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Exploring the Kindergarten Kitchen
Currently Wouter is cooking at his local kindergarten, cooking for 31 kids. What started as a interim replacement of 3 weeks turned into a project where recipes are created, insights are gathered, collaborations happen with appliances and food products to test in this domain and perhaps a recipe book will be made, because many parents are asking for the recipes...
On this page, I share my experiences from the kindergarten kitchen. Reach out if you would like to know more about the project :-)
On this page, I share my experiences from the kindergarten kitchen. Reach out if you would like to know more about the project :-)
Kindergarten, kita or school canteens & catering, it is often a topic of lack: money, quality, staff... I want to explore this world with a creation mode, as an industrial designer and see what can be done
This is what a week of fresh vegetables in the kindergarten and krippe looks like:
Encouraging Healthy Eating Habits for Kids — One Plant at a Time 🌿
The 30 plants a week challenge turned out to be a great encouragement for my 6-year-old to try and eat more fresh food. The idea comes from a 2018 study that linked better gut health to eating a greater variety of plant foods — 30 or more per week, to be exact.
Whatever helps kids try more foods is a win for me — and, I guess, for most parents too? One of my ongoing areas of exploration is finding ways to help kids feel more connected to food. Over time, I’ve found that when there’s a story, a positive memory, or an activity around food, they tend to try it more often — and enjoy it more too.
This interest goes beyond home — I’ve been exploring storytelling around kids’ food not only with my own children but also while cooking with the kids at our local kindergarten.
At home, it’s easier to make those connections:
🥚 Maybe most kids like eggs — but I think mine love them especially because they can collect them from our own chickens.
🍓 Fruits they see growing in our garden are loved from the start: apples, pears, strawberries. The “exotics” like mango or kiwi took a bit longer to win them over.
🦕 I sometimes make odd-shaped (healthier) pancakes that look like dinos or deer — that playful mood helps when the pancakes contain alternatives to white flour.
At the kindergarten, I’ve tried a few different tricks to spark curiosity:
✨ Adventurous names — “Rice from the Himalayas,” or “Sonnensuppe” (“sunshine soup”).
🌿 Playful challenges — “The greenest pesto you’ve ever tried.”
🍎 Hands-on discovery — bringing an ingredient and unpacking it together. (Pomegranate is a great one for this!)
Back to the plants listing: we started noting down every plant we eat — and this simple act really helped. My 6-year-old began taking small bites here and there just to make his list longer. Trying a spoonful of this and that led to more openness to flavors over time.
It’s all about trying again, in a good mood. Sometimes a taste just clicks in the right moment, other times it doesn’t. No pressure, no stress — just more opportunities to explore.
Our Kräutersalz got extra praise because it contains so many different herbs — even seaweed!
And while my own gluten-free, low-carb diet gave me an early lead in the challenge, I didn’t expect the others to catch up so fast. What a wonderful number 30 we reached — with rosemary from the garden sprinkled on homemade fries to celebrate. 🍟🌿
Whatever helps kids try more foods is a win for me — and, I guess, for most parents too? One of my ongoing areas of exploration is finding ways to help kids feel more connected to food. Over time, I’ve found that when there’s a story, a positive memory, or an activity around food, they tend to try it more often — and enjoy it more too.
This interest goes beyond home — I’ve been exploring storytelling around kids’ food not only with my own children but also while cooking with the kids at our local kindergarten.
At home, it’s easier to make those connections:
🥚 Maybe most kids like eggs — but I think mine love them especially because they can collect them from our own chickens.
🍓 Fruits they see growing in our garden are loved from the start: apples, pears, strawberries. The “exotics” like mango or kiwi took a bit longer to win them over.
🦕 I sometimes make odd-shaped (healthier) pancakes that look like dinos or deer — that playful mood helps when the pancakes contain alternatives to white flour.
At the kindergarten, I’ve tried a few different tricks to spark curiosity:
✨ Adventurous names — “Rice from the Himalayas,” or “Sonnensuppe” (“sunshine soup”).
🌿 Playful challenges — “The greenest pesto you’ve ever tried.”
🍎 Hands-on discovery — bringing an ingredient and unpacking it together. (Pomegranate is a great one for this!)
Back to the plants listing: we started noting down every plant we eat — and this simple act really helped. My 6-year-old began taking small bites here and there just to make his list longer. Trying a spoonful of this and that led to more openness to flavors over time.
It’s all about trying again, in a good mood. Sometimes a taste just clicks in the right moment, other times it doesn’t. No pressure, no stress — just more opportunities to explore.
Our Kräutersalz got extra praise because it contains so many different herbs — even seaweed!
And while my own gluten-free, low-carb diet gave me an early lead in the challenge, I didn’t expect the others to catch up so fast. What a wonderful number 30 we reached — with rosemary from the garden sprinkled on homemade fries to celebrate. 🍟🌿
July 2025 - I welcome plant-based food products with a clean label that are new on the market. I have 31 kids that would love to try... Below Tempeh was given to me to try out and I cooked an alternative for Pasta Bolognese.
Pasta Bohnognese
This recipe was a great success in the kindergarten, thanks to black bean TEMPEH a gift from Peaceful Delicious whom I met at the Food Innovation Camp 25 in Hamburg, last week.
Ingredients for 30 Kinder (2-6 yr)
- Olive oil, 3 tbsp.
- Onions, 3 small, finely chopped
- Celery, 2 stalks, finely chopped
- Garlic, 3 cloves
- Carrots, 800 g, finely chopped
- Balsamic vinegar, cream, 2 tbsp.
- Tomato puree, 2 tubes
- Tomatoes, strained, 1500 ml
- Italian herbs mix, 1 tsp.
- Vegetable stock powder, 1,5 tsp.
- Salt, ¼ tsp.
- Tempeh from black beans 3x 200g
- 2 kg Noodles (Farfalle)
Step 1
Step 1
Fry the vegetables in the pan
Start with the sauce
Add oil in the pan, use medium heat.
Add onion, celery, garlic (still in the clove) and fry until ready.
Add the carrot and continue to fry until all of the vegetables are nicely caramelized. With large batches, I use 1 pot and an extra pan to sauté a batch of vegetables before adding them to the large pot that I continue to use for the sauce.
Add onion, celery, garlic (still in the clove) and fry until ready.
Add the carrot and continue to fry until all of the vegetables are nicely caramelized. With large batches, I use 1 pot and an extra pan to sauté a batch of vegetables before adding them to the large pot that I continue to use for the sauce.
Step 2
Step 2
The tomato sauce continues
Add the balsamic vinegar, vegetable stock powder, salt and tomato puree. Heat while stirring for a few minutes, then add the strained tomatoes.
Leave to simmer with the lid on, while continuing with step 3.
Leave to simmer with the lid on, while continuing with step 3.
Step 3
Step 3
Sauté the TEMPEH
Chop the TEMPEH and fry in the pan with olive oil until slightly brown.
Step 4
Step 4
Finish the sauce
Mix the sauce with a hand blender until smooth.
Add the TEMPEH and coursely grind with the hand blender until the mixture resembles finely ground meat.
Add the TEMPEH and coursely grind with the hand blender until the mixture resembles finely ground meat.
Step 5
Step 5
The Noodles
Cook the noodles according to the package.
Step 6
Step 6
Serve
01.07.2025 - A first collaboration:
High-End Kitchen Tech Meets Kindergarten kitchen
What will happen when the Pacojet is used for kindergarten meals?
I will find out in the coming weeks where I explore using this iconic appliance and take kindergarten meals to the next level.
I believe this could be a great match and I am hoping for:
✅ Better results: Natural flavours and colors, unmatched Textures
✅ Time effective: faster preparations, a different approach to meal planning, doing the cooking on fewer days, still maintaining freshness and quality.
✅ Less waste (you might be surprised why…)
The past months, I learned what young kids like to eat, now it is time to see how I can make the cooking more effective and fun, try out some products through collaborations (food, cooking appliances)
🔆 I am very excited that Pacojet is collaborating with me, that they believe that this is an interesting domain to explore and that they have the trust that I can deliver some solid feedback and real benefits of the appliance in this environment.
High-End Kitchen Tech Meets Kindergarten kitchen
What will happen when the Pacojet is used for kindergarten meals?
I will find out in the coming weeks where I explore using this iconic appliance and take kindergarten meals to the next level.
I believe this could be a great match and I am hoping for:
✅ Better results: Natural flavours and colors, unmatched Textures
✅ Time effective: faster preparations, a different approach to meal planning, doing the cooking on fewer days, still maintaining freshness and quality.
✅ Less waste (you might be surprised why…)
The past months, I learned what young kids like to eat, now it is time to see how I can make the cooking more effective and fun, try out some products through collaborations (food, cooking appliances)
🔆 I am very excited that Pacojet is collaborating with me, that they believe that this is an interesting domain to explore and that they have the trust that I can deliver some solid feedback and real benefits of the appliance in this environment.
Pacojet
High-end kitchen tech in the kindergarten kitchen
April 2025
Don’t Worry, Parents: The Vegetables Are Hidden 😉
Don’t Worry, Parents: The Vegetables Are Hidden 😉
Not that anyone has raised a flag, but I have been serving seemingly unhealthy pizzas, pancakes, cheesecake, and similar dishes to the kids at the daycare and kindergarten since I took over their kitchen. In case anyone wonders, each meal actually contains plenty of vegetables! It's not that I make it a strict rule; I want to introduce vegetables in their full glory and let the children get used to their taste, texture, color, and everything else. Still, I also enjoy incorporating a variety of seasonal vegetables into other dishes where you wouldn’t necessarily expect them.
Here are some examples of dishes with hidden vegetables that were highly appreciated by the children:
1. Tomato sauce: for lasagna or pasta that includes carrots, pumpkin, and zucchini, often roasted first to enhance their flavor.
2. Béchamel sauce: that includes roasted or sautéed zucchini, cauliflower, onions, or other vegetables, all blended in.
3. Cheesecake (savoury): with roasted (or boiled) cauliflower.
4. Soups: mostly made with vegetables to create a thick texture, relying less on (coconut) cream and without using powdered starch.
5. Oven-roasted potatoes: with a colorful mix of other vegetables included like sweet potatoes, parsnips, kohlrabi, rutabaga, etc.
6. Quark dip: with microgreens instead of store-bought Kräuterquark, a German favorite to serve with potato dishes.
7. Pancakes: with pumpkin puree or finely grated zucchini.
Here are some examples of dishes with hidden vegetables that were highly appreciated by the children:
1. Tomato sauce: for lasagna or pasta that includes carrots, pumpkin, and zucchini, often roasted first to enhance their flavor.
2. Béchamel sauce: that includes roasted or sautéed zucchini, cauliflower, onions, or other vegetables, all blended in.
3. Cheesecake (savoury): with roasted (or boiled) cauliflower.
4. Soups: mostly made with vegetables to create a thick texture, relying less on (coconut) cream and without using powdered starch.
5. Oven-roasted potatoes: with a colorful mix of other vegetables included like sweet potatoes, parsnips, kohlrabi, rutabaga, etc.
6. Quark dip: with microgreens instead of store-bought Kräuterquark, a German favorite to serve with potato dishes.
7. Pancakes: with pumpkin puree or finely grated zucchini.
January 2025
Insights on what kids like to eat
Insights on what kids like to eat
Freshly cooked meals for kids, what do kids accept or even love? This is what I learned so far, after cooking for a kindergarten/daycare for 3 weeks.
Sweetness is a Hit
Soups and sauces that incorporate naturally sweet ingredients like sweet potatoes, corn, and pumpkin have been very successful. Roasting starchy vegetables like carrots enhances their natural sweetness, which improves the overall flavor of sauces and soups. For younger kids, shortly cooked carrot sticks for about five minutes makes them sweeter and easier to chew.
Serve Ingredients Separately
Children are at different stages when it comes to trying new foods. I’ve found that offering meal components separately allows them to explore flavors at their own pace. For example, I serve sauces and carbs on the side, and vegetables often completely seperate, catering to those who may not yet be comfortable with specific ingredients.
Embrace Healthy Fats
I encourage kids to enjoy a variety of fresh foods without worrying about overeating. Healthy fats enhance the flavor of sauces, dips, and soups, making meals more appealing.
A world of vegetables to explore
Different kids have varying preferences and experiences with vegetables, that makes them so challenging to implement. I’ve had success serving veggies whole or blending them into sauces to help children gradually accept new flavors. A mixed (hidden) zucchini sauce was more successful than a chunky one. Still it is also a task to make vegetable visible to let kids get to know them. The vegetable topic probably deserves a deeper discussion for a next post!
Put in the effort but simplify the result
I often hear the kids like simple food.. but I think this is not entirely true. A soup can be as simple as boiling and blending ingredients, but taking the time to sauté or roast some components can significantly enhance the flavor profile. Balancing flavors with a touch of acidity and fat creates a richer dish that kids will appreciate.
Storytelling engages
I’ve started to enhance dish names and learned that sharing stories about ingredients could spark curiosity in kids. For instance, presenting Himalayan rice as an exotic adventure can sometimes entice even the most hesitant eaters. The meal names are visible for parents to get inspired from as well, as they see the week menu.
Sweetness is a Hit
Soups and sauces that incorporate naturally sweet ingredients like sweet potatoes, corn, and pumpkin have been very successful. Roasting starchy vegetables like carrots enhances their natural sweetness, which improves the overall flavor of sauces and soups. For younger kids, shortly cooked carrot sticks for about five minutes makes them sweeter and easier to chew.
Serve Ingredients Separately
Children are at different stages when it comes to trying new foods. I’ve found that offering meal components separately allows them to explore flavors at their own pace. For example, I serve sauces and carbs on the side, and vegetables often completely seperate, catering to those who may not yet be comfortable with specific ingredients.
Embrace Healthy Fats
I encourage kids to enjoy a variety of fresh foods without worrying about overeating. Healthy fats enhance the flavor of sauces, dips, and soups, making meals more appealing.
A world of vegetables to explore
Different kids have varying preferences and experiences with vegetables, that makes them so challenging to implement. I’ve had success serving veggies whole or blending them into sauces to help children gradually accept new flavors. A mixed (hidden) zucchini sauce was more successful than a chunky one. Still it is also a task to make vegetable visible to let kids get to know them. The vegetable topic probably deserves a deeper discussion for a next post!
Put in the effort but simplify the result
I often hear the kids like simple food.. but I think this is not entirely true. A soup can be as simple as boiling and blending ingredients, but taking the time to sauté or roast some components can significantly enhance the flavor profile. Balancing flavors with a touch of acidity and fat creates a richer dish that kids will appreciate.
Storytelling engages
I’ve started to enhance dish names and learned that sharing stories about ingredients could spark curiosity in kids. For instance, presenting Himalayan rice as an exotic adventure can sometimes entice even the most hesitant eaters. The meal names are visible for parents to get inspired from as well, as they see the week menu.
November 2025
After 1 week cooking...
After 1 week cooking...
One of the most rewarding experiences of my career so far...
Last week I decided to do something bold, my job-criteria went overboard and just I went with my gut-feeling to commit to something real: Cooking for the Kindergarden & Daycare because there was no one else to feed the kids and parents had to fill in. I decided to take this responsibility to cook for them every day. At least for a few week until a fixed replacement is there.
At first it may seem like an unusual career move but let me explain why I did it anyway:
🔎 I love diving deep into a specific culinary domain to really grasp the challenges, who knows what follow up project will come out of this one day...
🔆 Cooking for kindergartens presents a unique set of challenges: logistical issues, tight budgets, and picky eaters. Many have tried and struggled.
🥦 Like Jamie Oliver, I’m passionate about getting kids to eat healthy, nutritious food, especially when it’s packed with organic vegetables. This challenge somehow connects me the work Oliver did with his school dinners in 2005.
🚀 I love fine-tuning recipes for specific groups, and for kids, it is even more exciting! I have been integrating techniques and appliances to make meals more nutritious, tastier, and efficient. After just one week, I am brimming with ideas and inspiration!
🧡 The gratitude I have received from the kids, parents, and staff has been overwhelming. It is a feeling of value that is hard to match, and because my own children attend the same daycare and kindergarten, I have become even more closely involved in this community.
More than anything, it is crucial for kids to develop a connection with real, wholesome food. They should learn that healthy food can taste delicious. That is more than enough motivation for me!
The verdict after facing criticism from the toughest audience ;-)
I have once cooked at the Architecture Biennale and even for the Dutch Embassy in Berlin, but I was more nervous about cooking for these kids! Young children are brutally honest... but the result? They’re eating more than before, which means I can introduce even more adventurous dishes. 😄
Stay tuned for more experiences from the kindergarten kitchen!
Last week I decided to do something bold, my job-criteria went overboard and just I went with my gut-feeling to commit to something real: Cooking for the Kindergarden & Daycare because there was no one else to feed the kids and parents had to fill in. I decided to take this responsibility to cook for them every day. At least for a few week until a fixed replacement is there.
At first it may seem like an unusual career move but let me explain why I did it anyway:
🔎 I love diving deep into a specific culinary domain to really grasp the challenges, who knows what follow up project will come out of this one day...
🔆 Cooking for kindergartens presents a unique set of challenges: logistical issues, tight budgets, and picky eaters. Many have tried and struggled.
🥦 Like Jamie Oliver, I’m passionate about getting kids to eat healthy, nutritious food, especially when it’s packed with organic vegetables. This challenge somehow connects me the work Oliver did with his school dinners in 2005.
🚀 I love fine-tuning recipes for specific groups, and for kids, it is even more exciting! I have been integrating techniques and appliances to make meals more nutritious, tastier, and efficient. After just one week, I am brimming with ideas and inspiration!
🧡 The gratitude I have received from the kids, parents, and staff has been overwhelming. It is a feeling of value that is hard to match, and because my own children attend the same daycare and kindergarten, I have become even more closely involved in this community.
More than anything, it is crucial for kids to develop a connection with real, wholesome food. They should learn that healthy food can taste delicious. That is more than enough motivation for me!
The verdict after facing criticism from the toughest audience ;-)
I have once cooked at the Architecture Biennale and even for the Dutch Embassy in Berlin, but I was more nervous about cooking for these kids! Young children are brutally honest... but the result? They’re eating more than before, which means I can introduce even more adventurous dishes. 😄
Stay tuned for more experiences from the kindergarten kitchen!
