Red, White & Blue Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes!

All righty then... Nannie Mac is running late for a recipe for Memorial Day so we're going to make it super easy :-) and really fun!

If you haven't ever made Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes, you're in for a treat and if you have, the kids will be thrilled to do it again and decorate them in red, white and blue... with the best part being Red Velvet Cake!

Okay, let's get started... 

Here's what you'll need:

1 (18-ounce) Red Velvet Cake Mix + all the fixin's to stir it up

24 flat-bottomed ice cream cones

1 (16 ounce) can frosting (preferably white or the cream cheese frosting is yummy)

Red, white & blue sprinkles

Whipping Cream (optional)

C'mon kids, let's head for the kitchen! The kids can pretty well do this one on their own with just a tad of supervision except for taking the creations out of the oven!

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 

Have the kids measure out the ingredients needed for the Red Velvet cake mix and stir it up!

Use a measuring cup and pour a scant 1/4-cup batter into flat-bottomed ice cream cones so they are a tiny bit less than half full (if you fill the cones too much, the cakes will not have a nice, round top).
   
Place the cones on a baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes. (Note:  Be very careful when putting them in the oven!

Remove from baking sheet and cook on wire rack. You can use a tooth pick and carefully punch a little hole, or maybe two, in the bottom of the cone to allow the steam to come out so the cones don't get soggy.

Encourage the kids to get creative and swirl the frosting like soft-serve ice cream! Sprinkle with red, white and blue!

OR... wait until you're ready to eat the cupcake cones and let the kids get wild with a can of whipping cream! Build it up on top of the cupcake like soft-serve ice cream and "just add red, white and blue sprinkles!"

God Bless all of our men and women at home and abroad who protect us and our freedoms every day... never take them for granted... and, please let the kids know how important they are in our lives on this Memorial Day weekend!

Make it a great, red, white and blue!

Jan McCracken, Culinary Coach for Kids

Get those little gardeners ready!

Are you ready to begin planting? You say, you don't have space for a garden... got a windowsill? Kids love this planting project... and love watching things sprout and grow. So let's get to it!

For our first spring gardening project we're going to do something that brings almost immediate gratification to the kids to "see something growing!"

We're going to sprout some sprouts of alfalfa seeds!

Here's what you'll need:
Alfalfa seeds
Clear glass quart jar
A square of cheesecloth that will cover the top of the jar
A strong rubber band that fits the top of the jar tightly

Make the first part of this project an after dinner deal and just before the kids go to bed... the alfalfa seeds need to soak overnight. Have the kids measure out about 3 tablespoons of seeds.

Put the seeds on a baking sheet and show the kids how to "sort seeds"... as you know, any time you cook beans, you need to pick out the less desirable ones... same with alfalfa seeds. Also, there just might be some dirt and small rocks mixed in. This is a great exercise for the kids in math... learning about "measurements"... and following directions and doing things the way they are supposed to be done... "sorting the seeds." And they will love it!

After the seed sorting is done, put the seeds in a strainer and rinse them under running water. Yes, the kids can do this!

Put the rinsed seeds in to the jar and add enough water to cover them. Tell the seeds "good night," letting them soak until the kids get up the next morning.

After breakfast, it's project time! Pour the seeds out of the jar back into the strainer and strain them. Then rinse well with cold water. Place the seeds back in the jar. Cover the top of the jar with the cheesecloth and secure with a rubber band.

Turn the jar upside down and kinda shake the seeds around making sure they are pretty dry. If you leave too much water on the seeds, they might rot... however, I'm sure the kids will make sure they are well-drained!

Before bedtime, fill the jar with fresh water (you don't have to remove the cheesecloth) rinsing the seeds again. Turn the jar upside down draining the water off. Again, shake the seeds.

Repeat this procedure every day, morning and night for 4 or 5 days... the kids will magically see tiny green leaves and white shoots appear! They will be thrilled!

The sprouts will be ready to eat within 5 or 6 days... maybe sooner if you live in a warmer climate... where the sprouts are in your kitchen can have an effect on how quickly they grow as well.

Happy Gardening with Kids,
Jan McCracken, Culinary Coach for Kids
 

So.... happy sprouting... come back soon and I'll have some "sprout recipes" that the kids can actually use what they have grown in a recipe and eat it! What fun!
Gleeful Gardening,
Jan McCracken, Culinary Coach for Kids

Snickers Salad for Mom!

I reached back in my "old recipe box" for this one... it's a very old favorite and a special treat for Mom on Mother's Day!

The kids can pretty much do this one on their own with just a little supervision and some help in cutting the apples and the candy bars from an adult helper. The more the kids can do on their own, the more special it is...So, let's get the kids into the kitchen!

Here's what you'll need:

1 small box instant French vanilla pudding

1 cup milk

4 Granny Smith apples (cored and diced with adult help, please)

2 bananas (peeled and sliced)

2 large Snickers candy bars (cut into bite-sized pieces, with adult help, please)

8 ounces Cool Whip (thawed in the fridge)

Mix the pudding with the milk and whisk it! Kids do love to whisk!

Stir in the fruit and the Snickers. Fold in the Cool Whip... easy peasy... chill until serving time!

Um... don't expect leftovers on this one!

Happy Mother's Day!

Getting Kids into the Kitchen,

Jan McCracken, Culinary Coach for Kids

Mother's Day Coupon Book!

Lookie what I found for the kids to give Mom for Mother's Day!  It's not about cooking but it sure is a great recipe for "giving!"

Jump over to this website and print out this "Print and Color Coupon Books"... There's a coupon for hugs, house cleaning, breakfast in bed, washing the car... quite a nice variety.

There are so many wonderful lessons in this one... the kids will learn that you don't need to spend a bunch of money for a gift to make it really special... and giving of one's self and love is the greatest gift of all!

And, yepper, there is a special recipe for Mother's Day for the kids coming up!

Getting Kids into the Kitchen,

Jan McCracken, Culinary Coach for Kids

Mud Pie to Celebrate Earth Day!

About Earth Day according to Wikipedia:

Earth Day, celebrated April 22, is a day designed to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's environment. It is held annually during both spring in the northern hemisphere and autumn in the southern hemisphere. It was founded by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in in 1970 and is celebrated in many countries every year.

Awareness is key to learning about anything and everything for children. So let's make Earth Day this year a day of "America the Beautiful - Let's Keep it that Way!" Here's a great opportunity to talk to the kids in the kitchen about Earth Day and how they can help with something very simple like by not being a litter bug. If you want to go into more detail, have at it!

Meanwhile, the kids can stir up this delicious Mud Pie treat as a symbol of the "mud of the earth!" Anything this yummy will make an impression and in the future they might just associate "Mud Pie" with Earth Day and give a bit more thought about it.

Here's the ingredients list for our Earth Day Mud Pie:

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup baking cocoa

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

1/4 cup hot fudge sauce or topping

1 small container frozen whipped topping (thawed in the fridge)

2 to 3 "more" tablespoons hot fudge topping (optional)

2 to 3 tablespoons caramel topping

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Have the kids grease bottom and sides of a 9 x 1 1/4-inch pie plate. (They love smearing butter around a pie plate)!

Let the kids measure out the following ingredients and dump them into a mixing bowl: sugar, butter, flour, cocoa, vanilla, salt. Now, stir until well combined.

Have them break the eggs in a separate bowl (just in case there's a little eggshell in there) and beat the eggs with a fork. Add the eggs to the dry mixture and stir some more! Stir in the nuts.

As an adult helper, how about you hold the pan and hand the kids the spatula? Let them scrape the mixture into the pie pan.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until edge appears dry and toothpick inserted halfway between center and edge comes out clean (center will be moist). Immediately prick holes in pie with toothpick. Let the kids watch while you do this as the pie pan is too hot for them to work with!

Spread 1/4 cup fudge sauce over top. Set aside to cool completely, about an hour.

While cooling, clean up the kitchen and then reward the kids with some fun Earth Day coloring pages. Go here and print them out for free: http://www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/earth/mearthposter.htm

When the crust is cool it's time for the yummy part! Place the thawed whipped topping into a bowl and show the kids how to "whip it up!" Spread over fudge sauce.

Drizzle with 2 to 3 tablespoons fudge sauce. Muddy the pie up really good and add a drizzle of caramel topping with the fudge topping as the crowning "mud" on top of the pie! Cover and refrigerate for a short time before indulging... the kids are gonna love it!

Have a Yummy Earth Day!

Jan McCracken, Culinary Coach for Kids

Be a Spring "Seed Explorer!"

All righty... planting time is near and I've got a really fun project for the kids to do. They're gonna love it... we're not cooking today but this is going to help them understand where their food comes from! 

Some kids literally believe that food comes from the "grocery store" and it doesn't go beyond that. Children need to learn everything about food as research proves that they will make better food choices and have healthier lifestyles as they grow.

Let's make a spring seed collection. You're going to need an empty egg carton for each child for this project. Your choice to either do this over several days or weeks or have a "treasure hunt" type adventure that completes the project all in one day or afternoon.

Tell the kids that they need to find seeds from fruits and vegetables... from trees... from flowers and from other plants. Their goal is to collect 12 different kinds of seeds from different places... the yard, the park, the grocery store... the garden from last year, a flower bed... the possibilities are all around us!

Here's some seed hints to make this a bit easier...

Watermelon, pumpkin, cantaloupe seeds

A walnut

Avocado

Oats

Sunflowers

Lima bean

Acorn

Corn

Oranges, limes, lemons

Peaches, pears, nectarines

Peas, lima beans, other beans

Got it? Go for it! The kids will have a blast and be learning every step of the way... it doesn't get any better than this fun expedition!

If you want to get fancy (and depending on the age of the children), you can have them label (or help them) each seed group that they put in their egg carton.

As they sit down at their work table after collecting the seeds, grab a magnifying glass and let them examine the seeds... give them a title, "Seed Explorer"... have they look at each seed through the magnifying glass so they can see the little things on the seed. Have them smell the seeds... and be sure to have them feel them and their textures.

The kids will realize that their are all sizes, shapes and colors of seeds and they all look different! This is a great exercise in learning where food comes from!

I'd really appreciate any feedback you might have for me when you go on this little seed collection adventure. Please post your experiences, if you'll take a moment to do it! Thanks so much and have a great time with this one... more recipes and seed experiments on the way soon!

Happy Exploring,

Jan McCracken, Culinary Coach for Kids

Spring is time to play in the dirt...

I love playing in the dirt just as much as kids do... I love spending time in the garden... I've always been the happiest when my hands are in the dirt! I have garden gloves but they always seem to end up on the ground or the table on the porch :-)

Since Spring is here, let's make some "Dirt Cups" for a great Spring snack! The kids are gonna love it!

Here's the recipe:

2 cups milk

1 (4-serving size) instant chocolate pudding

1 (8-ounce) frozen whipped topping, thawed

1 (1-pound) package chocolate sandwich cookies

8 (9-ounce) plastic cups

Gummi worms and frogs to decorate

1. Crush the chocolate sandwich cookies & set aside

Note: The kids will love to do this if you put them in a zippy bag and give them a wooden mallet or a rolling pin!

2. Mix milk and pudding in a large bowl. Beat with a whisk until well blended. Let stand for 5 minutes. Yes, the kids can do ALL of this! Remember, you're their "assistant!"

3. Add whipped topping and half of the crushed cookies.

4. Place 1 Tablespoon of the cookie crush in the bottom of each plastic cup.

5. Fill cups about 3/4 full with pudding mixture.

6. Sprinkle with the remaining cookie crush mixture.

Note: Make sure the cookies are crushed to look like "dirt!"

7. Chill about an hour.

8. When ready to serve let the kids decorate with worms and frogs!

Don't be surprised if dirt cups become one of their favorite treats.

Getting Kids into the Kitchen,

Jan McCracken, Culinary Coach for Kids

Let's Build an Easter Bunny Cake!

This cake has been a long time favorite for the Easter table centerpiece! 

The only thing that has changed seems to be instead of using a basic white cake mix, there are all kinds of cake mix choices out there... why not try a carrot cake (the bunny would like that!)... Anyway, I've made these directions pretty generic so you can let the kids get creative... so here we go...

This recipe makes two bunny cakes... here's what you'll need:

1 box of cake mix of your choice

2 cans frosting

Coconut

Jelly beans

Green food coloring (for grass)

Ingredients to make box cake

Pink construction paper (for the ears)

Let the kids do as much as possible on this... all but using the electric mixer :-)

Preheat the oven to the requirement on the box. Prepare the cake mix according to the package directions. Pour into 2 round 8-inch or 9-inch layer pans. Bake according to the package directions. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Remove cake layers from pans and then allow to cool completely. 

While the cake layers are cooling either cover two pieces of cardboard with aluminum foil or find  2 flat plates to place the bunnies on. You can also go ahead and cut out the pink bunny ears from pink construction paper.

All righty... let's build bunnies! Here's your road map...

 

Cut one layer in half. Put halves together with frosting. Stand cake upright on cut edge. Using a sharp knife (adult helper here, please)... cut a V-notch about 1/2 of the way up the semi-circle. Use the cake notched cut out pieces to attach with toothpicks for the tail. The area below the notch will will form bunny's head. The 2/3 area above the notch will shape the bunny's rounded back. Frost with remaining frosting from first  can of frosting.

Generously sprinkle with white coconut... the kids love this part! Use jelly beans for eyes and nose (the nose has to be pink :-)! Place the pink construction paper ears in the bunny's head.

Place coconut in a jar with a drop or two of green food coloring and shake it up, baby! Voila... you've got grass to spread around the bunny! Add some jelly beans to look like eggs in the grass.

This old recipe seems always to please. The kids will be so tickled with their Easter Bunny creation! Isn't it just the best, getting kids into the kitchen?

May you and your family have a blessed Easter!

Jan McCracken, Culinary Coach for Kids

Pastel Deviled Eggs!

This is a very fun twist on coloring eggs for Easter and the kids are gonna love it! Let’s color the whites of the eggs! 

This is a very fun twist on coloring eggs for Easter and the kids are gonna love it! Let’s color the whites of the eggs!

All righty... don those little chef hats and aprons... the kids can do almost all of this creation except for using a sharp knife to cut the eggs in half. Oh... you'll need 12 hard-boiled eggs! Can you tell I'm really excited about this little project?

Note:  Eggs that are about a week old are always easier to peel... the really fresh ones don't do so well!

First, make the colors that the kids pick out for coloring the whites. You do this just as you would for Easter egg dye for coloring the shells of “hard boiled” eggs.

Use glasses or mugs (whatever works best for you but it’s more fun with clear glasses so the kids can see the transformation actually taking place :-) The size of the glasses that you use will depend on how many egg whites you want to color at the same time!

Fill the glasses about 2/3 of the way full with cold water. Then add about 3 drops of food coloring (this will make the whites pretty pastel colors!). Add a teaspoonful of cider vinegar to each coloring concoction.

Peel the eggs... the kids love the cracking part! Adult helper, please slice each egg in half, long ways...

Let the kids pop the yolks into a small bowl (if there's more than one child, then divide the yolks so each child has a bowl). Set the yolks aside and let's get to the really fun part...

Carefully place the egg white halves in the colored water. While the eggs are magically turning pretty pastel colors, have the kids mix up the filling for the eggs.

Filling for Eggs:
2 teaspoons mustard
1/3 cup mayonnaise (may not use the entire amount)
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon cider vinegar

Using a fork, smash the egg yolks until fine... the kids will learn about textures and lumps!

Add the mustard, sugar and vinegar. Then stir, stir, stir. Add part of the mayo and stir as you don't want the egg mixture to be soupy... just really smooth. You may not use the entire 1/3 cup of mayo… just add until mixture smooth with no lumps! Put mixture in the fridge until colored egg whites are dry.
When egg whites are the color you want, remove them from the glasses and place on a plate with at least a double paper towel to drain and dry.

Fill the egg whites with the yolk mixture and put on a pretty plate. Cover with plastic wrap until serving time.

The kids will be hollering, "look what I made!"

Hoppy Easter!
Get Kids Cooking,
Jan McCracken, Culinary Coach for Kids

Easy Easter Basket Cupcakes...

Easter is a time of celebration! And, of course, for the kids it's a time for jelly beans and chocolate bunnies.

If you're invited to an Easter egg hunt and need to take something make it special. The kids will love decorating these extra easy cupcakes and everyone will think you spent hours on them.

Have the kids stir up their favorite cupcake recipe and bake 'em! Frost them with pastel colored frosting... either use your favorite recipe or store bought for quick and easy.
Sprinkle the tops of the cupcakes with green coconut (easy... just put coconut in a jar with a drop... maybe two of green food coloring and shake it up... the kids love doing the shaking up!). This will be the grass for the cupcake basket. Then let the kids decorate with jelly beans so it looks like eggs in an Easter basket.

Top the cupcakes off with red string licorice making the "handle of the basket."

The kids are gonna love 'em and have a great time with this "hoppy" project!

Get Kids Cooking!

Jan McCracken, Culinary Coach for Kids

Little Easter Eggs Hiding in the Grass...

All righty... the Easter Bunny is just around the corner and the blessed day of Easter is fast approaching!

If there's a lot of cooking going on at your house during this Holy week, the kids are going to want to help and you're going to want to keep it simple. So let them stir this up and be a part of the celebration.

Oh... I forgot to tell you... this is a pudding ice cream dessert... might be nice if you knew what the kids are going to be stirring up!

Here's what you'll need:

1 4-serving-size package instant chocolate pudding

2 cups milk (make sure the milk is extra cold!)

1 pint mint chocolate chip ice cream, softened

1 cup miniature marshmallows... get the pastel ones so they look like Easter eggs!

Flake Coconut (optional)

Green food coloring (optional)

8x8x2-inch pan

Measure out the ice cream and put it on the counter to soften.

Place the pudding mix in a large bowl and let the kids stir, stir, stir until the pudding begins to set up. Now add the softened ice cream. Teach the kids how to "fold in" on this one... yes,they will simply stir it! The end result will be the same... :-)

Put the pudding mixture in the pan. If you want to get fancy, using a little jar, place some coconut in the jar and a drop or two or green food coloring. Let the kids shake, shake, shake the jar and they will have green Easter grass! Voila!

Sprinkle the "green coconut" on top of the pudding and then sprinkle the marshmallows on top. It looks like little Easter eggs hiding in the grass!

Now pop this creation into the freezer. When serving, let it stand for about 15 minutes before cutting into squares. The kids are gonna love it!

Get Kids Cooking!

Jan McCracken, Culinary Coach for Kids

It's National Chocolate Week... Chocolate Lava Muffins!

Hey all my little foodies... I know Spring is here and we'll be doing some really fun things for Spring... however, it's National Chocolate Week and we can't pass up an opportunity like this to INDULGE, now can we? 

So let's celebrate!

Here's an easy little chocolate delight that I think you're going to love, love, love... It's like those ooey gooey chocolate lava cakes but it's muffins! So here we go to Chocolate-Land!

Chocolate Lava Muffins

Here’s what you’ll need…
8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1 stick butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
Aluminum foil cupcake liners

Ice Cream (optional) 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
Melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave. Stir in vanilla.

Use a large mixing bowl and combine sugar, flour and salt. Then sift these dry ingredients into the chocolate. Mix well with electric hand mixer with an adult helper.

Add eggs one at time. Beat at high until batter... let the adult helper do this and you watch as the batter changes... it will get creamy and lightens in color (mix about 4 minutes). Chill mixture.

Spoon mixture into pan using a scoop. Bake for 10 to 11 minutes. Outsides should be cake-like and centers should be gooey.

If you want this dessert to be over the top, then serve it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side OR take the cupcake liner off and put the lava muffin in a big bowl and put the ice cream on top. YUMMY!

Happy Cooking with Kids in the Kitchen,

Jan McCracken, Culinary Chef

Spring is Coming!

Are you counting the days until Spring is really here? I am because that means you'll find me in the garden... I love gardening!

Come back and check in often because I've got some really fun things for the kids to have their own little gardens. If you live in the city, no worries... we'll do some "windowsill gardening!" It's important that kids know "where their food comes from"... and, I don't mean the grocery store!

Just wanted to give you a heads up as to what's coming for Spring.  It's going to be an exciting Spring!

Meanwhile, keep those kids in the kitchen cooking up a storm :-)
Happy Cooking,
Jan McCracken, Culinary Coach

St. Patrick's Day Sea Foam Punch!

Top 'O the Mornin' to all of my little foodies on St. Patrick's Day! With a name like McCracken, I just gotta give you something GREEN to drink today :-)

This would be a special treat... it's GREEN and it's foamy... FUN for St. Patrick's Day!

Here's what you'll need:

1 package of lemon-lime Kool-Aid

1 cup sugar

4 cups milk

1 (17-ounce) bottle of lemon-lime soda (chilled)

1 pint vanilla ice cream

Something else FUN for this punch... do you have one of those plastic "black pots" from Halloween? You can use it for St. Paddy's Day too... instead of a "cauldron" today it's a Pot of Gold... :-)

Okay, let's mix it up! You can mix this all together right in your punch bowl... First, dissolve the Kool-Aid and sugar in the milk. Stir it until it's all dissolved.

Add the cold soda and stir it in. And now for the fun part... Use an ice cream scoop and float scoops of vanilla ice cream in the punch.

Yummmy green stuff!

Happy St. Patrick's Day,

Jan McCracken with the KidsCooking411

Lucky Leprechaun Cookies

These cookies are easy peasy and, of course, they're GREEN!

Here's what you'll need:

1 package instant pistachio pudding mix

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

3/4 cup Bisquick mix

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

And... let the kids do the rest! Mix all of the ingredients together and let them stir till their little heart's content :-) I've said it before... kids do love to stir things up!

Roll dough into 1-inch balls between those little hands! Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and and gently flatten each cookie with the bottom of a glass or it the kids would rather make hash marks on the cookies, use a fork (dip it in ice water if the forks sticks to the cookies dough).

Bake about 8 minutes until just golden..,. maybe 10 minutes (depending on your oven).

Have a St. Patrick's Day Tea Party!

Happy Cooking with Kids,

Jan McCracken, Culinary Coach

Rice Krispie Treats Gone GREEN!

It's easy being GREEN... especially on St. Patrick's Day! Rice Krispie Treats have been a long standing fave so let's put a little Irish in 'em!

Head the kids to the kitchen and grab your heart shaped cookie cutters... yep, stick 'em together and they make shamrocks... Voila!

Here's what you need and a look at the pic should put you in busy and all of sudden all of those little eyes are Irish and they be smilin' :-)... When Irish are smilin'... la la la ... Here  ya' go...
 
1/4  cup butter
1 (10-ounce) package marshmallows
1 (2-ounce) jar green sugar candy sprinkles
6 cups Rice Krispies

The adult helper needs to do this part please: In a large saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Add the marshmallows and continue to stir until the marshmallows have completely melted. (Depending on the age of the child (or children) that you’re cooking with, they do love to STIR!)

Add the green sprinkles, stir well. Remove from heat.

Stir in the Rice Krispies cereal coating them well with the melted marshmallow mixture.

Using a buttered or silicone spatula, press the mixture evenly into a 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan which has been buttered or sprayed with non-stick spray or lined with wax paper.

Note:  The kids love doing this with little “buttered hands”… just make sure the mixture is not too hot to burn their hands! You can spread it with the spatula in the pan while it’s hot and then let them press the mixture down with their little hands! FUN!

When the mixture cools to touch, turn out on a cutting board and cut into heart shapes. Let the kids stick ‘em together and add a stick! Note:  You can use Popsicle sticks, chopsticks from the dollar store or the paper ones from the bakery aisle. The stick size you will need to hold it will depend on the size of your cookie cutter!

Happy Cooking with Kids!
Jan McCracken, Culinary Coach

Shake it Up GREEN!

Everyone claims to be a "bit" Irish on St. Patrick's Day!

This quick and easy recipe to celebrate the "Wearin' of the Green" can be a "to go" fun thing for the kids with your play groups, pre-school kids or even an after school enrichment program for the younger kids.

Here's what you'll need:
Instant Pistachio Pudding
Milk (very cold)
Zippy plastic bags (sandwich size works!)

So each child is "in charge" of their preparation, you might want to dump the pudding into a small plastic bowl (or large, depending on the numbers you're working with). Have several measuring spoons that are equal to 1 Tablespoon measurement.

Go to each child and have them measure out their pudding and dump it into their plastic bag. Since they're in charge and you're the "adult helper"... ask the kids to take both of their hands and hold the bag open for you so you can dump their milk into the bag... here's the easy recipe and then back for the real fun!

1 Tablespoon Pistachio Pudding Mix
1/2 cup milk

Make sure the milk is extra cold (pop it in the freezer for a little while)... it will make the pudding set up really quickly.

Have an adult help each child make sure their zippy bag is closed tightly. Now for the fun... each child shakes the bags, turns them and can gently squeeze them until the pudding is mixed.

You can even do this outside at the park! If you want to make super sure that the pudding is totally set up you could take a small cooler of ice along and have each child put their name on their zippy bag. If you're in a classroom setting... you can use the refrigerator.

Make the "Green Pudding" the activity and then chill it and it can be saved for snack time. Whatever you decide to do... have fun! The kids love doing this... just remember... St. Patrick's Day is a day for the "wearin' of the green"... but I didn't say the kids should "wear" this green pudding!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Getting Kids into the Kitchen,
Jan McCracken, Culinary Coach

Build Some "Leap Day" Cookies!

You know I like to make and bake stuff from scratch with kids... but it's a "school night" and I wanted to share something with you that is quick and easy for celebrating "Leap Day!"

Let the kids build these cookies and do a little more research on Leap Year and Leap Day with a cup of hot chocolate or hot tea and share this Leap Day Cookie! Here ya' go...

• Body and  Head:  4 Oreo cookies
• Feet: 2 Keebler Vienna Wafer cookies
• Eyes: Sugar gummies – you can use an icing tip bottom to cut them out in a small, perfect circle and two green candies from a candy necklace (you can use anything else that works… chocolate chips are dandy...  the holes in the candies form the candy necklace just make it more realistic :-)
• Tongue: a red Chicklet

Getting kids into the kitchen,

Jan McCracken, Culinary Coach