Special Announcement!
I have exciting news!
We are moving to WordPress!
I will be saying farewell to my Google Friends Connect widget but hope that if you are following me via GFC that you will find a new way to connect {i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, etc}.
We will also be taking a break until the beginning of the year. My Little Chefs are out of school this entire month and have been looking forward to some extended quality time together.
Don't worry, we will be back ...
Lessons Learned from Cooking with Kids and My Favorites
Upon reflecting this year cooking with my Little Chefs here are a few things I have learned:
Never have a set time for dinner, you will ALWAYS run late.
Measure all ingredients out into separate bowls BEFORE adding to the main bowl.
Review, review, review. For each skill taught review and reteach over and over again.
When Little Chefs choose the recipes they are more excited to make them and eat them.
Explore different flavors and tastes, especially those YOU do not like. Let the ...
Little Chef D’s 2012 Favorites
It has been fun to see which recipes are the favorites of each of my Little Chef's. I could have guessed Little Chef D's list. I knew it would mostly consist of desserts, and I was not disappointed!
Little Chef D's 2012 Favorites
Mom's Banana Dessert
Fabulous Fudge
Pizza Rolls
Brazilian Lemonade
Cream Puffs
Dessert Quesadilla
Broccoli Florets with Olive Oil
...
Little Chef C’s 2012 Favorites
In Little Chef C's original favorite list she had over 50 items and some were repeats of her sisters. Since they each had to have their own top 8 that were not chosen by someone else I thought it would be difficult. It was not. We had so many good recipes to choose from some of the good ones were left out.
Little Chef C's 2012 Favorites
Lemon Spaghetti
Chocolate Nutella Cookies
Yummy Wake Up Smoothie
Strawberry ...
Little Chef A’s 2012 Favorites
We have been reflecting on our culinary journey this year. I asked each of the Little Chef's to tell me their top 8 favorites of the year. We all sat down and looked through each post. While it took quite some time they LOVED seeing what they made earlier and told stories for almost each recipe. Remember when .... happened. Remember this one didn't work. Remember when I spilled my lemonade on the chicken. It was so much fun. Each of their lists started out with about 50 items. I kept telling ...
Mini Frittatas
During the week we do not cook hot breakfast, unless you count microwave oatmeal. On the weekends we get a little fancy with pancakes, waffles and eggs. When we found Mini Frittatas by Giada we were excited. It seemed like a perfect recipe for us. Mix the eggs and additional ingredients all in one bowl and then pour them into mini muffin tins and cook it for 10 minutes. Seemed quick and easy.
The first step was to cut the ham. For some reason this day the Little Chefs were not that interested ...
Fake Betty Crocker Brownie Mix
I probably mentioned this before, but we love brownies! We are always trying different brownie recipes. We first tried a Fake Betty Crocker Brownie Mix and did not like it very much. It was very cakey and not what we liked. We decided to try this again with a little modification.
I love the idea of this recipe because it is basic ingredients we always have on hand. Little Chef D measured out the flour and sugar.
She then added the cocoa.
She cracked two eggs into a separate bowl just ...
Zucchini Parmesan Crisps
Zucchini Parmesan Crisps seemed like a great recipe to try. We often see something similar to this at a restaurant and we enjoy them. I loved the idea of baking rather then frying because it is more healthy. I also liked this recipe because my Little Chefs can do everything on their own, except handling the oven.
Little Chef A cut the zucchini into as uniform sizes as she possibly could.
In a bowl she combined bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, salt and black pepper. Each zucchini round was ...
Caramel Frosting
This Caramel Frosting is a legend in my Grandma's family. When she would make it her kids would fight over the frosting and even take it off of each others plates with amusing and painful results. I was expecting this frosting to be exceptional...and it was!
This was simple to make and I always have these 4 ingredients on hand; butter, brown sugar, milk, and powdered sugar. The butter was first melted in a saucepan. Then the brown sugar was added and brought to a boil. This is when ...
Waffle Brownies
A while ago my fun Grandma gave me a Waffle Brownie recipe she thought my Little Chefs would love to try. I loved that she knew what we were doing and wanted to help give us an idea. She doesn't live close by but was making a trip here and brought the recipe the entire way just for us! What a perfect time to share this recipe, being that we are sharing recipes from her cookbook.
Little Chef D helped make this recipe to surprise her sisters when they came home from school. She was super ...
Rice Pudding
We have been having a great time going through Great Grandma's cookbook and trying her recipes. Today we decided to try her Rice Pudding. A note in the cookbook says this recipe came from her mother and is one of her favorites.
We found this recipe easy to put together with a long wait. All the ingredients are combined and then put in the oven to cook for 3-3 1/2 hours. I was amazed at the ratio of rice to milk and the time it took to cook. After the first hour and for each half hour ...
Aloha Banana Bread
We are loving trying my Grandmother's recipes; Caramel Rolls and Dutch Butter Cookies. Sometimes, very occasionally we have bananas that are becoming over ripe. Grandma's Aloha Bread is a twist on the regular banana bread because it incorporates coconut and orange rind.
The first step is to zest an orange. Little Chef A is very proficient using the microplane.
Next she mashed up 3 bananas. This was her first time so I had to assure her it was just fine to completely smash them.
First ...
