Rainbow Rice…Kids Cook Monday

Hello KCM friends! We’ve been a little inconsistent with our Monday posts, but the folks at Curious Chef sent us some amazing products that completely inspired us to get back in the kitchen! Brady was SO excited to get his Fruit and Veggie Prep Kit and made it very clear to all of us that they were all his…(much to the dismay of his little brother.) We decided to make a fun rice dish using our tools that incorporated lots of colorful veggies.

screenshot_2016-05-16-21-04-31-1.png

Here are the ingredients we used to make Rainbow Rice:
2 Cups Brown Rice
2 Cups Water (or Vegetable Broth) to cook rice
1 Red pepper
1 Yellow Squash
1 Cup Frozen Peas and Carrots
1 Purple Onion
1 Clove of Garlic
2 Tbs. Butter
1 Tbs. Low Sodium Soy Sauce
1 tsp. Sesame Oil

20160510_1621540.jpg

Here is how Brady and I cooked up our rainbow rice:

  1. First, Brady used his new vegetable scrubber to clean the pepper and the squash.
  2. Next, we began chopping up our vegetables with Brady’s new super safe knife he got from Curious Chef. It was the perfect size for his little hands, but gave him all the power of cutting up the produce. He was so proud that he could do it himself!
  3. While we were chopping our produce, the rice was boiling away on the stove. (Just follow package directions) You can cook the rice in Vegetable broth if you want it to have a little more flavor.
  4. Once we were finished chopping, we began cooking our vegetables in Olive Oil. We started with the onion and garlic, then added the peppers and squash and sprinkled a little salt and pepper on everything.
  5. When the vegetables became tender, we added the frozen peas and carrots.
  6. Then, we added the cooked rice into our pot.
  7. We seasoned the whole pot with the Sesame Oil, butter and Soy Sauce.
  8. We gave everything a final stir and let it sit for about 5 minutes so all of the flavors could blend together.

20160510_162543.jpg20160510_162747.jpg20160510_163058.jpg2016-05-11-09.56.07.jpg.jpeg

Not only was this dish fun and easy to prepare, it turned out beautiful and my sweet, veggie loving oldest boy, LOVED it!

20160510_165512.jpg

We’re so excited to get back in the kitchen and use the rest of our new tools!

 

Nolan’s Birthday Celebrations

I realize I’ve been slacking on my blog posts lately…life, has been busy! I did not want to miss the opportunity to document all of the awesome celebrations we had for Nolan turning 3. So, better late than never!

Our sweet Nolie is ridiculously obsessed with trains these days. His favorite place on Earth is Tweetsie Railroad. He spends countless hours watching YouTube videos of steam engines. And, his wooden track and trains that my Grandma Dot bought the boys are his most prized possessions. So, it made perfect sense to have an all out train themed birthday. Instead of one big party, Nolan got to have 2 different train rides with friends and family, as well as a little party with his school friends (complete with Thomas the Train cupcakes and engineer hats of course.)

We started celebrating with a trip to the railway museum in Savannah. We got to ride a diesel engine and look at all the cool trains. Grandma drove up for the celebration and we had lunch at the Pirate House restaurant with her and Grandpa and Nana.

20160402_121301.jpg20160402_122216.jpg20160402_143720.jpg20160402_145527.jpg7543bc2f-6eda-41b8-a21b-12ac289fd94a.jpgd31a5270-e704-46ed-bfc6-99c924fbb696.jpgc5773604-ab3c-4c32-a7eb-d6c6dcf08d5f.jpgcaf2095f-7922-4fa3-bc1c-08618381adba.jpg

On the day of Nolan’s actual birthday we surprised him with a new Mickey train and donuts for breakfast. The simplest things make him so happy! He then celebrated at school with his favorite Miss Beverley and all his little friends.

20160404_211234.jpg20160405_080538.jpg20160405_081402.jpg20160405_123601.jpg20160405_101541.jpg20160405_123627.jpg20160405_123722.jpg20160405_1245350.jpg20160406_183146.jpg20160406_183151.jpg

For Nolan’s last celebration, we got together with some of our friends from our neighborhood and went on another train ride. It was an open air steam engine (and it was COLD outside!) The things you do for the ones you love! Then, we celebrated at our house with pizza, cookie cake, and playtime with his buddies.

20160410_105828.jpg20160410_105834.jpg20160410_121149.jpg20160410_112924.jpg20160410_120900.jpg20160410_152659.jpg20160410_151012.jpg20160410_142227.jpg

All in all, this little boy is very loved (and just a little bit spoiled!)