This one little tool will peel, core, and slice your apple in about 10 seconds. After that you have one long ribbon of apple slices, which is a lot more fun to eat than a whole apple or even traditional apple slices. A couple slices into the ribbon and you have finely diced pieces ready for muffins, breads, and cake.

Are you not that into apples? The peeler does a great job on potatoes and pears as well. In fact, it comes with instructions for making potato shreds for easy hash browns.

The best thing about this peeler, though, is the kid appeal. Kids love turning the handle to feed the apples through, and it really does seem like magic when the apple ribbons start popping out. It’s also very safe, a lot less likely to result in cuts than a regular fruit and vegetable peeler.

My sister is a crafty person. She has a B.A. in art. So these awesome cupcakes she made for my husband’s birthday were not entirely unexpected. Not only do they look awesome, they tasted pretty good as well. The penguin is a regular cupcake topped with a mini donut and a donut hole. It doesn’t get much better than that!

There are a few too many steps for to share the recipe with you here, but never fear — Betsy got the recipe/pattern from an extremely cool book, Hello Cupcake by Alan Richardson and Karen Tack. The book gives clear, illustrated instructions for almost 50 unique cupcake options. You will have party ideas for years to come!

How do you start your child on a path to enjoy a wide variety of foods? Start introducing your baby to full-fledged grown-up food. This week’s New York Times has a great little article about the good and bad of grinding your own baby food. Here are some tips from the article:

• Do get a food grinder like a food mill or small food processor.
• Do feed your baby a variety of foods that your family enjoys (and not just “kid food” like chicken nuggets)
• Don’t worry too much about introducing food too soon and causing food allergies — recent research has found a lower risk than previously reported.
• Do introduce foods slowly, about once a week. This will let you monitor how well your baby is tolerating the foods and will help you to flag a food allergy.
• Do introduce chewable food between 10 and 12 months, but keep the pieces small to prevent choking.

Do you love cooking and spending time with kids? Or do you know a kid who loves to cook and wants to try out writing? We are looking for a few more writers to contribute to the site. Any topic that relates to kids and food is fair game. Interested? Leave a comment on this page and I’ll make sure you get info on joining the Kids Cuisine team.

Photo used under a Creative Commons license from user Nonsequiturlass.

OK, so how is this food related? Well, in addition to rides, parades, and characters, Disney makes an effort to be educational, especially at Epcot. One of my husband’s favorite attractions at Epcot was Food Rocks, a short musical presentation featuring Pita Gabriel, Neil Moussaka, and others. These charming performers sing such hits as “Vegetables are Good for You” and an absolute classic — “I Want to Be Your High Fiber.” Because all the tunes are taken from hit songs of the past, they should entertain grown ups as much as, or even more than, they entertain the kids. Not convinced yet? Check out the show.

The show is no longer at Epcot, having been replaced by the awesome Soarin’ attraction. But Pita Gabriel will live on in spirit, and of course on YouTube.

I wish we had had the tips and recipes from iLunchBox when I was younger. There are so many more options out there than your basic sandwich. Check out the Armenian-Inspired Chicken Pinwheels or perhaps the Chicken Tortilla Soup! These recipes (and the dozens of others) are healthy, flavorful, and simple enough for your kids to make themselves, or at least help you with. Plus, with sophisticated flavors, Moms and Dads will be equally excited about making a little extra for their own lunches.

iLunchBox has more than just great recipes. The site also features tips for cooking with your kids, handy shopping lists, and articles about nutrition and food sustainability. Go for the recipes, but don’t forget to check out the rest of the site’s great content!

Well, not anymore. I have stumbled upon a great, super easy dessert recipe that contains only ingredients I almost always have on hand. As an added bonus, with the exception of pulling the finished cobbler out of the oven, all the steps could be handled be even a very small child. So far, we’ve tried both peach and cherry cobblers. Enjoy!

• 1/2 stick butter
• 1 cup sugar (or granulated Splenda)
• 1 cup flour
• 1 1/2 tsps baking powder
• 1 cup milk
• 1 can canned fruit, undrained

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Melt butter in an 8×8 baking dish (can be done in the oven or microwave).
3. In a separate bowl, mix together sugar, flour, baking powder, and milk.
4. Pour batter over melted butter in baking dish. The batter is fairly thick, so do your best to spread evenly.
5. Pour fruit over the batter.
6. Optional: For added crunch, crumble a crunchy granola bar on top.
7. Bake for 45 minutes.

Recipe adapted from Oregon Fruits.

What’s the difference? Well, freeze-dried bananas are more crispy and generally more healthy than their banana chip cousins, which are usually fried. A freeze-dried banana chip has no added fat or sugar — and it is really tasty! In Funky Monkey’s snack pouches, there are no added ingredients, just fruits and spices.
I had the opportunity to sample three varieties of freeze-dried banana chips from Funky Monkey Snacks this week:

Bananamon: This was my least favorite. I usually like the banana-cinnamon combination, but these kind of reminded me of air freshener more than food. However, the crunch was good, and I appreciated that there were only two ingredients — bananas and cinnamon.

Purple Funk: What makes these bananas funky is the added acai. Acai is an “it fruit” these days, popular for being rich in antioxidants and having a tart kick. The chips are coated with acai juice on one side, making them a kid-pleasing two tone — dark purple and light yellow. If you have a family that likes to play with their food, these could make for some fun probability games. Flavor-wise, Purple Funk tastes pretty much like pure bananas with a hint of added tartness. A big favorite in my house.

Carnaval: This last Funky Monkey flavor really goes beyond just bananas. In fact, it was a little hard to find the bananas in all the dried pineapples, papayas, and apples. Still, the combo was delicious; it tastes like a yummy tropical fruit salad, but all crunchy. This was by far the biggest hit in my house.

Funky Monkey snacks are a fun, different way to eat a serving of fruit, and they are great for the car or other places where messy snacks could be a hassle. Want some? The snack pouches are being rolled out on the West Coast first, but should be found in Whole Foods and Wild Oats stores throughout the country soon. Can’t wait? You can also order them now from Amazon! Keep an eye out for these tasty fruit options!

Galileo has since closed, but Chef Donna is still cooking in the area at Bebo Trattoria in Arlington. I haven’t been to the new location, but I was particularly excited to receive an email yesterday announcing Donna’s new series of cooking classes for kids and their parents.

Adult cooking workshops are a pricey $140, but the kids classes are only $45 per person. Children must be at least 8 years old and accompanied by a parent. Your junior chef will learn how to cook either authentic pizza or pasta, and of course the class includes a hearty lunch.

If you are in the D.C. area, this class is worth jumping on. If the kids class is anywhere near as good as the adult class, your child will be making you world class meals in no time!

(Photo used under Creative Commons license from flickr user tbridge.)

Episode 3 of Cooking with Coolio is titled “Spinach Even Your Kids Will Eat,” and I have to say, it looks pretty good. For this episode, he brings in Ethan, a cute little kid who looks to be about 4 or 5. Together they make and sample some cooked spinach. Coolio brings a lot of energy and entertainment to the kitchen, from dressing Ethan up in a lot of bling to shouting “Shaka Zulu!” in lieu of Emeril’s “Bam!” over and over again. Check it out — it’s guaranteed to brighten your morning.