Kids Culinary Creations for the Holidays

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Michelle Stern is the owner of What’s Cooking, a Certified Green business that offers healthy and seasonal cooking classes and birthday parties to children of all ages in the San Francisco Bay Area. In her online shop you’ll find unique sustainable gifts and party favors as well as What’s Cooking Weekly, an online menu service offering recipes, grocery lists and tips on making cooking with your kids fun and simple.

Making Halloween a Little Less Scary

With Halloween right around the corner, I have been giving a lot of thought to the menu for our annual block party. We are hosting the party at our house this year, and I hope to serve some delicious finger foods to fill up our bellies before hitting the streets.

I haven’t settled on the menu yet, but here are some items that I am considering:

• Vampire Drool
• Orzo with Roasted Seasonal Vegetables
• Sticky and Slightly Spicy (Bat) Wings
• Spiced Pecans
• Marinated Mini-Mozzarella (eye) Balls with Pita Crisps
• Sour Cream and Scallion Dip with Sweet Potato Chips and Carrot Fingers
• Mummy Pizzas that the kids will make themselves (Just pull apart string cheese and lay it on an English Muffin topped with a little marinara…Add some sliced olives for eyes and voila – you have a mummy pizza!)
• Pumpkin Chocolate Brownie Cake – Absolutely delicious! (We had a bit of buttermilk left over from waffles this weekend, so I used that instead of the sour soy milk she recommended.)

Update: Here are some photos of our food from the Halloween party.  Pictured, you will see Vampire Drool with a Green Ice Hand, Marinated Mozzarella Eyeballs with Pita Crisps, Orzo with Roasted Vegetables and Bat Wings.  Everything was a hit, although I was reprimanded by my daughter for not making enough Bat Wings.  They were gone in a flash!

           

Although I can control the quality of the foods I’ll be serving at home, I can’t control what will be doled out by the neighbors.

Kids are often afraid of the sights and sounds that meet them when the doors at each home creek open…but the truly frightening experience lies in the ingredients of the foods that they are collecting: partially hydrogenated oil, high fructose corn syrup, alkali, chemicals, artificial colorings and more…

There is no sense in banning candy – that will only make everyone want it more (parents included…admit it!). But it might be worth a few moments to read some of the labels in your stash, just to see what you are consuming and how it will affect you. It just might help prevent you from over-indulging.

In some homes, parents have created a wonderful compromise – Kids select a few of their favorite treats to keep and trade the rest with you for a toy, trip to the movies or some new books.

If you would like to promote a Healthier Halloween yourself, leave the candy at the store. Instead, pick up some flower or herb seed packets, pencils, colored markers, stickers or small card games to distribute instead.

But Canned Pumpkins Are So Much Easier…aren’t they?

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I am a recycling nut. When I was a teacher, I started a paper recycling program for the whole school. At home, we have separate bins for food waste, paper and plastics/cans. Because of my neurotic tendencies, I cringe when Halloween is over and there is a perfectly good pumpkin drooping on my front porch. Even though canned pumpkin is so affordable and convenient, would it be possible to recycle the pumpkin that I already have?

Here is the scoop (forgive the pun!):

There are special “Pie Pumpkins”, which are smaller, sweeter and smoother in texture than the one you purchased or harvested this Halloween. They are about 8-inches in diameter and are typically available from September through the early part of December. If you wish to purchase one of these specifically for cooking, look for one that is bright orange in color, firm and has no bruises or soft spots.

However, if you are eager to recycle your Halloween pumpkins and make them a part of your culinary festivities, you can easily do so! You may simply need to add some additional brown sugar or maple syrup to your recipe to compensate for its lack of sweetness.

How To Make Your Own Pumpkin Puree:

1. Cut out top of your pumpkin and clean out all seeds and strings from inside.
2. Slice pumpkin vertically into 3 inch wide strips.
3. Place strips onto a baking sheet.
4. Bake in preheated oven for about 1 hour.
5. Once done, scrape the pumpkin from the skins, then beat with a mixer or puree in a food processor until smooth.

Save The Seeds:

1. The seeds can be used either to plant pumpkins next year, or roasted to eat this year!
2. Place them in a bowl of water and rub them between your hands. Pick out the orange pieces that are floating, and discard them.
3. Drain the water.
4. Spread the seeds on a dish towel or paper towel to dry…and voila! They are ready for next year’s planting or to roast.

Give It A Try:
Chocolate Chunk Pumpkin Bread

2 cups flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 eggs
1 cup mashed cooked fresh pumpkin
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup oil
6 (1 ounce) squares BAKER’S Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate, coarsely chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices until well blended; set aside.
2. Beat eggs, pumpkin, sugars, milk and oil in large bowl with wire whisk until well blended.
3. Add dry ingredients; stir just until moistened.
4. Stir in chopped chocolate.
5. Pour into greased 9×5-inch loaf pan.
6. Bake 55 minutes to 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
7. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely on wire rack. Cut into slices to serve.

Servings: 15

CALL THE KIDS:

• Measure cinnamon and nutmeg
• Crack eggs (in a separate bowl, so it is easier to fish out stray egg shells)
• Measure sugar, brown sugar, milk and oil
• Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices
• With adult supervision, use a hand mixer to blend eggs, pumpkin, sugars milk and oil
• Fold wet and dry ingredients together until combined

Nutrition (per serving): 253.6 calories; 28% calories from fat; 8.6g total fat; 35.5mg cholesterol; 239.9mg sodium; 141.7mg potassium; 41.8g carbohydrates; 0.8g fiber; 20.8g sugar; 41.0g net carbs; 4.4g protein.

Creepy Cuisine and Potent Potions

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While preparing for some upcoming kids Halloween Cooking Classes, I realized that you might appreciate a few recipes for Creepy Cuisine and Potent Potions that weren’t quite as sugar and fat laden as the majority of recipes you’ll find online.

Vampire Drool

Red Juice, your choice (cranberry, pomegranate, cherry etc)
Bubble Water
1 pkg frozen organic cranberries
1 latex glove
1 cauldron

1. Pour water into a latex glove. Tie the end, and put it the freezer (be sure to store it flat, so that it retains the shape you want).
2. When frozen, remove from the freezer and peel off the glove.
3. Combine juices and bubbly water in a cauldron
4. Add the frozen “hand” to complete the brew

Worms and Eyeballs

1 small onion, grated 3 garlic cloves, minced 1 large egg 1/4 cup dried bread crumbs 3 Tbs ketchup 1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves 1/4 cup grated Parmesan

1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano 1 tsp salt 1/4 tsp ground black pepper 1 lb ground dark turkey meat 3 Tbs olive oil marinara sauce 1 can black olives, pitted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Add the onion, garlic, egg, bread crumbs, ketchup, parsley, Parmesan, Pecorino, salt and pepper to a large bowl and blend. Mix in the turkey.
3. Shape the turkey mixture into 1 1/4-inch-diameter meatballs.
4. Place on baking sheet.
5. Use an egg slicer to slice the olives into rings.
6. Place one olive ring on top of each meatball, pressing lightly. This makes it look more like an eyeball!
7. Bake 15-20 minutes or until the inside is no longer pink and the juices run clear.

CALL THE KIDS:

Peel paper off the garlic cloves. Crack egg. Squeeze ketchup Grate and measure cheese Pick parsley leaves from the stem and tear into small pieces.

With clean hands, combine all of the ingredients and shape into balls Wash hands afterwards Slice black olives and press onto meatballs Wash hands again.

Strawberry Monsters

Strawberries
4″ sucker sticks
Candy Melts (your color choice)
Black decorating gel

1. Insert lollipop stick into strawberries and place them in the freezer for about 15 minutes, until they are cold.
2. While the berries are chilling, heat one cup of candy melts, in a double-boiler, stirring constantly until completely melted.
3. Remove the berries from the freezer and dip them lightly in the melted candy for a thin coating.
4. To get a Mummy look, swirl them a bit to look like layers of white wrapped around it. Ghosts can be dunked to make a little twisted peak on top. Frankenstein can be dunked and a spoon used to flatten the candy on top.
5. Set on a baking sheet lined with parchment to cool and harden. You can refrigerate them if you would like to speed this up.
6. After they harden, you can add faces. Using black decorating gel and a toothpick (as your brush), draw a spooky face.

Tips

Use green melts for Frankenstein, Orange for Jack-O-Lanterns & white for ghosts and mummies

Homemade Granola…Crunch!

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As seen on View From The Bay, (Healthy School Lunches segment) on October 3, 2007

Everyone would make their own granola if they knew how simple and inexpensive it was! The sky is the limit on the variations you can do with this recipe. Simply follow the basic formula and let your imagination do the rest. Don’t forget to Call the Kids into the kitchen to help you with this culinary creation.

Ingredients
4 cups oats (not quick cooking)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup honey
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 Tbs sesame seeds

Optional Ingredients:
1/3 cup Dried Fruit, such as cranberries, raisins or currants
1/4 cup sunflower seeds (without shells)
1/4 cup Pumpkin seeds
3 Tbs flax seeds
1/4 cup dried and shredded coconut
1/2 cup nuts: chopped almonds, walnuts, pecans or cashews

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees
2. In a large bowl, combine oats, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon.
3. If using, add shredded coconut, nuts, sunflower or pumpkin seeds and flax seeds.
4. In a separate bowl, combine honey, oil and vanilla.
5. Pour honey mixture over the oat mixture and stir to combine.
6. Pour the granola mixture onto a rimmed baking sheet and place in the oven.
7. Bake at 300 degrees for 30-40 minutes, stirring gently every 10 minutes, so that the mixture doesn’t burn.
8. After the mixture comes out of the oven, add any dried fruit of your choice: currants, raisins, or cranberries
9. Once the mixture has cooled, store in an airtight container for up to 10 days.

Cooking Tips

• Flax seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts and dried fruits can both be purchased in small quantities in the bulk section of many grocery stores. They are much less expensive this way.
• Flax seeds and walnuts are high in Omega-3 Fatty Acids which play a crucial role in brain function as well as growth and development.
• By making your own granola, you are saving lots of money. Granola and granola bars can be expensive. Plus, there are no wrappers to dispose of!

Call The Kids:

• Measure oats, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon.
• If using coconut, sesame seeds, flax seeds, sunflower or pumpkin seeds, have the kids measure these too.
• Measure oil, vanilla and honey and stir to combine
• Using clean hands, mix wet and dry ingredients together in a large bowl
• Spread granola onto a rimmed baking sheet
• Add dried fruit to cooled granola and stir to combine

Recipe Source: What’s Cooking (www.whatscooking.info)

What’s Cooking Fans from the SF Bay Area…Set Your Tivo!

Michelle, owner of What’s Cooking, will be doing a Healthy School Lunches cooking demonstration with her two children.

Details: Wednesday, October 3
Time: 3-4 p.m.
Show: View From The Bay on ABC

Click on the logo above to be linked to the segment, online. Let us know what you think!
Check out our Store to see the products featured on the show.

Do You Always Eat Such Good Dinners?

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Yesterday after school, we had my daughter’s friend, Emma, over for a play date. Like most multi-tasking mothers, I started getting ingredients for dinner ready while they were playing. Emma kept coming into the kitchen to stare at my ingredients and to ask questions. When I told her that we were making Asian Lettuce Wraps, she wanted to know why I liked to make foods from other countries. I happily explained how fun it is to try new foods. She leaned over the steaming pot of pad thai noodles and loved that they were almost invisible…I am so lucky to have a career that sparks such enthusiasm in kids!

When I found out that her mother was running late, Emma ran to the table to eat dinner with my kids. After the first bite, she asked, “do you always make such nice dinners?” I looked at the table and had to laugh. It was simple and took less than 30 minutes to prepare. But it made me realize that before I began meal planning, I made the same things over and over again. Emma explained that she was tired of the foods she got for dinner, and asked me if I could tell her mom what I did to the food to make it taste so good.

When her mother came to pick her up, her stood wide-eyed as the kids asked for seconds…and thirds, and ate their asian broccoli slaw! She admitted that until she saw Emma eating with such gusto, she hadn’t realized that she was in such a food rut. She started asking questions about What’s Cooking Weekly, my online meal planning service for families, and decided that she would give it a try. Even if she just tried a few of my menus, or simply added some of my sides to her existing repertoire, she said it was still a good value. She was also excited that she would start saving money on groceries, since she would go into the market knowing what she was looking for.

She nearly had to drag her daughter away from the table when I said that I had to save the rest of the food for my husband, who hadn’t arrived home from work yet.

So, what was that simple menu that caused such a sensation?

Asian Broccoli Slaw:
1 bag broccoli slaw mix from Trader Joe’s
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 Tbs. sesame oil
2 Tbs. sesame seeds

Combine dressing mix and pour on salad, to taste.
Yes, that’s it!

Pad Thai:
This is embarassing – I used a package from Trader Joe’s that was in the back of my cabinet for 6 months. The kids loved it, and it was so easy that I’ll use it again. Next time, I might add some scrambled egg, tofu and maybe some julienned bell peppers or carrots.

Asian Lettuce Wraps:
1 pound ground turkey
1 can water chestnuts
1 small red onion
2 Tbs. oyster sauce
2 Tbs. hoisin sauce
1/2 tsp. salt
Juice from 2 limes
1 Tbs. brown sugar
Large lettuce leaves (bibb lettuce works well)

1. Dice water chestnuts and red onion. Combine in a bowl, along with the oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, salt, lime juice and brown sugar.
2. In a large skillet, begin to brown the ground turkey. After 3 minutes, add red onion mixture.
3. Cook until the turkey is done.
4. Serve by putting the turkey mixture on top of a lettuce leaf. You can wrap them like a burrito, or like a taco. Either way, be prepared for some of the filling to fall out. The kids loved the fun and challenge of eating their food like this!
5. Serve with Asian broccoli slaw, pad thai noodles or steamed brown rice.

Science In The Kitchen

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Yesterday was the first of my new After School Cooking Class series for Kids. Our class was called: Science In The Kitchen. After teaching high school biology years ago, it was fun to bring the laboratory into the kitchen!

What was on the Agenda?
We made popovers, invisible ink, sorbet in a bag and expanded marshmallows in the microwave.

Popovers

4 eggs
2 cups milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
Butter, jam, syrup or honey, for serving

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Grease 12 large muffin tin cups or 12 custard cups.
3. Break the eggs into a bowl and beat well.
4. Add the milk, flour, and salt, and beat until just blended.
5. Fill the muffin tin cups or custard cups 3/4 full with the batter.
6. Place the pan on the center rack in the oven.
7. Bake for 30 minutes without opening the oven door.
8. Serve the popovers hot with butter, jam, syrup, or honey.

What Makes Popovers “Pop”?

Steam is released from the liquids in the batter as they heat. It is confined in the oven (don’t open the door!), and gets trapped inside the gluten from flour proteins, starch, and protein from eggs. The popover literally ‘pops’ with steam, but the steam doesn’t escape because the stretchy protein holds it inside the batter.

Looking forward to Deceptively Delicious!

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Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food…

Sounds amazing! If the raving reviews are on the right track, this book, written by Jessica Seinfeld (yes, Jerry’s wife), is something to look forward to! Here is what some people have to say. I’ll be sure to let you know my opinion after it comes out in October! Don’t miss the sample recipe below…

–Anderson Cooper, CNN Anchor, Anderson Cooper 360 and best-selling author of DISPATCHES FROM THE EDGE: A memoir of War, Disasters and Survival
Deceptively Delicious is a book anyone wanting easy, healthy meals will find indispensable. Page after page, you’ll find yourself saying, “what a great idea!”

-Sarah Jessica Parker, Mother
“It’s not just a cookbook, it’s a manual. For everyday. And what a clever and inventive way to change mealtime discourse. Oh what joy.”

–Liz Lange, Founder and CEO, Liz Lange Maternity, and Mother
“Jessica Seinfeld’s secrets are not only good for children; they’re a real treat for parents too. I’m definitely hungry for a second helping!”

-Kelly Ripa, actress, co-host, Live with Regis and Kelly, and Mother
“Jessica Seinfeld is genius. She puts practical advice, delicious and easy recipes together in such a creative way! Somehow she makes good nutrition taste delicious.

–Alexandra Wentworth – Actress, Writer, and Mother
She incorporates genius recipes with whimsical quotes from her kids and other moms and the photographs are practically edible. This is my Bible.

–Arthur Agatston, MD, best-selling author of The South Beach Diet and The South Beach Heart Program
Seinfeld makes a terrific contribution to childhood nutrition. Her approach will make meals [easy] for parents to prepare and a joy for kids to eat.

–Harold S. Koplewicz, M.D. Founder and Director, NYU Child Study Center
Easy and fun to use with practical steps for parents to provide delicious choices for their kids and create a lifetime of healthy eating habits.

It has become common knowledge that childhood obesity rates are increasing every year. But the rates continue to rise. And between busy work schedules and the inconvenient truth that kids simply refuse to eat vegetables and other healthy foods, how can average parents ensure their kids are getting the proper nutrition and avoiding bad eating habits?

As a mother of three, Jessica Seinfeld can speak for all parents who struggle to feed their kids right and deal nightly with dinnertime fiascos. As she wages a personal war against sugars, packaged foods, and other nutritional saboteurs, she offers appetizing alternatives for parents who find themselves succumbing to the fastest and easiest (and least healthy) choices available to them. Her modus operandi? Her book is filled with traditional recipes that kids love, except they’re stealthily packed with veggies hidden in them so kids don’t even know! With the help of a nutritionist and a professional chef, Seinfeld has developed a month’s worth of meals for kids of all ages that includes, for example, pureed cauliflower in mac and cheese, and kale in spaghetti and meatballs. She also provides revealing and humorous personal anecdotes, tear–out shopping guides to help parents zoom through the supermarket, and tips on how to deal with the kid that “must have” the latest sugar bomb cereal.

But this book also contains much more than recipes and tips. By solving problems on a practical level for parents, Seinfeld addresses the big picture issues that surround childhood obesity and its long–term (and ruinous) effects on the body. With the help of a prominent nutritionist, her book provides parents with an arsenal of information related to kids’ nutrition so parents understand why it’s important to throw in a little avocado puree into their quesadillas. She discusses the critical importance of portion size, and the specific elements kids simply must have (as opposed to adults) in order to flourish now and in the future: protein, calcium, vitamins, and Omega 3 and 6 fats.

Jessica Seinfeld’s book is practical, easy–to–read, and a godsend for any parent that wants their kids to be healthy for a long time to come.

Scrambled Eggs (with Cauliflower)
Created by Jessica Seinfeld
From the book Deceptively Delicious
Serves 2

Hidden cauliflower puree provides kids with half the daily value for vitamin C. With more than 19 grams of protein per serving, these scrambled eggs pack a powerful protein punch!

INGREDIENTS

• 2 large eggs
• 4 large egg whites
• 1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
• 1/2 cup cauliflower puree *
• 2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan
• Pinch of salt
• Nonstick cooking spray
• 1 tsp. olive oil

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg whites, sour cream, cauliflower puree, Parmesan and salt.

Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray, then set the pan over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add the oil. Add the egg mixture, reduce the heat to low, and cook, stirring frequently with a silicone spatula, until the eggs are scrambled—firm but nice and moist—2 to 3 minutes.

*Cauliflower Puree:

PREP
Cut off florets and discard core.

COOK
Steam for 8 to 10 minutes.

PUREE
In a food processor or blender for about 2 minutes, with a few teaspoons of water if needed for a smooth, creamy texture.

Home-Made Play Dough

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You won’t believe how easy it is to make home made play dough! Not only will they love to help you in the kitchen, but your kids will play with it for hours afterwards. And you can rest easy, knowing that the ingredients are safe for your family.

2 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 tsp. cream of tartar
2 Tbs. oil
1 tsp. liquid watercolor (your choice of color, of course)
2 cups water

1. Mix together ingredients in a saucepan.
2. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until dough leaves the sides of the pan.
3. Remove from the pan, and when cool to the touch, knead for a few minutes.
4. Store in a resealable container.