* Kids Can Make It - Beef Stew

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Easy No Bake Recipe

This easy no bake recipe is one of my all time favorites. I've been making variations of it since I was a kid. If your kids like chocolate, they'll love these cute chocolate bird nests with mini Easter eggs.

It's a quick and easy recipe with no baking and minimal clean-up. I'm giving you both my original easy no bake recipe and an adapted vegan/dairy-free alternative. Both are equally easy. Just watch out if your kids get a caffeine high from cocoa; don't give them these to eat after dinner!

Easy No Bake Chocolate Easter Bird Nests

With this recipe your kids can learn measuring, mixing, spooning, and safe use of the microwave or stove.

Ingredients
2oz of butter or margarine
1/2 cup of hot cocoa mix (the kind that contains powdered milk)
1/2 cup of sweetened condensed milk
3 cups of cereal flakes - cornflakes or other
24-36 mini sugar-coated chocolate eggs or jelly beans

Dairy-free Alternative Ingredients
2oz of dairy-free margarine
6 tablespoons cocoa powder (the kind without milk)
1/2 cup ground almonds
1/4 cup of honey
3 cups of cereal flakes
24-36 mini sugar-coated chocolate eggs or jelly beans - make sure these are OK for your diet - if you can't find dairy-free/vegan use pieces of colored paper to decorate instead

Equipment
12 paper cup-cake cases, or a muffin pan, or ramekin bowls
small heat-proof bowl, cup, or mug (for the microwave) or a small pan
knife
dessert spoon
1/2 cup measure
tablespoon measure (if making the dairy-free option)
mixing bowl

Procedure

1. Gather all ingredients and equipment.
2. Measure all ingredients, apart from the butter/margarine and cereal flakes, and place in mixing bowl.
   
3. Cut off 20z of butter or margarine (half a stick) and place in the heat-proof cup or bowl or the pan.
   
4. Microwave the butter or margarine until melted (about 30 seconds) or heat in the pan on the stove until melted.
5. Pour the hot, melted butter or margarine into the other ingredients - do this for your child if you are not ready to trust them to do it safely.
6. Mix with the spoon.
7. Measure and add the cereal flakes then mix until all the flakes are coated.
   
8. Spoon mixture into cupcake cases, muffin pan cups, or ramekins.
9. Press down the center to make an indentation for the mini Easter eggs or jelly beans.
10. Arrange 2-3 Easter eggs or jelly beans in the center of each chocolate nest.
11. Allow to cool and set, which will take at least 60 minutes. You can speed this up by putting them in the fridge.
    
12. Enjoy!

Did you enjoy working in the kitchen when you were a kid? Do your kids enjoy working with you to make food, or are there frustrations?

Related posts:

• Easy, fun, lunch for kids - cheese beanos.
• Dinner so easy a 2 year old can do it!
• Get Earth Active with your family this spring.
• Green Kids Activities.
• Porridge Tales from Grandma's Kitchen.
  

Easy, Fun, Lunch - Cheese Beanos

Here is one of my very favorite, easy, fun lunches for kids - Cheese Beanos. It's easy enough for them to make, with some supervision on the cooking part and, if you're not careful, it makes just enough mess to be fun. You can use this recipe to help your kids learn how to: open a can, and use the broiler. The origins of this recipe are lost in the family archive, but it really doesn't take a lot of imagination!

Ingredients
1 can of beans in tomato sauce
8 slices of bread
8 cheese slices or a block of cheese (vegan cheese slices, or cheese, work too)
Fresh tomatoes or fruit to serve with

Equipment
can opener
spoon
cheese slicer or knife (if you're using block cheese)
baking tray
oven mitts
broiler - put the shelf 2 rungs down

Directions
Open the can of beans. Place the bread slices on the baking tray. Spoon beans onto the bread slices. Slice off cheese if you're using a block. Top the beans with cheese slices. Place the tray under the broiler (of course you'll turn it on first). DO NOT walk away - stay and watch because it browns up fast. If the edges of the bread are brown before the cheese is, move the tray down to a lower shelf and watch it until the cheese is browned.

Serve the Cheese Beanos with a knife and fork and tomatoes or fruit. The mess comes when you try to lift up the beanos and get them in your mouth without dropping beans - it's a good exercise in motor control and it makes a little bit of a fun mess :-) My kids have learned to use the knife and fork and cut off small pieces instead.

Try it and let me know what your kids think.

Why Homebaked Bread is a Necessity

Sometimes it's funny how you learn things. For instance, I recently discovered that while 2 members of my family love mushy food, the other two won't be satisfied with a meal unless it contains something chewy. Now, people may have a vision of homeschooling as an idyllic lifestyle, you know, mom, dad and the kids all living in perfect harmony, learning together around the kitchen table. Let me tell you though, when all 4 members of your family effectively work from home as well as living and sleeping there you have to be good at compromise. It's a daily necessity for getting through both lunch and dinner together without some kind of meltdown.

In our home freshly baked bread, or more often, so far, biscuits, is a kind of glue that keeps us together, or maybe it's grease to keep us running smoothly. Either way, I serve it with soup or stew and we have both mush and something to chew on. It leads to happy homeschoolers and a happy family :-) You know, there's a reason why baking bread is the number 1 item on Julie's 10 Point Bluffers Guide to Being a Homeschool Supermom. And I'm pretty sure it applies equally to being a non-homeschooling supermom. The only problem is making something baked in time for lunch while juggling things like blog writing and homeschool support tasks. Should you be game for the challenge though, I do have a few suggestions.

I tend to subscribe to the theory that variety is the spice of life. There are tons of fine recipes available on the web, but I still think it's better to have a tried and true book you can pull off the shelf when you're ready to dig into the flour pot. It wouldn't be enough for me to master making one kind of bread, therefore "Flour Cooking Naturally" has been my bread bible. I only use two other books for bread-like baking. One of them is a Betty Crocker booklet which I got for 10 cents at a garage sale and the other explains how to make tortillas.

Early on in my years of independent living I somehow acquired a small set of essential cookery books which have followed me everywhere. It's a plan I'd recommend. Using this book you can learn the secrets of everything from hot cross buns and crumpets to Danish pastries, bannocks, rye crispbread and challah. It covers every kind of basic cake and biscuit, puddings, all sorts of pastries and even homemade pasta. More impressively, every recipe I've tried has worked! Just be aware that since this book was published in London all recipes are given in weights rather than volume measures so you'll either need a set of scales or a conversion chart.

Just in case purchasing a British book for the economical sum of $0.40 cents doesn't appeal, or you just can't wait to get started, here are some learning links related to baking bread and biscuits:

• My favorite biscuit recipe uses oil rather than shortening. What could be better? When the main part of your meal is a bean soup, you need something with some fat to fill you up. An oil-based biscuit is ideal and much healthier. I make mine with olive oil, salt, pepper and some Italian herb mix. Here's the secret to healthy, fluffy biscuits. There are many ideas for using biscuits at BettyCrocker.com. I'd just substitute the oil-based recipe for the Bisquick mix she suggests.
  
• How does an engineer write recipes? Find out how to cook the engineers' way and make cornbread. Now, I'm not talking about high-tech or using a lot of grease! This recipe format makes SO much sense to me. I've never quite mastered the art of understanding recipes, which means I usually read my book over and over and over to make sure I get it right. I'm not an engineer, but I still like it!
• Like many people I've tried wholewheat bread recipes and ended up with a brick-like result. At Smitten Kitchen I found a recipe for a light, wheat bread. I'm willing to give it a try once more. Deb over there even claims to bewitch breads!
• Natashya at Living in the Kitchen with Puppies has been writing about soup and bread and she just wrote about the book pictured at the top of this page "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day". It worked for her and now I just have to check it out! I had found it at Amazon.com when I was looking around for a bread picture today. I read the first few pages online and was really intrigued. It goes on my wishlist. In fact I'm off to check my library for it in just a moment.
• Not everyone has the luxury of being home with the chance to make their own bread. I know that many enjoy bread from in-store bakeries. For my family this is not a choice - we have a member with peanut allergy and in-store bakeries are just a risk we can't take. I highly recommend the Farm to Market bread company. It's not much use to you unless you're in the Kansas City area, but their bread is really great. Don't expect it to last more than one meal though because it's much too delicious! They have some recipes at their website which you could use with your own home-made bread, or in-store baked if that works better for you.
• There are plenty places to read the story of bread online. Here is a pretty detailed history of bread making for those who like to read. For the more visual you can watch a bread story slide show.
• Here's a Flowerpot Bread recipe for cooking with your kids. I'd never heard of bread clay, but I found a recipe and it sounds like a fun craft project. Personally I think it's about all store-bought, sliced white bread is good for, but maybe your kids would disagree!

May all your loaves be edible :-)

Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day at Amazon.com - you can read the first few pages online. Flour Cooking Naturally is available used - it contains a wealth of wheat based recipes from many countries. Bread machines are wonderful if you have the space and funds.

Hot Chocolate Cake

Have you ever had a mug of hot chocolate cake? A couple of days ago I received this recipe from a homeschooling friend and I just had to try it out.

I made three mugs of this cake last night (photo not from Amazon.com) for the kids and I for dessert. They gave it the thumbs up, though it's very filling and you could probably get away with just eating half.

So, if you're looking for a chocolate pick-me-up, if you want a quick romantic snack to share with hubby, or if the kids need a short project in the kitchen, give it a go. BEWARE the handle of the mug does get hot!

By the way, if you know the origin of this recipe please let me know so that I can give credit.

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

1 Coffee Mug

4 Tablespoons flour (that's plain flour, not self-rising)

4 Tablespoons sugar

2 Tablespoons baking cocoa

1 Egg

3 Tablespoons milk

3 Tablespoons oil

3 Tablespoons Chocolate Chips (optional)

Small splash of vanilla

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg

and mix thoroughly.

Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.

Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla, and

mix again.

Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at

1000 watts. (My microwave is 965 so I cooked it for 3 minutes 20 secs.,

and I could probably have gone another 20 secs.)

The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!

Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.

EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to share).

And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world?

Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate

cake at any time of the day or night!

Sound of Music Lesson Plans

The Sound of Music at Amazon.com
It's movie madness with the Sound of Music! Game Boy (that's my son) watched The Sound of Music for the first time ever this week. I'm not sure why we waited until he's almost a teen to let him see this - perhaps because it's one of my favorites and I wanted it to be his choice to watch. Anyway, he thoroughly enjoyed it.

I asked Game Boy and Artist Girl to come up with a list of lesson plan ideas related the The Sound of Music. I hope you find something to enjoy! In no particular order:

• A live or online field trip to a cathedral or monastery. Check the Illustrated Guide to Cathedrals - there's lots of photos and also lists of shrines, temples etc. Wikipedia has a list of cathedrals by country - many don't have individual entries in the index but with the names in hand you may find more information on Google. Oddee.com has photos of monasteries in amazingly dramatic locations (be warned, this site does have some odd links on their sidebar - check it out before you pop it up in front of kids).
• Crisp Apple Strudel. Mmmm... the mention of this delectable dish was quite possibly Game Boy's favorite part! Pepperidge Farm have a simple Apple Strudel recipe. With the Food Network you can watch a demo for a simple recipe, or choose Paula's more upmarket version. Here's Apfelstrudel from the Global Gourmet and a phyllo dough version from allrecipes. You can even order Organic Apple Strudel online.
• I'm sure that Shnitzel with Noodles is just as yummy, but I don't eat veal so here's pork shnitzel with noodles. Wikipedia has plenty to say about wiener schnitzel, but no real suggestions for a vegan version. Do let me know if you have a suggestion.
• There are plenty of internet links to information about Julie Andrews, however I'd say most are at a teen level. The BBC has several Julie Andrews interviews. About.com has a filmography, achievements list, and brief bio of her childhood.
• Artist Girl suggested an activity - write a skit that uses one or more of the Sound of Music songs with a different storyline. Look up the lyrics to make your job easier.
• Put on a puppet show on the Sound of Music theme, or anything else that catches your fancy. Watch Julie Andrews with the muppets - hilarious! Here's a puppet theatre plan from HGTV. Personally I've found that cardboard in front of and across a doorway works just as well. You can find plenty of plans for making puppets: Danielle's Place has cute ideas; Teacher Help has a big list; and Enchanted Learning has some unusual ideas, like a mini theater.
  

This is less than half the ideas we came up with, but the others are going to have to wait for another time! I do love The Sound of Music and I'll want to come back to it again :-)

Cooking - 10 Attributes to Positively Influence Your Family and Community and How to Grow Them #4

This is part 4 of a 10 part series. Read part 1...

#4 = cooking

My kids say I'm a good cook. I'm not talking here about gourmet cooking; I'm not someone who spends hours in the kitchen following recipes, or who watches cook shows on TV then shops for ingredients and creates fabulous meals. Artist Girl says my style of cooking is Comfort Food. It's just fairly plain and wholesome.

My best cooking uses simple, wholesome, inexpensive ingredients - the fewer the better. It's done without a recipe book. It's the food that reminds you of happy grandmas who put love into what they do and who are economical and can make-do in the kitchen. It's a mix of the frugal cooking I watched Gran do every Monday, incorporating the little adventures Mom made with the aid of recipe books, and my own sense of what tastes right, using whatever I have to hand.

Kids need to know how to cook basic food. Adults can benefit from ideas on being more frugal - saving time and energy in their meal preparation. Let's explore cooking up some good, wholesome, comfort food!

• If you're an adult and the closest you've come to preparing dinner is lifting the phone to order pizza don't despair. You can learn to Cook Like a Grown-Up. Joylynn is doing it and you can too!
• About.com has plenty of links on home cooking. They have Cooking 101 and also plenty of classic recipes. It looks like a good place to start if you need some new ideas or just want to increase your skills.
• Recipes at Home Cooking Recipe Box look to be straightforward and use basic ingredients. Many of the recipes have accompanying photos, always a help when deciding whether something will look appealing!
• You can take online classes at Dinner Made Simple. Hmmm... that looks intriguing.
• How about going to a live cooking demonstration? Places you might find demonstrations include farmers markets, ethnic festivals, and local TV stations.
• One of the most fun field trips I've done with my kids was to a local herb and spice store. Other ideas are ethnic food stores, candy factories, and ethnic restaurants. If your kids are at all adventurous it's fun to try foods from different parts of the world. For world cooking at home I can recommend the Usborne Children's World Cookbook. It's full of yummy foods with additional information and internet links to learn about the countries.
• Your kids can learn the joy of giving by baking cookies or preparing a meal for a friend or neighbor. They might even want to sell cookies or brownies to raise money for their favorite cause.
• Learn about Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) and shop locally.
• There are plenty of lesson plans related to food and cooking. AtoZTeacherStuff has a multitude of ideas that relate food to all areas of the curriculum. KidsCookingActivities has explanations of which skills different ages are ready to learn with age appropriate ideas. EducationWorld has lots of food and nutrition ideas, and this site has links on everything from agriculture and forestry to food science.
• If all this talk of food has made you hungry, you might head off for a simple, healthy snack of peeled carrots, or wholewheat bread with sunflower butter. If you want a book to look at while you are snacking, check out Starting Cooking (a favorite in our home for the last 8 years), Pasta and Pizza for Beginners, or the absolutely fabulous Children's Book of Baking with photos that make your mouth water and not a hydrogenated fat in sight.

Do let me know your favorite cookbook, style of cooking, or your kid's favorite food.