Cooking with young kids

Mary asked that question on the general board, and I thought it might be good to start its own thread with this. maybe over time we will actually get a nice collection of things.

Here is a banana bread that kids can help with mashing and measuring and stirring:

1) mash 3 bananas; set aside
2) 2 c. flour, 1tsp. salt, 1 tsp soda, 1/2 c. wheat germ: mix and set aside
3) melt 1/2 c. butter in a big pan (just soften it, don't let it get hot!)
4) add 2 eggs, 1c. apple juice concentrate; mix well
5) fold in the flour mixture and bananas (from steps 1 and 2)
6) bake in a greased loaf pan at 350F for 1 hour
Serve with home made butter. Eat and enjoy!

Homemade butter:
1) pour 1 Tsp. whipping cream in a (clean!) baby food jar
2) shake
3) keep on shaking until solid butter forms (This is a fun activity to do with a couple of kids, where they can take turns shaking the jar: one counts to 25 while the other shakes, and then switch)

Both of these recipes are from a book called Kinder Krunchies - Healthy Snack Recipes for children by Karen S. Jenkins, 1997.

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Permalink Reply by Uta on March 31, 2009 at 3:49pm: Tortillas (serves 6-7), source: Kinder Krunchies - Healthy Snack Recipes for children by Karen S. Jenkins, 1997

1) Mix: 1 c. flour, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. baking powder, 1Tsp. shortening
2) add slowly, while stirring: 1/3 c. warm milk
3) knead
4) form 6 or 7 balls, roll or pat flat
5) cook in ungreased skillet
6) butter, fold, eat; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Uta on March 31, 2009 at 4:01pm: Make your own mini pizza
prepare all the different toppings, depending on what you have and what people like:
e.g. cut peppers into little strips; slice or dice tomatoes; cube some ham; slice onions, slice mushrooms (fresh or marinated), grate cheese (maybe two or different kinds?); slice some leftover chicken breast; cube some canned pineapple
each topping should be in a little bowl lined up, along with some spaghetti sauce
Have small pita breads (white or whole wheat) stacked, half them first so that you can use the inside of it as the top for the pizza, the sauce will stick well to it that way.

Once everything is lined up, people can go down this assembly line and put together their own pizza, then place on a cookie sheet and bake in oven at 375F for about 15 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Enjoy.
This is a fun leisurely dinner some time, play a game while pizza bakes. Or make a fruit salad for dessert (see below).

I've set this up for a couple of birthday parties for my boys when they were in Kindergarten and grade school (for the party I prepared all the toppings, but they assembled their own pizzas), it was a fun activity that was enjoyed by all.

Fresh Fruit Salad
1) cut and slice 1 banana, 1 apple, 1 tangerine
2) mix in a bowl
3) in separate bowl mix 3 Tsp. plain yoghurt, 1 tsp. vanilla
4) pour over fruit, mix and serve.

Of course use fruit to taste and whatever is in season: strawberries, blueberries, pears, blackberries, raspberries, peaches, oranges, ...; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Uta on March 31, 2009 at 4:04pm: Fresh Fruit Muesli for breakfast
1) in a large bowl cut and slice 1 apple, 1 pear, 1 banana
2) add 2 c. quick oats
3) add some chopped nuts and/or 1/4 c. chocolate chips
4) mix
5) serve in bowls, with some fresh cold milk, and a Tsp. of plain or vanilla yoghurt.

This makes a yummy, quick and healthy breakfast.; ▶ Reply to This