Category Archives: Kid Friendly

Jul23

Baked Honey Mustard Chicken Bites

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Very fast and easy chicken recipe. Kid tested and approved! 🙂

Baked Honey Mustard Chicken Bites

Ingredients

3 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup honey mustard

1 teaspoon garlic salt

3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
1 lb chicken breast tenders (not breaded), cut into 1-2 inch pieces
Additional honey mustard, if desired
1 Heat oven to 400°F. Line cookie sheet with foil; spray foil or paper with cooking spray.
2 Melt the butter in a medium bowl.  Mix in honey mustard and garlic salt.
3 Place bread crumbs in large resealable plastic food-storage bag. Add chicken pieces to mustard mixture; stir to coat. Shake chicken pieces in bag of bread crumbs until coated. Place on cookie sheet. Discard any remaining honey mustard and bread crumbs.
4 Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until no longer pink in center. Serve with additional honey mustard or dipping sauce of your choice.
Modified from: Betty Crocker
Jul1

Cinnamon Crescent Rolls

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I’ve found a new EASY semi-homemade recipe using two of my favorite ingredients- crescent rolls and cinnamon.  Scott and the kids LOVED them. They’re ready in minutes and will be gone in minutes!

Cinnamon Crescent Rolls

Ingredients
  • 1 tube (8 count) Pillsbury Crescent Rolls, unrolled and separated
  • Filling
  • 6 tablespoons butter,softened
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • Glaze
  • 2 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons powdered Sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375
  2. Place the unrolled and separate crescent rolls on an un greased cookie sheet(one with sides).
Filling
  1. In a small bowl, mix together the butter, sugar and cinnamon
Assemble
  1. Evenly spread the cinnamon butter over the crescent rolls and roll up.
  2. Place tip side down on the cookie sheet.
  3. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
Glaze
  1. In a small bowl, mix together the butter, powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth.
  2. Place in a zip lock bag and snip a tiny corner off.
  3. Drizzle the glaze over the cinnamon rolls.

From: The Hungry Housewife

Nov26

Mac and Cheese Muffins

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What a  fun way to eat macaroni and cheese.

This was a very basic recipe that originally didn’t call for any seasoning other than a little salt added to the bread crumbs.  You can basically make mac and cheese the way you normally do, but bake it in a greased muffin tin for a different and fun presentation. It’s also a neat way to control portions and serving sizes. 🙂

Ingredients

  • 2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 1/2 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, to taste

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. In a small bowl, stir together the bread crumbs and olive oil ; set aside.
  2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the macaroni and cook for about 8 minutes, it should still be a little bit firm. Remove from the heat, drain and return to the pan; stir in the butter and egg until pasta is evenly coated. Reserve 1/2 cup of sharp Cheddar cheese and stir the remaining Cheddar cheese, milk and mozzarella cheese into the pasta.  Add salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika, to taste. Spoon into the prepared muffin tin. Sprinkle the reserved cheese and the bread crumb mixture over the tops.
  3. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the topping is nicely browned. Allow the muffins to cool for a few minutes before removing from the pan. This will allow the cheese to set and they will hold their muffin shape.

Modified from: All Recipes

Nov24

Candy Dots

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Remember these??

Candy Dots

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
  • 1 egg white (I used 2 teaspoons of meringue powder and 2 tablespoons of water)
  • 3 drops yellow food coloring
  • 3 drops blue food coloring

Directions

Cut white paper into twelve 2 by 11 strips.  Using an electric mixer, beat the confectioners sugar and egg white until smooth, about 5 minutes. Divide the icing into 2 bowls. Stir the yellow food coloring into one batch and the blue food coloring into the other.  Cover the blue icing with plastic wrap.

Arrange the paper strips side by side on a work surface.  Scrape the yellow icing into a small, resealable plastic bag and snip off a tiny corner. Pipe out the icing onto the paper in dots, about 1/3 inch apart.  When a quarter of the yellow icing remains, add the same amount of blue icing, stirring with a toothpick.  Pipe green dots onto the paper strips.  Transfer the rest of the blue icing to another plastic bag and continue piping dots.  Let the dots sit at room temperature until hardened, 12 hours or overnight.

From: Every Day with Racheal Ray

Nov24

Meatloaf Muffins with Barbeque Sauce

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This is a Rachael Ray recipe that I adapted based on what I had in my kitchen.  I didn’t get a good picture of them but they turned out well!

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
  • 1 cup frozen seasoning blend (green peppers, onions, celery)
  • 1 large egg plus a splash of milk, beaten
  • 1 1/2 cups plain bread crumbs (I made them in the food processor with Club crackers)
  • 2 tablespoons grill seasoning (recommended: Montreal Steak Seasoning by McCormick)
  • 1 cup barbeque sauce
  • 1/2 cup pizza sauce
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • Vegetable oil or extra-virgin olive oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Put ground beef into a big bowl. Put seasoning blend into a food processor. Pulse the processor blades to finely chop the vegetables into very small pieces then add them to the meat bowl. Add egg, beaten with milk, bread crumbs and grill seasoning to the bowl. Next, mix together the barbecue sauce, pizza sauce and the Worcestershire sauce. Pour half the sauce mixture into the bowl with the meatloaf mix. Mix the meatloaf together with your hands. Wash up. Brush a 12-muffin tin (1/2-cup each) with vegetable oil or extra-virgin olive oil. Use an ice cream scoop to help you fill meat into a each tin. Top each meat loaf with a spoonful of extra sauce. Bake about 20 minutes. Cut open 1 muffin to test that the middle is cooked through.

Modifed from Food Network

Jul19

Ham and Cheese Crescent Roll Ups

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A super easy sandwich that kids can help make and love to eat!

Ham and Cheese Crescent Roll Ups

Ingredients

  • 1 can Pillsbury refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
  • 8 thin slices cooked ham
  • 4 thin slices Cheddar cheese, each cut into 4 strips

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Separate dough into 8 triangles.  Place one slice of ham on each triangle; place 2 strips of cheese down the center of ham.  Roll up each crescent.  ( Typically, you start rolling from the wide end of the triangle but I started from the tip because it was easier to add a little more ham without worrying about making sure it all “fit” as I rolled them.)   Place rolls on an ungreased cookie sheet. (I accidentally greased mine but they turned out fine. 🙂 ) Bake 15 to 19 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve warm.

From: Pillsbury

Feb20

Fruity Pebbles Cupcakes

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When I was a kid, I used to experiment and make marshmallow treats following the rice krispy treats recipe but with different types of cereal. It’s so much fun! These are good but VERY sweet. I recommend small portions! 🙂

Fruit Pebbles Cupcakes

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1 package regular marshmallows
  • 5 cups Fruity Pebbles
  • frosting, if desired

Directions

Melt butter in a saucepan.  Add marshmallows and cook until melted. Remove from heat and add cereal. Stir until well coated. Press firmly into cupcake tins and cool.  Top with frosting, if desired.

Feb20

Strawberry Cream Cheese Sandwich Cookies

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I just bought After School Snack Cookbook and it’s filled with kid friendly snacks and dishes, including ones that don’t require cooking at all. Shania made these.  In the book, they used ABC shortbread cookies which would have been so cute but I couldn’t find any.

Ingredients

  • 2 ounces cream cheese (tub style)
  • 1 tablespoon strawberry preserves
  • red food coloring, if you like
  • 32 shortbread cookies, plain or chocolate

Directions

* Put the cream cheese and preserves in a small bowl.  Stir with a wooden spoon until smooth. Add a drop of food coloring, if desired.  Spread cream cheese on cookies with a table knife to make sandwiches.

* We used T. Marzetti’s strawberry cream cheese so we didn’t have to do anything but spread it on the cookies.  It doesn’t get any easier to “make” a quick snack that is a fun and different from everything in the pantry.  Shania and Austin loved these!

From: After School Snack Cookbook, 2009, Meredith Corporation

Jul17

Chili’s Chicken Crispers with Honey Mustard Sauce

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Chicken crispers are Shania’s favorite thing to order at Chili’s- actually it’s ALL she will order.  I made these but didn’t mention that they were a copy cat recipe of Chili’s.  As soon as she saw them she said, “These look like the chicken crispers at Chili’s.” A few minutes later she tasted them and said, “They taste like them, too!”  This was exactly what I’d hoped for.  We all loved them.  I don’t eat honey mustard sauce (I use barbeque instead) but they said that the honey mustard tasted just like Chili’s as well.  Yay for another successful copycat recipe!

 

Honey Mustard Sauce Ingredients
2/3 Cup mayonnaise
1/4 Cup honey
2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
Pinch paprika
Pinch salt

Batter Ingredients

1 egg, beaten
1/4 Cup whole milk
3/4 Cup chicken broth (Swanson)
1-1/2 Teaspoons salt
1/2 Teaspoon ground black pepper
1 Cup self-rising flour

6 to 10 cups shortening or vegetable oil (amount required by fryer)

10 chicken tenderloins
1/2 Cup flour

Honey Mustard Sauce Directions
Combine ingredients in a small bowl. Cover and chill until needed.

Heat shortening or oil in fryer to 350 degrees F.

Batter Directions
Combine beaten egg, milk, chicken broth, salt and pepper in a medium
bowl. Whisk to dissolve salt. Whisk in 1 cup self-rising flour. Let batter sit for 5 minutes.

Coat chicken pieces with dry flour, then dip chicken into batter. Allow excess batter to drip off, then place battered chicken into the hot oil and fry for 7 to 9 minutes or until golden brown.

Do not overload fryer. Fry 3-4 pieces at a time.

Drain fried chicken strips on paper towels.
Serve with the honey mustard dressing on the side for dipping.

Serves 4 as an appetizer or 2 as an entree.

We had a slight problem of the chicken sticking to the fryer basket (I think due to the self rising flour) but they were still okay.  I will try making them on the stove next time to avoid this.

From: Meemo’s Kitchen

Jul9

Pizza Cake

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I have a special edition of Taste of Home from 2007 that has lots of fun recipes that you can make with cake mix.  I’ve made several of them in the past but it’s been a while since I used it.  I gave the book to Shania and told her to choose anything she wanted to make. I knew she would choose this pizza cake!

This is a fairly simple cake, in theory.  Making red frosting can be tricky- but I’ve learned that it gets darker the longer it sits.  I used Wilton’s No Taste red coloring which I highly recommend since red frosting can often taste bad.  We went to TWO  stores that were both out of white chocolate squares so I melted a bowl of white chocolate chips, let it set and then scraped it with a fork to make the cheese.  Another annoyance is that it’s hard to find plain red strawberry fruit roll ups! They either have pictures on them or are blended with other colors.  So, Shania had to go through several fruit roll ups, cutting around the designs, to make the pepperoni. Austin will be the garbage disposal who eats the leftover scraps. 🙂

Overall, this cake was easy to make and fun, which was the most important part!

Pizza Cake

Ingredients

  • 1 package yellow cake mix
  • 1 cup vanilla frosting
  • red liquid or paste food coloring
  • 3 squares (1 ounce each) white baking chocolate, grated
  • 2 strawberry fruit roll ups

Directions

Prepare cake mix batter according to package directions. Pour batter into two greased and floured 9 inch round baking pans.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  Cool for 10 minutes; remove from pans and continue cooling on a wire rack.

Place each cake on a 10 inch serving platter.  Combine frosting and food coloring; spread over the top of each cake to within 1/2 inch of the edges.  Sprinkle with grated chocolate for cheese. Use a round cutter to cut circles in fruit roll ups for pepperoni.  Arrange on cakes.

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We only made one pizza cake and used the other half of the batter to make cinnamon roll cake with half the brown sugar and cinnamon.

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From: Taste of Home Cake Mix Creations, April 2007