Friday, June 1, 2012

Cooking is a Great Summer Activity For Kids

Children of all ages can have fun in the kitchen. Since part of learning to cook is cleaning up the mess you make, summer is a good time for kids to get into the kitchen and have time to do the clean up afterwards. During the school year there is generally so much going on that I end up helping with clean up just so that they'll have time to do homework or get to the next piano lesson.

A fun summer activity for kids (this is a good summer activity for teens also) is to plan a party with a theme such as a luau party or a circus party and allow them to plan and make the food for the party. To help you with your summer children's party I've compiled some theme appropriate menus with recipes kids can make themselves.

Luau Party

Hawaiian Punch

Mix equal parts orange juice, lemonade and red or vanilla cream soda. Chill and serve.

Hawaiian Zucchini Bread

This Hawaiian style zucchini bread is easy to make, teaches kids the basics of baking and is so delicious that they won't even notice they're eating a vegetable (except that they put the zucchini in the bread themselves). 

Ingredients:
3 large eggs
2 cups sugar (you can use white sugar but if you can find coconut sugar at your local health food store, even better)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped pecans, walnuts, macadamia nuts or peanuts
3 cups shredded zucchini, squeeze in your hands to drain
3 cups white flour or 1.5 cups whole wheat flour and 1.5 cups white flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup dates or raisins
1 cup drained crushed pineapple

Instructions:
With a large spoon or mixer beat together eggs, sugar, vanilla and oil in a large bowl.

Stir in zucchini.

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, raisins and nuts in a medium bowl then add to zucchini 
mixture.

Add pineapple and mix well. Pour into a greased and floured loaf pan or square cake pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes. Test with a wooden toothpick to see if done. Allow to cool until warm, then slice.

Luau Ham and Pineapple Skewers

These skewers are perfect for your luau party. They're easy to make and both kids and adults will gobble them up.

Ingredients:
1 can pineapple chunks
6 ounces thinly sliced cooked ham. Stack and cut into 4-inch × 1/2- inch strips
toothpicks
2 cups pitted cherries

Instructions:
Thread a cherry onto a toothpick.
Wrap a slice of ham around a pineapple chunk then thread the wrapped pineapple onto the toothpick.
Cover and chill for up to 2 hours. Served chilled.

Luau Chicken Skewers

Ingredients:
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast
1/2 pound bacon, cut in half lengthwise, then cut each strip into quarters
1 can pineapple chunks
18 ounces teriyaki sauce

Instructions:
Cut chicken into 1/2-inch cubes. Wrap with 1 slice of bacon. Thread onto toothpick and top with 1 pineapple chunk. Place in baking pan and pour teriyaki sauce over all. Marinate for 4 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Place marinated skewers onto parchment lined baking sheets. Tip: waxed paper is not the same as parchment. If you don't have parchment paper then use aluminum foil. Throw away teriyaki sauce left in pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and bacon is golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Serve hot.

Optional: You could place the skewers on baking racks set on top of parchment lined baking sheets. This way they won't absorb as much of the bacon fat.

Tropical Fruit Salad

And what tropical party would be complete without a fruit salad?

Ingredients:
1 mango, seeded, peeled and cubed
1 papaya, seeded, peeled and cubed
1 can mandarin orange slices, drained
2 kiwis peeled, halved lengthwise and sliced so that you have 1/2 moon shaped slices
8 ounces vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup shredded coconut

Instructions:
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Cover and chill for 2-4 hours.

Circus Party

If you have very young children you can keep the menu simple by serving hot dogs, sugar cookies (either made from scratch, using a boxed mix or slice and bake cookies, popcorn and punch.

If your children are a little older you can actually get them into the kitchen cooking up some simple circus party recipes.

Cracker Jacks

Yes, you can make your own Cracker Jacks and you'll be amazed at how much better it tastes than the boxed stuff. You can even put a small prize at the bottom of each container!

4 quarts of popped popcorn
2 to 4 cups peanuts
1/2 cup butter or coconut oil
1 tablespoon molasses
1/3 cup honey or agave nectar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place peanuts and popcorn into large bowl.

Melt butter in a microwave safe bowl. Stir in molasses and honey or agave nectar. Pour this over the popcorn mixture and stir until well coated.

Spread mixture onto a greased baking sheet and bake for 6 minutes at 350 degrees. Stir and return to oven for 6 more minutes.

Let the cracker jacks cool and then scoop into paper cups.

Baked Mini Corn Dogs

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour or 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup corn meal
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
coarse salt and pepper
2/3 cup milk, 1 cup milk if using whole wheat flour
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons vegetable or coconut oil
4 hot dogs, cut in quarters lengthwise and then in half so that each hot dog yields 8 hot dog "fingers"
ketchup and mustard

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil.

In a medium bowl stir or whisk together 1 1/2 cup flour, cornmeal, baking powder, sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of coarse salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Make a well in the center. Add milk, eggs and oil. Mix just until combined. Do not over mix or your batter will be tough.

Place 1/2 cup flour in shallow dish. Roll hot dogs in flour. Tap off excess flour then place into batter. Make sure each hot dog is coated evenly. If the batter is too thick to just roll the hot dogs in you can use your hands to press it around each hot dog finger. If you need to use a little extra milk to make the batter work, then do so. Use a fork to remove hot dogs from batter and place on baking sheet.

Bake five minutes. Use a spatula or spoon to scoop up any batter that has slipped off and spoon it over the corn dogs. Continue baking until corn batter is golden, approximately another 20 minutes.

Ice Cream in a Bag

You may want to make up the ice cream mixture and then allow each child at your circus party make their own ice cream. You could even do an ice cream bar so that they can add whatever they would like to a basic vanilla ice cream base.

Suggestions for ad ins:

  • strawberries
  • bananas
  • cherries
  • mini chocolate chips
  • mini marshmallows
  • crumbled cookies
  • crumbled cake
  • crushed pretzels
  • chopped candy


This recipe is for four servings. Multiply it by the number of servings you want.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups milk or half & half
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
24 tablespoons rock salt
4 pint-size zip-lock food storage bags
4 gallon-size zip-lock food storage bag
Ice cubes

Instructions:
It helps to have one person hold each bag while the other person fills the bag or you could place the bag inside a container that will hold it upright while you fill it.

Place your add ins into the pint size bag. Pour 1/2 cup ice cream mixture into the small bag, and seal it. You may want to use a soup ladle to do this.


Fill the gallon bag half full of ice and add 6 tablespoons rock salt.


Place the small bag inside the large one, and seal it.

Shake until the mixture is the consistency you want, which takes about 5 minutes.

Wipe off the top of the small bag and open it carefully. Eat it directly from the bag!


Whether you choose to throw a party or just make a luau or circus themed dinner for your family, your kids will have enjoyed a fun summer activity and learned a little something in the process.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Chocolate Fondue Gone Wild

Okay, there's nothing new about the idea of melting chocolate chips and dipping things in them but still I wanted to share with you a list of things that we recently covered with chocolate that were a big hit in this little kitchen smack dab in the middle of sunny California.

Before we get started dipping though I want to share with you an easy way to melt the chocolate that is a lot more kid-friendly than the traditional method of using a double-boiler on top of the stove.

Dump a bag of chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl. Nuke it for 1 minute. Stir and nuke it for another 30 to 60 seconds. Stir and start dipping.

Tip: if the chocolate seizes up, nuke it for just a few seconds. If that doesn't work, it's likely that you have a low quality chocolate. But don't despair! The fix is easy. Butter. Yea, I said it - butter. Pop a bit of butter into the chocolate and stir until it's melted and your chocolate is creamy smooth.
  • cheddar goldfish crackers (Surprise! The kids LOVED them. The adults thought they were edible.)
  • pretzels
  • potato chips
  • strawberries
  • cherries
  • bananas (We cut the bananas into coins, dipped then and froze them. These are REALLY GOOD frozen.)
  • all kinds of cereal (We mixed different cereals in a bowl, poured the chocolate over and spread it out on wax paper until it had hardened, then broke it into pieces. You could of course do this with just one type of cereal.)
  • mini-marshmallows (Again, a big hit with the kids AND most of the adults.)
  • orange slices (Freeze these to keep them from devolving into a juicy mess.)
  • Ritz crackers
  • rice cakes
  • bacon (I think the kids ate this only because of the gross factor.)
  • toasted pecans (although you could use any kind of nut, even a mix of nuts)
And if you get bored with chocolate chips try butterscotch, peanut butter or mint chocolate chips. It's a whole new thing!


Thursday, April 5, 2012

Easy and Delicious Microwave Pizza Recipes

This is a pizza fake-out. No time or too lazy to make a pizza crust? No problem when you have a package of English muffins hanging out in your freezer. Just split a muffin, pop it in the toaster to crisp it up and then top with any of the toppings below for a quick and delish pizza that the kids can make themselves.

Pepperoni Pizza

Spread pasta sauce on a toasted English muffin. Top with shredded mozzarella cheese and a couple of slices of pepperoni. I like to slice the pepperoni into strips because it's easier for the kids to eat this way.

Microwave for twenty to thirty seconds until the cheese is melted.

Veggie Pizza


Spread pasta sauce on a toasted English muffin. Top with shredded mozzarella cheese and an assortment of  diced cooked veggies. Let the kids make pictures on top of their pizza with the veggies and I guarantee you they will eat them!

Microwave for twenty to thirty seconds until the cheese is melted.

Suggestions for veggies:

  • mushrooms
  • bell pepper
  • tomato
  • olives
  • zuchini
  • fennel
  • eggplant
  • pineapple - ok it's not a veggie but it still works on a pizza
  • spinach
  • basil
  • cilantro
  • parsley
  • onion

Mediterranean Pizza


Spread pasta sauce on a toasted English muffin. Top with feta cheese, a couple of slices of tomato and a sprinkling of sliced olives.

Microwave for twenty to thirty seconds until the cheese is melted.

Hamburger Pizza


Spread pasta sauce on a toasted English muffin. Top with shredded cheddar cheese and cooked ground hamburger. This is a good way to use any leftover hamburgers - just dice 'em up.

Microwave for twenty to thirty seconds until the cheese is melted.





Sausage Pizza


Spread pasta sauce on a toasted English muffin. Top with mozzarella cheese and a couple slices of cooked sausage.

Microwave for twenty to thirty seconds until the cheese is melted.



Taco Pizza


Spread salsa on a toasted English muffin. Top with cheddar and/or jack cheese, and cooked ground beef with taco seasoning. Sprinkle on a little chopped green onion and shredded lettuce.

Microwave for twenty to thirty seconds until the cheese is melted.



Dessert Pizza


Spread softened cream cheese on a toasted English muffin. Spread your choice of jam or jelly over the cream cheese. Top with sliced fruit.

Okay, you have enough pizza recipes to get you through a week of dinners. Now go make them!

Friday, March 30, 2012

Easy Chocolate Cake with Yummy Peanut Butter Frosting

The best thing about this cake is that you can mix it up in the same pan that you bake it in and have one less dish to wash. Of course this means that there is no bowl to lick :(

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour or 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon. baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1/3 cup vegetable, peanut or coconut oil
1 cup cold water, milk or chocolate milk

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350° degrees.

Grease an 8-inch by 8-inch pan or a similar size round cake pan.

Measure the flour, sugar, cocoa and salt and baking soda into the pan. Using a fork stir everything is well blended.

Use you fork to push aside the flour mixture to make three holes in the mixture. Pour the vanilla into the first hole; the vinegar into the second hole, and the oil into the third.

Pour the water or milk over the flour mixture and stir with your fork until everything is well blended. Use the fork to make sure there are no blobs of flour stuck in the corners and edges of the pan.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool 5 minutes and cut into squares or wedges. Serve while still warm with ice cream or Cool Whip or use the frosting recipe below.

Peanut Butter Frosting

Ingredients:
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
2 tablespoon milk

Instructions:
In a medium bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and peanut butter until blended.
Add confectioners' sugar and beat until blended. Add milk and beat until frosting is smooth and fluffy.

Makes enough frosting to generously frost the top of your cake.