Cooking Kids

Here’s a picture of the second cookie we made this afternoon. This cookie my daughter helped with. We actually used a blender to ground the cookies, and she enjoyed pushing the buttons. The original entry said they do it over a 3 day period, but we did these in a 1-hour period. This is one of those sink your hands in and create a great big mess type recipes, but that’s what makes it so much fun to make. We’re still waiting for them to set up in the fridge, so technically these take about 1 1/2 hours total, if you want them nice and hard. Here’s a pic:

Well the contest is underway. There are a total of five contestants, each offering a different take on a no-bake cookie. The first cookie the kids and I tried today is pictured below. This cookie is absolutely easy to make. My son melted the chocolate while I spread the peanut butter. We put them in the fridge to harden and will enjoy them after dinner. Check back here throughout the week as we show pictures of all the no-bake cookies. We’re not giving our opinion on the cookies because we don’t want any false impressions as far as the winner goes. But at the end of the contest, I’ll post comments and opinions that the kids and I had about the no-bake cookies.

And the first contestant is:

Today is the last day to enter the no-bake cookie contest. There are some good cookie contenders lined up, but there’s room for plenty more.

Here’s a little history for you about no bake cookies:

No bakes mean more than just not being baked. There should be no eggs or flour in a no-bake; they’re not intended to rise.

The first no-bake cookie recipes started appearing in the 1950’s.

The original no-bake confections were created by ancient middle eastern cooks and contained nuts, dried fruits and natural sweeteners.

No-bake cookies that resemble candies are still called no-bake ‘cookies’ because they descend from the traditional no bake confections of the anicent middle easterners.

There’s only 4 more days left to enter the no-bake cookie contest. This is a great opportunity to win a free kids’ holiday cookbook. This book covers all the holidays, not just Christmas or Halloween. So add a no-bake cookie recipe into the comments section at http://cookingkids.today.com/2008/08/07/no-bake-cookie-contest/ for a chance to win. We’re going to start cooking these recipes up next week and posting the results on the blog. The kids and I are looking forward to it.

I have received a couple of questions regarding what a no-bake cookie is. Some people are confused by the fact that some no-bake cookies still require stovetop cooking. The easiest way to determine if you have a no-bake cookie recipe is if it doesn’t call for any baking at all. Stovetop and microwave cooking is okay, as long as you don’t touch that dial over the stove. If you need some inspiration try this site: http://www.allhomemadecookies.com/recipeindex/nobakecookies.htm

 Thanks! And I hope you have time to enter the contest.

One of my kids’ favorite dinners is chicken and yellow rice. We use the Mahatama brand yellow rice and add our own stuff for flavor. This is a great one pot meal, and usually has enough left over for lunch the next day.

Chicken and yellow rice:

1 pkg. of Mahatama yellow rice

3-4 chicken breast cut into pieces

1 bell pepper diced

1 onion diced

1 1/2 C. cut-up green beans

Seasoned salt

Olive oil

Cook rice according to package directions. Sprinkle chicken pieces with seasoned salt, and begin browning chicken in olive oil. After chicken has browned slightly, add all the cut up vegetables and cook unti crisp-tender. Remove the chicken from the heat, if the rice is still cooking. Once the rice has absorbed most of the water, dump it in with the chicken and heat until the chicken and vegetables are heated through. Serve with a salad or crispy bread. Enjoy!

Don’t forget to enter the no-bake cookie contest!!!

  What are no-bake cookies? That was the first thing that ran into my mind when a friend mentioned she was going to bring some with her when she came for dinner. What the heck is a no-bake cookie? She tried to explain it to me, since she ended up bringing cupcakes instead. My second thought was, okay that sounds disgusting. I didn’t give it another thought until last year’s Christmas cookie swap. The instructions specifically said you couldn’t make no-bake cookies for the swap. After that I figured these cookies must be pretty popular if you have to instruct people not to make them, so I did a little research.

I found that a no-bake cookie is exactly what is sounds like. A cookie that you don’t have to bake before you eat. That doesn’t mean there’s no cooking involved, though. While most of the recipes I ran across didn’t sound too appetizing, I realized that these no-bake cookies were perfect for kids to make. So with slight trepidation and a small gnawing belief that you couldn’t make a tasty cookie without baking it, we gave it a try. We ended up with something between a cookie and a chewy, peanut buttery gooey tasting thing. That ended our research on no-bake cookies.

But then I thought, why not have a challenge? Why not challenge other kid chefs and their parents to a no-bake cookie challenge? So that’s my offer to any of you reading this. Leave a comment that includes one of your favorite no-bake cookie recipes. I’ll collect all recipes submitted between now and August 17th. We’ll cook them, or no-bake them if you prefer, snap a photo and post them to this blog. After trying all recipes, we’ll (me and the kids) pick a winner. The winner gets their recipe showcased on the blog and also wins a copy of The Kids’ Holiday Baking Book by Rosemary Black, pictured above.   

Since our first no-bake cookie experience was such a flop, I’m looking for proof that great tasting, no-bake cookies exist.  The winner will be showcased during the last week of August. An announcement will be made a few days before. So holler at me and give me some good no-bake cookie recipes to try.

This giveaway/contest is being run by the independent writer of Cookingkids.today.com and has not been reviewed or endorsed by the webhost, Today.com

If you’re an ingenious cook with a ton of recipes stockpiled away, then you probably think you don’t need inspiration when starting a kids cooking club. However if you want to make your kids cooking club an independent project for children, you need recipes that are easily assembled and quickly cooked. This leaves out a lot of favorite casseroles and soups. While nutritious and easily thrown together, these favorite dishes take lots of cooking time and possibly a lot of preparation.

So where do you find ideas for a kids cooking club? Well if you’re reading this, then you know that the Internet is a particularly great place for kid recipes. There are also magazines geared towards families and kids that have a section for recipes. You can check out Family Fun Magazine or even Simple and Delicious for some great ideas. Don’t forget about your local library, too. We just had a visit there and I came home with some great titles such as Cool Kids Cook, Passport on a Plate and Fun and Easy Recipes for Kids. I don’t know about you, but I prefer to leaf through a book for ideas rather than skim  the Internet. Plus, there are usually more pictures in a book.

 While regular cookbooks are a great place for finding good recipes, they aren’t always the best places to find recipes that can be tweaked for kids. Depending on how long you plan on your kids cooking club session to last, determines how complicated you can make a dish.

I recently spent a week in Branson, the land of shows and fun. I went to Celebration City, White Water and Silver Dollar City. Of the three, Silver Dollar City had the best food.  We munched on the traditional themepark fare, such as popcorn and chicken tenders. But we also had a great skillet succotash with okra, corn, peppers, potatoes, and chicken. My father-in-law also dined on a sweet potato fry and sausage meal early in the day. I don’t care for anything other than breakfast sausage, but everyone else tried it and said it was good. They also had these great arctic drinks in either lemon or strawberry that really cooled us off.

So what I want to know is- What’s your favorite themepark food and which themepark is it found at? Silver Dollar City was voted as the park with the best food in a national survey, but they can’t be the only one’s who serve good food. So where else serves up food and fun that’s worth remembering?

Here is another list of more healthy restaurant choices for kids. I’ve included some more kid-friendly type restaurants, where some of the healthy pickings are still slim. These restaurants are budget friendly, but not always health friendly. There is one exception, MiMi’s Restaurant. I included that because it won an award as one of the best family restaurants by Parenting Magazine. Happy eating!

 Mimi’s Cafe- They offer a soup and salad meal or a turkey dinner plate that comes with stuffing and fruit.

Fuddruckers- The pickings are slim at Fuddruckers if you want nonfried foods. But you should do okay with a hamburger and fruit cup side.

Cheeburger, Cheeburger- Here’s another that leaves little that isn’t fried. But they do have a grilled chicken sandwich that you can side with either applesauce or carrot sticks and ranch dressing.

Denny’s- This is a popular breakfast spot for families, and I must say that the healthier choices lie in their breakfast menu. I don’t think I saw one non-fried item on the kid’s dinner menu. Opt for the Jr. Grand Slam for breakfast with juice or milk. If you are eating dinner there, get the sampler of chicken nuggets and mozzarella sticks. Even though they’re fried, the chicken is protein and the cheese is dairy, and you can always choose the fruit dish as the third option.

IHOP- Another favorite breakfast place whose healthy choices lie in the breakfast menu. Try the Jr. Scrambled Egg and Pancake breakfast, a fresh fruit dish, or, if you must eat there for dinner, try the pan fried Tilapia with a vegetable side.  

One lunchbox staple is the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. There are few kids who can say they went their whole elementary school life without at least one peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I even had one, even though I hated jelly. I guess it slipped my mom’s mind. Well here is a twist on the traditional PB&J….PB&J pancakes.

Start by making your traditional pancake batter. We use Bisquick with eggs and milk for ours. Add 2 tbsp. of peanut butter to your batter. If making a large batter, double the peanut butter. Cook pancakes as usual.

Give each child two pancakes, a small amount of peanut butter and their favorite jelly. Have them spread one pancake with peanut butter and one with jelly. Lay one on top of the other like a sandwich and you have PB&J pancakes. Most kids will eat these without syrup, but some will like it with syrup. You can also do PB&J add on’s, just like you would a sandwich. You can add bananas, honey, raisins or cinnamon. My husband actually likes these, too. Enjoy!