Archive for the ‘
Recipes ’ Category
Sunday, April 28th, 2013
I just read about the Healthy Lunchtime Challenge and wanted to spread the word!
Does your child like to cook? Kids ages 8-12 can submit original recipes to win tickets to a state dinner at the White House to eat some of these winning dishes with first lady, Michelle Obama. The challenge is to create healthy recipes that include the five food groups either in one dish or in one main dish with a side. Judges will choose one winner from every state, the U.S. territories, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C.
Last year was the first year and more than 1,200 kids entered the contest.
The judges are looking for original recipes, so they should be limited in the amount of butter, oil, cream and salt that is used. Kids can submit photos with their recipes.
Entries are due by May 12, 2013. You can find more information at recipechallenge.epicurious.com.
You can read more about the Healthy Lunchtime Challenge in the Washington Post. There’s an article in the Kids Post (Washington Post), White House Meal Ticket.
Good luck if your kids enter!
Saturday, April 6th, 2013
My sister has never, ever bought a box-mix of brownies. Can you believe it? With this recipe, you can see why! The kids are able to make this on their own now without any help from me… Now I’ll pass it along to you if you like baking with your kids!
The only unusual ingredient that you might not have on hand is baker’s chocolate — in powder form (pictured in the picture above). The one I have on hand is called Natural Unsweetened Cocoa.
Brownies:
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup baking cocoa
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 2 eggs
Mix all ingredients. Pour into a floured 8×8 pan (spray oil, put a teaspoon of flour in the pan and shake it around dumping out the excess flour). Bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees/170 C. Check by inserting a toothpick–when it comes out clean, brownies are done. If you prefer less gooey brownies, cook for 23 minutes. Cut into squares while warm.
The mixture is slightly different to the mixture from a box. It is a bit thicker. (Obviously *I* have made box-brownies, unlike my Sis!)
Try to snap a picture of the finished brownies BEFORE they disappear!
These brownies don’t taste identical to box brownies, but my kids LOVE them!
Tuesday, February 26th, 2013
As you probably know, the kids are studying world cultures this semester and the focus has been on Africa. Last week, the kids and I made several African and Middle Eastern dishes for dinner. We used the Kids Multicultural Cookbook and Cooking up World History for ideas.
We made korma chicken (we added broccoli) with rice:
The next night we made almond soup and Moroccan couscous. The almond soup was very, very rich. Everyone liked it and ate it, but Hubby and I definitely liked the soup better over the couscous rather than as a separate soup.
The winner of the week was the homemade pita bread and the lentils-and-rice dish we made. The pita was wonderful and we’ll definitely incorporate this meal into our repertoire! LD said it was the best meal EVER! I don’t know about that, but everyone liked it. We also made a black bean dip (the darker brown you see below).
I’ll share the recipe for pita because it was so easy (and yummy!!):
- 1 Tablespoon yeast
- 2 cups warm water
- 1 Tablespoon honey
Dissolve yeast, water, honey
Add in:
- 2 teaspoons of salt
- 6 cups of flour
Stir until you can’t mix the dough. Knead for 10 minutes. Place dough in a buttered bowl, coat on all sides and cover with plastic wrap and a towel. Let it rise for an hour or so.
Punch it down and shape into 10 balls. Let the balls rest for 15 minutes (I didn’t) and shape them into 7-inch round/flat.
Preheat oven to 450. Bake 10-12 minutes.
This is a recipe from Syria.
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Lentils and rice:
Rinse 1 cup lentils. Cook in 7 cups of water for 30 minutes. Then add 1 cup white rice, 3/4 tsp salt and cook for 30 more minutes until water is absorbed. Saute 1 large, chopped onion in olive oil. Mix into the rice-beans.
After rice and beans were cooked we added 1 4oz can of chopped green chilies, 1/4 cup salsa (medium), 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp cumin.
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We also want to make peanut soup (a dish from Ghana), but haven’t gotten to it yet!
Saturday, December 22nd, 2012
Do you have any special sweets you make this time of year? Our family has some old traditions and some new. I’d like to share two of the easiest cookies we make this time of year:
One of our new additions is from Aunt M… we love this recipe and it is so easy! We’ve altered her original recipe slightly:
- 1 cup butter
- 2 cups flour (I actually use 1/2 cup almond meal-flour and 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla
- 1 cup finely chopped pecans
Roll into balls and place on a cookie tray. Bake for 9-10 minutes at 375 degrees F. Cool on the pan for a couple of minutes, then roll in powdered sugar and place on a plate to continue cooling.
My family has made fudge each holiday season for several generations… Not to break with tradition, the girls and I also made classic fudge… but… if you don’t do it just right it turns into something not so pretty! I’ll share our never-fail fudge cookies instead! These (unlike the fudge candy) are simple to make!
Fudge Cookies
Melt in a saucepan on low heat
- 1 cup semisweet morsels
- 2 oz unsweetened chocolate
- 2 Tablespoons butter
Remove from heat and add
- 2 eggs
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)
Spoon onto a cookie tray. Bake in oven at 350 degrees F for 8 minutes
Happy Holidays from Our Family to Yours!!
Saturday, October 27th, 2012
When we lived in Australia, we couldn’t buy candy corn. I looked around for a recipe and found something online that has worked well. Now it’s become our family tradition to make our own candy corn each fall!
Here’s how we made it:
We put these 3 ingredients in a saucepan:
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup corn syrup
- 2 1/2 Tablespoons butter
As soon as I turned the stove on medium-high I started the timer going for 5 minutes. You DO NOT want to overcook this! By five minutes the ingredients should be at a boil you cannot stir down. Immediately remove it from the stove. Here’s a picture – left is just setting it on the stove, right is at the full boil just before I took it off the stove:
Move very quickly from this point on. Add the following ingredients and stir well.
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 2 1/2 teaspoons of powdered milk
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Split your candy into three even bowls and add food dye. (We used yellow dye, yellow and red dyes for orange and 1 or 2 tsp of unsweetened chocolate powder to make the brown section).
Roll the candy into snake like sections, push them together and cut into triangles (or into twists).
If you want to download and print out the pdf click here for the candy corn recipe.
Enjoy!! ~Liesl
