Promotion for HarperCollins
Basics to Brilliance Kids (HarperCollins, May 2022, RRP $49.99) is the new edition of the beloved cookbook from bestselling author Donna Hay. This is a cookbook for kids and the modern family who love to eat, cook, celebrate and have fun together.
As a mum, Donna knows that there is nothing more enjoyable than introducing your children to the wonders of taste, food, flavours and the joy of cooking.
The new and expanded edition of her bestselling Basics to Brilliance Kids is all about the importance of mastering the basics and turning them into brilliance! It is a celebration of fresh, healthy food, and the joy of cooking, eating and sharing delicious food with the people we love.
Whether it’s sleepovers or backyard movie nights, you will uncover the secrets to creating tasty meals and better-for-you-snacks, packed with variations to encourage experimenting and learning along the way.
With brand new recipes like chocolate celebration cake, super-crispy grilled schnitzels and apple crumble cookies, there’s plenty of deliciousness to discover!
Try a taste
Get a sneak preview of the recipes in the new edition of Basics to Brilliance Kids
Kidspot kids review
Katie and her daughters Ruby (5) and Ella (8) received a review copy of Basics to Brilliance Kids, A Healthy Book For Big And Little Cooks by Donna Hay and gave it a test drive. Find out what they thought below.
First glance
Our first impression of this book is how beautiful and user friendly it is. The photos are so clean and uncluttered and make you hungry just looking at them! The instructions are simple and the ingredients are generally what I have on hand so that makes it easy. The other thing is that the book was easy to prop up and it stayed open on the page we were working from – no flopping around and pages flicking over as you’re reading.
The book manages to simultaneously be ideal for kids (with help) to learn cooking and baking, while also being a great resource for adults.
Weekday help
As a busy working mum I like to cook one meal that would last us two or three nights, but having the same dish more than one night in a row can be a bit boring, especially for the kids.
What I love about this book is that I can cook a dish like the Super Crunchy Grilled Chicken Schnitzel (pg 138) for dinner. The recipe includes tips for other meals using the leftover chicken schnitzel. For example, the following night I can quickly put a different meal together like the Chicken Schnitzel Burger (pg 114) or Chicken Parmigiana (pg 141). These tips are throughout the book and for different meats.
Recipe testing – chicken nuggets!
You can never go wrong with chicken nuggets – they’re always a crowd-pleaser – my two girls especially love them. Because many on the market contain preservatives I try to avoid them, so it was a no brainer to try the Crispy Not-so-fried Chicken Nuggets (pg 100) first.
The girls loved helping cook this dish, dipping the chicken into the egg and then the breadcrumb mixture was the highlight. There was so much learning going on – measuring, cutting, crumbing, squeezing the lemon, cracking eggs and learning the names and smells of the different herbs and spices.
Ella and Ruby were so delighted when their nuggets turned out just like the picture in the book! It’s great having such clear pictures as it gives you an idea of what you’re aiming for.
These chicken nuggets are not only a much healthier option for you they are also absolutely delicious – we all went back for seconds! This dish was so easy and quick to put together that there is no need to buy frozen nuggets again. It’s also another recipe where we’re given other quick meal ideas for the leftover chicken. So next time I must remember to double the chicken to make a second yummy meal the next night.
We recommend
This is definitely a must-have cookbook for any family! I love that there are a variety of skill levels for kids of all ages and there are even some great safety tips to keep the kids safe while cooking.
With around 175 recipes that both kids and adults will love, this book covers all your baking and cooking needs including breakfast, lunch and dinner, snacks, food on the move, plus cakes and sweets.
Written by Kidspot NZ with information supplied by HarperCollins. The reviewer was provided with a copy of the book. Views are those of the reviewer.
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