New cookbooks put your kids to work feeding your family and your dog

The weather forecasters predict warmer, and stormier, weather this week. This means the kids will be in the house a lot more – and you’ll need a way to keep them busy. Several new cookbooks are ready to keep all your family members busy and fed.

You’re the Chef is a fun book series designed for children from third through fifth grades. Millbrook Press, a division of Lerner Publishing Group, has titles including Awesome Snacks and Appetizers, Delicious Vegetarian Main Dishes and Terrific Veggies on the Side.

What’s great about the books is that ingredients are easy. For the Terrific Veggies on the Side Sweet Potato Oven Fries, you need sweet potatoes, olive oil, salt, black pepper, sugar and chili powder. Your kids can spend 15 minutes prepping the treat and 20 minutes baking it before dipping their hard work into ketchup or their favorite dipping sauce.

Awesome Snacks and Appetizers has a cheese fondue recipe that is sure to keep your kids busy and entertained. Kids like fondue because it seems like fun food. The recipe calls for ingredients like apples, pears, cauliflower, broccoli and French bread. The fondue is simply cheddar cheese, Monterey Jack cheese, sparkling apple juice, nutmeg, paprika and black pepper. Your kids can make this from scratch so it will be their own creation.

Each recipe is easy to make for beginner chefs. There is some cutting and baking that might require some supervision. As you read the recipes you can determine what your kids can do independently and what might require some assistance.

For older kids, or at least those with more sophisticated palates, St. Martin’s Press recently released Dog-Gone Good Cuisine by Gayle Pruitt. The twist on this book is that the food you make for yourself is also good for your dog. There are more than 100 recipes that are corn, gluten, sugar and soy free, so the recipes are perfect for those with food allergies. Most are for people/dogs, but the last few are considered canine only.

The introduction explains what you and your dog can eat. It’s important not to deviate from the recipes as many people don’t realize that dogs can’t have common ingredients like onions or garlic according to the ASPCA. The recipes are designed to keep you and your dog healthy, so ingredients are double-checked for safety and taste.

These are recipes you could put out for a dinner party including Salmon Florentine, Individual Spinach Kale Lasagna, Twice Baked Asparagus Soufflé, Pears with Raspberry Sauce, Tomato Carrot Soup and Mini Fruit Tarts.

Joseph Grishman’s images keep the mood light. From pooches with hats to delectable finished recipes, the pictures make the book more like a coffee table book than a working cookbook. The pooches are sure to please your younger children and delight the chef with their winning facial expressions.

Disclosure: I did receive review copies of these books. My words and opinions are my own.