You know,  kids like parties, at least mine do.  They always want to know if we are going to have a Superbowl party, and several don’t even like football.  Here are a couple of recipes that kids can do for their own Superbowl party, so that when you are passing the Buffalo wings they won’t be staring at you with puppy eyes!

Ham & Cheese on Pretzel Sticks

Take cubes of ham  and carefully push onto small pretzel sticks. Repeat with cubes of cheese.

Fruit and Veggie Plate with Peanut Butter Dip 

Slices of Apple, Pear, and Banana,Celery, and Carrots

Mix dip:

1/2 c peanut butter

3 Tbs honey

1/2 tsp vanilla

Blend well.

Granola Peanut Butter Hors D’ Oeuvres

Toast, cut with cookie cutters into football shapes.

Spread with peanut butter.

Sprinkle with granola

Cinnamon Roll Ups 

Flour tortillas

Cream cheese

Cinnamon

Sugar

Chopped pecans or walnuts

Spread warm tortillas with cream cheese. Sprinkle wiht sugar and cinnamon mixture. Toss on some choppped pecans.  Roll.  Cut on the diagonal in 2 pieces. Serve.
Tie Dyed Tortilla Chips 

Ranch Dip

Set these out for the kids and add some coloring pages, and crayons for the littler kids and some wordsearches for the bigger ones. You can find some good ones here.

Post from: Baking Delights

As you can imagine we do not eat breakfast cereal here much. Even on sale it is expensive because it takes at least 2 boxes to feed everyone- even with that they are hungry again in an hour.

Homemade granola is fun to make and kids love it. Because you are making it at home you can control what goes in it, and how much. Best of all, because this is a kid friendly recipe they can help and choose some of the ingredients. Chef Kyrie gives this recipe 4 stars.

Age: Youngest chefs, with help

10 or over on their own

Difficulty: must be able to read and use oven safely

Granola

• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 tsp vanilla, maple or other flavoring 1/2 stick unsalted butter
• 3 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup nuts -your choice
• 1/2 c seeds (like sunflower) or another 1/2 c of nuts
• 1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 c dried fruit

1. Make sure the oven rack is in the center position and preheat the oven to 325 degrees

2. Combine the honey and butter in a small saucepan. Heat on low heat and stir until melted or microwave. Remove from the heat. Stir in flavoring.

3. Combine the oats, nuts, coconut, seeds, and salt in a large bowl. Stir with a large spoon mixing well.

4. Pour the honey mixture over the oat mixture and stir until well combined.

5. Spread the granola evenly in a thin layer on a baking sheet

6. Bake, stirring every 5 minutes with a wooden spoon to prevent the granola from sticking or burning, about 20 minutes. Granola will crisp as it cools

7. Using oven mitts or pot holders, carefully remove the baking sheet from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool. When completely cooled, transfer the granola to a large mixing bowl and stir in the dried fruit. break up large pieces.

8. Transfer to an airtight container and store at room temperature.

Try these combinations:

• maple flavoring, walnuts, dried cranberries, apples, and pears
• banana flavoring, macadamia nuts, dried bananas, papaya, mango
• vanilla, dried apricots, pistachios

There are hundreds of possibilities. Feel free to add cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, or what ever you like! For a great snack add M & Ms to the cooled granola. (..but you didn’t hear it from me.)

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She is a confident cook because she has cooked for ages. Now she has Kyrie (4) help her and is passing on what she knows to her little sister. I love watching my girls cook together, and when all three of us are in the kitchen, or better, when my oldest daughter is home..well..watch out!

Kyrie can make very basic things and one thing she likes to “make” is rice krispie treats. We do them a little different, adding m&m candies to them.

Let your youngest chefs help with this.. They can stir, press, measure…and, of course, taste.

6 cups rice krispie cereal

1 package (10 oz) marshmallows

1/4 c unsalted butter

1 1/2 c m & m’s

Butter a 13 x 9 pan

Melt butter in heavy saucepan. Add marshmallows and stir until melted. Remove from heat.Quickly pour in rice krispies. Stir to coat cereal with marshmallow. Add candy and stir to mix. Spoon out into pan and press down firmly. Allow to cool.

Makes…ummm….ONE.

makes about 16 normal size ones.

You can make these festive by using red and green m and ms only.

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Cooking with kids is such an important investment in their lives. Kyrie drags a stool over next to me and perches atop it helping to mix, tear, or frost with an on-going prattle..

Chef Mom?

Yes Chef Kyrie?

Are you ready for the stirring?

Not quite, Chef Kyrie.

O.k.Chef Mom.

I love these moments. I have older kids. Kyrie is the youngest of 8. I know from experience that this four year old desire to spend enormous amounts of time with me will be gone too soon.

So, here is another kid friendly recipe. The microwave makes it easy, although older kids could do it on the stove. The cranberry sauce will “jelly” as it stands, so you can even pour the hot sauce into oiled mini bundt pan molds or whatever for a more creative presentation.

Homemade Cranberry Sauce
1 pound fresh cranberries
grated peel from one orange
2 cups white sugar
1/4 c orange juice
1 cup water

In a microwave safe bowl, mix together cranberries, peel, sugar, juice, and water. Cover the mixture with wax paper and microwave on high power, stirring once in awhile, until the cranberries pop (about 7 minutes). Chill. This will keep a week or so, covered well, in the fridge.

That’s it. Enjoy.

Post from: Baking Delights

Ya think?

My kids all cook, even 4 year old Kyrie. It is just something we do. My mom was not a person that liked to cook and she did not like messes, so as a result I did not really step foot in a kitchen until I was married. There were a couple of months when I was 13 that my parents were separated and I learned to bake bread in my dad’s apartment kitchen, but that was the extent of it. I was determined that my kids would be exposed to cooking and baking from the time that they could hold a spoon and they have. As a result all eight of them are accomplished cooks at their own level and our kitchen is a perpetual mess.

Anyway, from now until Christmas I will post recipes that kids can make without much help( and an age range). Supervision is always important. Making memories in the kitchen is part of a strong, healthy family and you will be amazed at how much kids open up and talk about their deep feelings (”Mom, do you know my Sunday school teacher picks his nose during class? It’s gross. Do you think his mom didn’t teach him any better?”) and emotions as they stir, pour, and toss flour around the kitchen.

So, just like the Thanksgiving make-ahead recipes, and the Christmas Countdown, you can check this out every week to see what is new. Look for the graphic. And let me know what you think. If you want more recipes for kids after the holidays we can make it a weekly thing.

This recipe is easy and fun. I don’t usually like cake mixes, but the use of one makes this simple enough for a 5 or 6 year old to do.

Pumpkin Crisp

1 package (18.25 ounces) plain yellow cake mix
1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
4 large eggs
2 cans (15 ounces each) solid pack pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling.
1 can (5 ounces) evaporated milk
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 stick unsalted butter, chilled
1 cup chopped pecans
Sweetened whipped cream for topping

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 13″x 9″ baking pan & dust with flour. Shake out the excess flour. Set the pan aside.

Measure out 1 cup of the cake mix and set aside for the topping.

For the Base:
Place the remaining cake mix, the butter, and 1 egg in a large mixing bowl. Mix on low speed until well combined, about one minute. Using your fingertips, press the batter over the bottom of the prepared pan all the way to the edges. Set the pan aside.

For the Filling:
Place the pumpkin, evaporated milk, 1 cup sugar, remaining 3 eggs, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Blend on low speed until combined about 30 seconds. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more. Pour the filling over the crust in the pan, spreading to the sides of the pan with a rubber spatula. Set the pan aside.

For the Topping:
Place the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, the chilled butter, and the reserved cake mix in a mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until just combined and crumbly, 1 minute. Stop the machine and stir in the pecans. Use your fingers to thoroughly knead the pecans into the topping mixture. Distribute the topping evenly over the filling mixture. Place the pan in the oven.

Bake the cake until the center no longer jiggles when you shake the pan and the pecans on top have browned, about 1 hour. Remove the pan from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes. Top with whipped cream or ice cream.
12 servings

Post from: Baking Delights