Archive for April, 2009

• Breakfast ideas my kids love!

  Date: 2009.04.28 | Category: Breakfast, Mamapedia, Quick and easy meals | Response: 2

  Printable Recipe

  Mom’s are always looking for new breakfast ideas that their kids will like.  With me having three kids I know what most Mom’s are going through.  I admit on occasion I will make frozen waffles but those days are going away pretty fast.  I have been experimenting, using my kids as the test subjects.  Just last week I made fruit and yogurt parfaits and to my surprise the kids loved them.  They liked yogurt but they have never had yogurt, fresh fruit and granola all together.  I bought these cheap plastic wine glasses to serve it and I think that helped!!  This morning I made breakfast quesadillas  and everyone loves those as well.   Here are a few more things I like to make for breakfast.

  Breakfast Ideas

  Fruit and Yogurt Parfait-Your favorite yogurt, fresh fruit and Nature Valley Crunchy Granola Bar Oat ‘N Honey.  You can use and kind of granola I like the Nature Valley Bars and it’s usually cheaper than buying a bag of granola.
  Start by adding a couple of spoonfuls of yogurt to a glass, add a few pieces of fresh fruit and top with granola. Keep layering until all the yogurt is gone. My kids loved this fast breakfast, all three of them really enjoyed it.

  Breakfast Quesadillas-Eggs, breakfast sausage, cheese and tortillas.  Cook the sausage according to package.  After it’s browned add the beaten eggs, cook until eggs are completely done.  This is your filling for the quesadillas.  Place a tortilla on a warm griddle or skillet.  Add a few spoonfuls of the filling to the tortilla and top with cheese.  Fold in half, let the tortilla brown and then flip it to brown the other side.  Quick and easy!  Breakfast burritos would work as well and probably faster.

  Waffle French Toast-This is a great breakfast, takes a little longer than the other two but well worth it.

  Apricot Morning Muffins-I love love love these muffins!  They are so good.  I’m not the type of person to get up  extra early to make muffins during the week, I will makes these on the weekend after I get up but I’m getting up extra early to makes during the week.  I make these muffins the night before right after dinner and then I pop a couple in the microwave the next morning for breakfast.  The kids love them.  My son ate these three mornings in row he liked them so much.  This recipe calls for a jar of apricot spreadable fruit.  I’m going to experiment with different flavors of fruit…I have blueberry in the pantry now.  I might make those tomorrow night.   I will keep everyone posted on that!

  Try a couple of these recipes I’m sure everyone in your family will love them!  Have fun with breakfast, try something new!

• Cheesecake

  Date: 2009.04.27 | Category: Daring Bakers, Sweets | Response: 16

  Printable Recipe

  I love cheesecake!  This has to be my favorite dessert…love love love love it!  Did I tell you that I love cheesecake?  I only like plain vanilla cheesecake, nothing fancy.  I like it topped with just about anything but the cake itself has to be the plain vanilla cheesecake.

  When the Daring Bakers announced April’s challenge I was so excited!!

  The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

  As much as I love cheesecake I have never tried to make one.  I always  thought cheesecake was something that was difficult.  The truth is, it’s not hard at all.  All of the ingredients are simple, the directions are simple.  Really the hardest part about making a cheesecake is waiting.  It requires and hour in the oven to cook and then another hour in the oven after it’s turned off.  Then you have to let it completely cool at room temperature before letting it chill over night in the refrigerator.  See what I’m talking about when it comes to waiting?  All this waiting is to keep the cheesecake from cracking but it’s well worth it!  In fact I bought more cream cheese just so I could make another one!

  Now more about this yummy cheesecake.  For the crust I used shortbread cookies and it was wonderful.  For the topping I went with another favorite Dulce de Leche.  I you have never had Dulce de Leche then you have no idea what you are missing…please I beg you, you have to try it!  It goes perfectly with cheesecake and on a spoon!  So good and so easy to make!  I had a good time making this month’s challenge and I enjoyed every single bite of cheesecake! I can’t wait to make it again!!

  After looking around the Daring Bakers Blogroll I wanted to share a few cheesecakes that look awesome!  I wish I could list everyone’s blog but can’t so make sure you check out the Daring Bakers Blogroll for a complete list!  Check ‘em out, I promise you will find something you will love!

  • A Good Appetite-Chocolate and Ginger combination
  • The  AllPurpose Girl-Chocolate Turtle Cheesecake and TiramisuCheesecake
  • Bonobo Cake’s Weblog-American Cheesecake
  • The Sour Dough-Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake
  • Make and Bake-Peanut Butter Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake
  • Strawberries in Paris-Raspberry Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes

  

  Here’s the recipe I know you will love it if you give it a try!

  Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake:

  Crust:
  2 cups / 180 g graham cracker crumbs
  1 stick / 4 oz butter, melted
  2 tbsp. / 24 g sugar
  1 tsp. vanilla extract

  Cheesecake:
  3 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature
  1 cup / 210 g sugar
  3 large eggs
  1 cup / 8 oz heavy cream
  1 tbsp. lemon juice
  1 tbsp. vanilla extract (or the innards of a vanilla bean)
  1 tbsp liqueur, optional, but choose what will work well with your cheesecake

  DIRECTIONS:
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (Gas Mark 4 = 180C = Moderate heat). Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.

  2. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into your preferred pan. You can press the crust just into the bottom, or up the sides of the pan too – baker’s choice. Set crust aside.

  3. Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream, vanilla, lemon juice, and alcohol and blend until smooth and creamy.

  4. Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. If cheesecake pan is not airtight, cover bottom securely with foil before adding water.

  5. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until it is almost done – this can be hard to judge, but you’re looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don’t want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won’t crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, it is ready to serve.

  Pan note: The creator of this recipe used to use a springform pan, but no matter how well she wrapped the thing in tin foil, water would always seep in and make the crust soggy. Now she uses one of those 1-use foil “casserole” shaped pans from the grocery store. They’re 8 or 9 inches wide and really deep, and best of all, water-tight. When it comes time to serve, just cut the foil away

  Dulce de Leche
  1 can of sweetened condensed milk

  Directions
  Pre-heat over to 425 degrees
  Pour one can into a shallow baking dish. Set the baking dish is a bigger dish for a water bath. Pour hot water halfway up the side of the baking dish. Cover the baking dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 1-1 1/2 hours.
  Once the Dulce de Leche is nice and browned, not dark brown, remove from oven and let cool. Once cooled whisk make everything nice a smooth.
  Store in the refridgerate until ready to use. Warm before using.

• Cooking for kids

  Date: 2009.04.21 | Category: Mamapedia, Quick and easy meals | Response: 11

  Printable Recipe

  There were a few question about cooking quick easy meals for kids posted at Mamapedia.   I thought I would share a couple of my favorite quick easy meals that my kids love.  I am a stay at home mom of 3 but I haven’t always been.  My kids ages are 7, 4 and 15 months lucky for me they eat just about anything I cook, I do not have picky eaters.  I was in the military for 8 years and all I cooked were quick easy meal during the week.  I was always looking for short cuts, some turned out good and some not so good.

  I still make quick and easy meals today, why you ask…well because they are quick, easy and the kids love them!  These meals can also be made ahead and kept in the refrigerator for a few days.  I have never tried freezing so I cannot offer any advice on that subject. A lot of people might say that the easiest way to get a quick and easy meal is with a slow cooker. I don’t believe that, mainly because I do not own a slow cooker, not that there is anything wrong with a slow cooker, never had one and I do not plan on getting one.

  Try these quick easy meals and get rid of the frozen chicken nuggets and fish sticks! I promise your kids will enjoy atleast one of these meals! Promise is a strong word…I hope you and your kids find atleast one meal you can enjoy!

  Here’s a list of items we also have on hand:

  • chicken tenders (not the breaded kind)
  • frozen vegetables (steam in a bag kind)
  • ground turkey or beef (we eat a lot of ground turkey)
  • canned tomatoes (whole, diced, pureed…)
  • pasta (elbow, penne, spaghetti…)
  • chicken broth
  • seasoned bread crumbs
  • potatoes
  • dried herbs (dill, parsley, basil, oregano, herbes de provence, Italian seasoning,  this list could on forever)
  • dried spices (curry, garlic powder, onion powder, season salt, lemon and herb)

  Meal #1
  Turkey Macaroni
  This recipe calls for ground turkey but it can be substituted with ground beef, pork, chicken..whatever you like. My son loves this meal and it’s a one pot wonder…super easy clean up!

  Meal #2
  Lemon Herb Chicken
  -Season chicken tenders with lemon herb seasoning and cook in the oven at 350 degrees until not longer pink. It should only take about 15-20 minutes. Chicken tenders are small so they do not require as much cooking time as chicken breast or thighs. Kids friendly because they can eat them with their hands!

  Meal #3
  Homemade Chicken Nuggets
  -Dice chicken tenders into bite size pieces. Season with salt and pepper. Throw the chicken pieces into a ziploc bag or bowl with a lid and coat with seasoned bread crumbs and shake to coat.   Arrange the chicken pieces on a baking sheet and cook at 350 degrees for about 10-15 minutes.  Tiny pieces will not take long.
  -Variations: Coat the chicken pieces with ranch dressing or barbeque sauce and then coat with bread crumbs. Now you have ranch nuggets or barbeque nuggets!! Kids love them, once again because they can eat with their hands!!

  Meal #4
  Pasta Salad
  -Mini Bowtie pasta and frozen veggies. I like to use frozen corn and peas for this salad but frozen broccoli or carrots would work great. Cook the pasta according to the box and steam the veggies according to the bag. Drain pasta add to a big bowl throw the veggies of your choice season with salt and pepper. Add 1/2-1 cup of ranch dressing and mix until everything is coated. More of less dressing depending on how much pasta you cook and how much dressing you want to taste. I like to eat this cold so I put in the fridge for 15-20 minutes. You can also eat it warm, it’s delicious both ways. Another easy clean up!
  -Variations: Different veggies, a different dressing, different pasta. You can use Italian dressing or even Balsamic vingertte dressing!

  Side Dish #1
  Roasted Red and Sweet Potatoes

  Side Dish #2
  Roasted Asparugus

  Side Dish #3
  Lemon Broccoli-Steam in a bag broccoli.  Cook according to package.  After it’s cooked toss in a bowl season with salt/pepper and add a tsp of lemon zest and juice from half a lemon.

  Side Dish #4
  Parmesan Roasted Cauliflower-Toss frozen cauliflower on a baking sheet cook for 10 minutes at 400 degrees, just until the cauliflower is thawed a little.   Remove from over season with olive oil, salt/pepper and garlic powder.  Return to over until the cauliflower starts to turn brown.  Remove from oven and add parmesan cheese, as much or as little as you like!  Return to oven just to let the cheese melt and you have a nice little side dish to enjoy!

  Believe it or not my kids will eat every recipe I just posted.  I always try to throw in some type of vegetable.  The reason I use frozen a lot is because they taste better than the canned vegetables.  I do buy fresh vegetables a lot but not as often as frozen.  Sometimes I’m not able to cook the fresh fast enough before they go bad.  If I try a new vegetable I ask the kids to take at least one bite before the decide they don’t like it.  After that one bite if they like it then they like, if they don’t then they don’t have to eat any more.  When it comes to vegetables its all able trial and error, finding out what your kids like!

  I hope I was able to give a few Moms and Dads or anyone for that matter, ideas on quick and easy meals to cook for kids or anyone!  Enjoy!