Breaded Ranch Parmesan Chicken
We seem to have chicken at least once per week in our home. The Little Chefs like it and it seems you can make it in so many different ways. I have heard of ranch chicken before, but I have never tried it myself. I have never eaten it, nor have I made it. This seemed like a great opportunity to figure out a new recipe. One of our goals this year is to be a little more adventurous with food. Last year we definitely were with letting the Little Chefs choose the meal and execute the meal. This ...
Iron Chef America Contestant was our Cousin!!!
This past Sunday I put my Little Chefs to bed and then turned on the Food Network for some relaxation. Iron Chef America was on because it was being recorded as usual to watch at a later date. Little Chef Dad was about to change the channel when I said, "Wait!" That is Viet Pham. We had seen him in a previous Food Network competition so I recognized him. I said, "I wonder if Bowman Brown is cooking as well." After not even a minute we saw him! Bowman Brown is a cousin! Viet and Bowman are the ...
Snowman Dice Game
The Snowman Dice Game is a great game that only requires basic and minimal supplies. Little Chef D had such a fun time playing this game! Little Chef H had a great time pretending to play with us as she drew lots of little circles on her paper. At least they were both having fun! Don't miss the Snowman Dice Game printable at the bottom of this post!
The more we played The Snowman Dice Game more details Little Chef D wanted to add. In my key I did not put a flower in the hat like in the ...
New England Crock-Style Baked Beans
Sometime ago we were visiting my Aunt for a special occasion when we ate some really great Baked Beans! I couldn't ask for the recipe because this was a special occasion and the food was from a restaurant. Here at home we were looking for ways to simplify our cooking, especially on the busy days so we started looking through the Better Homes and Gardens Crockery Cookbook. Every recipe is done in the crock pot. (I secretly would love to use the crock pot everyday because it seems so much ...
Drinking Straw Art
We looked at an online calendar which had a variety of celebrations and holidays. It seemed every day had a list of things we could celebrate. Some were foreign to us, and some sounded like a lot of fun! Today, according to the calendar, is Drinking Straw Day. I remember as a kid I doing an art project for an elementary school competition. I painted a tree trunk, blew paint through a straw for the branches, then added some "flowers" to make it a three dimensional project. I thought I could ...
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
Click here to enter our current giveaway -
an 8x10 canvas print from Printcopia!
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...
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 ...
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 ...
Lemon Tea Cake
Little Chef A wanted to have a tea party. We searched and searched and found this Lemon Tea Cake recipe. I have been reminded ever since we printed it off that we needed to make it! The tea party was a month away, but the planning had begun and it just "had to be the part of her dreams." She was so excited when we finally were able to make this!
The first thing we did was zest and juice one lemon. Since the cake and the glaze each required half we split it into two bowls.
The ...
Homemade French Baguettes
We have made quite a few different French Bread recipes. They all take about 3 hours to make. It is hard to find 3 hours where we are not on the go. This recipe takes about 1.5 hours start to finish. I was skeptical it would taste great because the time was cut in half, but it had great reviews so we decided to go ahead and try it.
The yeast, water and honey were added together until foamy.
While we were waiting Little Chef D measured out the flour and salt.
After foaming the salt/fl...
Sesame-Ginger Salmon en Papillote
Today we have an impressive meal to share. This was our very first time trying it. What I love about Sesame-Ginger Salmon en Papillote is the sauce and the convenience of all the vegetables and fish in a cute little packet. Pass one out per person and dinner is served!
We didn't change to much of this recipe. The marinade was made almost as directed. Little Chef A poured the sesame oil out too fast and some spilled over the teaspoon into the bowl. She wasn't sure what to do. At the same time ...
