‘The Pioneer Woman’ Ree Drummond’s Key Tip When Cooking For Kids: ‘Have Fun’
Ree Drummond, star of the Food Network’s The Pioneer Woman, has had plenty of practice cooking for kids. Before becoming one of the most recognizable faces of the cable channel, Drummond was a blogger and mother, taking care of and feeding her four children. While her life has substantially changed during those early days, Drummond continues to utilize the tricks and tips she developed when it came to preparing food for her large brood. Here are some of her most successful hints.
Ree Drummond now cooks for five children and their significant others
Since her earliest years on the Drummond ranch, Ree’s life has substantially changed.
She raised four children alongside her husband: Alex, Paige, Bryce, and Todd.
As the children grew older, Drummond began filming her Pioneer Woman series for the Food Network.
Along with that were a series of cookbooks, children’s books and two autobiographies and a magazine. In Pawhuska, OK she and Ladd own The Mercantile, Charlie’s Sweet Shop, P-Town Pizza, and The Boarding House.
However, she one role that gives her the most satisfaction is being a mother to her brood, which now includes foster son Jamar, son-in-law Mauricio Scott and Paige Drummond’s boyfriend Mitchell Adams.
‘Have fun’ when it comes to cooking for kids says Ree Drummond
While it appears that Drummond’s life is even busier than ever, she maintains that she still enjoys quiet nights on the ranch with Ladd and her children.
Alex lives in Texas with Mauricio and upon graduating from college, Paige moved there as well.
However, they visit their parents often to help out on the ranch and to film episodes of The Pioneer Woman.
Drummond says that she still cooks the same way she did when her children were small and each had different tastes.
In an interview with Parade Magazine, the celebrity chef revealed that ease and adaptability is key. Most of all, “have fun.”
“If there’s one thing I’ve learned in a family with four kids, it’s that nobody likes a dish exactly the same,” she shared.
“I might make chicken quesadillas for dinner one night, and Alex just wants cheese—no chicken—but she wants green chilies in it. Bryce will take it with the chicken and cheese, and he’ll put salsa in the quesadilla. While Paige will want to sauté some onions,” Drummond explained.
She continued: “Everybody is as married to their own way of eating as I am. So I think less about making things that suit the needs of everyone in the family and focus more on having fun with the dishes and presenting them in a do-it-yourself form, which means different bowls of optional ingredients or toppings where everyone can customize things themselves.”
‘The Pioneer Woman’ star never imagined how her life would turn out
In an interview for Entertainment Tonight, Drummond was humbled by all her success.
“Honestly, I started out as a blogger and all I blogged about were funny stories about my kids,” she explained. “Then I started sharing recipes, which turned into a cookbook a few years later. And that led to a Food Network pilot.”
Drummond continued. “If you had told me the day I started my blog that this would result, I would have laughed, I would have rolled my eyes. I’ve enjoyed every step of the process.”
The Pioneer Woman airs Saturdays at 10 a.m. EST on the Food Network.
