Special Announcement!
I have exciting news!
We are moving to WordPress!
I will be saying farewell to my Google Friends Connect widget but hope that if you are following me via GFC that you will find a new way to connect {i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, etc}.
We will also be taking a break until the beginning of the year. My Little Chefs are out of school this entire month and have been looking forward to some extended quality time together.
Don't worry, we will be back ...
Lessons Learned from Cooking with Kids and My Favorites
Upon reflecting this year cooking with my Little Chefs here are a few things I have learned:
Never have a set time for dinner, you will ALWAYS run late.
Measure all ingredients out into separate bowls BEFORE adding to the main bowl.
Review, review, review. For each skill taught review and reteach over and over again.
When Little Chefs choose the recipes they are more excited to make them and eat them.
Explore different flavors and tastes, especially those YOU do not like. Let the ...
Little Chef D’s 2012 Favorites
It has been fun to see which recipes are the favorites of each of my Little Chef's. I could have guessed Little Chef D's list. I knew it would mostly consist of desserts, and I was not disappointed!
Little Chef D's 2012 Favorites
Mom's Banana Dessert
Fabulous Fudge
Pizza Rolls
Brazilian Lemonade
Cream Puffs
Dessert Quesadilla
Broccoli Florets with Olive Oil
...
Little Chef C’s 2012 Favorites
In Little Chef C's original favorite list she had over 50 items and some were repeats of her sisters. Since they each had to have their own top 8 that were not chosen by someone else I thought it would be difficult. It was not. We had so many good recipes to choose from some of the good ones were left out.
Little Chef C's 2012 Favorites
Lemon Spaghetti
Chocolate Nutella Cookies
Yummy Wake Up Smoothie
Strawberry ...
Little Chef A’s 2012 Favorites
We have been reflecting on our culinary journey this year. I asked each of the Little Chef's to tell me their top 8 favorites of the year. We all sat down and looked through each post. While it took quite some time they LOVED seeing what they made earlier and told stories for almost each recipe. Remember when .... happened. Remember this one didn't work. Remember when I spilled my lemonade on the chicken. It was so much fun. Each of their lists started out with about 50 items. I kept telling ...
Mini Frittatas
During the week we do not cook hot breakfast, unless you count microwave oatmeal. On the weekends we get a little fancy with pancakes, waffles and eggs. When we found Mini Frittatas by Giada we were excited. It seemed like a perfect recipe for us. Mix the eggs and additional ingredients all in one bowl and then pour them into mini muffin tins and cook it for 10 minutes. Seemed quick and easy.
The first step was to cut the ham. For some reason this day the Little Chefs were not that interested ...
Fake Betty Crocker Brownie Mix
I probably mentioned this before, but we love brownies! We are always trying different brownie recipes. We first tried a Fake Betty Crocker Brownie Mix and did not like it very much. It was very cakey and not what we liked. We decided to try this again with a little modification.
I love the idea of this recipe because it is basic ingredients we always have on hand. Little Chef D measured out the flour and sugar.
She then added the cocoa.
She cracked two eggs into a separate bowl just ...
Zucchini Parmesan Crisps
Zucchini Parmesan Crisps seemed like a great recipe to try. We often see something similar to this at a restaurant and we enjoy them. I loved the idea of baking rather then frying because it is more healthy. I also liked this recipe because my Little Chefs can do everything on their own, except handling the oven.
Little Chef A cut the zucchini into as uniform sizes as she possibly could.
In a bowl she combined bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, salt and black pepper. Each zucchini round was ...
Caramel Frosting
This Caramel Frosting is a legend in my Grandma's family. When she would make it her kids would fight over the frosting and even take it off of each others plates with amusing and painful results. I was expecting this frosting to be exceptional...and it was!
This was simple to make and I always have these 4 ingredients on hand; butter, brown sugar, milk, and powdered sugar. The butter was first melted in a saucepan. Then the brown sugar was added and brought to a boil. This is when ...
Waffle Brownies
A while ago my fun Grandma gave me a Waffle Brownie recipe she thought my Little Chefs would love to try. I loved that she knew what we were doing and wanted to help give us an idea. She doesn't live close by but was making a trip here and brought the recipe the entire way just for us! What a perfect time to share this recipe, being that we are sharing recipes from her cookbook.
Little Chef D helped make this recipe to surprise her sisters when they came home from school. She was super ...
Rice Pudding
We have been having a great time going through Great Grandma's cookbook and trying her recipes. Today we decided to try her Rice Pudding. A note in the cookbook says this recipe came from her mother and is one of her favorites.
We found this recipe easy to put together with a long wait. All the ingredients are combined and then put in the oven to cook for 3-3 1/2 hours. I was amazed at the ratio of rice to milk and the time it took to cook. After the first hour and for each half hour ...
Aloha Banana Bread
We are loving trying my Grandmother's recipes; Caramel Rolls and Dutch Butter Cookies. Sometimes, very occasionally we have bananas that are becoming over ripe. Grandma's Aloha Bread is a twist on the regular banana bread because it incorporates coconut and orange rind.
The first step is to zest an orange. Little Chef A is very proficient using the microplane.
Next she mashed up 3 bananas. This was her first time so I had to assure her it was just fine to completely smash them.
First ...
Dutch Butter Cookies
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The first recipe we tried from my Grandma's cookbook was Caramel Rolls. It was a hit! The next recipe from her cookbook is Dutch Butter cookies. My Little Chefs are always excited about a new cookie recipe. I was intrigued because this recipe only has 3 ingredients; flour, sugar and butter. The best part was we had all those ingredients in our house and could make them right away!
Little Chef D first ...
Family Favorite Monkey Bread Recipe
When I was younger I remember my mom making this monkey bread recipe on Christmas morning and as an occasional treat for other mornings. This is one of those easy recipes because all you do is dump the ingredients in a bundt pan. Let it rise over night and then bake it in the morning. I love making this recipe for my house guests. It has a big impact with minimal effort.
Monkey Bread Recipe
Ingredients:
20 frozen Rhodes rolls
1 cup brown sugar
1 small box cook and serve b...
Guest Posting at Blue Skies Ahead
Hi everyone! Today I'm guest posting over at Blue Skies Ahead sharing a Butterscotch Sauce recipe. I'd love for you all to come check it out and while you are there see some of the great things Tonii has been up to.
Don't forget to enter our 8x10 canvas print giveaway from Printcopia. Christmas is just around the corner and it would be a great gift! Enter here!
Butter and Sage Sauce
One of our new favorite flavors is sage. We love it on pork chops and we love the sage in Crostini Alla Romana. This Butter and Sage pasta sauce recipe sounded promising so we were excited to try it. Quick sauces are wonderful! The butter was melted in a saucepan.
After the butter changes color to a light brown color the sage leaves were added and the heat was turned off. Next the lemon juice was added and the sauce was set aside until the pasta was ready. Super quick and easy!
After ...
Neely’s Pigs in a Blanket
Pigs in a Blanket is not a new recipe but we have never made them. This recipe perfect for my Little Chefs. Store bought crescent rolls were cut into thirds. Little Chef A cut them in all different shapes and sizes trying her hardest to make thirds.
Each third were brushed with dijon mustard then rolled in a cocktail frank. Some were rolled tighter then others but none of them unrolled so we were good. We decided it would be easier to brush the dough right after rolling out ...
Herbed Garlic Bread
Sometimes we are looking for a quick and easy recipe. Herbed Garlic Bread from the Food Network Magazine promised to be just that. For once we didn't need to make the bread! Little Chef D and H went shopping with me today to get a loaf of French Bread. After school Little Chef C melted the butter in a saucepan with olive oil and salt.
After a few minutes the chopped parsley was added.
The recipe says to pour some of the butter mixture in between each slice. We tried that with ...
Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting
The key to this recipe is in the heavy cream. About 30 minutes before you are ready to start the recipe put a bowl and your beaters in the refrigerator to cool. I have even put them in the freezer. The key to getting the heavy whipping cream to properly form peaks is to keep it as cold as you can. This means start with everything cold and work quickly. We poured the heavy whipping cream into the chilled bowl, used the chilled beaters and began. Its amazing how quickly the peaks ...
Perfect Cupcake
A while ago I saw a post on Tidy Mom about the perfect cupcake from a box mix. Our Tea Party was a perfect time to try out the recipe. We chose one of our favorite box mixes and ignored the directions on the box. Instead you will need 1/2 cup butter, 3 eggs and 1 cup water.
In a large bowl we melted the butter in the microwave. Then we added the cake mix, water and eggs. With a hand mixer mix on low for 1 minute then on high for 1 minute. I was very surprised at how thick the ...
Flirty Aprons Flash Sale!!!
Here at Five Little Chefs we LOVE Flirty Aprons.
For the next three days, Flirty Aprons has 6 aprons available at 40% off.
The sale includes: Marilyn Sugar n' Spice; Original Pink Chocolate; Original Blue Chocolate; Original Cocoa Lime; Original Sassy Red and Original Frosted Cupcake.
These are some of their best sellers of all time.
Visit the Flirty Aprons to see what is still available. These will sell out FAST!
CODE: flash40
Christmas is right around the corner. ...
Sweet Orange Rolls
We love to make cinnamon rolls for Christmas. When we saw Kelsey Nixon make Orange Rolls we knew we had to make them. We are confident in our bread making skills that was going to be the easy part. The Little Chefs are always surprised at how big the dough rises and how fluffy and beautiful it looks.
We did have one problem that turned into a major problem. We mixed twice the amount of zest and I'm certain we counted the right amount of juice. However, the filling was SO runny! It ...
Cream Filled Strawberries
We wanted to serve a fruit for our tea party. Little Chef A requested that all the food be fancy so cut up fruit would not do. Luckily we were able to find Cream Filled Strawberries which were perfectly fancy for her, and perfectly easy for us to make.
The first step is to wash your strawberries. Choose about 15 that stand up the best on the green leaves. Sometimes the stem was long but it was easily cut off. With a small knife cut an "X" in each strawberry. You need to cut down far enough ...
Restaurant Review: Cafe Bella Rue
This past Monday we went to Mangia Mangia Monday (pizza and soda night) at Cafe Bella Rue located in Daybreak, Utah. Thin crust pizza's are discounted and fountain drinks are $0.50! What a great deal for a family outing! We tried the Margehrita, Three Meat, and Mediterranean Pizzas. There are a lot of us, but there was not one piece left uneaten. We were especially intrigued by the Mediterranean Pizza; Roasted Red Peppers, Artichoke Hearts, Onions, Green Bell Peppers, Mushrooms, Black Olives ...
