Joy in the Kitchen!

School was canceled for us today due to icy roads and snow.  That makes it a perfect day to have some Kids in the Kitchen time!   Easy Cheesy Pretzels are easy enough for 8 year old Wesley to mix up pretty much by himself, though I did stand by and oversee measuring and explaining a few things like "kneading". It depends on how much kitchen experience your little helpers have had.  We like to have Kid Aprons *First, gather all of the ingredients you need onto a cookie sheet or counter.  We measured and put into bowls for the picture, and that also makes it easy to see that you have everything.  Wesley especially enjoys measuring flour.  He measured that cup and a half several times before he was satisfied it could go in the bowl .  (we did not gather the beaten egg or the pretzel salt)  Easy Cheesy Pretzels 1 1/2 C. flour 2/3 C. milk 1/2 C. shredded cheddar cheese 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, sof...

Pretzel Dogs are a fun twist to using hot dogs for an easy meal!   Add a fresh fruit and vegetable tray and you've got a filling meal!  This is a perfect recipe to work with your kids in the kitchen!   Our family really loves the soft pretzels and pretzel bites we've been making.  Dipped in cheese sauce or just by themselves, once a batch comes out of the oven it hardly has a chance to cool before it's gone. These Pretzel Dogs use that easy Soft Pretzel recipe.   Enjoy! Pretzel Dogs 1 batch of Soft Pretzels dough  (Recipe HERE )  prepared up to the point of shaping the pretzels. 8 bun length hot dogs, patted dry with a paper towel. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Divide the dough into 8 pieces.  Roll one piece of the dough into a long snake-like strand about 12 inches long.  Flatten the roll with your fingers.  Place the end of one hot dog at the end of the dough strip and roll at an angle until hot dog is...

We live in Idaho.  Our small school still has a 2 week break in the fall for Spud Harvest.  (Potato Harvest for those less familiar with our famous potatoes!)  Quite a few of the teenagers are able to help with harvest, some working at the cellars or in the fields, and others helping babysit younger children while parents work.  I've worked my share of harvests and there is nothing like the earthy smell of freshly dug potatoes.   This harvest I am not working and I have several children and a couple of grandkids who need activities to stay busy.  This morning we decided to do mosaics.    Here's my cute crew starting their projects. Supplies School glue or tacky craft glue construction paper or cardstock pencil Various dry kitchen ingredients such as:   pasta, dry beans, popcorn, rice, etc. I like to fill a large muffin tin with a variety of pasta and beans.  I just go through the cupboard and see what ...

We used to make these easy candies all the time.  I had about forgotten about homemade tootsie rolls until my daughter texted me today for the recipe.  She said she wanted to make some sort of treat that wouldn't use the stove or oven.  This treat is PERFECT! My daughter Jaylyn, who is 11, mixed these up in the mixer by herself.  It is easy enough to mix with a spoon and then knead with your hands until it's mixed smooth though, so a younger child could do without a mixer and just a little supervision. (Assuming you don't mind little kid hands & little kids tasting all over your dough.)  It's a bit like working with playdoh. Tootsie Rolls 3 C. powdered sugar 3/4 C. regular powdered milk (not instant) 1/2 C. cocoa powder 2 T. butter or margarine, softened 1 tsp. vanilla 1/2 - 2/3 C. corn syrup Mix dry ingredients until blended.  Add softened butter, vanilla and corn syrup. (start with the 1/2 C. & see if you need m...

My Mom let me make Polka Dot Pizza's when I was around 10 or 11 years old.  I felt like such an accomplished cook!  These are easy and fun for kids to make as they learn to navigate the kitchen.  My younger girls are 8 and 10 years old.  They help a lot while I'm cooking but these little pizza's they can make almost by themselves.  I put them in and take them out of the oven.  Younger cooks would enjoy stirring and assembling, and of course kids of ALL ages enjoy eating Polka Dot Pizza!  Polka Dot Pizza Crust: 1 small package of biscuit mix (like Jiffy or even Walmart has a small package of mix) OR - 1 tube of refrigerator biscuits - jumbo would probably work best OR - 1/2 recipe of bisquick or 1/2 recipe of your biscuit dough Mix up the biscuit mix as directed.  Divide into 2-3 pieces.   Flatten each piece onto an ungreased cookie sheet until it's about 1/3 inch thick. Sauce: 1 8 oz can of tomato sauce 1/4 tsp. garlic powder 1...

I am posting this to avoid being a total liar. I told a friend that my recipe for Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies was on my blog.  I sat down to find it, and I can't find it ANYWHERE!   That blog post must be in the happy place in my mind with so many other things I "think" I've done....   like sending the check for our water taxes, or turning the stove off of high before I leave the house.  ;) We LOVE these cookies!  My sister, Peggy, used to make these and they're so easy and tasty, I'm sure she has no idea how often we've used that recipe she shared with us over 20 years ago.  One thing I love about them, is that in the summer, they don't heat up the house like baking a batch of regular cookies would.  They are also a healthier sort of cookie than many...  peanut butter gives them protein, oats add all sorts healthy things - hefty amounts of iron, protein, and a little calcium, not to mention a good serving of fiber!  Really, the...

Wacky is a fun term to use for this deliciously different chocolate cake!  Wacky Cake is heavier than regular chocolate cake... gives you something to bite into.  The texture is similar to the One Egg Cake Mom used to make - or maybe a little lighter than shortcake.  I don't know when my Mom started making Wacky Cake, but in doing a little research, rumor has it, that Wacky Cake could have been popular during the depression because it doesn't use eggs or milk.  It was quite a treat when I was growing up - and SUPER easy to make!  I've also seen this same recipe called Crazy Cake or Egg-less Cake.  Personally I like Wacky cake the best.  :) The directions call for mixing this cake right in the pan you're baking it in, eliminating having to wash a mixing bowl.  If you'd rather mix it in a mixer the results are the same.... AND you can lick the bowl without any fear of salmonella from raw eggs.  (not that I let that stop me on other batters HA...

Spring Break is here and that leaves more time for playing in the kitchen with the kids!  I love the days the kids are home and we're not rushing off to school, hurrying to get homework done, dinner eaten, scriptures read and kids in bed by 8pm.  We're going to take advantage of the time off this week to play.   One of the fun things about cooking is, that even though we're on break from school, we get to practice a fair bit of math while we're having fun!  If we have 3 people that want Crescent Dogs, and 2 people want 2 Dogs each.... how many do we need to fix?  Our strawberries were huge!  We cut them in 4 pieces.... how many will each person get when we divide those evenly?  If I were working with younger children I'd work more on colors when we strung our skewers.  :)  So much learning just HAPPENS in life! Crescent Dogs are super easy because we use a package of the refrigerated crescent roll dough.  This time we used Pillsbu...

These little graham cracker sandwich cookies are quick and easy to assemble, even for little hands.  Kids of any age love them, at least at our house.  We make these mostly when we have leftover frosting from another project, sugar cookies, birthday cakes, etc.  A little tub of frosting from the store would be a fine substitute. Graham Cracker Sandwich Cookies frosting graham crackers hungry kids Let each hungry kid spread a nice, thick layer of frosting on one graham crackers half.  Top with the other half of the graham cracker and carefully squish it down into the frosting.  Eat right away OR if you're able to wait a bit, make several cookies, put in container with a lid, and let sit a few hours....( this allows the graham crackers to soften) Today for our after school snack, the girls made up several of these to enjoy...  making them and licking the spreading knife is half the fun!  I would love to know if anyone else grew up with these tasty t...

Sugar cookies add so much fun to bake during the holidays!  Colorful icing, pretty sprinkles, fun shapes!  With Valentines Day coming up, I thought I'd mix up a batch of these soft, tender cookies.  This recipe mixes up and tastes different than many other sugar cookie recipes.  It has a cakier texture and not quite as sweet, which is a nice complement to a sweet frosting.  The cookies puff up beautifully and stay so soft!  These are not an easy cookie for doing fancy decorating.  If I'm in the mood to add borders and designs, I use a cookie recipe that stays flat and more crisp.  You can use any frosting you like for these, but frosting is a breeze to make.  I'll post my recipe below if you'd like to try it. Sour Cream Sugar Cookies 1 C. sugar 2 eggs 1 C. soured cream (cream that has gone sour - not sour cream like you'd put on a baked potato) 1/2 tsp. salt 1 tsp. baking soda 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla 3-3 1/2 C. fl...

Mom used to make this for my sister and I when I was very young. Mom rarely colored my clay and it still worked great.  We used to make little tiny food shapes, like banana's, oranges, lemons, limes, and then let them dry and painted them. We used them for our Barbies. :)  My own children have spent HOURS being entertained with this play dough.    I'm sure there are recipes all over the place for this, but I want to include it in my blog so my married children with kids of their own can find it easily. This play dough will leave a light residue on whatever surface you play with it on, so I buy vinyl placemats (you can find them for around $1 at Walmart or I've seen them at the dollar store)  OR you could let your child color up a couple of sheets of cardstock and then have it laminated for a play mat.   We gather up a variety of "tools" to use with our play dough... cookie cutters, plastic knives, forks and spoons, scoops from baby formula, juice c...

We used to call these Toad in a Hole, but after a little research on the internet, I found that Toad in a Hole is a traditional English dish with sausages in a batter. :)  Respectfully, we've renamed one of our favorite breakfasts... to Peek-a-boo Eggs.  (In asking around online at Frugal Families, and in real life, I find we are not the only family that used the name toad in a hole incorrectly. lol ) Peek-a-boo Eggs are a great dish for kids to fix for themselves.  I did help turn the eggs over, but the girls each buttered the bread, cut the hole, and cracked the egg.  If you use a larger skillet, you can do more than one at a time and fry the "hole" at the same time. Peek-a-boo Eggs Slices of bread eggs butter or margarine, softened Heat a medium sized skillet over medium heat.  Butter one side of the bread, use a biscuit cutter (or any round cutter) to cut a hole out of the middle of the bread.  Place bread butter side down in skillet.  Br...

Talk about a quick and easy way to make cookies!  I was reminded of this recipe when someone on Frugal Families (which is my absolute favorite place to hang out on the internet.) posted it last year.  I've also seen it on cake mix boxes and church cookbooks.  They're popular for a reason!  These cookies are especially easy for kids because using a cake mix eliminates a lot of the measuring.  (and getting things in and out of the cupboard)  They can be mixed in a bowl with a wooden spoon easier than most cookies so no need for younger kids to use the mixer.  My 8 year old could mix it easily alone, my 6 year old needed breaks or to take turns mixing.   You can use any flavor (and brand!) of cake mix,  the girls chose lemon today and we added white baking chips.  You could also do chocolate with chocolate or peanut butter chips, or spice cake with nuts, or how about yellow with any flavor chips.  My kids love creating their own...

Octodogs make lunchtime fun for kids and little work for Mom!  You can serve a variety of things with it, today we chose ramen noodles. Jaylyn (8) can cook ramen noodles by herself and she helped by doing these. The girls thought the ramen looked like water. (If we had added green food coloring, it would have been great seaweed!) Here are your directions: For each octodog, use a paring knife to make a cut lengthwise - all but about an inch.  Turn and make 3 more cuts lengthwise for the tentacles. I do realize that this actually makes a Hexadog, but it doesn't sound as cool! :)  IF you use jumbo sized hot dogs, you can get 4 cuts in, making 8 tentacles.  Bring a pan of water to a boil.  Drop the hot dogs in and cook for 5 minutes or so until it's heated good.  The tentacles will curl up while it cooks. If you don't mind your child being close to the stove, let them watch - it's almost magic! Prepare your side dishes.  Use tongs to lift your octodo...

My young chefs were up early and eager to get in the kitchen this morning!   We tried something new today.  Breakfast Pizza!  I've seen something similar in McKay's Better Homes and Gardens New Junior Cookbook.  They used bread dough and pressed onto a full sized pizza pan.  WE did our own thing and made individual pizza's using Pillsbury Grands biscuits.   We decided, after trying these, we'd DEFINITELY do them again! (the girls were SO sad Daddy wasn't here to share our fun and yummy food.)  We also decided that one individual pizza is a lot for a little girl, so next time they'd split one. :) (I have to confess here... I spent a lot of time thinking it would sure be easier to just have bacon, hashbrowns, scrambled eggs, and bicuits separately.... BUT, as the girls were assembling these, it was so much fun to hear their exclamations of "Man!  These are gonna be GOOD!" and "I can't wait to eat these!" and "I wish Daddy was here,...

Cinnamon-sugary and crisp, Snickerdoodles are quite a treat!  These cookies are easy to mix up and kids love to help shape each ball and roll it in cinnamon sugar before baking.  Your kids can help more or less depending on their age and skill level.  McKay (13) could easily mix these up & bake them by himself.  He hangs out in the kitchen with me quite a bit and is comfortable using the mixer and old enough to use the oven.  Jaylyn & Nicole (6 & 8) are much less experienced so I stand right with them (breathing down their little necks lol) while they use the mixer, and I take the hot cookies out of the oven. (my 8 year old carefully puts them in the oven)  Yes, these cookies mix up MUCH quicker and with less mess when you just do it yourself, but what a wonderful opportunity to teach and laugh with your children if you let them help!  Don't forget to teach about securing long hair into a ponytail & handwashing! If your children are ...

My children are out of school the next 2 weeks for potato harvest. (Spud Harvest in Idaho lingo. lol )  We're going to spend some of our time off having FUN in the kitchen!  Stay tuned for recipes and activities that you can enjoy with your Kids in the Kitchen !   Some of the things we're looking forward to are:  Snickerdoodles, Octodogs, Purple Cow Shakes, Food Storage Mosaics, polka-dot pizzas, and more! Here are two of my helpers in the kitchen... though I doubt they'll be wearing their dance costumes this week.  (Ds13 will be helping as well, he's already a pretty terrific cook)   While you're here on my blog, be sure to vote in the poll at the top of the page on the right.  Let me know what you'd be interested in seeing!