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Mini Food in Clay #kidsinthekitchen

August 22, 2013 by

A few months back I worked on a Girls Night Out with ACMoore were I made a Quilled Roses Mini Wreath and a Decorated Notebook. We left that night with a bag full of swag that included some fun kid friendly stuff. This Klutz Make Clay Charms kit. I’ve been holding onto it for just the right time and this week was it.  It was an electronics free day; no tv, no video games, no iPods, no tablets.

Mini Food with Clay #kidsinthekitchen

We did crafts, played games and worked on making mini food items with sculpting clay.  The clay itself wasn’t the special part, the book with the directions on how to make mini cupcakes, s’mores, popsicles and burgers was the best part.  It was so detailed that Shae and Shaun was able to construct these adorable little pieces with very little help from me.

Mini Food with Clay #kidsinthekitchen

Mini Food with Clay #kidsinthekitchen

Anything miniature is so cute but when you pair up a loaded burger and fries together it’s hard not to giggle a little.

Mini Food with Clay #kidsinthekitchen
Did you have fun in the “kitchen” this week? Did you try a new food or a new kid friendly restaurant? Did your littlest ones use their snacks to count to 10? We invite you to share your experiences, photos, stories or recipes that include your #kidsinthekitchen.

Come join me and my co-hosts, Paula at Frosted Fingers and Sara at Sensibly Sara, each week linking up a post, new or old, that feature the theme Kids in the Kitchen. It doesn’t matter what you are doing as long as you are doing it together, enjoying it and learning something along the way.

Don’t have a blog? Share an instagram photo or Facebook update.

Linky Rules, #kidsinthekitchen

#KidsintheKitchen Weekly Linky




Teaching Knife Skills and Safety #kidsinthekitchen

August 15, 2013 by

Shaun doesn’t get a lot of attention on #kidsinthekitchen. He’s involved in most of the things that we do together but he’s a get in, get it down, get out kinda kid. He doesn’t wait around for things to dry, bake, set or cool. This summer though he’s been in charge of making lunch for him and Shae. This usually consists of sandwiches, pepperoni/cheese/crackers, wraps & veggies.

This week though they wanted sliced apples and peanut butter. I was in the middle of something and told him to cut the apples and he hesitantly said OK. I realized that at 10 years old he’d never handled something larger than a steak knife. So I gave him a lesson.

Teaching Knife Skills #kidsinthekitchen

Making sure his fingertips were always out of the way I told him to make sure his apple was as stable as possible for his first cut. Pressing down firmly with a slicing motion he made his first cut. Then turning the apple over so the flat side was on the cutting board he continued to cut the rest of the apple then a second.

Teaching Knife Skills #kidsinthekitchen

Teaching Knife Skills #kidsinthekitchen

His cuts were a bit crooked but with some more practice he’ll get better. Some keys to start off with when teaching knife safety are:

  • Make sure your knives are sharp. A dull knife will slide out of position and will put your digits in danger.
  • Cut and slice away from the body.
  • Keep knives clean. Just like on counters and hands, lingering bacteria can cause illness. Proper cleaning of a knife can be tricky. Be sure the blade and point are kept away from the body and a soapy sponge is run along the “wrong” side of the side.
  • Carry knives with care. While I don’t recommend children transporting knives a safe way to teach while still young is to wrap in a dish towel and walk carefully. Unwrap the knife so someone else doesn’t accidently grab the towel.
  • Never Lick the Blade. It’s tempting but it could end in disaster.
  • Use knives for their intended purposes only. Knives shouldn’t be used to pick up and eat food pry things apart. A simple slip could cause serious cuts.

These simple rules are a great start to more independence in the kitchen. What are some of your safety tips?

Did you have fun in the “kitchen” this week? Did you try a new food or a new kid friendly restaurant? Did your littlest ones use their snacks to count to 10? We invite you to share your experiences, photos, stories or recipes that include your #kidsinthekitchen.

Come join me and my co-hosts, Paula at Frosted Fingers and Sara at Sensibly Sara, each week linking up a post, new or old, that feature the theme Kids in the Kitchen. It doesn’t matter what you are doing as long as you are doing it together, enjoying it and learning something along the way.

Don’t have a blog? Share an instagram photo or Facebook update.

Linky Rules, #kidsinthekitchen

#KidsintheKitchen Weekly Linky




Making Smoothies #kidsinthekitchen

August 8, 2013 by

Breakfast time this summer has been a bit lazy. We’re all getting out of bed late and no one is in the mood for a heavy meal. While I encourage healthy choices sometimes the entire meal is a bit unbalanced.
This week I wanted to start a couple of days right with a nice balance of sweetness and protein with smoothies.

I let the kids choose what ingredients they wanted and Strawberries, Banana, Pineapple seemed to be a hit. With the addition of yogurt, orange juice and a squeeze of lime juice the final flavor and texture were spot on. I could’ve added some protein powder or peanut butter to enhance the nutritional content. Next time!

#kidsinthekitchen making a smoothie

I don’t own a blender so I used my margarita machine. It works great at chopping ice into a nice slushy margarita so why not a smoothie. I dumped almost a whole banana, 1 cup each of frozen strawberries and pineapple, 6oz of yogurt and 1/2 cup of OJ into the pitcher and blended till smooth. This was enough for 2 kid size drinks to go along with their cereal and milk.
#kidsinthekitchen making a smoothie
Did you have fun in the “kitchen” this week? Did you try a new food or a new kid friendly restaurant? Did your littlest ones use their snacks to count to 10? We invite you to share your experiences, photos, stories or recipes that include your #kidsinthekitchen.

Come join me and my co-hosts, Paula at Frosted Fingers and Sara at Sensibly Sara, each week linking up a post, new or old, that feature the theme Kids in the Kitchen. It doesn’t matter what you are doing as long as you are doing it together, enjoying it and learning something along the way.

Don’t have a blog? Share an instagram photo or Facebook update.

Linky Rules, #kidsinthekitchen

#KidsintheKitchen Weekly Linky




Handprint Flower Bouquet #kidsinthekitchen

August 1, 2013 by

We have a thing for flowers in this house. It really is one of our favorite craft themes. We’ve made them out of paper, veggies, dried pasta and plastic. Today we are showing you want we put together with random chipboard flower cutouts.

This week my niece Ella visited and I was able to carve out some time where she sat still at the kitchen table to do more than just eat cherry tomatoes by the fistful.  I like to send her home with a little gift for mommy and daddy so my brother and sister-in-law know I don’t plop her down in front of a television all day. I had a bag of chipboard flowers in the closet to use and thought what better kitchen table craft than a handprint bouquet of flowers.

Handprint Flower Bouquet #kidsinthekitchen

Decorating the flowers was the easy part. I gave the girls a huge supply of markers and told them to do whatever they wanted to.

Handprint Flower Bouquet #kidsinthekitchen

When it was time to make the handprints we ran into a little hiccup.  I practiced with the girls how I was going to paint their hands and how they were going to lay them on the paper. We went over this numerous times but 3yo’s are very unpredictable. Once the paint went on her hands all bets were off.  There’s nothing wrong with a couple extra fingers/stems.

Handprint Flower Bouquet #kidsinthekitchen

Did you have fun in the “kitchen” this week? Did you try a new food or a new kid friendly restaurant? Did your littlest ones use their snacks to count to 10? We invite you to share your experiences, photos, stories or recipes that include your #kidsinthekitchen.

Come join me and my co-hosts, Paula at Frosted Fingers and Sara at Sensibly Sara, each week linking up a post, new or old, that feature the theme Kids in the Kitchen. It doesn’t matter what you are doing as long as you are doing it together, enjoying it and learning something along the way.

Don’t have a blog? Share an instagram photo or Facebook update.

Linky Rules, #kidsinthekitchen

#KidsintheKitchen Weekly Linky




Fruit Painted Rocks #craft #kidsinthekitchen

July 25, 2013 by

Don’t we all have pretty bowls and vases on our kitchen table filled with fruit, flowers and other lovely centerpieces. On our tables I have a bowl of fresh produce and on the other table I have a tray filled with junk. I’m talking about coupons, sunglasses, notebooks, beads and business cards. It’s the catchall for the room.

I gave Sabreena and Shae a task to make something pretty for the table.  They hunted under our deck for very specific shaped river rocks and made a this bowl of fruit.

The first thing they had to do was wash all the dirt off of the rocks and set them aside to dry. A couple minutes in the sun is all it took.

river rocks

The girls brought out all of the acrylic paints plus some kid friendly washable poster paints, tons of brushes like these ones  and protection for my table. They wrote down lists of all the fruits and veggies they thought they could paint and started mixing colors.

Shae went for her favorite fruits first, strawberries and blueberries. Sabreena went for more elaborate designs like corn an squash. Hours and hours went by and they were still sitting there painting rocks to resemble something completely new and beautiful.

Painting Rocks-Corn #kidsinthekitchen

painting rocks #kidsinthekitchen

Did you have fun in the “kitchen” this week? Did you try a new food or a new kid friendly restaurant? Did your littlest ones use their snacks to count to 10? We invite you to share your experiences, photos, stories or recipes that include your #kidsinthekitchen.

Come join me and my co-hosts, Paula at Frosted Fingers and Sara at Sensibly Sara, each week linking up a post, new or old, that feature the theme Kids in the Kitchen. It doesn’t matter what you are doing as long as you are doing it together, enjoying it and learning something along the way.

Don’t have a blog? Share an instagram photo or Facebook update.

Linky Rules, #kidsinthekitchen

#KidsintheKitchen Weekly Linky

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Trying New Foods #kidsinthekitchen

July 18, 2013 by

Kids as a general rule tend to be picky. Mine are no different. Sabreena as a 17yo turns her nose up to applesauce and melons but will eat apples and red pepper slices for a snack. Shaun and Shae share a disgust of beans, Brussels sprouts and red meat. I know as they grow up their tastes will change but what I don’t expect is them to be very adventurous right now.

Color me surprised when Shae requested Honey Mustard at a recent grocery store trip. The night before we ate at a local restaurant where she was served honey mustard with her corn dogs. She proceeded to dip her french fries in it and LOVED it. So I bought her honey mustard. She was so excited about it she grabbed it and took it to her room and stored it under her pillow for 2 days till I remembered she took with it.

She’s been putting it on her burgers, hot dogs, fries and even dipped broccoli in it. Shaun discovered sriracha a little while back. While he isn’t drowning his food in it like his father he does add some for flavor and kick.
Trying New Foods and Flavors #kidsinthekitchen
I think sauces and dressings might be the way to go to get my kids to try a wider variety of flavors. Simple adding chopped mango to salsa makes it something they will eat with chips and not just on tacos.

Did you have fun in the “kitchen” this week? Did you try a new food or a new kid friendly restaurant? Did your littlest ones use their snacks to count to 10? We invite you to share your experiences, photos, stories or recipes that include your #kidsinthekitchen.

Come join me and my co-hosts, Paula at Frosted Fingers and Sara at Sensibly Sara, each week linking up a post, new or old, that feature the theme Kids in the Kitchen. It doesn’t matter what you are doing as long as you are doing it together, enjoying it and learning something along the way.

Don’t have a blog? Share an instagram photo or Facebook update.

Linky Rules, #kidsinthekitchen

#KidsintheKitchen Weekly Linky




Dessert Quesadillas #kidsinthekitchen

July 11, 2013 by

The kids like elaborate desserts at home. Make your own sundaes and homemade strawberry shortcakes usually top their list. This are delicious but I sometimes crave something a little different. Quesadillas are a regular lunch for us so I asked Shae and Shaun to come up with some Dessert Quesadilla ideas.

I pulled out ingredients that I thought would fit well into a dessert theme and let them create their own treats.

Dessert Quesadillas #kidsinthekitchen

Shaun was first. He loves chocolate covered strawberries so he went with sliced strawberries and chocolate chips. He made it almost all by himself. I helped with flipping the quesadilla and moving it to a plate but he manned the stove pretty well.

Chocolate covered Strawberry Dessert Quesadillas #kidsinthekitchen

Shae went with  my favorite combination, S’mores.  She wasn’t as confident at the stove but was able to help quite a bit.

S'mores Dessert Quesadillas #kidsinthekitchen

The final one was made for dad; bananas, chocolate chips and crushed salted cashews.  He loved it.  This is something we are going to keep experimenting with, coming up with new combinations and ingredient ideas.

Dessert Quesadillas made by kids
Did you have fun in the “kitchen” this week? Did you try a new food or a new kid friendly restaurant? Did your littlest ones use their snacks to count to 10? We invite you to share your experiences, photos, stories or recipes that include your #kidsinthekitchen.

Come join me and my co-hosts, Paula at Frosted Fingers and Sara at Sensibly Sara, each week linking up a post, new or old, that feature the theme Kids in the Kitchen. It doesn’t matter what you are doing as long as you are doing it together, enjoying it and learning something along the way.

Don’t have a blog? Share an instagram photo or Facebook update.

Linky Rules, #kidsinthekitchen

#KidsintheKitchen Weekly Linky




Snacks for the Pool #kidsinthekitchen

July 5, 2013 by

This week was very unproductive! We worked on some crafts but that was the extent of any action on our kitchen table. Even our dinners were dull. I did realize that I need some better ideas for summer time snacks at the pool. I need to have things on hand that go beyond grapes, granola bars and peanut butter crackers. Here are some finds that I think the kids would really love and that would hold up in the cooler and pool bag.
Snacking by the Pool #kidsinthekitchen

Finger Sandwiches-tea party style sandwiches made with peanut butter & nutella, cream cheese and strawberry preserves or chedder and ham. Cutting this into triangles or strips will make them easy to handle which usually means the kids will eat more.

Fruit Kabobs-toothpicks instead of skewers of bite size in season fruit of all kinds. Using toothpicks reduces the amount of food I need to carry to the pool and making a handful for each kid gives them exactly what they want.

Fruit Smoothies-a mix of yogurt, fruit and juice for a refreshing and filling snack. Whipping up a batch using my kids favorite flavors of yogurt and types of fruit then pouring into their own insulated cups makes for a convenient on the go treat.

Little Bit of Everything-using a craft box with compartments kids can design their own day’s worth of snacks. Similar to a tackle box these craft boxes can be customized to suit each child with tons of different snacks and treats. Here is an example of this exact idea

Did you have a more productive week in the kitchen? Did you try a new food or a new kid friendly restaurant? Did your littlest ones use their snacks to count to 10? We invite you to share your experiences, photos, stories or recipes that include your #kidsinthekitchen.

Come join me and my co-hosts, Paula at Frosted Fingers and Sara at Sensibly Sara, each week linking up a post, new or old, that feature the theme Kids in the Kitchen. It doesn’t matter what you are doing as long as you are doing it together, enjoying it and learning something along the way.

Don’t have a blog? Share an instagram photo or Facebook update.
Linky Rules, #kidsinthekitchen

#KidsintheKitchen Weekly Linky





Making Their Own Snacks #KidsintheKitchen

June 27, 2013 by

Since the kids aren’t in school they have way more opinions about what kind of meals and snacks they should be eating throughout the day. During the school year they eat what is packed for them or what school is serving them.

I’m really liking most of their input especially when they can get it themselves. The kids love making their own trail mixes. Shae raided the pantry to come up with this concoction

Chocolate Chips
White Chocolate Chips
Cinnamon Chips
Raisins
Yogurt Covered Raisins
Chocolate Covered Raisins
Chex cereal
Cranberries
Nuts (cashews, almonds, honey roasted peanuts)
Pretzels
Mini Graham crackers
Choosing the Right Ingredients #kidsinthekitchen
Making Trail Mix #kidsinthekitchenThe ingredient list may sound like a lot but she only added a little bit of each but also tailored the mix to suit her brother. While I would prefer this mix to have MORE dried fruit sans the chocolate coating it’s really a great mix of flavors and textures while still being healthy and satisfying.

Did you have fun in the “kitchen” this week? Did you try a new food or a new kid friendly restaurant? Did your littlest ones use their snacks to count to 10? We invite you to share your experiences, photos, stories or recipes that include your #kidsinthekitchen.

Come join me and my co-hosts, Paula at Frosted Fingers and Sara at Sensibly Sara, each week linking up a post, new or old, that feature the theme Kids in the Kitchen. It doesn’t matter what you are doing as long as you are doing it together, enjoying it and learning something along the way.

  • preparing healthy snacks
  • having a tea party
  • counting skills with m&ms
  • pouring from measuring cups
  • discovering a local restaurant that your kids love
  • creating new family friendly recipes

    • Don’t have a blog? Share an instagram photo or Facebook update.

      Linky Rules, #kidsinthekitchen

      #KidsintheKitchen Weekly Linky


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    Blueberries right from the Garden #KidsintheKitchen

    June 20, 2013 by

    Last year I forked over $20 for a teeny tiny blueberry bush at a fancy schmancy nursery down the road. I was all excited to be able to harvest pints and pints of blueberries in my own backyard without spending $4.99 per container. The birds didn’t like that idea and ate almost all of the berries before had a chance to get them into the house. Shae was the most disappointed. You see, I don’t even like blueberries very much. I like them in muffins and in pancakes but I’m not one to snack on plain blueberries.

    This year we took measures against the dumb birds. I dug up the bush and replanted it in a pot and it sits on the deck where we can keep an eye on it against the vultures I mean sparrows and robins.

    Shae has been staking out the plant for the last few days. On Monday she saw one that was ready to pick and pick it she did. Wednesday she managed an entire handful and held onto them for an afternoon snack. This morning she got a small handful and ate them immediately. I keep telling her to wait a couple days in between or try saving them up for a recipe but she’s not interested.

    Letting my kids eat right from our own garden might be one of the most satisfying feelings ever. The tomatoes, peppers and beans might not be ready to pick but just knowing there will be entire meals dedicated from what they have grown makes me feel good as a mother.
    #kidsinthekitchen, blueberries from the garden
    Did you have fun in the “kitchen” this week? Did you try a new food or a new kid friendly restaurant? Did your littlest ones use their snacks to count to 10? We invite you to share your experiences, photos, stories or recipes that include your #kidsinthekitchen.

    Come join me and my co-hosts, Paula at Frosted Fingers and Sara at Sensibly Sara, each week linking up a post, new or old, that feature the theme Kids in the Kitchen. It doesn’t matter what you are doing as long as you are doing it together, enjoying it and learning something along the way.

    Don’t have a blog? Share an instagram photo or Facebook update.
    Linky Rules, #kidsinthekitchen
    #KidsintheKitchen Weekly Linky




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