Cooking with Kids: Gluten & Dairy Free Lasagna

Make Cooking Fun and Educational: Quick, Easy and Healthy Lasagna

Italian food is considered by many to be “comfort food”. But, now we can have the “comfort” without the added calories and “unhealthy-ness”. AND, it’s very easy to make. This recipe is a great way to involve your child in the kitchen!

Lasagna Ingredients

• 1 package rice lasagna noodles DeBolies (No Boiling-Oven Ready)
• 1 large jar spaghetti sauce
• 1 bag of Beyond Meat Crumbles (NO BULL) from freezer section
• 1 batch of creamy Cashew Cream Sauce (get recipe here)
• 1 bag of Mozarella Daiya cheese
• 1-2 zucchini, sliced in circles (width-wise)
• Fresh basil to decorate when cooked

Lasagna Prep and Directions:

Kitchen Appliances & Tools Needed:

• Rectangular Baking Dish
• Food Processor or Blender
• Spatula

Layer ingredients in the following order.

First (bottom) section (think of it as 6 layers):

• spaghetti sauce
• rice lasagna noodles
• spaghetti sauce
• meat crumbles
• 1/4 package of cheese
• a little bit of Cashew Cream Sauce (get recipe here)

Middle section (5 layers):

• Zucchini  slices
• spaghetti sauce
• 1/4 package of cheese
• meat crumbles
• a little bit of Cashew Cream sauce

Top section (3 Layers):

• rice lasagna noodles
• spaghetti sauce
• 1/2 package of cheese

Once all of the layers are complete, cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for one hour until cooked.

Eat! Talk! Enjoy!

Language Time Tips:

1. Build vocabulary: Use nouns and action words. Nouns: Noodles; spaghetti sauce; zucchini; cheese, etc…Action words: pour; mix; spread; layer; slice.

2. Colors and Size: There are different colors in this mix: white (-ish) for the noodles and cheese; red for the sauce; green for the zucchini and basil. As you are preparing the ingredients, ask your child to: “put the red ingredient in the bottom of the baking dish”, “spread it around”, “put the long, rectangular, white ingredient on top of the red ingredient”, “put the brown item in now”, etc…This will assess your child’s receptive language of colors. With all of the ingredients being different textures (wet or dry) ask your child, “Should we use the wet ingredient first, or the dry one?” or, “What is larger, the noodles or the cheese?”

3. Comment and Describe: Encourage words such as “smooth”, “warm” and “thick”. Let your child taste each ingredient of the recipe and discuss the flavors. The sauce has a taste, as well as being “cold” and “wet”. Once cooked, the same sauce is now “hot or warm”. This use of commenting can help your child at meals by saying, “I want the cold item”, “I want a hot food.”

4. Sequencing and recalling information: There are definite steps to this recipe, it needs to be prepared correctly in order to “present” correctly. For example, the wet items need to be added first, then the noodles, etc…See how your child follows the steps. Ask them to tell you the order of the ingredients. Ask them why they should do it in the particular order? What happens if they do not follow the order? After you are done with the steps to making this wonderful lasagna, ask your child what you did first, next, etc.

5. Answering and asking “wh” questions: Sample “wh” questions include: Sample “wh” questions include, “What is the sauce for?” “What food groups are in this recipe (dairy, meat, seasoning, etc…)?” “What makes this taste so good?” and “Why do we put certain items in order?”

 Literacy! Lasagna is a funny word: The “g” is silent and the “na” has a “yuh” sound to it. Try a fun syllable activity by counting how many syllables are in each ingredient. What ingredient has the most syllables? How about the least amount of syllables, etc…Which ingredient sounds the most “tasty”?

Encourage Speech & Create Yum With These Recipes for Cooking With Kids

Watch our video Create, Cook, Talk: Three-Way Chili (Kid-Friendly)

https://www.parentingspecialneeds.org/article/baby-spinach-salad-with-roasted-tomatoes-asparagus-prosciutto/

More Cooking with Kids Ideas

• Baby Spinach Salad
• “Foodie” Fun for Kids: Rice Tortilla Pizza
• Cooking with Kids: Game Day Turkey Meatballs

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This post originally appeared on our September/October 2017 Magazine