Cooking with the Kiddos: Brownies from Scratch

Yesterday the girls and I wanted to bake.  Ok, maybe I wanted to bake something and they were just excited to help with whatever I came up with.   We just had to find something that we had the ingredients for.......which ended up being brownies.  This was my first time making brownies from scratch and I must say, they came out great! 

This recipe comes from the blog Prairie Cookbook.

What You'll Need......
1 1/3 cup flour - I used half white flour and half wheat flour.
1 1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
2/3 cup oil
3 eggs lightly beaten
2 tsp. vanilla

Add all of your dry ingredients into one bowl.  Yes, I let Cailynn measure all of the dry ingredients!  And, yes, she makes a mess.  But it is such a great learning opportunity. Be sure to give your kiddo plenty of chances to see you measuring first.  Talk about it, explain what you're doing.  They'll get it and they just might surprise you! 

Add all of your wet ingredients into another bowl.  Nope, I do not let Ellie (or Cailynn) measure the wet ingredients.  Just not ready for that yet!  Ellie's job is to stir.

Add the wet ingredients to your dry ingredients and stir, stir, stir!! 
Put in a greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350 degrees.  Time will vary.  For me, it took about 30-35 minutes but the recipe suggested 20-25 so check it early but know that it might take longer.

The batter was pretty thick so I wasn't sure how it would come out.  I did add a little more oil to make it a little more creamy but it still ended up pretty thick.  I think next time, I will use a little less sugar and see what that does. 

These came out very tasty but they definitely were cakey brownies.  If you are like my husband and don't like them cakey, this won't the recipe for you!!

Be sure to check out the Cooking with Kiddos series for more ideas!!

Cooking with the Kiddos: No Bake Energy Bites.....Yum!!

The girls and I were introduced to these yummy No Bake Energy Bites last week when we were visiting with some friends. So, of course, we had to give them a try!

The great thing about this recipe is that it easy to tailor this to what you have in your pantry! 

Here's what I used:

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup flaxseed

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/3 cup honey

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp vanilla

But don't just go with my list......check out what ingredients Cheapskate Cook or Smashed Peas and Carrots used in their No Bake Energy Bites.

And you'll never believe how easy these are to make!!

Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl.  Once it is well mixed (if your kiddos are helping, you'll probably want to finish the mixing to be sure its all mixed in), refrigerate for about 30 minutes or so.

Once they have cooled, pull them out and roll them into a small balls!  Cailynn and Ellie were interested for about one second.....once they made their first ball, all they wanted to do was eat it!

I ended up making two batches today.  The first was an experiment and I added too much cocoa.  That's when I called my friend Deidre and she directed me to the Cheapskate Cook post.  The second batch turned out much tastier!!

Be sure to check out the Cooking with Kiddos series for more ideas!!

Cooking with the Kiddos: Puppy Chow

Or as Cailynn calls it "People Chow" because " puppies don't eat it, Mommy!"

Ingredients:
9 cups of Rice or Corn Chex
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1tsp vanilla

powdered sugar

Directions:
*Dump Chex cereal into a large bowl and set aside
*In a microwavable bowl, add choc. chips, peanut butter, and butter and microwave for 1 min.  Stir.  Microwave for about 30 seconds longer or until the mixture is smooth. 

 

*While the mixture is in the microwave, lick the peanut butter spoons.
*Pull mixture out of the microwave and stir in the vanilla.
*Pour the mixture over the cereal and stir it in so that is spread over the cereal evenly.
*Pour the cereal into a large Ziploc baggie and pour in some powdered sugar.  The recipes suggested 1 1/2 cups but I just eyeballed it. 
*Zip up the bag and start shaking to get the powdered sugar through all of the cereal.  This was our favorite part of course!

*Spread it out on wax paper and let it cool.  I did add a little powdered sugar to some of the cereal that didn't get as much.
*Eat and enjoy!

Ok, I think this was their favorite part!!

Cooking with the Kiddos: Apple Turnovers

With all of the great apple deals the past few weeks, I had hoped to get this post to you earlier but I'm hoping you still have some apples around to give this a try!  This recipe is adapted from Kids in the Kitchen: Recipes for Fun!!

Ingredients:

3 apples

1 cup packed brown sugar

3 Tbsp whole wheat flour

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

(2) 8oz tubes of crescent rolls

2 Tbsp milk

3/4 cup powdered sugar

Start by peeling, cutting and diceing the apples.  This was Cailynn's first time using a knife and I was next to her the entire time - the picture was taken by my husband :)  You can't tell from the picture but I cut the apple and cored it and she did the diceing.

Mix the apples with brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Unroll one tube of the crescent rolls and places some of the apple mixture on each one.  I let the girls scoop it and put it on the crescent rolls and I spread it out.

Open up the second tube of crescent rolls and place it on top.

Use your fork to seal the edges of the turnovers.  Let the kiddos do it and you'll get fork marks all over the turnovers....not just on the edges :)  Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.

Whisk the milk and powdered sugar together and "paint" it on each turnover.  Originally I had planned on letting the girls do it but the cookie sheet was too hot.

Be sure to check out the Cooking with Kiddos series for more ideas!!

Cooking with the Kiddos: Spooky Spiders

Halloween is just a week away so I thought it would be fun to try a Halloween related recipe.   Of course, these can be made throughout the year.  It's always more fun to eat spiders than boring ole pretzels or peanut butter crackers!  This idea was adapted from the Spooky Spiders recipe in Kids in the Kitchen Year 'Round Fun Cookbook!

Ingredients:
round crackers
small pretzel sticks
peanut butter

round candies

Spread peanut butter on the top of the first cracker (the one that will be on the bottom).
Add the spider legs.  I broke the pretzels in half and put them in the bowl for the girls to grab.
Spread peanut butter lightly on both sides of the second cracker (the one that will go on top).
Add candies and pretzel to create spider.

The girls attempted to spread the peanut butter but it was a bit too hard for them.  I took over the peanut butter spreading and they did the decorating.

Another fun Halloween recipe you might want to try this week with your kiddos is Creepy Tacos.  Be sure to check out the Cooking with Kiddos series for more ideas!!

Cooking with the Kiddos: Homemade Graham Crackers

A few weeks ago, the girls and I made Homemade Graham Crackers!  Both of the girls LOVED these and we will be making another batch this week! 

Ingredients:

2 cupswhole wheat flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup melted butter

1/2 cup honey

Cailynn is now in charge of measuring all of the dry ingredients.  Yep, it makes a mess but it's worth it! 

Ellie helps with the dumping and stirring.

Directions with Help from the Kiddos:

*Mix the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and baking powder together in one bowl.

*Mix the honey and melted butter together in another bowl.

*Add the honey/butter mix to the dry ingredients and stir.

*Drop the mixture on a greased baking sheet and smooth it out to the edges.  I used my hands.

Directions - the Parent Part:

*Bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees.

*Cut them quickly when they come out of the oven. 

*Let them cool on a cooling rack. 

Don't be afraid to smooth it out to the edges.  Ours ended up being a little thick.  More like graham brownies than graham crackers.  They still were tasty but we'll be spreading them out a little more next time!

Be sure to check out the Cooking with Kiddos series for more ideas!!

This recipe came from the comments section of this post on 100 Days of Real Food.  Thanks to Danielle for bringing it to my attention!!

Cooking with the Kiddos: Banana Split......for Breakfast!

The girls and I were busy last month trying out some new recipes!  Today's recipe was adapted from one of my favorite kiddo cookbooks, Kids in the Kitchen: Recipes for Fun!

Banana Split......for Breakfast

Ingredients:
Bananas
Granola
Yogurt
Fresh Fruit and any other toppings you might like!

I don't think this recipe need any explaining!  Cailynn enjoyed "splitting" the banana!  She felt pretty special using a knife to cut her banana. 

Adding some toppings to our tasty breakfast!  We used homemade granola, blueberries, and grapes!

The final product!  Don't be fooled by Cailynn's look of fear.......both girls loved it!

Be sure to check out the Cooking with Kiddos series for more ideas!!

Cooking with the Kiddos: English Muffin Pizzas!

With the summer coming to the end, I decided to get back to the Cooking with the Kiddos series. Even though we've been cooking throughout the summer, we haven't tried anything new. Through the month of September, I will be sharing some of our favorites from the past. And during that time, the girls and I will be busy trying out new recipes to share with starting in October. If you have any recipes that you LOVE to cook with your kiddo, please let me know! I would love to give it a try and feature it in this series. Or if you would like to do a guest post, just send me an email!!



Ingredients:
::English Muffin or Bagel or Pita Bread
::Pizza Sauce, Tomato Sauce, or Spaghetti Sauce
::Toppings of your choice
::Cheese
I'm not sure that this one needs directions!  I think you'll be able to figure this one out from the picture!  Since I rarely have pizza sauce on hand, I usually use tomato or spaghetti sauce and it tastes just fine!  I have added some Italian seasoning to the sauce to make it a little more like pizza sauce.

What are some of your favorite kid friendly recipes?

Cooking with the Kiddos: Applesauce Muffins

With the summer coming to the end, I decided to get back to the Cooking with the Kiddos series. Even though we've been cooking throughout the summer, we haven't tried anything new. Through the month of September, I will be sharing some of our favorites from the past. And during that time, the girls and I will be busy trying out new recipes to share with starting in October. If you have any recipes that you LOVE to cook with your kiddo, please let me know! I would love to give it a try and feature it in this series. Or if you would like to do a guest post, just send me an email!!


Cailynn and I did a little baking over the weekend while Ellie was napping.  Not only did we have fun but I made sure to turn it into a learning experience as well!!  We tried out a new recipe from the cookbook, Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food.....applesauce muffins!!

Ingredients:

Old Fashioned Oats

Brown Sugar

Cinnamon

Soft Tub Margarine Spread

Flour

Baking Powder

Baking Soda

Unsweetened Applesauce

Milk

Pureed Butternut Squash

Vegetable/Canola Oil

Egg

To Make the Topping:

*Stir together.....2/3 cup old-fashioned oats, 1/4 cup firmly packed light or dark brow sugar, and 1 tsp cinnamon.

*Add in 2 Tbsp melted soft tub margarine/butter and stir.

To Make the Batter:

*In another bowl, mix 1.5 cups of flour, 1 cup of oats, 1tsp of baking powder, 1/2 tsp of baking soda, and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon.  Set aside.

*Grab another bowl and mix 1 cup unsweetened applesauce, 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup pureed butternut squash (or carrot), 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup oil, and 1 large egg.  Mix.

*Add the flour/oats mix slowly and stir. 

Divide the batter into the muffin tins evenly and add the topping.

Bake at 400 for 18-20 minutes.

Enjoy!!!

When we make these again, we will probably add a little more cinnamon.  The muffins were a little blah.  But the girls did like then and they get a little bit of their veggies so it is a winner in my book!!

Cooking with the Kiddos: Pretzels

With the summer coming to the end, I decided to get back to the Cooking with the Kiddos series. Even though we've been cooking throughout the summer, we haven't tried anything new. Through the month of September, I will be sharing some of our favorites from the past. And during that time, the girls and I will be busy trying out new recipes to share with starting in October. If you have any recipes that you LOVE to cook with your kiddo, please let me know! I would love to give it a try and feature it in this series. Or if you would like to do a guest post, just send me an email!!

Yummy Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels!!

Ingredients:Refrigerated Breadsticks Tube

Butter, melted

Cinnamon

Sugar

Separate the breadsticks and roll each one out.

Twist the breadsticks into a pretzel shape.

Yep, even Ellie helped with this one!

"Paint" the pretzels with melted butter.

Sprinkle the breadsticks with cinnamon and sugar.

Notice that this is a completely staged picture!  I did let them help with this but I guided their hand!

Bake according to the breadstick package!

And enjoy!!

Looking for some more easy recipes to cook with the kiddos?  Check out the entire Cooking with the Kiddos series!

Cooking with the Kiddos: Turkey and Cheese Roll Ups!

It sure does feel like fall this morning!  With the summer coming to the end, I decided to get back to the Cooking with the Kiddos series.  Even though we've been cooking throughout the summer, we haven't tried anything new.  Through the month of September, I will be sharing some of our favorites from the past.  And during that time, the girls and I will be busy trying out new recipes to share with starting in October.  If you have any recipes that you LOVE to cook with your kiddo, please let me know!  I would love to give it a try and feature it in this series.  Or if you would like to do a guest post, just send me an email!!

Ingredients:

*Turkey or Ham Lunchmeat

*Shredded Cheese

*Crescent Rolls

We adapted this recipe from the book, Kids in the Kitchen.  The recipe included mustard which we did not use. There are quite a few different things you can put in your roll ups!

After you roll out the crescent rolls, add the cheese.

Pull the turkey apart into smaller pieces.

Add the turkey to the crescent rolls, roll them up and cook according to the Crescent Roll package!

Interested in more recipes that you can make with your kiddos? Check out the Cooking with Kids series!!