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One of the most precious moments of my life. Getting to cook with my kiddo on live TV!

I got to bring my son to cook with me on AM Northwest.

When we were presented with the idea of a segment on cooking with my kids, it fell on a date that Sean couldn’t join (darn day job), so one of the producers suggested instead of me cooking alone that we have our kids on the show with me. The show was about cooking with your kids, so why not?

But the twins? Both of them? I’d be so outnumbered!

Luckily one of them had zero interest in going on the show (this time at least!). Which, to be honest, was a bit of a relief for me. It’s scary and nerve-wracking enough for me to go on the show without kids, let alone having to worry about them too. Plus, 5-year olds are so unpredictable. You never know what they’re going to say, or what kind of mood they will be in, or when they might start fighting for no reason.

We definitely rehearsed and practiced with both of them and talked about it a lot throughout the days leading up to the show. But the other one just did not want to do it, and when I pushed the subject he got uncomfortable. I was not about to pressure him into doing something he didn’t want to do. I reserve that right for making him clean his room, make his bed, and pick up after his ginormous Lego collection 😉

Sawyer rocked it like a champ! It was so fun to watch how comfortable he was on the set (I could learn a lot from him). Though it wasn’t always that way. The kid woke up the morning of the show with massive stage fright. Literally. When I went to check up on him he was already very upset and told me he didn’t want to go on the show, and demanded he stayed at home. Uh oh!!

I held him and starting asking him questions to find out why he didn’t want to go. Was it because he just wanted to stay home and play with his friends?

“No,” he told me. “I don’t want to be IN the TV!” He thought he, literally, was going to somehow be INSIDE the television, “like Darth Vader,” he explained (his words exactly!). I proceeded to convince him that, “No, sweetie, we aren’t going to be INSIDE any TV. We are going to be cooking for a really nice lady in her really awesome kitchen and people are going to be taking pictures of us, just like when mommy obsessively takes pictures of you with her iPhone, only these cameras are just going to be much bigger with fun pretty lights. And I promise you Darth Vader will not be there.” That seemed to do the trick.

Oh, and I also promised to take him to get donuts for all of his friends after the show 😉

Bribery. Use it sparingly, but use it well.

What did we cook you ask?

Smoke Pulled Pork Wontons, Baby!

The show was on cooking with your kids. Now, many of our recipes don’t really lend themselves to cooking with kids. You know, fire and all. But our kids have been showing increasing interest in cooking with us, which is a great thing (but also has it’s own set of challenges!). When we cook with the kids I want it to be; a) safe, b) fun (it HAS to be fun for them or they’re over it before it begins), and c) something that tastes good!

These wontons fit the bill perfectly, plus they’re still incorporating our smoked-food-loving-lifestyle. The wontons are filled with loads of smoked pork love. And BBQ sauce. And cheese. Mmmm.

It’s a super simple recipe, and we made it that way so that we could spend our time having fun with the kids instead of stressing over a complicated recipe. Don’t have pork? For shame!!! Just kidding, you can use whatever you want for the filling. Pulled rotisserie chicken? Ground poultry or beef? Cream cheese for you non-meat-eaters out there? Whatever you want. It’s just about having a fun easy filling for your wontons. Then wrap away and fry them.

And thank you so very much to the amazing crew at AM Northwest for putting your faith in a 5-year old to do a cooking segment. I think he handled it like a boss! So proud.

You can find the recipe for the Smoked Pulled Pork Wontons here.

If you’re new to the site, welcome! You can find out a little more about us from the first time we were on AM Northwest, here.

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