• Take them to visit a farm.  Once the weather warms up, we are frequent visitors at our local (and even some not-so-local) farms.  Whether it’s just to see the apples or we’re picking fruit, it’s a great opportunity for kids to see how it all starts.
• Take them to your farmer’s market.  Nick loves farmer’s market season, and is really getting good at learning how to tell if fruits and vegetables are ripe.  When you go, don’t forget to take your reusable tote bags … for another lesson for children, this time in how to be environmentally friendly.
• Get them into the kitchen.  One night a week, Nick gets to choose what we have for dinner, and I promise you, it’s not all pizza and chicken nuggets.  He’ll pull out cookbooks and flip through them, reading the titles and looking at the pictures.  Besides getting more involved in the kitchen and meal planning and preparation, he’s boosting his reading skills as a bonus.  Once he’s got a recipe picked out, we work together to make it.  On the nights that he’s not choosing the menu, he’s still in the kitchen, helping me at every turn.

Drawing her inspiration from one of her son’s magic books, she loves cupcakes so much that she even has cupcake PJs.  This is my kind of girl!

Want to surprise your little ones on Easter with this fun cupcake?  You can find complete directions right here.

Before heading out to eat, do a quick search on mykidseatfree.com or kidsmealdeals.com.  You just may find a local restaurant offering deals too good to pass up.

And for even more deals, be sure to register your kids’ birthdays at freebirthdaytreats.com.  Many chains (Friendly’s, Cold Stone Creamery, Red Lobster, and more) have clubs for kids (and sometimes even adults) that you can join for free, and you’ll get coupons for all sorts of menu items.   Here’s the link to Red Lobster’s club to get you started — happy (cheap) eating!

When the plate arrived, there was a round of oohs and ahhs … from the adults at the table.  For this was not any ordinary peanut butter and jelly sandwich, it was a PB&J Club sandwich.  What an awesome idea!  With the new spin on an old favorite, he gobbled it right up, and proceeded to order it the next night too.

At my daughter’s recent one-year birthday party, I thought the club sandwich would be a great idea for the little ones.  Since most of the kids attending had just turned one, I ended up making mine without the peanut butter, and they were just as big a hit as the ones we had on the cruise ship.  The adults all marveled at the idea, and the kids ate them up.

When making them, I used Pepperidge Farm’s sandwich bread, because you want a nice firm bread to hold both the jelly, and the triangle form.  I also cut off all the crusts (which later became breadcrumbs for a homemade mac and cheese night shortly thereafter; you know, waste not, want not, right?).

So the next time you and your kids are tired of the same old, same old, take an old favorite for a new spin with Peanut Butter and Jelly Club Sandwiches.  Mmmm…

Happy holidays!

On Monday, January 5th, we will put out our call for nominations in fourteen different categories, and this is your chance to nominate the food and drink blogs that you think are the best of the best.  The nominations period will close on Friday, January 9th, 11:59 pm, EST, giving you five full days to nominate your favorite blogs.  Any nominations after that period will not be considered.

On January 19th, we will post the Top 5 nominations in each of the fourteen categories.  These spots are decided by our judging panel, and only blogs nominated the week before will be considered.  The amount of times a site is nominated does not have any bearing on its placement, it only puts it in the running.

Once the top 5 sites are announced for each category, the voting begins.   Voting will be open from Monday, January 19th until 11:59 pm EST on Friday, January 23rd.  You will have five full days to vote for your favorite site, determining the winners. The winners will be announced on Monday, January 26th. 

During the rest of this pre-Food Blog Awards time, we will be unveiling our distinguished panel of judges, the official rules of the Food Blog Awards, and the list of prizes donated for the winners from our very generous sponsors.

Go on and spread the word … and let the fun begin! ]]> http://kidscuisine.net/2008/12/15/2008-food-blog-awards-kick-off/feed/ http://kidscuisine.net/2008/11/18/love-your-veggies-with-fun-printout/ http://kidscuisine.net/2008/11/18/love-your-veggies-with-fun-printout/#comments Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:41:03 +0000 Cate O'Malley Healthy Eating http://kidscuisine.net/2008/11/18/love-your-veggies-with-fun-printout/ My six-year-old son is a little picky about vegetables, but hey, what kid isn’t? He will eat cucumbers (dipped in Ranch dressing), carrots (dipped in Ranch dressing) and salad (with Ranch dressing). Do you sense a theme here? What can I say… he loves Ranch dressing. And if it helps him love his veggies, I’m all for that.

The folks at Hidden Valley have teamed up with Weekly Reader and put together a fun veggie PDF that you can print out for your favorite little veggie-loving child. Filled with useful information that is cleverly disguised with kid-friendly activities, they’ll be having fun in no time… and maybe getting more interested in veggies to boot. Ain’t nothing wrong with that.

The Mexican Wedding Cakes made an appearance at our recent Bacon Party, and our last Supper Club gathering, which was, appropriately enough, Mexican-themed. Despite the rolling of the dough, these sugary bites will be in your oven in no time. Pop them in your mouth whole, because they’re messy little suckers, but full of buttery goodness. Enjoy!

Mexican Wedding Cakes
Recipe courtesy of Gourmet Sleuth.

1 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups sifted flour (I never sift; what can I say, I live on the edge)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cream butter; add sugar gradually. Blend in salt, vanilla, and flour. If too soft, chill until firm. Scoop small pieces of dough, roll in hand to make a small ball, & place on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake in preheated oven about 12 minutes, or until golden brown. While still hot, roll cookies in powdered sugar. Move to a wire rack to cool.

I’m not a big fan of hiding vegetables in food or disguising them (a la Jessica Seinfeld).  While it may get the vegetables in an otherwise stubborn kid’s little belly, it’s not teaching them to actually like something new.  I’d rather find a handful of vegetables that my kids like and concentrate on those, discovering new and delicious ways to make them, rather than being sneaky about it.

So in the side dish I served last night alongside the Unfried Chicken, spinach was there, front and center.  I didn’t mention the spinach, but it was quite visible alongside the potatoes and red onions.  And my six-year-old son, Nicholas, ate it.  The same Nicholas that proclaims he doesn’t like spinach (unless it’s raw in a salad, at which point he thinks it’s just regular lettuce).  No sneaking around, no hiding or disguising… see? It can be done.

This recipe is no more complicated than boiling potatoes, and we all know how easy that is.  Once the potatoes are done, toss the rest of the ingredients into the bowl and call it a day.

Lemony Pesto Potatoes
Recipe courtesy of Good Food magazine, March 2006

1 lb waxy potatoes, halved if large (I used Yukon Gold)
1 small red onion, halved and sliced
200g bag spinach leaves (I did a rough chop)
3 tablespoons olive oil (I doubled the potatoes, but kept oil at same amount)
2 tablespoons pesto
juice of 1 lemon

Boil the potatoes for about 15 minutes or until tender.  Drain, then return to the pan and roughly crush with a fork.

Tip in the onion and spinach leaves.  Pour over the olive oil, pesto and lemon juice, season to taste and toss to coat everything in the dressing.  Serve warm with sausages, chicken or steak.