call the other to check if they need milk. And we often steal milk from each other’s houses. In fact tonight, I just gave Janice a half a jug of milk because she ran out before bedtime.

We love milk and the holidays… and they go together perfectly!

For recipes, local retailers, the full line of products and to learn more about DairyPure’s exclusive Five-Point Purity Promise, visit DairyPure.com, and find DairyPure on Facebook and Pinterest.

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Disclosure: This post is sponsored by DairyPure Milk.
Written by Susan Carraretto, co-founder of 5 Minutes for Mom
Talk with me: @5minutesformom and Facebook.com/5minutesformom
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