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

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

It's Leap Day... "Leap Day" Babies!

WHAT DO LEAP DAY BABIES CALL THEMSELVES?

 

Leap Day babies... not Leap Year babies.
Anyone can be born IN a Leap Year.
Leap Day babies were born ON Leap Day.
There's a big difference there!
If you were born on February 29
You are a “Leap Day” baby.

Happy Leap Day... a "jump into the kitchen recipe" is coming right up!

Jan McCracken, Culinary Coach for Kids

Easy Shamrock Cake!

It doesn't get much easier to create a party atmosphere with a special cake than this easy "Shamrock Cake" for St. Patrick's Day!

The picture to the left is of a lucky 4-leaf clover so you have a choice... will it be the real luck of the Irish with a lucky 4-leaf clover or a shamrock?

Whatever you and the kids decide, you'll need either 3 or 4 heart-shaped pans... 3 for a shamrock cake or 4 for the clover cake. I've seen small heart-shaped pans at the dollar stores... so have a look... don't make this an expensive activity... that's not our goal. And, the pans can't be too big or you won't have enough cake batter! The ones I've seen are smaller and the new silicone ones. The perfect size for this project!

You can choose your favorite homemade cake recipe or buy a white cake mix... OR, for a special treat, the kids really like the "confetti cake" mix. If you haven't tried the confetti mix, watch your grocery ads as they go on sale a lot so you could pick up a couple... and, it's a very moist cake.

All righty... so here's the road map to your St. Patrick's Day cake... Let the kids prepare the cake mix (or their favorite cake recipe). Note:  Wally World has gotten into the "specialty cake mixes lately and I picked up a "green" Confetti Cake mix with matching icing... very cool for a St. Paddy's Day "cake project" :-)

Equally divide the batter into 3 (or 4) heart-shaped pans... Bake according to the directions and let the little heart cakes cool. Meanwhile, let the kids be stirring up make their favorite (and easiest) icing recipe. Tint it with green food coloring, of course (unless you're using a specialty cake mix)!

Now, join the heart cakes together at their tips, forming a shamrock or the lucky 4-leaf clover! How easy was that? Let the kids get icing all over them and lick it off and frost the cake green... the shade is only left to the kids' imagination!

Add to the fun and decorate the cake with little gold coins scattered across it or little store-bought shamrocks. There's tons of ideas for decorations and if you just turn the kids loose in the dollar store, I'm sure they'll find more than enough decorations.

Get ready for rave reviews on your St. Patrick's Day creation! Most of all, have fun!

Getting kids into the kitchen,
Jan McCracken, Culinary Coach for Kids

For the LOVE of Cooking with Kids!

It's Valentine's Day and it's all about LOVE... I encourage you to get your kids into the kitchen cooking... I'm working on a new e-book about Cooking with Kids and will keep you posted on the progress... meanwhile... here are some encouraging words to Get Your Kids into the Kitchen!

My very best wishes for a wonderful Valentine's Day filled with love and hopefully some fun in the kitchen cooking with the kids :-)

Kids have a natural interest in foods and that leads them to being drawn to the kitchen!

Think about it... what is one of the major toys that parents purchase soon after little ones can walk? A little stove! And then the toddlers want a set of dishes... a table... some little pots and pans... and most of all... a spoon to "pretend stir" in a big bowl!

I encourage you to take advantage of this "natural interest" of children whether you be parents, grandparents, a favorite aunt, a childcare giver, a vacation Bible school leader... the list of possibilities to teach children cooking is endless!

The lessons easily taught and learned by children at an early age are not only management skills in food preparation but more importantly nutrition. Also, studies show that kids that cook at an early age are better students! There are so many things woven into food preparation and cooking like math... developing measuring skills... science... what happens when you stir some baking soda into a cup of buttermilk? Wow... it's a science project! Motor skills and coordination... Following directions... it's all in the "recipe!"

Yep! Cooking with Kids is definitely a "Recipe for Success!" With childhood obesity soaring, little ones learning at an early age about foods and being involved with cooking their own food carries over into their adult lives!

What a great gift you can give the kids in your life! And it's just steps away... in your kitchen! If you're totally intimidated by this concept... just relax... come back and visit often as I'll be calming those seas of doubt for you with projects that will delight the entire family!

Happy Cooking,
Jan McCracken, Culinary Coach & "Adult Helper Sous Chef"

Valentine Sweetheart Pancakes

I borrowed this recipe from Penny Whistler... I substituted her ingredient of "sugar-free Jell-O" for the real Jello... I'm not a fan of filling kids with aspartame or other sugar "substitutes"... we need to control their sugar in other ways... but that's for a different day... not Valen-TIMES :-)

Here's what you'll need for the pancakes:
1 (3-ounce) package strawberry Jell-O
1 1/2 cups prepared pancake batter
1/2 cup mashed banana
Non-stick cooking spray
Garnishes at the whim of the kids!

Let the kids stir up the pancake batter. Add the gelatin to the batter and let them stir, stir, stir, mixing all ingredients together well. Stir in the mashed banana.

Cook pancakes in a skillet lightly sprayed with vegetable oil spray over medium-high heat for a few minutes on each side, until lightly browned (but still pink). Serve immediately. Garnish with anything red or pink... or maybe a dollop of whipped cream... have the kids add a little red food coloring for a sweet pink flair.

P.S. To turn these puffy pink pancakes into heart shapes, either make pancakes in rounds and cut with heart-shaped cookie cutter or swirl the batter from your spoon into a heart shape right into the pan.

Makes 12 pancakes!
Happy cooking with Kids,
Jan McCracken, Culinary Coach

Valentine Cookie Pops

Cookie and cake pops seem to be all the rage with the kids these days... the great thing is that they are as much (or more) fun to make as they are to eat!

These are easy and quick to bake which leaves plenty of time for the kids to have fun creating with icing and decorating their treasures. Here's what you'll need for making these special Valentines:

1 (18-ounce) package refrigerated sugar cookies
20 flat wooden sticks with round ends (these will be in the Wilton aisle at Walmart, Michaels, JoAnn's)
1 1/4 cups vanilla creamy ready-to-spread frosting
Miscellaneous  small candies, candy decors and nonpareils
Red ribbon, string, paper hearts or whatever the kids want to decorate their special treast
Roll of cellophane (maybe with Valentine hearts?) to wrap cookie pops

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place cookie dough slices about 2 inches aparte on an ungreased cookie sheet. Please have the adult helper do the slicining of the cookie dough and let the kids place them on the cookie sheet... no, they may not line up exactly... no worries, they will bake just the same...  :-)

With guidance from the adult helper, insert the wooden sticks one inch, overlapping wooden sticks as necessary.
Bake the cookies 12-16 minutes and watch them until they just turn golden... don't let them burn! Let them cool on the cookie sheets for 2 minutes and then remove from the cookie shhets to a wire cooling rack. Let them cool completely for at least 15 minutes.

While the kids are anxiously awaiting with icing nad decorations, let them get creative with red and pink consttruction paper or doilies to put on the sticks.

Have the kids spread frosting on only one side of each cookie and decorate till their little heart's content (they love this part)! If they want to cover the cookies with Valentine cellosphane for gift giving, then place the cookies back on the cooling racks so the icing can dry.

Add the finiishing touches of wrapping the cookie pops in the cellophone and tie with red or pink ribbon. These are great teacher gifts or for a special friend at school, for grandma... Kids are always so proud of the things they stir up in the kitchen!
Happy Cooking with Kids,
Jan McCracken, Culinary Coach

Year of the Dragon Coloring Fun...

Here's a great link for a coloring sheet to celebrate Chinese New Year! It dovetails right into the kids learning about the history of the Year of the Dragon and kinda brings it to life for them to color it!

Now let's head for the kitchen and stir up a couple really simple recipes to add to the learning and celebration of the Year of the Dragon!

Happy Cooking with Kids,

Jan McCracken, Culinary Coach

Santa Tip!

Here's a little "Santa Tip" for you in the upcoming days before Christmas... 

Keep it Simple!

Save the elaborate holiday cookie recipes for another day. Reduce stress and do quick and easy peasy... so the kids don't get bored and restless... 

Make quick and FUN memories in the kitchen! If you're going to do cutout cookies... consider making the dough ahead of time (without their help) and make the cooking adventure the cutting out and icing of the cookies!

"Tis the Season to Get Kids Cooking!

Merry, Merry!

Jan McCracken, Culinary Coach

Santa Tip!

When you're cooking with kids one of the secrets to success and tons of fun is to "allow plenty of time!" If you're rushed, no one will enjoy this very creative time together. 

Be sure that you have all of the ingredients on hand before you start to avoid disappointments... and check for the proper baking pans. The more organized you are with the little details, the more fun everyone will have... and, it doesn't take much time to check the recipe and set everything out on the counter including the measuring cups and spoons!

Cooking with Kids makes Christmas an even merrier time! 'Tis the season to get kids cooking!

Merry, Merry!

Happy Holiday Cooking with Kids,

Jan McCracken, Culinary Coach

Santa Tip!

Plan on a mess so be ready... If you have a small table that can be set up as a temporary work station for the kids that is just at the height for them to stand and work, that is great. 

I use a small 30" x 30" table and then cover it with a Christmas plastic flannel back tablecloth from the $ store... it adds to the festivity and makes for easier clean-up!

The floor can get pretty sticky sometimes... if you're concerned buy a cloth paint "drop cloth"... I would advise you to wash it a couple of times and even throw in some bleach as they are a bit stiff when they are new. Spread the drop cloth on the floor and tape it down with blue painter's tape (it won't damage the floor)... and then you pick it up and shake it out and throw it in the washer!

A really fun thing to do is to have the kids actually paint on the drop cloth and personalize it!

Keep the waxed paper handy during your creating... it's magical stuff! 

'Tis the season to get cooking with kids! Merry, Merry!

Happy Holiday Cooking with Kids,

Jan McCracken, Culinary Coach

Santa Tip!

A little "Santa Tip" for you while you're creating wonderful holiday memories with your children by spending an hour or two with them in the kitchen!

You say you don't have kids at home any more? Well, then, rustle up a grandchild... a niece... a nephew or borrow one of the kids in the neighborhood...  I guarantee being in the kitchen with kids will be some of your most treasured memories ever!

What ages, you ask? Kids from pre-school to teenagers love baking and stirring stuff up in the kitchen! You will just need to do a bit of planning and prepping and reach out for a lot of holiday spirit!

'Tis the season to get kids cooking! Merry, Merry!

Happy Holiday Cooking, 

Jan McCracken, Culinary Coach

Christmas is Coming...

Can you believe it's December and Christmas is just a few short weeks away? 

It's time to spend serious time in the kitchen stirring up candies and baking goodies for family and friends. All of the spills, laughs and smiles in the kitchen with kids create something that lasts forever... sweet memories!

In the next few weeks, I'll be posting easy recipes for you and the kids to make together during this fun and festive time. So get those mugs out and stir up some serious hot chocolate using candy canes instead of spoons!

Merry, Merry!

Happy Cooking,

Jan McCracken, Culinary Chef

Happy Thanksgiving!

A Blessed Thanksgiving to all... count your blessings!

Pumpkin Pancakes for Thanksgiving Breakfast

What a great way to kick off the blessing of 
Thanksgiving morning!

These Pumpkin Pancakes with a splat of Cinnamon Brown Sugar are delish… let’s get started so you’ll be sure to have all of the ingredients on hand.

Ingredients:

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 Tablespoons brown sugar (packed)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 1/3 cups 2% milk

3/4 cup canned pumpkin

½ cup ricotta cheese

Let the kids get all of the ingredients together and measure it all out. Use a small heavy bottom saucepan and ask the adult helper to cook the butter over medium heat for about 8 minutes while stirring constantly. Then add the maple syrup, cinnamon and nutmeg. Remove from heat and let the kids dump in the pecans. Stir and set aside.

Now the fun for the kids… In a small bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar and salt. Using another bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, pumpkin and cheese. Note: Kids love to whisk! Let them dump the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients (I know you’re supposed to stir it in… but we’re cooking with kids and that’s difficult for them :-)!

Let them stir the wet and dry ingredients together until moistened.

Drop the batter using a 1/4 cup measuring cup onto a buttered griddle. Turn when bubbles form on top. Cook until second side is golden brown.

If you are right there at the stove and the child is old enough to flip the pancakes, they will love it!

Serve while hot with the yummy Maple Cinnamon Butter poured over the pancakes. For a special treat, add a dollop of whipped cream.

Happy Thanksgiving Morning! The fun has just begun!

Happy Cooking with Kids,

Jan McCracken, Culinary Coach