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Homemade Rock Candy #FAIL #KidsintheKitchen

June 13, 2013 by

I was never a great student in science. I mean I did enjoy it but it didn’t always make total sense to me. Maybe that’s why I completely botched our homemade Rock Candy experience.

Shae wasn’t too sure what rock candy was until I showed her a picture of it online. I asked if she wasn’t to make some and she was excited. I figured this was something she was going to be able to see results over a few days making it really fun and interactive. I was wrong wrong wrong.

Shae was a great help with the stove work. She poured the water and sugar and helped stir but when it came to pouring I was in charge.

Rock Candy #Fail #kidsinthekitchen

The gorgeous blue color reminded me of the Caribbean Sea and I thought we would have some pretty Rock Candy to eat afterwards.

Rock Candy #Fail #kidsinthekitchen

Something happened. The day after pouring it into the jar there was NOTHING to see.

Rock Candy #Fail #kidsinthekitchen

According to everything I read I was supposed to reboil and add sugar, so I did. I knew from the looks of the mixture after the reboil and sugar addition it wasn’t going to turn out well. I was right. Within an hour it had turned into a solid block of sugar with skewer sticking out of it.

Oh well.. Shae had fun helping to make it and had a few laughs when it didn’t turn out so well.

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 instead.

Linky Rules, #kidsinthekitchen

#KidsintheKitchen Weekly Linky




Popsicle Stick People #kids #craft #KidsintheKitchen

June 6, 2013 by

Craft staples in our house include glitter glue, scrapbook paper, buttons of all shapes and sizes and paints. You can also always find popsicle sticks in our house too. We’ve built houses and frames and made shapes using velcro with popsicle sticks in the past.

This week we made Popsicle Stick People using markers, tape and ribbon. I used Pinterest to show Shae for ideas but what she came with was all her own.

I found that using ultra fine tip Sharpies worked best for small details like eyes and hair ribbons. Popsicle Stick People #Kids #Craft
Shae used washi tape and other similar products to dress her dolls and even used ribbon as trim.
Popsicle Stick People #Kids #Craft
She really wanted to make sneakers for her doll’s feet but the sticks were too thing. I might have to look into tongue depressor size sticks next time.

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




Kid’s Chore Chart #kidsinthekitchen #printable

May 30, 2013 by

Growing up I learned how to clean the kitchen, bathroom, vacuum, dust and even cook. I wasn’t necessarily taught these things but I had to figure out how to do them and do them right. Saturday was cleaning day and it had to be done before any fun stuff. Today I’m trying to instill the same principles in my kids.

Each day they have their own set of chores to be completed before playtime, tv time, video game time. Shae is only 5 so her chores aren’t as elaborate or difficult but she likes to help the others. With Summer coming up I have to be more diligent with enforcing chores because we all like to be a little lazy when there aren’t pressing matters or errands to run.
Click to Print 🙂

Chore Chart for Kids

Here is what I’ve come up with or my kids according to their age.

Sabreena-17

Daily

  • Set table, prepare for dinner (not cook)
  • Clean kitchen after dinner; includes sweeping and steam mopping floor
  • Vacuum area rug in living room and hallway

Weekly

  • Dust house excluding kitchen, Shaun’s room and Shae’s room
  • Vacuum 1/2 house

Shaun-10

Daily

  • Empty small trash cans
  • Take out recycling
  • Dog Poop Patrol in yard
  • Set table, prepare for dinner (not cook)
  • Clean table after dinner

Weekly

  • Dust his and Shae’s room with Shae’s help
  • Bring dirty laundry down
  • Vacuum 1/2 house

Shae-5

Daily

  • Empty backpack and lunchbag
  • Put backpack and shoes in bedroom
  • Help set table and clear table after dinner

Weekly

  • Help dust bedroom
  • Help bring laundry down

Looking at it on paper it seems like a lot but most things just take minutes to complete. This lists are kept in the kitchen since that is the hub of the house; it’s the first room they come into and usually the last one they visit on the way out.

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 Homemade Play Dough #kidsinthekitchen

May 24, 2013 by

I’ve been seeing them for years; different colors, scented, mixed with herbs and flowers. I’m talking about Homemade play dough. I consider myself pretty crafty but this isn’t something ever attempted on my own. I was always intimidated. This week after seeing a couple more gorgeous activities and simple recipes I knew we had to give it a try.

I used the simplest recipe I could find.

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup cool water
Making Homemade Playdough
I added the flour and salt to a bowl and let Shae add the water and mix mix mix. It took her about 10 minutes to get everything incorporated enough to turn out onto the table. She played and rolled and kneaded, creating different shapes and designs. She ended with a strawberry and star. The next step is to bake them and paint them.
Homemade Playdough
Playing with play dough is a great way to let little hands explore. It’s a fantastic medium for endless ideas like jewelry, ornaments, figurines and more. Trust me this process was simple, the cleanup of the table afterwards was way more work.

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 a Forever Flower #kidsinthekitchen

May 16, 2013 by

By now hopefully you realize that #kidsinthekitchen is about more than just letting the kids mix cookie dough or slice strawberries. In our home the kitchen in the backdrop for just about anything we have going on. Homework is done there, conversations about our schedule are discussed there, we eat meals as a family there and ofcourse we prep those meals there.  The kitchen is also the place where we educate, create and play. Crafts and activities are HUGE in our home. They aren’t always blogged about but there is usually something happening each day.

This week we are playing with our food again.  Colored Rice is an incredibly popular medium to stimulate sensory awareness, work on color recognition and work on fine and gross motor skills.  In our house we play with it because it’s pretty and fun to run our fingers through it.

While sitting at the kitchen island this week Shae was admiring the flowers Sabreena gave me for Mother’s Day. Each day I sort through them, throw away the dead ones, change the water and re arrange them.  Shae then decided she wanted to make me flower that would last forever. This is when the colored rice comes in.
Using flowers as inspiration
We pulled out  a piece of heavy cardstock, school glue, colored rice, popsicle stick, markers a couple fabric leaves from previously dismantle fabric flowers. I drew out  flower shape on the card stock and let her create my flower.

The trick to getting a nice layer of rice is to go heavy on the glue. Shae used a paintbrush to fill each petal with lots of glue and then over poured the rice so it would stick in every nook and cranny.
lots of glue for colored rice crafts

lots of rice for colored rice crafts
The clean up was simple, rice is easy to sweep up. This needs to dry overnight at the very least.
Colored Rice Flowers

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

Kids in the Kitchen with LookWhatMomFound…and Dad too!

I can’t wait to see the fun you worked on this week.





Homemade versus Store Bought #kidsinthekitchen

May 10, 2013 by

My kids are the kings of snacks.  At any point in the day they are asking for food or snacks or even something to drink like chocolate milk. As long as their eating has been balanced during the day I don’t mind indulging in a snack or treat.  My first thought is to reach for something healthy like grapes or trail mix but I also want to give my kids some goodies like cookies sometimes.

I realized that I rarely feel guilty when I’m giving them something homemade.  Chocolate chip cookies that were freshly made in our own home are somehow better for them than packaged.  Maybe the ingredients are basically the same but the fact that they are homemade in OUR home makes them more special. Let’s be honest about something too, homemade always tastes better!

Homemade is Best, #KidsintheKitchen

Sabreena is definitely the cookie baker. I like treats like this Not Quite Caramel Popcorn. It’s something the whole family will eat and not hear a peep out of them.

Not Quite Caramel Corn, #KidsintheKitchen

Did you have fun in the kitchen this week? Did you try a new food or a new restaurant? Did your littlest ones use their snacks to count to 10? Share your experiences, photos, stories or recipes that include your #kidsinthekitchen. I would love for you to 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 and enjoying it and learning something.

Don’t have a blog, then share a photo you uploaded to Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Share whatever you have, we want to see it.

Linky Rules
1. Link up only your kid friendly recipes, stories, pictures or cooking lessons here.
2. Link directly to a specific post, update or tweet not your homepage.
3. Please add a Kids in the Kitchen button or link on your site or blog post or share through social media so readers know you are participating.
kids in the kitchen, meme

kids in the kitchen, cooking with kids, weekly series
4. Click through and comment, pin, like, tweet or share with other participants. We love to share inspiration and ideas with each other, don’t link and run.
5. Follow the hosts of this feature, Paula at Frosted Fingers, Sara at Sensibly Sara and me, Melinda at LookWhatMomFound…and Dad too!






Chicken and Rice My Kids Eat #KidsintheKitchen

May 2, 2013 by

Each week I usually feature my kids working on something food related. We’ve played pretend restaurant, colored rice for crafts and even worked on our measuring. This week(which was supposed to be last week’s post)is about how I take 2 simple ingredients and make them my own to serve to my family.
#KidsintheKitchen, getting them to eat chicken
Chicken and Rice tastes so nice. This is the little diddy my family sings when I tell them that’s what we are having for dinner. We eat a lot of chicken. For a couple years all we ate was boneless skinless breasts. They’ve been cooked all different ways with all different sauces and spices. Over the last year I’ve been incorporating more chicken on the bone like thighs and legs. This week i went big and made chicken quarters. This is a large piece of meat; it includes the leg and thigh. Typically I bust out my cast iron pot an give these a really dark crispy skin but since they are so large I had to go the over roasted route.
I quarter 4-5 small onions to give the chicken a place to sit above the juices and fat it will release. Our side was brown rice with Mexican black beans. The onions in the bottom of the pan get eaten too, they are delicious!
raw chicken , kids in the kitchen
I didn’t even get a picture of the kids eating because it was gone so fast. They’ve really embraced the different texture and flavor of the darker meat. It’s way more forgiving when baking too, it stays moist and really just needs salt and pepper for a boost of flavor.
Did you have fun in the kitchen this week? Did you try a new food or a new restaurant? Did your littlest ones use their snacks to count to 10? Share your experiences, photos, stories or recipes that include your #kidsinthekitchen. I would love for you to 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 and enjoying it and learning something.

Don’t have a blog, then share a photo you uploaded to Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Share whatever you have, we want to see it.

Linky Rules
1. Link up only your kid friendly recipes, stories, pictures or cooking lessons here.
2. Link directly to a specific post, update or tweet not your homepage.
3. Please add a Kids in the Kitchen button or link on your site or blog post or share through social media so readers know you are participating.
kids in the kitchen, meme

kids in the kitchen, cooking with kids, weekly series
4. Click through and comment, pin, like, tweet or share with other participants. We love to share inspiration and ideas with each other, don’t link and run.
5. Follow the hosts of this feature, Paula at Frosted Fingers, Sara at Sensibly Sara and me, Melinda at LookWhatMomFound…and Dad too!





Prepping before Baking #KidsintheKitchen

April 26, 2013 by

This week for #KidsintheKitchen we worked on organization. Specifically I taught Shae how to get organized when it’s time for baking. Baking is so different than just cooking. Since there is some science involved with baking it’s important to make sure you have all of your ingredients, the right amounts and ready to add. Being unorganized while baking can cause catastrophic results. Skipping over ingredients or adding incorrect measurements can effect taste and texture.

Starting good kitchen habits early on can only with end results and clean up.
Teaching Skills in the Kitchen, #kidsinthekitchen
We took the easy way out and used a boxed cake mix since we’re pressed for time in the afternoons. I showed her how to look at the entire recipe, see each ingredient she needed and work on any prep work. I preheated the oven while she put papers in the muffin tins I don’t know why but she loves this step.
#kidsinthekitchen Adding Cupcake Liners
Next we measured out each ingredient, mixed up the batter and poured it into our tins. This particular batch was for Shaun’s lacrosse team but we snuck a couple for quality control.
#kidsinthekitchen, Mixing up Cake Batter
#kidsinthekitchen, Eating Cupcakes
Did you have fun in the kitchen this week? Did you try a new food or a new restaurant? Did your littlest ones use their snacks to count to 10? Share your experiences, photos, stories or recipes that include your #kidsinthekitchen. I would love for you to 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 and enjoying it and learning something.

Don’t have a blog, then share a photo you uploaded to Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Share whatever you have, we want to see it.

Linky Rules

1. Link up only your kid friendly recipes, stories, pictures or cooking lessons here.
2. Link directly to a specific post, update or tweet not your homepage.
3. Please add a Kids in the Kitchen button or link on your site or blog post or share through social media so readers know you are participating.
kids in the kitchen, meme

kids in the kitchen, cooking with kids, weekly series
4. Click through and comment, pin, like, tweet or share with other participants. We love to share inspiration and ideas with each other, don’t link and run.
5. Follow the hosts of this feature, Paula at Frosted Fingers, Sara at Sensibly Sara and me, Melinda atLookWhatMomFound…and Dad too!

I can’t wait to see all of the fun food themed ideas, excursions and photos you have to share.




Starting a Garden with the Kids #kidsinthekitchen

April 19, 2013 by

Teaching you children where their food comes from might be one of the best lessons when striving for healthy and balanced eating. Fresh produce and meats, wholesome snacks and plenty of exercise is the best choice for everyone but real life is front of us. We do the best we can with a balance of these and convenience products.

This past weekend was the yard and garden overhaul. It wasn’t time to start planting yet but I didn’t want waste anymore precious time so I got the kids a mini greenhouse so we could start seedlings in the house. I know there are more cost efficient ways to do this with everyday items but this was simple and it let me start 72 plants at once.
Starting a Garden with the kids
The kids got peas, broccoli, green beans, fennel, carrots, tomatoes, spring onions, peppers and tomatoes into the kit. They dug out the holes, added 2-3 seeds each pod and watered in about 30 minutes. Not bad for that many seed packets.
Starting a Garden with the kids

Starting a Garden with the kids
Over the last couple of days I’ve noticed growth, noticeable growth. The sun hasn’t been out much this week so the greenhouse has stayed in the house under watchful eye.

Starting a Garden with the kids

Growing our own veggies isn’t new. We harvested so many tomatoes and peppers last year that we had to give a lot away to friends and family. It’s satisfying to see the hard work the kids put out digging and planting resulting in something delicious to eat.

Did you have fun in the kitchen this week? Did you try a new food or a new restaurant?  Did your littlest ones use their snacks to count to 10? Share your experiences, photos, stories or recipes that include your #kidsinthekitchen. I would love for you to 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 and enjoying it and learning something.

  • 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, then share a photo you uploaded to Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Share whatever you have, we want to see it.

Linky Rules

1. Link up only your kid friendly recipes, stories, pictures or cooking lessons here.
2. Link directly to a specific post, update or tweet not your homepage.
3. Please add a Kids in the Kitchen button or link on your site or blog post or share through social media so readers know you are participating.
kids in the kitchen, meme

kids in the kitchen, cooking with kids, weekly series
4. Click through and comment, pin, like, tweet or share with other participants. We love to share inspiration and ideas with each other, don’t link and run.
5. Follow the hosts of this feature,Paula at Frosted Fingers, Sara at Sensibly Sara and me, Melinda at LookWhatMomFound…and Dad too!

I can’t wait to see all of the fun food themed ideas, excursions and photos you have to share.




SnackTime, Ladybug Apple Snack #KidsintheKitchen

April 12, 2013 by

This week was snack time with #KidsintheKitchen. I’m all over pinterest and kid friendly food blogs like In the Kitchen with My Three Sons and see all of these awesome food pictures on a plate. They amaze me. I consider myself crafty and creative but this is so far beyond my expertise. I’m in awe at some of the ideas these moms come up with.

I wanted to make something with the kids but knew I needed to keep it simple and use things we have in the house. Check out our Ladybug Apple Treat.
It took just a few minutes from start to finish and the kids ate everything that was involved.
Ladybug Apple Snack for kids #kidsinthekitchen
As you can see I pulled out all kids of candy ideas for the ladybug head. I wasn’t sure what was going to work best. We ended up using a apple (half for each ladybug), creamy peanut butter, chocolate chips (raisins would work), pretzel twists.
Ladybug Apple Snack Supplies
I cut the apple into quarters, as evenly as I could and gave the kids each a half, opened up a little to resemble wings. The rest was up to them. The peanut butter was the glue so everything used was edible. I think the snack was a good mix of healthy foods and sweet treats.  This is definitely a snack we’d try again. Maybe next time we get more creative with the whole picture.
Ladybug Apple Snack #kidsinthekitcen
eating ladybug apple snack
eating ladybug apple snack
Did you have fun in the kitchen this week? Did you try a new food or a new restaurant?  Did your littlest ones use their snacks to count to 10? Share your experiences, photos, stories or recipes that include your #kidsinthekitchen. I would love for you to 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 and enjoying it and learning something.

  • 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, then share a photo you uploaded to Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Share whatever you have, we want to see it.

Linky Rules

1. Link up only your kid friendly recipes, stories, pictures or cooking lessons here.
2. Link directly to a specific post, update or tweet not your homepage.
3. Please add a Kids in the Kitchen button or link on your site or blog post or share through social media so readers know you are participating.
kids in the kitchen, meme

kids in the kitchen, cooking with kids, weekly series
4. Click through and comment, pin, like, tweet or share with other participants. We love to share inspiration and ideas with each other, don’t link and run.
5. Follow the hosts of this feature,Paula at Frosted Fingers, Sara at Sensibly Sara and me, Melinda at LookWhatMomFound…and Dad too!

I can’t wait to see all of the fun food themed ideas, excursions and photos you have to share.





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