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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




Lemon Blueberry Muffins #recipe

July 25, 2013 by

In the beginning of the season Shae was so excited about her Blueberry Bush growing and giving off fruit, she talked about the food she would make and couldn’t wait each morning to go out and eat right from the branches.  That all ended when the birds found where I had moved it.  That was the end of the berries for us. Fortunately Rob has been able to pass a produce stand everyday coming home from work and picked up this HUGE container of blueberries for just $3.

I knew what I was making,  Lemon Blueberry Muffins with Brown Sugar and Almond Streusel. The recipe was adapted from a few I found online; tweaked, edited and made my own.

I’ve made these twice and everyone LOVES them.  The best part is the burst of fresh lemon flavor from the juice and zest.

Muffin Batter

  • 4 cups flour
  • 2  tbls baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 3/4 cup sugar
  • 12 tbls cubed cold butter
  • 1 1/3 cup milk
  • 4 eggs (3 whole,  1 yolk)
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • juice from 1 lemon (about 2 tbls)
  • zest from 1 lemon (about 1 tsp)
  • 2 cups of fresh blueberries (or frozen)

Muffin Topping

  • 1/2 cup sliced or slivered almonds (optional)
  • 4 tbls melted butter
  • 4 tbls flour
  • 5 tbls brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
    Lemon Blueberry Muffins #recipe

 

Preheat your oven to 375 and thoroughly grease 24 muffin tins.

In a large mixing bowl of an electric mixer blend the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar for a few seconds.  Then add the cold butter and mix till butter resembles small pebbles.  In a small separate bowl add lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla, eggs and milk and beat till combined then add to the flour mixture.

Mix till batter comes together but do not over mix.  Add blueberries and gently mix for a few seconds. You don’t want to break up the blueberries, that will make your batter purple.

Fill your muffin cups almost full.

For the streusel topping start with melting your butter then adding in the flour, brown sugar and cinnamon. Mix till crumbly.  Sprinkle on top of each muffin along with the almonds.

Bake for 19-22 minutes till golden brown.

Remove muffins from tins and allow to cool slightly before enjoying.

Lemon Blueberry Muffins #recipe

Print
Lemon Blueberry Muffins

Serving Size: 24 regular size muffins

Lemon Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients

  • Batter
  • 4 cups flour
  • 2 tbls baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 3/4 cup sugar
  • 12 tbls cubed cold butter
  • 1 1/3 cup milk
  • 4 eggs (3 whole, 1 yolk)
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • juice from 1 lemon (about 2 tbls)
  • zest from 1 lemon (about 1 tsp)
  • 2 cups of fresh blueberries (or frozen)
  • Topping
  • 1/2 cup sliced or slivered almonds (optional)
  • 4 tbls melted butter
  • 4 tbls flour
  • 5 tbls brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 375 and thoroughly grease 24 muffin tins.
  2. In a large mixing bowl mix the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.
  3. Add the cold butter and beat till butter resembles small pebbles.
  4. In a small separate bowl add lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla, eggs and milk.
  5. Beat till combined and add to flour mixture.
  6. Mix till batter comes together but do not over mix.
  7. Add blueberries and gently mix for a few seconds. You don't want to break up the blueberries, that will make your batter purple.
  8. Fill your muffin cups almost full.
  9. For the streusel topping start with melting your butter then adding in the flour, brown sugar and cinnamon.
  10. Mix till crumbly.
  11. Sprinkle on top of each muffin along with the almonds.
  12. Bake for 19-22 minutes till golden brown.
  13. Remove from tins and allow to cool slightly before enjoying.
https://lookwhatmomfound.com/2013/07/lemon-blueberry-muffins-recipe.html

Tips while baking

  • zest the lemon before juicing, it’s much easier this way
  • don’t make the lemon and milk mixture ahead of time, you’ll end up with curdled milk if it sits too long
  • omit almonds if desired
  • batter should be thick, much thicker than pancake mix

These make a great snack, breakfast or even dessert.  Switching out ingredients is simple to come up with new recipes such as Cranberry Orange Muffins or Lemon Strawberry Cake.  I would rehydrate dried fruit that was already in our pantry for these pairings.




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




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.





Celebrating Something On A Stick Day

March 28, 2013 by

I’m a sucker for nonsensical goofy holiday especially if it’s centered around food.  I realize that “Something On A Stick” could be about other things but food on a stick is more fun than most other things. So here I am celebrating with YUMMY Food on a Stick ideas I found and may even try.
Burger on a Stick

Source: funnyspoon.com viaMelinda on Pinterest




Pop Tarts on a Stick




Caprese on a Stick

Source: flipcookbook.com viaMelinda on Pinterest




Smores on a Stick




Strawberry Shortcake on a Stick




So, there are my special finds for Something on a Stick day. I bet you won’t forget it next year 🙂




Homemade Brushetta #recipe

February 27, 2013 by

Somedays I crave a little snacking food. Lately it’s been all about tomatoes; fresh salsa from the deli, roasted beefsteaks with parmesan cheese and today it was brushetta that was calling my name. I made this a while back for my family and it got really good reviews. It’s such a simple dish I’m not sure why I don’t make it more often. This amount serves 4-5 but can easily be doubled or quadrupled for larger gatherings.

Print
Fresh Brushetta at Home #Recipe

Ingredients

  • 4 Roma Tomatoes
  • 4-5 Sundried Tomatoes
  • 2 tsp finely minced garlic
  • 1 tsp dried basil or 6-10 leaves fresh basil finely chopped
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp fresh cracked pepper
  • 1-2 tbls grated Parmesan cheese (fresh is best)
  • 1 tsp Balsamic Vinegar
  • 1 tbls Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Instructions

  1. Rough chop Roma tomatoes, finely mince dry packed sun dried tomatoes or finely chop marinated sun dried tomatoes.
  2. Add all ingredients into a bowl, mix well and set aside for 1-2 hours.
  3. Serve with thin sliced baguette or as a pasta topping.
https://lookwhatmomfound.com/2013/02/homemade-brushetta-recipe.html

homemade brushetta recipe
The sundried tomatoes boost the flavor and the Balsamic Vinegar gives it a great earthy sweetness. Fresh tomatoes are best but if canned are all that is available then I suggest a high quality, no salt added organic diced tomato.




Wet Walnuts Ice Cream Topping #Recipe

January 23, 2013 by

For as long as I can remember I’ve loved Smuckers Walnuts in Syrup on ice cream.  Those teeny jars were like heaven to me and often I would pass on ice cream for dessert if we didn’t have any.

Recently I’ve been splurging and buying it but I could literally eat the whole jar in one sitting.  The cost close to $4 per jar so it hurt my wallet with every delicious spoonful.  This weekend I decided I was going to figure out how to make it myself. I researched a ton of recipes but most were so fancy adding ginger, cinnamon and other spices. What I wanted was simple and straightforward so I came up with this recipe.

wet walnuts, recipe, ice cream toppings

Print
Wet Walnuts Ice Cream Topping #Recipe

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Yield: 8 servings

A sticky, sweet concoction for ice cream, pancakes, cinnamon rolls and more.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup chopped walnuts, toasted and cooled
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 cup light corn syrup
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla

Instructions

  1. Add the water, sugar and corn syrup to a small saucepan over medium low heat.
  2. Dissolve the sugar.
  3. Turn up heat to medium and bring mixture to boil for 2 minutes.
  4. Remove from heat and add vanilla.
  5. Set aside to cool for several minutes before adding nuts.
  6. Let cool to room temperature before adding to ice cream.
https://lookwhatmomfound.com/2013/01/wet-walnuts-ice-cream-topping-recipe.html

toasted walnuts

wet walnuts in syrup

This would be soooo good on pancakes, cinnamon roll casserole, sliced bananas or apple pie. Double the recipe to have on hand for get togethers or a dessert bar.

I Disclose




Breakfast Cinnamon Roll Casserole Bake #Recipe

November 29, 2012 by

Every Christmas Morning I bake up Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls while the kids are opening gifts and usually serve them along with juice, milk and sausage. I like to keel breakfast light since we have a big family dinner in the early afternoon. Thanksgiving we don’t usually have any traditions since we tend to head out to visit family for the turkey feast.

cinnamon roll casserole bake

 

This year I wanted to make something special for the kids for breakfast on Thanksgiving morning. I had just visited BJs wholesale the night before and picked up a 4-pack of cinnamon rolls so it just seemed perfect that I made something different with them. I’ve seen recipes for cinnamon roll waffles but we have a Belgian waffle iron so that wasn’t going to work. I love french toast casserole so this felt like the next best thing. It turned out the be THE best thing. This is something I’ll be making again.

cinnamon roll casserole

Cinnamon Roll Casserole Bake

Recipe Type: Breakfast
Author: Melinda@LookWhatMomFound
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 8
a blend of sweet and cinnamony rolls baked into a warm, sticky and delicious casserole.
Ingredients
  • Cooking Spray
  • 2 packages of Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/2 cup whole milk or heavy cream or half and half
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
  • 1/2 cup maple syrup
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375® and spray a 9 X 13 casserole dish with cooking spray.
  2. Open the cinnamon rolls, set aside icing and cut each roll into 8 pieces.
  3. Place all cut rolls evenly into your pan.
  4. In a bowl, beat together eggs, milk, cinnamon, vanilla and maple syrup.
  5. Pour evenly over cinnamon roll pieces.
  6. Sprinkle with chopped nuts and bake for 15-18 minutes until golden brown.
  7. While rolls are still hot drizzle with included icing.
  8. Serve Warm.

Make it even simpler on Christmas mornings by prepping the rolls the night before and storing in the fridge in your  casserole dish.  In the morning just whip up your eggs and milk mixture, pour and bake.

cinnamon roll casserole




Chewy Coconut Macaroons Recipe

October 24, 2012 by

Coconut is one of those ingredients that people either love or hate.  I personally LOVE it. I love coconut cream pie, coconut custard pie, coconut candies and even coconut sorbet.  My family on the other hand is divided.  Sabreena hates it, Rob is “eh” about it, Shaun will eat anything disguised as dessert and Shae was just introduced to an Almond Joy the other day and loved it.  My father in law loves coconut so each year I make him these Coconut Macaroons.  They are very simple, require only 5 ingredients and travel well.

simple chewy coconut macaroons

Prep:

Preheat oven to 350°. Line 2 cookie sheets with foil or parchment. Lightly spray with cooking spray to avoid sticking.

Ingredients:

  • 2-3 cup of all purpose flour
  • 5 cups of shredded coconut
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 can of sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

ingredients for coconut macaroons recipe

Directions:

In large bowl gently mix together flour, coconut and salt.  Make a well in the middle of the coconut mixture and add sweetened condensed milk and vanilla. Using a rubber spatula fold all ingredients together until you no longer see dry flour.

Using a cookie dough scoop or tablespoon (sprayed with cooking spray) drop golf ball size balls of dough onto your cookie sheets.  Do not pack the coconut mixture too tight.

golf ball size coconut macaroons recipe

cookie sheets of coconut macaroons

Bake for 12-15 minutes until, edges are toasted and crisp.  Let cool on tray for 10 minutes so they set. Enjoy
coconut macaroons cooked




Nutty Vanilla Granola Recipe

March 23, 2012 by

Granola is a staple in my house; it’s eaten for breakfast, snacks and on yogurt. But have you seen the price tag of store bought granola lately? I refuse to spend $5 for a 8oz bag, when this recipe is just as good and quite easy to make. I’m sharing my updated recipe for a simple granola that can easily be adapted for your own own tastes or diet restrictions. You can half this recipe very easily too, we are a family of 5 and this will last about 2 weeks.
homemade granola, big batch of granola, easy homemade granola

  • 1 extra large microwave safe glass bowl,1 large rubber spatula, 2 rimmed baking sheets,parchment paper
  • 2 cups of brown sugar
  • 3/4  cup water
  • 3 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 tsp kosher or sea salt
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 8 cups of rolled oats
  • 2 cups of chopped nuts of your choice (we used walnuts)
  • 2 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
  • 2 cups of dried fruit of choice (we used raisins and cranberries)

Preheat oven to 250 degrees, line baking sheets with parchment.

In your LARGE glass bowl add water and brown sugar, microwave for 4-6 minutes until sugar has dissolved, stir every 2 minutes

Carefully remove bowl and add vanilla, honey and salt, STIR. Add oats, cinnamon, nuts and coconut, fold evenly until all the oats are coated. Split mixture between 2 baking sheets (do not grease parchment) and bake for 50 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately mix in dried fruit and place back in oven for 5-7 minutes.  Remove from oven again, let cool for 5 minutes and transfer to tight fitting containers or storage bags.

large batch of granola, homemade granola, granola recipe
Easily add ground flaxseed, wheatgerm, millet or pure maple syrup instead of honey to up the nutritional content. For a more clustered effect, increase the the sugar/water mixture and DON’T blend in the dried fruit; add it after the granola has fully baked and cooled.  Break up the cooled granola and just sprinkle in the fruits of choice.

How do you like your granola? What ingredients would you add?

Enjoy!




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