Siri Daly has her own cookbook, a food blog, and regularly appears on the Today Show to share her recipes, often with husband Carson Daly by her side. But she’s also a mom who has dealt with her fair share of picky eaters.
“I have four kids. I’d say that they all around 18 months like decided to become picky. It was really interesting. It was like to the day,” Daly said.
For the author of “Siriously Delicious: 100 Nutritious (and Not So Nutritious) Recipes for the Real Home Cook,” food has always been a family affair.
“I grew up around big cooks, big eaters, my mom, my dad, my extended family, family reunions always centered around food,” Daly said. “It was a huge part of my childhood, and I just became passionate about trying things and creating things.”
It’s a passion she hopes to encourage others to share with their children.
“Cooking is such an amazing way to connect with your kids. First, they just want to help you stir and then next thing you know, you’re hearing about special moments from their day and making memories,” Daly said.
She admits, cooking with kids can get messy.
“I’m a neat freak, so I have to kind of let go of that control,” Daly said. “I know that it helps them with not only just creativity, but their palates and their diets, so it’s definitely worth it to let go of the control and get their hands dirty and messy in the kitchen.”
Daly likes to make cooking together a frequent family activity.
“We try to do like a day or two of the week, and then make something together that a.) they choose and then b.) that they want to eat throughout the week. So something like mini banana muffins or apple cinnamon granola bars, just things that they can snack on, bring to school, have after school, and they’ll be excited to eat it because they helped make it,” Daly said.
