Rollo Stuffed Ritz Crackers

Yum, yum, yum!  I decided to try this Pinterest recipe that I posted earlier this week.  It seemed simple enough.  Ritz crackers, Rollos and an oven.

It is truly that easy.

Oven at 350*
Salted side down with a Rollo
Cook for 4 minutes
Take out of the oven and push the unsalted side of another Ritz down
Cool
Enjoy!

I have not tried one, because I will be using my classmates as "guinea pigs", "test subjects", and they will act as my "children" for the day.

I will post what they thought of them tomorrow after our class :)

Nana! Feed us :)

We were out and about doing some shopping and decided to drop by my parents house for lunch.  Thus the title, Nana!  Feed Us :)  We showed up and demanded lunch.  Not that my parents would ever mind us going over.  Trying to feed the A Clan is difficult at times, but we found lunch in the freezer and cupboards.

We put a pizza in the oven, made some iced tea and found some fruit in the pantry.  Done!  Lunch is served. 

My kids like thin crust frozen pizza and love, love, love, canned fruit.  Chloe loves the cherries.  I think what they also like is the sugar goodness.  I like to have the plastic jars of fruit in the pantry for quick snacks or side dishes.  Fruit cocktail is the favorite at our house. 

 

Off to school for the evening and again tomorrow.  I will post the desert I made for my classmates and what they thought of it tomorrow.  I thought I would adopt them as my children for a quick taste test while doing my presentation tomorrow.  Wish me luck!

Jessica

Peanut Butter Pancakes

The wild children were asking for pancakes this morning.  We find ourselves eating these a lot and I have learned to add things to the batter to change them up. 

I have made:

Cinnamon Pancakes
Banana Pancakes
Strawberry Jam Pancakes
Nutella Pancakes
Chocolate Chip Pancakes
Apple Pancakes
ANY Berry Pancakes

The list goes on!  I add everything to them :)

This morning I decided to add:

 Yum!  Peanut butter pancakes!!!

I used good old Aunt Jemima Pancake mix (the add one egg and one cup of milk batter).  While mixing the batter I added a couple of spoonful's of the Whipped Peanut Butter.  Delicious!

Recipe according to Aunt Jemima

1 1/4 cup of pancakes mix
1 cup of milk
1 egg

I added:

2 spoonful's of peanut butter
1/4 cup of milk (it was toooo thick)

Frying pan on medium heat, spray with Pam or melt butter.  Flip/flop, enjoy :)

Have a great morning :)

Jessica

Too warm to cook!

With a heat wave hitting southern Ontario, it is just too darn hot to cook!  We have been experiencing some very warm and humid weather and as a result, my kids are not eating too much of anything.  The heat is exhausting and I have been keeping meals simple and small.

We have been indulging in watermelon, popsicles and freezies to help keep us hydrated and cool when playing outside.  The little pool has been filled every morning and the sprinkler has been used every afternoon.  What do you do to stay cool?

We can not wait to get to the cabin and spend some time in the lake swimming, fishing and going for boat rides. 

Today, I decided to make snack plates with food that the kids picked. 

The snack plate menu included:

Blue Ribbon bologna
Kraft cheese slices
strawberries
green grapes
Triscuits (Dill) 
Broccoli (for Chloe)
Carrots (for Chloe)

Here is what I created :)

 

 

What do you think?  The kids loved these and ate everything.  A little extra prep time and you can create art on a plate.  We will be continuing this and I will need to brush up on my plate art as they ask for more intricate objects.

Thanks Pinterest :)

I have been perusing Pinterest again, looking for some recipes to try with my kids.  I came across a couple that I can not wait to try.  I find that the simple recipes I find on Pinterest are the best.  They seem to be passed down from generations and are no fail. 

I have posted picture of what I hope to create and below each picture is the link to the recipe.

Homemade Goldfish Crackers

 

Ingredients

• 8 ounces, weight Sharp Cheddar Cheese, Shredded
• 4 Tablespoons Butter, Cut Into Cubes
• 1 cup Flour
• ¾ teaspoons Salt
• 2 Tablespoons Cold Water

Instructions

1. Pulse everything (except water) together in the food processor until the dough resembles coarse sand.
2. Pulse in water, 1 tablespoon at a time.
3. Remove dough from the processor, wrap in plastic, and chill for 20 minutes.
4. Roll out the dough and cut into desired shapes. You can use a toothpick to make the eyes and smile if desired. Place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
5. Bake at 350°F for about 15 minutes, or until crispy.

 

Pizza Roll-ups

 

 

1 can refrigerated crescent rolls

40 slices turkey pepperoni

4 pieces of mozzarella string cheese, cut in half

garlic powder

pizza sauce

Preheat oven to 375.

Unroll crescent rolls and separate into 8 triangles.  Place 5 slices of turkey pepperoni on each crescent roll.  Top pepperoni with string cheese half and roll up.  Sprinkle crescent rolls with garlic powder. Place rolls on baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown.  Serve with a side of warm pizza sauce.

 

Rollo Stuffed Ritz Crackers

 

Preheat to 350 degrees. Rollo Stuffed Ritz Crackers-salty side down, place 1 Rolo / cracker. Bake 3-5 min to melt Rolo, then add another cracker on top and push down a little. Let cool. Sweet & Salty treat.

 

OH MY!  Which one should I try first?  I am thinking of trying the sauce for tomorrow nights dinner and making the Ritz crackers for our road trip.  The pizza rolls are similar, if not identical to what I made the other day, but maybe the kids will like pizza rolls, instead of pizza bites.

 

Happy eating  :)

Happy Birthday Unlce Steve

We decided to celebrate my bother's birthday early, because we will be away on his special day.  I invited myself and my kids to my parents house for supper and made a cake to celebrate with everyone.  Nothing beats a confetti cake with fluffy white icing.

We had a water fight with the kids in the backyard, had a lovely supper (I will share the recipe), ate cake and sang Happy Birthday, and listened to some guitar playing by my brother.  What a great day.

We decided to make tacos for dinner, but we like to put a swing on things.  Unfortunately, this was not kid friendly and had to make them Kraft dinner, Pogo's and fresh peaches.  Everyone was happy.

We like to use:

 

 

 

We like the new Mild Old El Paso for our taco nights, but instead of ground beef, we use ground chicken.  Yum!

 

My mom made a yummy avocado salsa to add to the tacos.  Here is the recipe:

 

1 avocado, sliced and diced

1 cup of frozen corn

10 cherry tomatoes, sliced

1 lime, juiced

salt and pepper to taste

 

 

Mix all together and let sit for at least 20 minutes.  With the mild taco kit, you get a sour cream mixture that mixes well with the avocado salsa.  We also bought soft shells for those that like them better. 

 

You have your chicken taco simmering, cheese shredded, avocado salsa ready and sour cream mixture ready.  Let's make tacos!

 

Hope you enjoy :)

Pizza Bites

I am trying to be slightly inventive this week with food for the kids.  Hotdogs on sticks, mini apple pies, snack plates, muffins, etc.  Today I tried something new again and it was a flop for my kids.  I think that they were delicious, and wanted to share with you the recipe and maybe they will work for you.

I made pizza bites with four simple ingredients.  Here is what I used:

 

Simple ingredients for my picky children.  Anyhow, I simply made little pockets with the Pillsbury Country Biscuits and put two slices of peperoni and some cheese in the middle.  Then forming them into a ball of dough, placed them in a non-greased 9x9 cake pan.

I heated the pizza sauce on the stove and used small ramekins to dish them out on my kid's plates.  There are 10 biscuits in the roll, therefore you can make 10 pizza bites.

When they were put into the cake pan, I sprinkled them with garlic powder before baking them.

I baked them at 375* for 20 minutes (or until golden) and let them sit to cool before plating them.

Recipe:

1 roll of Pillsbury Country Rolls
pizza sauce
peperoni (I used turkey peperoni)
mozzarella cheese
garlic salt

Bake at 375* for 20 minutes in an ungreased pan

As I said at the beginning of the post, my kids would not eat them.  It was a bust for them, but I thoroughly enjoyed eating them for my lunch and packed my husband's lunch for tomorrow.  You could add any of your favorite pizza ingredients in the middle of the biscuits.  Share with me what you try and if your "clients" at the table enjoy them.

Need to get rid of some apples?

What do you do with fruit that is starting to become rotten?

For me, I like to bake with it or cook with it.
Bananas and apples are better for baking when they are ripe.  The flavor is better.
Berries in the fridge are great for smoothies, milkshakes, or popsicles.
Tomatoes or pepper are great baked with oil and garlic.

Don't shy away from fruit or veggies that are not looking perfect in your fridge; try to use them.

I had 5 apples that were starting to look gross.  This is the perfect time to make apple pie.  I love apple pie and its simplicity.  I usually make one large pie, but decided to make 12 mini pies instead.  They were very easy because I used store bought frozen tart shells.

Recipe:

Take tart shells out of the freezer and let thaw for 10 minutes on a baking sheet.

While they are thawing, make the filling:

5 medium apples, cut into small cubes
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tbs. lemon juice
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 pinch of salt
2 tbs. of melted butter
1 tbs. cornstarch

Mix all together and spoon into the tart shells.

 

I baked them at 375* for 25-30 minutes (until the tart shells were golden brown).

They were delicious and I served them with a dollop of vanilla ice cream.  KID APPROVED!

Things on a stick

As I said before; put something on a stick and the kids will eat it.  I tried something new for lunch today and here is what I created.

I used Natural Chicken Hotdogs, crescent rolls and cake pop sticks.  Simply put the cake pop sticks (or popsicle sticks) in the hotdog, wrap a crescent roll around the hot dog and lay on parchment paper/baking sheet.

I had the oven set to 375* and baked for 15 minutes.

I served them with ketchup, mustard and fruit.

Chloe = ate everything
Evan = ate everything but the water melon
Oliver = ate all the fruit, would not eat the hotdog

Why can't my kids be consistent?  Someday...

I need some new ideas or a little inspiration

Breakfast this morning was eaten out on the deck.  The weather has been beautiful and why not enjoy the outdoors as much as we can.  The weather has been a little less humid and we are not melting while playing outside.

We had toast with Nutella, fruit and yogurt for breakfast.  Nothing special, but the kids ate and then we played.

Thank goodness for coffee :)

For snack this morning, we had strawberries, gold fish and Nilla cookies.  We were doing yard work and the kids were playing on the swings and the sand box.  We spent the whole morning in the backyard.

Lunch today was at McDonald's.  Kids = VERY EXCITED!  We ordered kids meal with apples and one with fries.  This way we can share the apples and fries.  I also like that they get yogurt and milk with it.  A nice treat for the day.

This afternoon we spent time at the harbour park and played.  Ice cream was in order for a great afternoon and well behaved kids.

I hope you enjoyed your day :)



Supper made me draw a blank.  What to make, what to make?  I need some inspiration!

My husband took over and made sausages and perogies.  Had also gave them bananas.  Chloe ate two servings of sausages and bananas, but none of the perogies.  She has let us know that she HATES perogies.  As for the boys, they ate everything and a second serving.   

Dad to the rescue.  Thank you :)

Going on a picnic, leaving right away. If it doesn't rain, we'll stay all day :)

Going on a boat ride today with my parents and having a picnic lunch on board.  What do you pack when you are taking your kids on an outing?

I thought I would share with you what we brought today and let you know how the kids did with the choices of food.

We brought with us:

Peanut butter and jam sandwiches/ peanut butter and Nutella sandwiches
Nilla wafers
Yogurt
Apple juice that was half apple / half water
Cut up fruit (water melon and grapes)
Veggie straws

All of these are easy clean up and tasty.  We came back from the boat ride with a few pieces of sandwich left and everything else was eaten.

Do you have any special treats you take with you on picnics?  Please share.  We would love to add to our list of meals and snack.

Grandma's Banana Muffins

Life has been crazy with visitors, play dates, soccer, outings and birthdays.  I have been making simple meals and eating out for a couple of days.

Simple meals for us include:

- snack plates (crackers, cheese, lunch meat, fruit, yogurt, muffins, pizza, raisins, granola bars, etc.)
- pizza (ordered in or ready to bake from the grocery store)
- fried eggs and toast with fruit

We often do snack plates when the kids have places to be after work or if it is too warm outside to turn on the oven, and even too warm to be using the BBQ.

When we eat out at restaurants or indoor play areas, we tend to only buy two meals for our three kids.  First, meals are huge and second if we get two different meals, we can combine them all to give our kids some choices and everyone is happy.  Always look for options of fruit or veggies and order only one order of fries to be shared.  I find that if we eat too much grease while we are out, the kids become crabby and get upset bellies.



Today we had a play date set at our house and I made my grandma's banana muffins.  This recipe can be used for banana bread, muffins or mini muffins. 

The recipe is as follows:

1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup of bananas (I usually use 2-3 bananas)
1 tsp. lemon juice (if you do not have this, use apple juice)
2 cups of flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Mix together.  

I add 1 cup of chocolate chips for special occasions :)
Spray or rub with butter the baking pans.

Bake at 350*
60 minutes for banana bread
25 minutes for muffins
12 minutes for mini muffins
(or until golden brown)

Enjoy :)

Pinterest recipes

Pinterest is a great source of recipes, cooking ideas and examples of how to be creative with food.  The only downfall is that you need time and energy to search the millions of posts and you may try something that doesn't work or is disgusting.  I thought I would take this opportunity to share some posts that were delicious and ones that my kids approved.

When I joined Pinterest, I only searched food options and am only now branching out to the other great finds for home décor and crafts.

Anyhow, here are a couple of recipes that are great:

Mozza Balls

 

Mini Deep Dish Pizzas

 

Meatball bubbles

 

 

Crockpot Noodles

 

BaNilla Cookies

I hope you take the time to check out these recipes and try them with your family.  I have included pictures and links to all of the recipes.  I have made all of these a few times and I have always been successful in making them and my kids love them.

Have a great day and see you tomorrow with yogurt bites, banana muffins and more.

Homemade chicken fingers

My daughter requested chicken fingers and I decided to make them from scratch.  These were incredibly easy and took less time to cook because they were not frozen.

Here is what you need:

skinless, boneless chicken breast strips (or cut strips from a whole breast)
3 eggs
seasoned panko crumbs

a baking sheet
parchment paper

oven set to 375* and bake for 15-20 minutes

I like to use the following panko crumbs (Presidents Choice) , but you could also use bread crumbs, cornflake crumbs, or crushed up chips and crackers.

Start with an egg wash for the strips of chicken and shake them in a bowl or bag of panko crumbs.  Lay the strips out on a baking sheet, covered with parchment paper and put in the oven.

I tend to cook meat a little longer than asked in directions, but found that these chicken strips were done in 17 minutes.  My daughter asked for ketchup as dipping sauce.  What do your kids like to dip them in?

 

My daughter also wanted waffles and corn with her chicken strips.  She ate her whole plate, but my boys ate everything but the chicken strips.  My kids are not big fans of meat, except for the (not so good for you) cured meats.   

Watermelon pops for a HOT summer day

The humidity yesterday was unbearable, but we were outside to burn some energy with the kids.  Popsicles are great and so are freezees for these warm days.  It is all about hydrating the kids and keeping them comfortable with the heat.

Instead of popsicles all the time, I like to cut up a watermelon in triangle slices and slice small openings through the green skin of the watermelon to insert a popsicle stick.  What you get is a watermelon popsicle. 

This makes them easier to eat and little people think that anything on a stick is a treat.  My kids ate a whole platter of these and went back to playing.

They ate something new! Yeehaw!

I am tired of the same old food.  You would think that my kids would be too.  Do your kids eat the same meals often or request them often?

We decided to try something new tonight for dinner and we made quesadillas.  Not restaurant type quesadillas, but our kind.  My kids do not enjoy meat unless it is cured and salty.  Chicken was not an option tonight.  Instead we used old fashioned ham (lunch meat).

Here is what we used:

whole wheat tortillas
cheddar and mozzarella cheese
tomatoes (chopped)
old fashioned ham (lunch meat and chopped)

salsa (for dipping)

I spray my frying pan with a little bit of Pam Cooking Spray and cook these on medium heat.  I flip the quesadillas a few times to allow for uniform melting of the cheese.

Let it cool on a cutting board and cut to desired size of slices.  Strawberries were once again requested at dinner and we served the quesadillas with mild salsa.  The kids LOVED this and ate everything.  Yes!  Another recipe that I could possibly experiment with different fillings.

 

It is always nice to try new things and have your kids enjoy it.  They were rewarded with a chocolate chip cookie that I made earlier in the day.  High five Mom of Three!

Easy snacks for kids

Here is an example of a morning snack at our house.  My kids are up and fed by 7:30 in the morning, therefore snack time is usually 10 am.  You may have noticed that all my snacks and meals include fruit.  My kids LOVE fruit.  I am trying to get them to enjoy vegetables.  This is an ongoing challenge.  

 

My snack plate includes:

 

graham crackers

strawberries

raisins

yogurt bites (store bought in the baby food isle)

 

It is an easy snack with something sweet.

 

This week, I will be making frozen yogurt bites.  They are a nice cold treat for the kids and they consist of only yogurt that is frozen.  I will post this with pictures soon.  

My kids could live off of pizza

Pizza for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  If I allowed this, my kids would embrace the idea.  I like the idea of pizza every Friday night.  We order out, have a fun family night with the kids. The idea of creating memories and traditions with my family makes me happy and makes us a stronger family.

I often make homemade pizza, or we order in.  I have made homemade dough and it is delicious, but some days there is NO TIME!  Instead, I have found ideas on the internet that help make pizza quickly and the kids love it.

Pizza bread!  Or pizza tortillas!

Today for lunch I made pizza bread in the oven.  This is easy and the kids could help.

Here is what you need:

slices of bread (# depending on number of kids)
pizza sauce
toppings (peperoni, peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, etc.)
mozzarella cheese

baking pan

I usually turn the oven to 400* and bake these for 5-7 minutes.

Easy right?  My kids like the basics, but the adult ones had peppers and mushrooms on them.  I served this with grapes and a yogurt.  My kids ate all of it :)  That makes a happy mom.