Tag Archives: recipe

Simple Party Fruit Salad

Last weekend, we had my son’s sixth birthday party. I really wanted to include some healthy choices for the kids and the adults, to go along with the chips and birthday cake. Plus, summer was just here and I was really starting to get a big craving for fresh fruit. So we put together this simple fruit salad, and it was a huge hit. I say “we” because it was a team effort. My husband picked out the fruit, and a friend and I cut it all up. (I believe in putting my guest to work.) It was prepared very … Continue reading →

Frugal Fun With Chalk

As soon as the cold air leaves the area, and the warm sunshine is a more common occurrence, my children are outside with chalk in hand, drawing elaborate pictures on our driveway, roads and buildings, messages on our sidewalks, and coloring rocks and bricks with chalk. There are so many frugal things to do in the summer, and this is one of them. However, just since the month of March, when we had our first warm week, we have gone through about eight buckets of chalk. That’s more than a hundred pieces of chalk. And it was starting to add … Continue reading →

Do it Yourself Bathtub Finger Paints

I discovered an exciting product the other day. I gave my two preschoolers some bathtub finger paints and they played contently in the bathtub for over an hour. When they got out, they smelled yummy…(like bananas, blueberries and strawberries). Even better, I was able to sit nearby and give myself a much needed pedicure while catching up on the magazines I never thought I would catch up on. Who would have thought that a $3.99 splurge would be so blissful. That being said, while I would love to enjoy a peaceful bath-time every evening, they used an entire tube of … Continue reading →

Fish Bait Kids Snack

This is a really fun snack for a summer party, a class snack or a birthday party. Personally, I will be using this recipe for my son’s upcoming birthday party in two weeks. He is having a pirate theme for his party. I’m going to triple the batch (at least) and serve it in a wooden treasure chest that I found at the craft store. This recipe is so simple to make, and yet, I am sure that it will make a big impact with the kids. You could also try it for any outdoor gathering or picnic. If you … Continue reading →

Tiny Biscuits

Breaking away from commercial biscuit mixes is not that difficult to do. Yummy biscuits made from scratch require only an extra ingredient or two. The taste (and the cost) are well worth it! I finally found a great scratch biscuit recipe. I think you will really like it. These biscuits are light and tasty. Best of all? You can make them as a drop biscuit, eliminating the rolling and cutting steps. Drop biscuits are formed by “dropping” spoonfuls of dough onto your cookie sheet and then baking. For this recipe, I like to form tiny little biscuits, using a scant … Continue reading →

Recipe for Homemade Spiced Chai

Maybe I’m just weird but I like all of the drinks that are supposed to be hot–cold. Coffee to me tastes best when combined with cold milk; I prefer iced tea over hot tea (unless I’m sick), and hot chocolate is good but frozen hot chocolate is divine. Consequently, I also think of summer time as the time to make tea. These two recipes are technically more infusions rather than true tea because they use spices rather than tea leaves for flavor. But whatever you want to call it–they’re yummy! Spiced Chai 3 cups rice milk, plain or vanilla flavored … Continue reading →

Chicken Enchilada Bake

“The ingredients sound strange but this is soooo good.” That quote above is from Kelly, one of my friends who is part of our dinner club (to learn more about starting a dinner club, click here). She added this recipe to our database some time ago, and it remains one of my favorites for jazzing up dinner. It is a casserole-type dish, which I love because of the convenience and the ease. I can prep much of it in the morning, while everyone else is asleep (when I get most of my kitchen work done), and it always turns out … Continue reading →

A Kid Cook (book)

Posted on by

We have gone through a handful of children’s food cookbooks and cookbooks full of recipes for kids to assemble themselves. Some have been terrible representations of the craft of cooking or baking and some, like the newly published My A to Z Recipe Box, are perfectly suited for the young chef who is willing and able to concoct mildly complex, diverse and imaginative foods from scratch. The My A to Z Recipe Box contains 26 alphabetized kid-friendly recipes, 26 blank cards for brand new ideas and 50 stickers (with the words “favorite”, “yum” and more to help kids remember which … Continue reading →

Tomato Basil Soup

If you like tomato soup at all, you will probably love tomato soup with fresh basil. The Tomato Basil Soup recipe that I’m listing here is just that; this recipe is, of course, tomato-y, creamy, full of basil and soooo tasty. And it’s simple to make if you don’t mind using your blender to puree the tomatoes and basil together. Here’s what you’ll need to gather and do to make this delicious Tomato Basil Soup: Ingredients: 4 cups tomatoes (8 – 10 fresh tomatoes), peeled, cored, chopped; or 4 cups canned whole tomatoes, crushed 12 fresh Basil leaves, washed 1 … Continue reading →

Is it a Cake or is it a Muffin?

I saw this recipe today. It combines the flavors of a traditional coffee cake, with the size and convenience of a muffin. In my opinion, it’s the perfect breakfast on the go option. Make a bunch and eat them all week long! To make this recipe you’ll need: Nonstick cooking spray 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup shortening 1 8-ounce carton dairy sour cream (you can substitute plain yogurt if you’d like) 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup milk 1 beaten egg 1/4 cup packed brown sugar 1/4 cup … Continue reading →