Jun

5

eggcup.jpgFather’s Day is coming up on June 15th, and it’s a great time to involve kids in cooking breakfast for Dad. Dad doesn’t get breakfast in bed much does he? Seems like more of a Mother’s Day thing. How about surprising Dad with breakfast this year? I love this recipe I found on NPR for Ham & Egg Cups. Basically you line a muffin tin with ham, sprinkle in some cheese and then add an egg and bake - turns out very fancy looking.


Apr

11

fudge.jpgI’ve just recently read the Betsy-Tacy book series for about the billionth time (an exaggeration, but only slightly), and enjoyed them as much as ever. I first read them as kid, but I still love them; like Anne of Green Gables they can be read over and over again by anyone at any age and still work their charm. The first book starts with Betsy meeting Tacy at her fifth birthday and the series continues through Betsy’s elementary and high school years, with Betsy’s wedding in the tenth and final book. If you’ve never read them before, do, they’re fantastic! I remember wishing I could just jump into Betsy’s world, with the Sunday Night Lunch and The Crowd and all the family jokes. In particular, I’m always enthralled by the fudge making parties; every time Betsy and her friends get together they unfailingly make up a pan of fudge. After finishing one of the books the other day I had a craving for chocolate fudge and promptly made a batch. So the next rainy day, or snowy day, or sunny day, or any day when you need something to do, dig up a copy of Betsy-Tacy and make a pan of fudge.

Here’s an easy microwave fudge recipe.

3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 14-oz can condensed milk
4 T. butter
1 t. vanilla extract
1/4 t. salt

Line an 8×8 pan with aluminum foil and spray it withe nonstick cooking spray. In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine the chocolate chips, condensed milk, and butter. Microwave one minute at a time until melted, about 2-3 minutes. Stir until all the chocolate is melted, then add the vanilla and salt. Stir until the candy is smooth and well-mixed. Pour the fudge into the prepared pan and smooth it into an even layer. Place the fudge in the refrigerator to set for at least 2 hours. Once set, cut into 1-inch squares and serve at room temperature. Store excess fudge in an airtight container in the refrigerator.


Mar

4

cupcake.jpgHere are some great Easter treats for you to enjoy while waiting for Easter day!

Easter Birds Nests

Melt the butterscotch morsels in a medium microwave safe bowl. Add chow-mein noodles to melted butterscotch and mix. Shape the mixture into a circle on wax paper. Use a large spoon to make indention in the nest’s center. Let it harden and then put the jelly beans or chocolate eggs in the center of the nest. Enjoy!

Two more tasty Easter treats:

Easter Bunny Cupcakes

Brownie Eggs


Jan

24

rosecupcakes.jpgI’ve never known a kid (or an adult for that matter) who didn’t like cupcakes, and Valentine’s Day is the perfect excuse to make and eat them! Here’s a fantastic recipe for Valentine’s Day cupcakes from FamilyFun that uses Fruit by the Foot to decorate the cakes as roses.

 What you need:

Instructions:

  1. Frost 12 mini cupcakes with white icing.
  2. To make a rose, unroll a piece of the cherry or strawberry fruit leather and divide it in half along the wavy perforated middle line. Take one of the halves and roll up about 5 inches to form the flower’s center. Set the rolled strip wavy side up in the middle of a cupcake, as shown, and continue to loosely wrap the remaining fruit leather around the center at a slight angle until the flower is completed.
  3. Repeat this process for the remaining flowers. (You should be able to get 2 mini roses out of each roll of fruit leather.)
  4. Cut leaf shapes from the wavy edge of the Color by the Foot strip as shown, then tuck the leaves under the roses.

More cupcake ideas:
Valentine’s Day Cupcake Cards

M&M Valentine Cupcakes


Dec

5

dreidel.JPGHanukkah started today! Here are some fun Chanukkah activities for you to enjoy.

Printable Pattern to Make Your Own Driedel

Hanukkah Mazes

Delicious Hanukkah Recipes


Nov

6

teenyturkeys.jpgOne of my favorite parts about Thanksgiving I have to admit, is the food. So today I’m sharing a few recipes for some seasonal goodies. Try out these cute Thanksgiving treats that are just as much fun to make as they are to eat!

Oreo Cookie Turkeys - Turkeys made with oreos, peanut butter cups, candy corn, and malted milk balls. I remember making these adorable turkeys with my sisters when I was young, it’s definitely a favorite!

Pilgrim Hat Marshmallow Treats - Marshmallows dipped in chocolate to look like pilgrim hats.

Teeny Turkey Sandwiches - Little bite size sandwiches decorated with peppers, peas, cheese, pepperoni, and nuts, to look like turkeys.


Oct

4

0903_hairy_daddy_longlegs.jpgHalloween is only weeks away, and to get you in the mood, here are some easy recipes for some great Halloween treats.

Hairy Daddy Longlegs Cupcakes - This creepy crawler of a cupcake would be fun and tasty for kids of all age.

Monster Toes - These ‘toes’ are filling and fun at the same time!

Black Halloween Punch - A ghostly frozen hand floating in creepy black punch.

Eyeball Ice Cubes - My personal favorite. What could be more fun than scaring your siblings with an eyeball floating in their drink!

Trim the stem and root ends of a radish (make sure it’s small enough to fit the individual section of an ice-cube tray), and use a paring knife to scrape off most of the red skin. Leave just enough red to give the radish a veined appearance. Rinse the radish off, and use a small melon baller to cut 1/2-inch-diameter hole into the radish. Fit an olive, cut side out, into the hole, and place the radish in the ice-cube tray. Repeat this process until the tray is full, then pour water over the eyeballs, and freeze.


Jul

26

Finally the last book is out! It’s getting very good reviews and I’m sure it will be enjoyed by all fans. Here are 10 activity, craft, printables, recipe and activity sites for you to enjoy:

1. The Official Harry Potter Site - tons of games, downloads and activities

2. Printables4Kids - this post has lots of links to printable coloring sheets, word searches, etc.

3. Activity Village - this site has printable Hogwarts ties, coins, quizzes, party ideas and more!

4. FamilyCrafts.About.com - make your own edible magic wand, origami owl, wizard puzzle, costumes, and lots of other fun crafts and ideas.

5. TheBookHive - some Harry Potter quizzes

6. InfoPlease - more fun quizzes about Deathly Hallows and other Harry books

7. Budget101 - some nice low cost party ideas, including recipes, potions and spells! These include some neat science type activities like disappearing ink!

8. Surfing the Net With Kids - huge list of Harry Potter arcade, word and picture games

9. Scholastic.com - loads of activities, interviews, printables, message boards, wallpapers and more.

10. KidsReads - a Harrypedia and Spell Book, and some Deathly Hallows info


Jul

13

KidsHealth.org has an area on their site dedicated to recipes for kids that is worth a peek if you’re looking for new ideas on what to serve and easy recipes that kids can help make.  The great thing about this site is that there are recipes for kids with Diabetes, Cystic Fibrosis, Celiac Disease, Lactose Intolerance and also Vegetarian recipes, along with recipes for kids with no special needs.


Jun

18

spatula

Thanks to PhatMommy, I discovered a site dedicated to teaching kids how to cook called Spatulatta. It had recipes, games, instructional videos and even basic instructions for things like shredding cheese and boiling eggs. 4th of July is coming up soon, so check out their recipes for a Fourth of July Backyard Party.


May

30

eatEating out can be expensive, so it’s nice to know where you can get the best deal for your family. KidsEatFree.com has listings by state and city of restaurants where kids can eat free! If there are specific days and times that the deal applies, those are listed as well. It’s a really good resource to check whenever you plan to go out to eat with the kids!


May

15

Ready to make some fun recipes? I found several that are quick and easy to share with you:

Octopus Sandwiches - a hot dog cut into pieces lengthwise and then boiled makes some nice curly legs, and a hamburger bun and cheese complete creation!

Dessert Neckace - this sweet treat is made by stringing cereal onto licorice whips.

Orange Frost - you’ll need something to drink with this meal, so try an Orange Frost. Orange juice concentrate, ice, milk, water and sugar all blended up make a cool treat!


Apr

5

treatToday is Thursday that means it’s time for Thursday Thirteen. This is the first T.T. I’ve done on this site- I hope you like it. Rice Krispy Treats are wonderful just made with the old fashioned recipe, but I can never resist dressing them up a bit. Here are some of my favorite ways:

1. Mix in M&M’s

2. Make them with Half Fruity Pebbles half Rice Krispies

3. Mix Chocolate Chips in with the cereal before pouring into the marshmallow mixture

4. Make them with Cocoa Krispies

5. Put food coloring in the marshmallow mixture after you remove it from the heat, before you put in the cereal

6. Make a Peeps nest

7. Cut into shapes with cookie cutters

8. Add in raisins and dried cranberries

9. Make this chocolate/peanut butter 2 layer treat

10. Stir in 1/4 cup of peanut butter with the marshmallows

11. Mix in broken up toffee

12. Mix in broken up candy canes or peppermint candies

13. And, finally, The Ultimate Rice Krispy Candy “Cake” recipe- you’ve got to try this one.

If you want to make the regular recipe, you can visit the little monkey at himonkey.net for some step by step instructions- very cute.

Do you have a Thursday Thirteen we can check out? Leave your link in the comments so we can pay you a visit!


Mar

15

Paint your sandwich

March 15, 2007 | 1 Comment

For the “starving” artist in your household, this activity should make any sandwich more fun. Using drops of food coloring in milk, paint your bread and then lightly toast and make a pretty sandwich! For a more detailed description from the Family Fun website, view the full recipe here.


Feb

21

Soft Pretzel Recipe

February 21, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Use this recipe and make letters and numbers instead of the traditional pretzel shape!

2 - 16 oz. loaves frozen bread dough
1 egg white, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon water
Coarse salt

Separate thawed bread into 24 - 1 1/2″ balls. Roll each ball into a rope 14 1/2″ long. Have children plan and design pretzel shapes. Put pretzels one inch apart on greased cookie sheet. Let stand for 20 minutes and brush with combined egg white and water. Sprinkle with coarse salt. Place a shallow pan containing 1″ of boiling water on bottom rack of oven; bake pretzels at 350 degrees on rack above water for 20 minutes or until golden brown.


Feb

6

Sometimes making a work of art out of food can encourage those picky eaters to gobble up things they’ve refused in the past.  Better Homes & Gardens has several food “sculptures” for you to try.  I particularly liked this Hot Diggity Dog recipe which has the veggies, main course and dessert all arranged to look like a cute puppy.


Feb

2

Parent Hacks has a simple recipe for mac & cheese that is as quick as the box stuff, but more healthy:

Cook macaroni (if you can get a hold of the whole wheat kind, so much the better). When done, drain, return to the pot, and add a generous pat of butter. Once the butter melts, sprinkle in a tablespoon or so of flour. Use your fingers to sprinkle in the flour so it doesn’t clump in one spot. Stir well. Add a splash of milk, and then some shredded cheese (cheddar, or a mix of cheddar and jack). Stir till everything’s nicely melted. Add a little more milk if your kids like things saucy.

Parent Hacks is one of the great parenting sites- stop over and visit when you get the opportunity.


Jan

24

I found this fun idea on The Idea Box. Make Astronaut Pudding by putting 1 tablespoon of chocolate (or any flavor) instant pudding in a ziploc bag. Add 1/4 cup of milk. Close the bag. Squish up the pudding mix. Poke a hole in the bag and suck it out. Eat just like the astronauts with no utensils!!

Then you can color this nifty astronaut picture and practice writing that long word! (from Homeschool Views)


Jan

15

Easy Bake Ovens are one of the best toys ever invented, I think, but have you seen how much the mixes cost? 2 for $5 is just too much, in my opinion. At Budget101.com, they have a page that has recipes so you can make your own mixes for much, much cheaper. Happy Baking!


Jan

9

I found this recipe in Good Housekeeping last year and I don’t think I’ll ever make regular Rice Krispy Treats again. I have made it several times and everyone raves about it.

Here’s the recipe:

4 ounces semisweet chocolate, broken into pieces
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 bag (10.5 oz) miniature marshmallows
6 cups crispy rice cereal
1 cup salted dry-roasted peanuts
1 cup M&M’s Mini Baking Bits

1. Spray 10-12 cup fluted baking dish (such as a Bundt) with nonstick cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, heat chocolate and butter in microwave oven on High 1 minute, stirring once during heating. Remove from microwave; stir chocolate mixture until melted and smooth. Add marshmallows to mixture. Heat in microwave on High 1 minute longer; stir until marshmallows are melted and mixture is smooth.

3. Add cereal, peanuts, and M&M’s to chocolate mixture. Stir until all ingredients are coated and mixture is well-combined.

4. Transfer cereal mixture to prepared pan, pressing down with fingertips. Let stand at least 1 hou to set chocolate. (In warm weather, refrigerate to set cake)

5. To unmold, with knife or metal spatula, loosen cake from side of pan; invert onto serving plate. Cut into slices to serve. Store in covered container at room temperature up to 3 days.

A couple of notes: I used a double boiler instead of the microwave and it worked just fine. Be sure not to skimp on the marshmallows. I didn’t use quite enough last time and the whole thing was so hard to stir and I ended up crushing all the pretty M&M’s, so the cake didn’t look nearly as nice.


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