Cooking Kids

We tried a recipe the other day at our playgroup that was absolutely delicious. It’s a great alternative to the traditional Thanksgiving pumpkin pie. So if you like pumpkin stuff but don’t care for pie, try this mousse. With the nutty topping, you don’t even miss the crust of a pie. And it has the little kid stamp of approval. My daughter, and all her little 2 to 4 year old friends, gobbled it down.

Praline Pumpkin Mousse

1 c cold milk

1 can (15 oz) pumpkin

2 pkg. (4-serving size each) Jell-o Vanilla flavor Instant Pudding and Pie Filling

1 1/4 t pumpkin pie spice

2 c thawed Cool Whip Whipped Topping

1/2 c chopped pecans

1 T butter, melted

1/3 c firmly packed brown sugar

Beat milk, pumpkin, dry pudding mixes and pumpkin pie spice in large bowl with wire whisk 2 min. or untl well blended.  (Mixture will be thick.)  Gently stir in whipped topping.  Spoon into 10 dessert glasses.

Refrierate 4 hours or until set.  Meanwhile, toss pecans with butter and sugar.  Store in tightly covered container at room temperature.

Sprinkle pecan mixture over desserts just before serving.  Store leftovers in refrigerator.

I have a recipe that gets both of my carrot hating kids to eat their carrots. They like them so much in fact, they’ve nicknamed them the “Candy Corn Carrots.” They’re simple, quick and something that an older child can help cook.

Candy Corn Carrots:

4-5 large carrots, peeled and cut into circles

1/2 C. packed brown sugar

2 tbsp. butter

Boil carrots just until tender. Drain and put the carrots back into the pan. Put carrots over medium heat and add brown sugar and butter. Stir gently while the butter and sugar melts. Increase heat, if necessary. Sugar and butter should create a sort of syrup for the carrots. Here’s a pic of what our carrots look like:

If you’ve been trying to get your kid to eat carrots, try this recipe and see if they like it. If you have an older child, give them the responsibility of boiling the carrots and melting the sugar and butter.

October 30th is National Candy Corn Day. Today’s a great day to make candy corn treats with the kids, right before Halloween. Candy corn is easily used in regular treats as an add-on. Here are some ideas for using candy corn to celebrate national candy corn day.

Make a batch of Rice Krispie treats and throw in some candy corns.

Make a trail mix with pretzels, nuts, graham cookies and candy corns.

Get a roll of sugar cookie dough and roll it out. Use a triangle cookie cutter or egg shaped cookie cutter and cut out the shapes. While the cookies bake, color white icing yellow and orange with some white left over. After the cookies cool, icing them to look like candy corns.

Roll caramel apples into candy corns.

Vist my recipe for Fall Popcorn that I made with my cooking club for another idea.

Enjoy National Candy Corn Day with these yummy ideas.

Halloween is right around the corner, and I thought I’d add some easy halloween treats you can make with the kids. I don’t have any pictures of these because we don’t do our halloween cooking until the day before, but these recipes have easy-to-follow directions that are easily visualized. Your recipes are Tombstone Brownies, Magic Potion Punch with Wormy Ice Ring, Jack-O-Lantern Cheese Ball, and Caramel Apples. Enjoy!

Tombstone Brownies:
1 pan of brownies
Pumpkin candies
Green colored coconut
2 Hershey bars
Chocolate icing
White icing

Bake a batch of brownies according to package directions. Once cooled, ice them with the chocolate icing. Cut them into rectangles and put them on a platter. Let your kids help tint coconut with green food coloring. While waiting for the food coloring to soak in, break apart the Hershey bar into individual pieces. Using white icing, pipe the letters RIP onto each rectangle, in a diagonal pattern. Put a little patch of dyed coconut on one corner of the brownie. Place a pumpkin candy on top. Put the headstone chocolate piece above the coconut grass. Those are tombstone brownies.

Magic Potion Punch:
1 C. boiling water
2 packages of lime flavored gelatin (or any flavor you prefer)
3 C. cold water
1 1/2 qts. Sprite
1/2 C. sugar

Pour boiling water over gelatin in punch bowl. Stir until dissolved. Stir in cold water, Sprite and sugar. Stir well; mixture will foam for a bit. Float the Wormy Ice Ring in the center (recipe follows.)

Wormy Ice Ring:
1 C. gummi worms
1 Qt. of bright yellow Gatorade. (If you use a yellow gelatin for the punch, choose a different colored Gatorade. The punch and ice ring colors need to contrast.)

Arrange gummi worms in a ring mold. Fill with Gatorade. Freeze until solid, about 8 hours. Unmold and float in Magic Potion Punch.

Jack-O-Lantern Cheese Ball
2 C. shredded cheddar
1/2 package cream cheese
1/4 C. pumpkin
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 pretzel rod broken in half
Black olives
Red pepper
Dark bread

Beat cheeses, pumpkin and spices until smooth. Cover and chill 2 to 3 hours. Shape mixture into a round pumpkin and place on a platter. Using a knife, score vertical lines down the pumpkin. Place the pretzel rod in the top for a stem. Cut a piece of the dark bread into triangles for eyes, a square red pepper nose, and slice olives for the mouth. Serve with crackers and vegetables.

Halloween Caramel Apples
1 package of caramels
1 C. mini marshmallows
1 tbsp. water
5 or 6 apples
Candy corns, red cinnamons, jelly beans, licorice, chocolate chips, nuts and sprinkles for decoration

Place a sheet of wax paper on a baking pan. Combine caramels, marshmallows and water in a pan. Cook over medium until caramels melt. Insert wooden sticks into washed apples. Dip apples into the caramel mixture and place on wax paper. Decorate with desired toppings and refrigerate until firm.

We have a favorite dessert that I guess would count as a soup. It’s really simple to make, and since it’s chocolate kids love it. I don’t make it often because it is so decadent, but it’s great for a valentine’s dessert or, coming up, a halloween dessert. I serve it with fresh fruit for dipping, but it could be eaten straight from the bowl if your stomach can handle it.

Chocolate Soup Recipe:

1 jar of hot fudge topping, slightly warmed

1/2 C. caramel topping or 1/2 bag of caramels, melted

1 C. cream

Heat the hot fudge and caramel in a small pan. When warmed through, add the cream. Heat until smooth and creamy. Spoon into small bowls and serve with fresh fruit. If you like a thicker soup, reduce the amount of cream. Enjoy!

Here’s a fun recipe for halloween punch. Since Halloween falls on a Friday this year, more parties will probably be taking place the actual day of Halloween. These little pumpkin punches are a cute and fun way to serve drinks at a kids’ party. Plus, your kids can help create them.

Recipe:

12 oz. can orange juice

1 C. water

2 C . milk

2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 C. sugar

20 ice cubes

Hollowed out oranges for drinking cups

Blend all the ingredients together in a blender, including any orange pulp you want in the punch. (Adding orange is optional).  Let your kids draw jack -o- lantern faces on the orange shells, using a black marker. This can also be a Halloween party activity right before you serve the food. Fill the oranges with the juice and serve with a straw. This recipe can serve about a dozen kids. Cut it in half if you have fewer people.

Salad and bread are great side dishes for a meal of soup. One recipe that’s easy for kids to help make is seasoned breadsticks. By using a can of breadstick dough, you cut the preparation time and make it easy for kids to help. The next time you plan on making soup, don’t forget to grab a can of breadsticks.

Recipe:

1 or 2 cans of breadstick dough

Melted butter

Favorite seasonings such as garlic powder/salt, onion powder/salt, basil, parsley, oregano, thyme, seasoned salt, and salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven according to package directions. Open the can of breadsticks and unroll them. Have your kids help twist each breadstick into a spiral and place on a greased baking sheet. Let them brush melted butter over each breadstick. Sprinkle your favorite seasonings over the breadsticks and bake. For a real assortment, use a variety of seasonings. Serve the breadsticks standing up in a round container for visual appeal.

Ramen noodles are a staple in many households. I know we always have a box. They’re cheap and filling, plus older kids can cook them by themselves. However, they’re not the most exciting food out there. Noodles and broth with an overly salty flavoring. Here are some alternatives to plain ramen noodle soup.

Add scallions and parsley for color and flavor.

Add some chopped chicken, turkey or beef depending on your ramen noodle flavor.

Toss in some cooked salad shrimp until they’re warmed through–these are great because they’re small, and you might get kids that don’t like seafood to eat these baby shrimp.

Add leftover vegetable mixes to the soup. The baby corn mixed veggis are good, as are any leftover shredded veggis.

Throw in cubed or sliced ham.

Add some cayenne or ground red pepper, if giving this soup to a sick child. The spice will help break up congestion and make them feel a little better.

What do you add to ramen noodles to spice it up a little bit?

Today was my first kids’ cooking club. The kids had so much fun. If you’re thinking about starting one, I’d say go for it. We made apple roll-ups, apple punch and apple frogs. My daughter is pictured here with her apple frog.

We started by reading a story related to apples. I did this while waiting for the last few kids to show up. Once all the kids were here, we moved into the dining room and started working on our roll-ups. I diced the apples beforehand and filled little applesauce cups with a mixture of sugar and cinnamon. The kids flattened their biscuit, piled apples on top and then sprinkled it with sugar and cinnamon. The moms helped fold it up and then the kids sprinkled more sugar and cinnamon on top. We baked these while the kids worked on making the punch and their frogs.

For the frogs, I presliced the apples and cut up the grapes. The kids were given two apple slices, some mini chocolate chips, a sliced grape, a piece of red licorice and some peanut butter. They spread peanut butter on one slice of the apple and glued them together to create the frog face. They then glued the grapes on for eyes and put the chocolate chips in the middle for pupils. They also added the red licorice for the fly catching frog tongue.

Overall it went smoothly. What I learned from this first time was that next time I need to provide baby wipes. Other than that, everything went well. Next month’s kids’ cooking club theme is pumpkins and popcorn.

Here’s a recipe that is easy for the kids to help with and that they love. Both of my kids thought these were delicious. These work well as a side dish with dinner or just a snack throughout the day. If you wanted to use these for breakfast, combine hot and mild breakfast sausages.

Cheddar Sausage Balls:

1 package of hot sausage
1 package of mild sausage
2 C. cheddar cheese
1/2 C. Bisquick

Mix all ingredients together and shape into balls. Place them on a lightly sprayed baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes in a 350* oven. Let them cool a couple minutes before serving.