Pancake Spaghetti

Pancake Spaghetti.  I know it sounds weird, but hear me out.

We are enjoying trying some new recipe this Summer.  I saw this idea for pancake spaghetti online and saved it to do with the kids on a slow morning.  I mixed up our usual Hungry Jack extra light and fluffy pancake mix.  Grabbed a squirt bottle and then carefully poured the mix into the bottle.  It was really easy.

This would be so fun to make with your kids, grandkids, friends or family.  The kids loved making their own spaghetti and just needed a little help flipping.

Pan warmed up, sprayed with nonstick cooking spray and then a full bottle of pancake mix.

Fill the whole pan one line at a time with pancake mix.  Let it bubble and firm up then flip.  Everything cooks quickly so watch it closely!

We made some eggs and had all of our usual pancake toppings - butter and syrup.

Cheers to slow mornings, delicious breakfasts and snuggles.  I'm in denial that it is the last day of June.  Summer needs to SLOW DOWN.

I hope you give this pancake spaghetti a try!

5 Minute S'mores Dip

I have the yummiest, easiest dessert recipe to share with you today!

We loved it so much that we made it twice last week.

Hello, S'mores Dip!

It takes 5 minutes to assemble and bake and the ingredient list is really short.

S'mores Dip #1 (my favorite)

Ingredients:
Chocolate Chips or any of your favorite chocolate

Mini Marshmallows

Graham Crackers

Layer the chocolate on the bottom of a pie or loaf pan.  Put mini marshmallows on top.

Bake at 400 for 2-3 minutes.  Watch it closely! The marshmallows toast fast.  Remove it from the oven when the marshmallows are at your perfect level of toasty.  Let it sit for a couple minutes to ensure that the chocolate is good and melty.  Break apart graham crackers for dipping.  Serve your s'mores dip!

This was so much fun to make and eat.  It would be the perfect treat to make for kids, friends, neighbors or your own crew if you need a simple dessert.

S'mores Dip #2 (the kid's favorite)

Fletcher wanted to change up the chocolate so we did Hershey Bars, Cookies & Cream Hershey bars & Reeses cups.  We broke everything up into small bits and did the same process as above.  It took the chocolate chunks just a little longer to melt than the chocolate chips.  Both options are delicious!

Fletcher is such a good helper in the kitchen.  He loved making this with me and loved creating a new recipe with me.  This is the perfect recipe to make with your kids.  Enjoy!

Watermelon Fries

Do you want your kids to eat more fruits and veggies?

Ask them to help you prep them!

My kids had been asking to make watermelon fries all Summer.  We finally got around to doing it this month and they quickly inhaled two watermelons.  I helped cut the big chunks of watermelon for them and then they used my 20 year old Pampered Chef crinkle cutter to make fries.  It was so fun and so easy.  I think this is our new favorite way to eat watermelon.

We stored the watermelon in containers with lids in the fridge.  Then we added watermelon fries to lunch boxes, snacks and dinners all week.

We love to use the crinkle cutter on cucumbers, carrots and any melons.

If I was replacing my crinkle cutter, I'd buy one of these:

HIC Kitchen Crinkle Cut Blade - very similar to mine.

Joie Crinkle Cutter - perfect size for kids!

ZYLISS Crinkle Cut Knife - with almost 12k reviews

Kitchen Helper and Other Jobs Toddlers Would Love

Does your toddler ask for jobs or chores?

Probably not.  Unless they see older siblings doing jobs.

Leo rarely asks for a job, but he loves when I ask him to help me with something.  And then after a little helping, he can often do the job on his own.

Let me tell you about my newest Kitchen Helper.  

One day I asked Leo if he wanted to help me make his favorite sandwich - a PBJ.  His eyes lit up and he was so excited to help me gather the ingredients.  Wheat bread.  Raspberry jelly and peanut butter.  2 knives and a plate.  I helped him open the containers and talked him through each step.  He was so gentle.  And tried so hard.  He asked for a little help spreading and a little help getting the peanut butter and jelly out of the jars.  Then he seemed to enjoy the most delicious PBJ ever.  He gave himself the title of my Kitchen Helper.  And now he asks to make his own with a tiny bit of help from mom.

This got me wondering what other jobs I could teach him to do around the house.  I tend to like things done a certain way - Kevin might call it The Whitney Way - which may not always be a compliment.  But I'm trying hard to come up with things to delegate and teach the kids around the house to prepare them to run houses of their own one day.  Right now Leo is eager to learn and eager to help mom.  Both of those things are a winning combination for learning to help around the house.

Toddler jobs around the house: 

(For reference, Leo will be 4 in April)

Fill the cat food bowl.

Put wet clothes from the washer to the dryer.

Unload the silverware from the dishwasher.

Help tidy up his toys when he's done with them.

Fold small towels.

Get out the vacuum and plug it in for me to vacuum.

Dust bust up any small messes he makes.

Carry in bags of groceries from the van.

Get the mail and packages on our porch every day.

Go upstairs and get his pjs/underwear on shower nights.

Put his dirty clothes in the dirty basket before his shower.

Bring his dinner plate over to the sink when he's done.

Give him a butter knife and ask him to cut up his own cucumber, banana or strawberries.

Take the compost outside to the compost bin every evening

and now he can make his own PBJ!

Look at that perfect PBJ!!  

What jobs do your kids help with around the house?  Do you have any good toddler job recommendations for me?

Building Kid's Kitchen Confidence

As my kids are getting older, they are looking cook more.  They help me with kitchen tasks and chores, but they really want to build their kitchen confidence by COOKING.  They want to learn new skills and become more independent in the kitchen.  I'm ready to teach them!

We started with a basic food that can work for any meal of the day - EGGS!

Look at these cute cooking kids!  They were so proud of themselves.

Fletcher is 7 and Olive is 10.  They both expressed interest in learning how to make their favorite eggs.  Fletcher wanted to master scrambled eggs with cheese and Olive wanted to make flat eggs.  They'd helped me make eggs many times, but that's different than being in charge of the stove.  We talked through the steps, the ingredients and the utensils needed.  They asked lots of questions.  They got better at cracking eggs, getting out all of the supplies at the beginning and cleaning up after themselves after we did this a few different days.

They gave each other tips and reminders to be safe.

And now both kids can make their own favorite eggs!  Yay!  Sometimes we make it to the weekend and I'm tired of cooking.  Olive will offer to make eggs for everyone.  She's super proud of her new skill.  She asks about salt preferences and if you'd like your eggs on bread.  It's so helpful.

Next up - Olive is eager to learn to make some desserts and Fletcher enjoys helping me chop, stir and prepare dinners.  I hope they they both have a list of things they feel confident in making by the time they are ready to head off to college.

What things could you teach your kids to make in the kitchen??

Here are a few food items that I know my kids would like to make on their own:

Grilled cheese

Ramen

Heating up canned soup

Lo Mein

Microwave popcorn

& maybe packing their own lunches from time to time.

6 Ingredient Homemade Play-Doh

Have you ever made homemade play-doh?

I grew up with a mom who made homemade play-doh so I had to continue the tradition with my own kids.  This recipe is so easy and you can easily add the ingredients to your next grocery pick up order.  The recipe is fast to make and the play-doh lasts for 1-2 weeks if you keep it in a ziploc bag.  

I've made play-doh for my kids, when we had friends over to play and for a whole class.  It's a really inexpensive, fun activity to do with kids and they love when you let them pick their own color of play-doh.  When Olive was in Pre-K, I made a class set of play-doh for her Christmas party and Olive requested we make more this Fall.  

Homemade Play-Doh Recipe:

1 cup flour

1 cup warm water

1/2 cup salt

1 T lemon juice

1 t vegetable oil

liquid food coloring

Directions:

Add everything to a saucepan and stir until well combined.  Add food coloring, vegetable oil, lemon juice and water back to back to get the best colored play-doh.  If you wait until it's well combined to add the food coloring, the color won't mix in well.  Stir the mixture with a spatula as it thickens up. If you have older kids, you can ask them to help you stir.  Keep stirring until it gets to a good play-doh consistency.  Then put in on the counter or a plate and knead it.  It's warm so I usually knead it the first minute or two and then pass it on to the kids.

You'll be the favorite mom in the neighborhood when you set up a play-doh factory in your kitchen!  The kids loved using my utensils to chop and create.

Big kids will love it!

Toddlers will love it!

We experimented with mix ins.  Cinnamon was fun to sprinkle in but didn't add much of a smell.  These sprinkles were great to mix in once the play-doh cooled.

We learned about coloring mixing.

We made birthday cakes.

And Grimace shakes!

And the 5th graders really enjoyed shopping Olive's play-doh shop at school!  We made pumpkin play-doh. and put it in bags to sell at her class market.

We also made look alike Crumbl Cookie play-doh to sell.  This was a big hit!

I hope you have someone in your life to make play-doh for!  It's been so fun for us to make the past month or so.  I'm going to make sure that I always have these ingredients on hand now that the weather is turning color and we might have some snow days in our future.  Let me know if you have any questions!

DIY Dirt Pudding

I have the perfect easy recipe for you to make with your kids, friends or neighbors.

My kids requested dirt pudding and have really enjoyed serving it to friends at play dates and dessert when we've had dinner guests this Summer.  It's so easy and so fun for the kids to build.

I will be keeping this 4 ingredient dessert on hand at all times for any time I need to pull together a fun dessert really quickly.

You just need a large box of instant chocolate pudding, 2 cups of milk, Oreos and gummy worms.

The kids enjoyed helping me make the pudding early in the day and refrigerating it to firm up.

Then we scooped the pudding into clear cups to serve.  I let the kids top their own desserts.  They all seemed to enjoy adding just the right amount of crushed Oreos and gummy worms. I'm going to be on the hunt for some gummy bugs and mini chocolate chips to add to our dirt pudding next time.

I hope you give this a try!

Ham & Cheese Egg Cups

I can't wait for you to try these ham and cheese egg cups!

They are delicious.

They're so easy and they reheat so well for easy breakfast or lunches all week long.

This recipe started out with me needing to finish up a package of ham and then I just added in the rest of the ingredients I always have on hand.  They make the cutest, most filling easy meal option.  They'd also be great if you were serving breakfast or brunch to a crowd.  The cups hold their shape perfectly and look pretty on a plate.

Ingredients:

12 slices of ham

12 eggs

2 cups of your favorite shredded cheese (sharp cheddar)

Your favorite seasonings to taste

Top with green onions

Directions:

Grease a 12 cup muffin pan and start layering.  Ham, cheese, egg, seasoning and cheese on top.  Be sure to break the egg yolk in each cup so that the egg cooks evenly.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or less if you want runny eggs.

We like this Kinder's seasoning from Sams or Costco.  It's super affordable and yummy on everything.

This would be a fun recipe to make with your family.  Leo loved helping me.

In case you are curious, this is what is leftover in the muffin cups when you remove them.  It doesn't leave much of a mess at all.  They pop out easily if you grease your pan.

 

I ate several fresh and then reheated some all week long.  I love having an easy meal option for myself in the fridge.  Next time I might add in some sweet peppers or onions.  This recipe is so easy to customize for your family.  Let me know if you give these a try!

Cooking Classes at Home

My kids love to help me in the kitchen.  They've talked about cooking classes before and I've looked into signing them up for one.  But they're kind of pricey and the menus are often funky.  I realized that if I dedicated a little time each week that I was fully capable of teaching a cooking class for them each week.  It wouldn't cost me anything and we'd all have fun together in the kitchen.

 

Class #1 Chopping a Salad

Look at that lovely salad!

I invited the kids to come to a salad chopping class on Sunday.  They knew we'd be making our dinner salad together. I gave them instructions as we went and they chopped.

They showed up to class with their hands washed and ready to learn.

I gave them each a cutting board, a kid friendly knife and a variety of veggies.

I demonstrated cutting lettuce, peeling a cucumber and carrot and the different ways we usually chop different veggies.  They snacked on veggies as they chopped.  We also talked about how that was okay because the salad was just for our family to eat.

They had the best time!!  Their biggest complaint was that they wanted to chop MORE!  

They were so proud of their chopped salad and couldn't wait to show it off at dinner time.  We all like different dressings so we let each person dress their own salad at dinner.  They tried new veggies and every ate salad at dinner.  This was the perfect way to get them excited about adding veggies to our menu.  

 

 My goal is to do a cooking class with them once a week.  No set night or set schedule.  Just try to invite them to help e in the kitchen and learn new skills along the way.  I'd love to have them learn how to make their own toast, scrambled eggs, chop various fruits and veggies, smoothies, desserts, chop veggies for roasting and prepare all the toppings for taco night.  They also have some ideas of things they'd like for me to teach them.  I can't wait!

Do your kids cook with you in the kitchen?  What would you put on your must learn list for them?