Category Archives: Kids Cook Monday

Veggie Breakfast Burritos- Kids Cook Monday

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It’s time for my favorite foods to come together…Breakfast for Dinner + Mexican= YUM! And the fact that this meal gets my kids to eat a protein packed meal WITH veggies is a total bonus! This meal is not very difficult to make because it’s mostly just assembling all the parts. Here’s how it went down!

 

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Scramble up about a half dozen eggs. I always make mine with a little milk, salt and pepper, and some American cheese melted in.

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Chop up one green pepper, a clove of garlic, and one onion. Look at my lil’ helper snagging some peppers to munch on!

 

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Rinse and drain one can of black beans.

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Sautee the onion, pepper, garlic mixture in a little olive oil until just tender.

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Add the beans to the onion mixture and season liberally with salt, pepper, cumin, and a little bit of chili powder. Cook until the beans soften and are nice and hot.

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We made a little sauce to add to our burritos. It was just half plain Greek yogurt, half jarred salsa, with a little bit of chopped cilantro.

 

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Meanwhile, make sure your other little chef is not getting into trouble behind you!

 

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Fill a large tortilla with your scrambled eggs, bean and veggie mixture, shredded cheddar cheese, and salsa/yogurt sauce. Optional toppings could be avocado, jalapenos, or tomatoes.

 

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Wrap up all the goodies and enjoy!

 

This meal easily fed our family of 4, but if we make it again (which we definitely will!) we’ll probably make a double batch and freeze a couple for easy breakfasts during the week. I hope you and your kiddos give this meal a try. With all the fun ingredients to munch on during the cooking process, your kids are sure to love it!

Grandma’s Cheesy Lasagna- Kids Cook Monday

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Us Smiths have been doing lots of traveling this summer. Between Chris’ work schedule, family trips, and a few girls’ trips of my own, we’ve been all over the place. Even though Chris is out of town again this week, I’m here with the boys and my mom and we’re celebrating Meatless Monday with Grandma’s Cheesy Lasagna. My boys are nuts for Italian food, but this one is especially a hit!

Whenever my mom is around, she makes up a big batch of lasagna for us for dinner. We freeze the leftovers in individual containers and pull it out when we need a quick dinner (usually when Chris is traveling and I’m not in the mood to cook something up for just the kids and I.) It always re-heats so great and is a perfect go-to Meatless Monday meal.

Grandma’s Cheesy Lasagna

Ingredients:
1 box lasagna noodles
2 lg. jars of spaghetti sauce
1 lg. container of small curd cottage cheese
1 sm. container of Ricotta cheese
6 cups of shredded Mozzarella cheese
1 pkg. spinach leaves (optional)
About 3 tsp. Italian seasoning
2 cloves minced garlic
1 onion (diced)

Directions:
-Cook lasagna noodles until just tender
-Add minced garlic, diced onion to jarred sauce (to liven it up!)
-Use a 9’13 pan and begin assembling:
Pour a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of the pan and then begin layering noodles (slightly overlapping them so they lay flat), sauce, spinach, cottage cheese, a sprinkle of Italian seasoning, Ricotta cheese, Mozzarella cheese and then repeat starting with noodles again. You will make about 3-4 layers total. Top it all with a layer of sauce and Mozzarella cheese.
-Bake uncovered at 375* for 25 minutes.
-Remove from oven, cover with foil and continue to bake at 375* for another 25 minutes.
-Let sit for 15 minutes before cutting and eating.

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All the beautiful layers before going in the oven!

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Golden brown cheesy goodness!

 

As much fun as it is to travel, nothing beats being home, sitting together at the table with my boys, and eating Grandma’s (mom’s) lasagna!

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Nolan LOVES Italian food!!

Did I mention she made homemade banana bread for dessert?!

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One Pot Garden Pasta- Kids Cook Monday

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Recently I’ve been intrigued by some “One Pot Pasta” recipes I’ve seen on Pinterest. I couldn’t imagine they’d really taste as good as promised, but I had to give it a try to see for myself. (Mostly because I will use any excuse cook with my new Le Creuset Dutch Oven!) And of course, I couldn’t just follow a recipe exactly so I used what ingredients I had on hand to make it different. Our next door neighbor just gave us a BUNCH of yellow squash from his garden, so I knew I would be using some of those bad boys in this pasta!

The basic idea of this pasta is that everything (water included) goes in the pot all at once. You bring all the ingredients to a boil, then take it down to a simmer for about 15 minutes. The water is absorbed by the pasta, along with all the yummy flavors of the herbs, veggies and seasonings. Once all the liquid is gone, the pasta is cooked and you toss it with a little cream and Parmesan Cheese, and…its…DELICIOUS! Who knew?!

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Everyone goes in the (beautiful, awesome, lovely, new) pot before boiling.

 

One Pot Garden Pasta

*I made my recipe a little smaller than other versions I’ve seen online- enough to serve 3 if it’s your meal (maybe 5 servings if it’s served as a side dish.)

Ingredients

1/2 pound thin spaghetti

2 cups of water

1/2 pint of mushrooms (sliced)

1 (big) yellow squash

1 cup of corn (frozen or fresh)

1 clove of garlic (chopped)

2 sprigs of thyme

Salt and pepper to taste

About 1/4 cup heavy cream

About 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese

Put all ingredients (except cream and cheese) in a big pot or Dutch Oven and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and let cook about 15 minutes, or until the pasta is cooked and the water is all absorbed. Then, add cream and cheese and toss until the pasta is coated. (Add additional salt or pepper to taste.)

And it’s seriously that easy. But best of all, we got to use Brady’s thyme from the herb garden that he’s been helping me water every day and a home grown squash. Brady was quite the helper today. We were working on learning to cut the vegetables and he took the job so seriously. There was a whole lot of ownership over this meal!

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This meal was yummy, veggie packed, kid friendly, and too easy not to try!

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Blueberry Greek Yogurt Muffins {Moo Muffins} – KCM

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We went with a comfort food dessert for Kids Cook Monday this week. After a weekend full of potty training, we felt (gross, disgusting, frustrated) like we deserved a little treat! Brady has made great strides since embarking on his diaper free journey, thanks to his ultimate motivator- TV! That means we’ve watched lots of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse over the past couple days and got some inspiration for our recipe this week. Toddler parents; perhaps you’re familiar with Clarabell’s Moo Muffins? We decided to make our own Moo Muffins with the abundance of Blueberries that are in season right now.

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I love searching Pinterest for different recipes and then tweaking them to make my own creations. Several of the muffin recipes I’ve come across involve Greek Yogurt (yum!) and lemon (double yum!!) and I really wanted to give those a try. We were sure Clarabell would approve! Here’s what we came up with.

Blueberry Greek Yogurt Muffins

Ingredients

3 Cups Flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup vegetable oil
1 & 1/2 Cup sugar
2 eggs
1 container Greek Yogurt (we used Blueberry, Lemon would be tasty too!)
Juice of 1 lemon
1 pint of fresh blueberries

Pre-heat oven to 350* and prepare a muffin pan with liners. Combine dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, soda, and salt) in a bowl. In another bowl, use an electric mixer to combine oil, sugar, eggs, yogurt, and lemon juice. Slowly add dry ingredients into wet and mix on low. Last, fold blueberries into batter. Bake muffins for approximately 20 minutes (or until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean.)

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Brady really got into baking and it was a nice break from potty training and TV watching; however, littlest man was much more into eating the muffins than B.

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These muffins were a great mix of sweet and tart and we will definitely be making them again!

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Awesome Sauce! – Kids Cook Monday

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One of the reasons I am always getting my kiddos in the kitchen with me is because I love the idea of raising men who know how to cook. What woman doesn’t love a man who knows his way around the kitchen? Someday, my boys’ future spouses will be so happy their mama taught them a thing or two when it comes to food! It’s so fun to see Brady looking forward to our cooking sessions. He drags his little step stool up to the counter and now (thanks to mommy’s super Target clearance find!) puts on his Planes apron!

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For this weeks meal, I wanted to see just how many veggies I could pack into a meal. Nolan is not the greatest when it comes to eating his vegetables, but he loves spaghetti, so I thought I could sneak some in that way. Although, I don’t really like the idea of being “sneaky” when it comes to food per se- I think it’s important for kids to know what they’re eating so they are aware that they actually like certain foods. I just like the idea of presenting new foods in a way that’s somewhat familiar, and of course, tasty. If I just gave the kids a bowl of spinach, it probably wouldn’t go over so well, but by cooking a yummy sauce with spinach, I’m showing Brady that he likes spinach.

I called this sauce “Awesome Sauce” because it tastes awesome and it has some awesome ingredients in it…

Ingredients:

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1 onion
1 bell pepper (I had an orange one on hand)
2 cloves of garlic
1 pint of grape tomatoes
1 cup of shredded carrots
1 bag of spinach
2 cans of tomato sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
~1 Tbs. Italian Seasoning
~1/4 cup Heavy Cream (optional)
1 box of your favorite pasta

 

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B and I chopped up the onion, pepper, and garlic and sautéed them together in olive oil. Then, we added the shredded carrots. Once they were all tender, we added the grape tomatoes. I left them whole, seasoned the pot with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning, and let all the veggies hang out together for a while (until the tomatoes started bursting.) Then we threw in the bag of spinach and let them wilt for a minute or so before adding the 2 cans of sauce.  The sauce was super chunky at this point so I took my immersion blender and let Brady give it a few pulses to smooth it out. Last, we stirred in a little cream to give it a little creamy sweetness.

Brady was quite proud of this creation. The spinach adds lots of vitamins and protein to this otherwise “carby” meal. And even though it really doesn’t change the flavor too much, the little specks of green throughout, remind you just how good this sauce is for you. It would be super good over ravioli, pizza or in a veggie lasagna and this recipe makes a bunch so I now have a container in my freezer as well. Awesome Sauce!

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Food Revolution Day

Posted in Family, Kids Cook Monday by

Happy Food Revolution Day! Jamie Oliver’s goal is to get as many kids and families from across the globe, in the kitchen together today.  I’m taking part in this day because I love Jamie Oliver’s philosophy on the importance of getting kids involved in the food they eat.

“It’s time to take action!

We need every child to understand where food comes from, how to cook it, and how it affects their body. This is about setting kids up with the knowledge they need to make better food choices for life.” -Jamie Oliver

To participate in this day, our family made Jamie’s “Rainbow Salad Wrap” recipe.

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/rainbow-salad-wrap

I have to confess, when I first saw the ingredients (raw beets, pears, green cabbage…) I was a little concerned. I’ve never eaten raw beets, let alone tried to feed them to a two year old! I was up for the challenge because, if I’m not willing to be adventurous when it comes to eating new foods, how can I expect my kids to be willing to try new things?! I also have to admit that I took some short-cuts with this recipe. It calls for you to shred all of your own veggies, but when I saw pre-shredded cabbage and carrots in the store I thought, umm, yea, let’s do that instead! I did however shred my own pear (with Brady’s supervision!) and beets.

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Here’s my PSA for beets- they’re M.E.S.S.Y. If your child is old enough to use a box grater and shred the beets themself, please use gloves and an apron, or be prepared to have stained hands, countertops, clothes, etc. I took on that task myself, and it was still messy. I kept thinking, we should totally use beets to paint with- outside. Other than the beet mess, this recipe is super easy to put together! Shred the veggies and mix together. Whisk up some cider vinegar, EVOO, mustard, and yogurt for the dressing. Once you mix the dressing and veggies together, top it with some feta cheese and roll it in a whole wheat wrap.

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Brady enjoyed measuring, stirring, and as usual, tasting ingredients. (He loves shredded carrots!) But, there’s also something to be said about the amount of conversation that goes on while preparing a meal. From helping me pick out the ingredients at the grocery store, to picking herbs from our herb garden that he helped plant, to reading through the recipe together, there’s some really valuable dialogue that takes place.

I wasn’t sure what Brady would think about this meal. But, no joke, the first words out of his mouth after he took a bite were, “Yum. That’s delicious.” Chris and I both said, “Really?! Yay!” It just goes to show, you should never underestimate what a kid will eat or enjoy. This food was new to him, but it was colorful and fun looking. Plus, Brady was the one who helped mix the dressing and stir it all together and top it with cheese. To him, he cooked it, so it had to be awesome!

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This was a fun recipe to make and it just makes me so happy to think that kids around the globe were cooking and eating the same thing that my family was!

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For more info on Food Revolution Day, check out this site.

http://www.foodrevolutionday.com/

 

 

Fruit Salsa- Kids Cook Monday

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We recently discovered a small strawberry farm near our house that let’s you come pick your own strawberries. They are the most delicious strawberries I’ve ever had!!! So sweet and so juicy! We’ve gone a couple of times recently because they are so ripe right now.

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Brady hard at work pickin’ “drawberries.”

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The “fruit of our labor.”

Brady will gobble up strawberries by the pint, but I wanted to try some fun recipes with some of the berries we picked. For Kids Cook Monday, I thought I’d make a fruit salsa that has lots of strawberries, apples and kiwis with a little basil from our herb garden. This recipe was mostly chopping and mixing. I did the fruit cutting and Brady did the lime squeezing, basil ripping and sugar stirring. I’d be lost without him! 🙂

Fruit Salsa

Ingredients:

About a pint of strawberries- chopped into bite sized pieces

1 green apple- peeled and diced

2 kiwis- peeled and diced

the juice of 1 lime

1/4 cup of white sugar

About 1/4 cup chopped basil (or ripped by toddler hands!)

*Cinnamon & Sugar pita chips for dipping

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This recipe comes together so easy. You chop, dump in a bowl, and mix. It gets tastier if it sits for an hour or so, but you can also eat it right away.  We loved that it was such a refreshing, light dessert. The hubby liked the pop of basil and Brady could’ve just eaten it with a spoon.

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Mexican Popcorn- Kids Cook Monday!

Posted in Family, Holidays, Kids Cook Monday by

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Or…Happy “excuse to eat as much Mexican food as possible” Day! The hubby lived in Mexico for several years, so by proxy, we’re totally an authentic Mexican family. Right?! Anyways, we do cook our share of Mexican food around here, but I wanted to switch it up today.

While we did go to a Mexican restaurant today for lunch, I thought it would be fun to do a different kind of Mexican themed snack for after Brady’s nap. Brady was (ever so nonchalantly) requesting popcorn today. He brought it up in the car, and then again in Target, so I promised him that would be our after-nap snack.

Mexican Popcorn

Ingredients:

Popcorn

1/2 cup Popcorn Kernels
Tbsp. Vegetable Oil

“Fancy Butter”

1/3  Stick of Butter (melted)
the juice of one lime
about a tbsp. of chopped cilantro

Seasonings

1/2 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Tbsp. parmesean cheese to sprinkle on top

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Stove top popcorn is so much fun to make! The anticipation of the first kernel popping is pretty exciting, like for me, as an adult. So, I figured Brady would love it too. And sure enough he did! We popped our popcorn according to the kernel directions and then added our fun, Mexican themed toppings. You could also make this with microwave popcorn, it’s just not as fun! For toppings we used a combo of fancy butter, seasonings, and cheese. First we poured our “fancy butter” (a combo of melted butter, lime juice and cilantro) on the hot popcorn and shook it up in a big bowl with the lid on. Then we put our seasonings on the popcorn, put the lid back on, and shook it up some more. Finally, we topped it with a little bit of parmesan cheese.

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Pickin’ cilantro leaves off and squeezin’ limes!

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Shake, shake, shake! That bowl is as big as him!

It was muy deliciosa! Que Bueno! And, as an added bonus, Brady got to use some of the cilantro we’ve been growing from our garden. Love, love, love when things work out like that!

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Yummy, buttery, salty, tangy, popcorn! Sidenote: I used tri-color kernels so my popcorn has an even cooler look to it (in my opinion). Just know those pieces are not burned pieces 🙂

Planting Herbs- Kids Cook Monday

Posted in Kids Cook Monday, Projects/DIY by

Us Smiths have had a busy couple of weeks. We have now been in our new home for a little over a week. So far we are loving our rental home and all that the Raleigh area has to offer.

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We are especially loving the warmer temperatures and being able to hang out on our back deck. It’s great because it has a screened in portion that provides shade and an open area that leads to the backyard.

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I recently decided to use a little corner of our deck to plant some herbs.

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So many of the recipes we make call for fresh herbs so it just made sense! I wanted Brady to be a part of the planting so that he could see exactly where the ingredients he was cooking with and eating came from and have a little ownership over our meals.

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I love the idea of having fresh herbs on hand. Chris and Brady planted chives, basil, thyme, and cilantro. I can’t wait to add them to our meals! I love to take something store-bought and throw a handful of herbs in it to make it taste fresh. An easy one that is always a hit is basil mashed potatoes. I use store-bought mashed potatoes and fold in a handful of fresh, chopped basil leaves. It gives it a fresh, Italian flair that is so good as a side dish to just about anything!

 

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=   Delicious!

I can also picture me throwing some cilantro into a pot of rice for a Mexican side dish, chives on a bowl of soup or baked potato, and thyme sprinkled in a bowl of buttered noodles. Let’s hope I have a little, tiny, morsel of my grandma’s green thumb in my genes and I can keep these little guys alive!

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Grow, grow, grow!

Taco Boats- Kids Cook Monday

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Our family loves Mexican food! Sadly, there is a severe shortage of Mexican restaurants in Lancaster County, PA (go figure!) so we make it at home quite often. I love how versatile it can be…soft tacos, hard tacos, dips, casseroles, burritos, nachos, enchiladas…. Ok, time to get ahold of my Mexican loving self. Side note; Mexican restaurants are one of the things we are most looking forward to in our next hometown!

So, I wanted to make a kid friendly Mexican meal that was also meatless. We used a combo of black and refried pinto beans on some new, cool, “Fiesta Flats” I found in the grocery store.  They are flat-ish like a tostada, but curved up on the edges to keep your toppings in place. So cool! (It’s the little things in life, people.)

I warmed the corn shells (Fiesta Flats) in the oven on 350* for about 10 minutes and then my trusty sidekick Brady helped me load up our “Taco Boats.” You can use any combo of ingredients that you like, but here’s what we used…

Refried pinto beans
Black Beans
Guacamole
Sour Cream
Lettuce
Salsa
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Black Olives

Some corn, diced onion, or tomatoes would be great on these as well!

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Ingredients (Not the bananas!!)

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Um, no, I wasn’t about to eat guac straight from the bowl.

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Who am I kidding…this stuff is delicious!

 

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Taco Boats!

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My lil’ taco lovin’ stinkers!