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.

Weekly Groceries from Around the World

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Contest – Win a FREE Subscription to What’s Cooking Weekly!

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As of 11/3, this contest is closed. Check here to see if you are the winner. Plus, get a special discount if you would like to subscribe to What’s Cooking Weekly and see what all of the buzz is about!

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The new books by Missy Chase Lapine and Jessica Seinfeld have generated a lot of enthusiasm about getting our families to eat better. But rather than focus on how to hide healthy foods from our children, now seems as good a time as any for families to learn how to bring the kids INTO the kitchen to learn about healthy eating and to help cook the family meal.

What’s Cooking Weekly is an online service that provides families with Healthy Menus for 5 meals every week. Subscribers receive recipes, organized grocery lists, nutrition information and tips on getting kids into the kitchen to help prepare healthy and seasonal meals. What could be easier than getting healthy menus delivered right to your email in-box?

In an effort to generate more buzz about our new healthy service, What’s Cooking is holding a contest during the week of October 29 through November 2. Win a FREE 6-Month Subscription to What’s Cooking Weekly.

Here is how to enter:

If you have a blog:
Place a link to this post on your blog and describe What’s Cooking Weekly. Let me know you have participated by writing a comment here, along with the link where I will find your post.
OR
You can visit our Free Trial Menu and tell us what your favorite recipe is

If you do not have a blog:
Please visit our Free Trial Menu and tell us what your favorite recipe is.

This contest is open to residents of…planet earth 🙂 We will post the winner here on November 3 or 4th.

Lie to Your Children—It’s Good for Them

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Picky Eaters – They Get It From You

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Hey, don’t shoot the messenger! This is a title of an article that my husband told me about in the New York Times…

I found it to be very interesting, especially their explanation of how evolutionary biology plays a part in why children are (and should be) cautious about certain foods.

The article also supports what I have been promoting:

• Don’t be a short order cook. Make one family meal each night and don’t cater to the little drill sergeants in your kitchen. (We do that enough the rest of the day!)
• Lying to your kids may not be the best policy.
• Be persistent – It can take 8-12 exposures to a new food before it may be liked…or tasted!

For those of you who are fairly new to my blog, I thought I’d refer you to one of my earliest posts about some power struggles that I was having with my son. Because I Said So… describes how Ari and I avoid battle engagement at the dinner table.

Doof-A-Palooza

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This weekend, our family attended the Doof-A-Palooza at the Google Headquarters in Mountain View, California. It was an amazing Fun Food celebration that allowed kids and their parents to learn about food through fun interactive events from growers, authors and chefs who shared their knowledge and passion.

Doof is an innovative television series for children aged six to eleven. Bound for public television, the show uses humor, science and music to teach youngsters about healthy eating and the joy of culinary exploration.

One of the highlights of the day was Co-Hosting our own pretend food show with Bay Cafe’s Joey Altman. We even got a copy of the DVD to bring home!

Other fun activities included:

• A cheese-smelling contest from the wonderful Cowgirl Creamery
• A art station that used vegetables instead of paint brushes – give it a try! You would be amazed at how well broccoli, carrots and celery work to apply paint and texture!
• Petting baby goats and learning how to make ice cream and yogurt from goat’s milk.
• Touching, “sea-ing” and tasting various types of sustainable seafoods.
• Learning how to roll Spring Rolls.
• Making our own apple sauce, pies and pizzas
• Making Bagel Faces with Mollie Katzen

As a person whose career is based on healthy cooking with children, it warmed my heart to see the Google Campus filled with families interested in celebrating food and cooking. It was also an amazing networking opportunity for me. Mollie Katzen gave me permission to use some of her recipes in What’s Cooking Weekly, our healthy menu planning service for families. And Michael, the founder of Doof, is interested in working with What’s Cooking in the future.

At the end of a long day, we were full…not just with delicious food, but with new ideas to try with our friends and students.

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.

Is Deceptively Delicious too Deceptive?

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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)