Easy sewing for little ones: Chef Hats

Chef hats seem to make every kiddo kitchen creation a culinary masterpiece. :) My trio had outgrown their old hats and I was so excited to make them new ones. They took about an hour each. Very easy, very fun sewing! Not a great project for kiddos to sew because of the gathering, but a fun one to surprise them with. :)

Amongst all the Christmas gifts, I was thankful that these homemade creations were a favorite.

The tutorial at Skip to my Lou is so great that I am not going to try to recreate the wheel. I did mine a little differently, but I love her easy to follow directions. I hope you enjoy!

Since the aprons weren't quite finished, I am aiming to have them as a Valentine's Day gift. :)

a health halloween snack....

I just love these little cheese fingers. The nails are made with bits of red bell pepper. The teeth are made with the little bits of cheese from the fingers and apples. So healthy they are scary!

cooking with kiddos...

Cooking with kiddos is big fun at our household. Sometimes so many little fingers (and spills) can be frustrating but these rules help me enjoy.

1) Kiddos help when the food is for our family. If I want something to look just right or taste the way it should I don't ask for kitchen help. 

2) Before we start we have all the ingredients on the counter and each child gets to choose their special ingredient. They are responsible for that ingredient: holding, pouring, measuring, stirring, cleaning up, etc. The unchosen ingredients are added in a rotation or by a parent.

3) Never sweep the floor before kiddos cook...the dirtier the better. That way I don't mind if they spill a bit, after all I needed to sweep anyway.

4) A little saran wrap on the counter or table goes a long way.

5) Special cooking apparel is so fun!

6) The time together is worth way more than the resulting treat/meal.

Today we made cookies. I love doubling the recipe so there is plenty of dough to freeze. Just wrap a "log" of dough in saran wrap and freeze. Try to get it as smooth as possible so once the dough is frozen it is easy to unwrap. Just slice and bake once the wrap is removed. I love having cookies ready at a moments notice. Great for a special snack or just to cover of the smell of too many stinky feet in the house. :) 

Enjoy!

Tasty pork chops...

This is one of our family favorites. It is so easy and my kiddos love to help. I always make extras to freeze.:)

Cranberry Pork Chops

12 thick cut pork chops (with or without bone)

2 small bottles of catalina salad dressing

2 cans of cranberry sauce (I like the whole cranberry sauce)

2 packets onion soup mix

Spray bottom of casserole dish, and place pork chops in a single layer. Let the kiddos mix all the other ingredients and enjoy letting the little hands spoon the mixture over the chops. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes for boneless or 50 minutes with bone.

If you are freezing them line a cookie sheet and lay pork chops in a single layer. Let the kiddos mix all the other ingredients and enjoy letting the little hands spoon the mixture over the chops. Freeze them for appox. three hours (on until they are firm) and place in a ziploc. Remove as much air as possible and freeze. Label: Bake at 350 for 40 minutes for boneless or 50 minutes with bone. Thaw the pork chops in the fridge overnight before cooking. 

Enjoy!!

Banana Bread

What kiddo can resist the squishy fun of mashing up bananas? This is our favorite recipes. Oh (big inhale) the smell is so delightful!  I hope your family enjoys it as much as ours! You may want to double the recipe. :)

2 1/2 cups flour 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 cup softened butter

1 /2 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

7 ripe bananas (smashed by kiddos)

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup nuts or choc chips (optional)

Preheat to 325 degrees. Grease 2 loaf pans. In medium bowl  combine flour, soda, and salt; set aside. In large bowl cream butter and sugar with and electric mixer. Add eggs, bannanas, vanilla; beat at medium speed. 

Add flour mixture & optional mix-ins then blend on low until combined. Do not over mix.

Bake for 60-70 minutes. Enjoy the smell as it fills your house. :) Let cool for 10 minutes. Freeze one loaf for a yummy treat later.

for the love of reading...

In our family, it more important to love to read than to read well. Don't get me wrong, we strive for excellence in all we do, but we believe if we can foster the love, the skill will naturally follow. The boys were starting to get a bit legalistic about the number of pages they read each day. So to entice them to want to read extra books we created a reading club. The older boys helped me come up with the rules. I had to think about how we adapt them to four year olds, so everyone could be involved. Here is what the Kelly reading club looks like:

Each time they read 4 book, they can choose a dessert at home. If they save up and read 6 books they can plan a family dessert for the whole family. If they choose to read 7 books they get to have a special dessert night with mommy or daddy. To encourage reading to siblings when the big boys read to the little ones, the book counts for both kiddos. We read to the kiddos a lot, but lately I realized we are skipping a lot of our favorite younger books for the 4 year olds. This program encouraged me (because they asked) to read their books too.

We choose dessert (for now)because the kiddos love to cook, but any reward will do.

Graham Cracker Trains

Never attempt this one on an empty stomach. (LOL) The kid's imaginations were rolling as we made these "gingerbread" creations. This activity is great for fine motor skills, sensory, and of course the sweet tooth. After protecting the table with paper each child gets a plate and a spreader. A popcicle stick or butter knife work well to spread the icing. Give them a little icing, access to the graham crackers and let the fun begin. For a bit of extra fun I let them squirt the icing. If you don't have a decorator tip on hand just place the icing in a zip lock and snip a small hole in one of the corners. Make sure you keep a few wipes or napkins on hand because along with this fun comes messy hands. Shopping List: 1 can icing 1 box graham crackers 1 box graham cracker sticks Supplies: Plate

zip loc bag scissors popcicle stick OR butter knife