Jillie's Kitchen

Make food fun and exciting for your kids! And while you're at it, teach them math, science, and art through simple food projects using materials and other ingredients you can mostly find at your local supermarket. Be creative....eat creatively. If you have any questions or comments, email [email protected]. You can also find us on facebook at Jillie's Kitchen. var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-23748341-2']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();

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Video of us making mini banana muffins.

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Mini Banana Muffins

I love anything mini and bite-sized for kids.  I found this great recipe on allrecipes.com for Banana Crumb Muffin and made some the other day with my daughter.  Since the mini muffin tin is a grid, you can also use it to help illustrate basic multiplication concepts.

Here is the recipe by Lisa Kreft:

1. Combine 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt in a bowl.

2. In a separate bowl, combine three bananas, 3/4 cup of white sugar, 1 egg and 1/3 cup of butter (melted).

3. Mix these two together and scoop into the muffin tin. I sprayed with cooking oil or you can use cupcake paper to line the muffin tin.

4. In another bowl, mix 1/3 cup of brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, 1/8 teaspoon of ground cinnamon and 1 tablespoon of butter (cold).  Cut the butter into the mix so it looks coarse and sprinkle this generously onto the top of the muffin mix.

5. Bake in your oven at 375 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes.

What you can do with your kids:

Explain simple multiplication to them using the grid of a muffin tin.

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3D Rice Krispy Treats

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3D Rice Krispy Treats

Instead of just making square rice krispy treats, you can mold rice krispy treats into spheres and cones (or other 3D shapes).  This is a great way to teach your kids about solid shapes that exist in our world.

To make the rice krispy treats, melt 3 tablespoons of butter and then add 5 1/2 cups of mini marshmallows.  When this is all melted, add in slowly 6 cups of rice krispy cereal. 

After spreading out in a flat square pan, you can cut these into squares and mold the squares so the shapes are consistent in size. 

What you can do with your kids:

Experiment with different solid shapes and ask your kids where they see these shapes in our world.

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Cracker Art Video

Here is a video of my daughter helping with the cracker art project. 

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Cracker Art

When I walked through the snack aisle in the supermarket, I was surprised at how many different shaped crackers they have on the market.  I thought this was a great way parents can teach their kids about shapes at the same time as letting kids decorate these crackers with vegetables, fruit, etc to help make hors d'oeuvres. 

To get started:

Find as many different shaped crackers as you can.  I found squares, rectangles, triangles and circles.

For the decorations, we used different colored peppers (yellow, red and orange), square cheese, mini cookie cutters to cut out shapes in the cheese, chopped chives and cream cheese. 

You should use a piping bag to dispense the cream cheese.  This way, you can make little dots, thin lines, etc. 

Let you kids be creative and make their own designs.  In the process, they are also creating healthy snacks they can eat along the way!

What you can do with your kids:

Teach them about different shapes.

Let them help you make hors d'oeuvres.

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Here is a video on how to make Color Wheel Cupcakes.

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Color Wheel Cupcakes

This is a fun way to show your kids how to combine primary colors like red, blue and yellow to make secondary colors like purple, green and orange. 

What you will need:

One box of classic white cake mix and all the ingredients on the back of the box

Red, blue and yellow food coloring

Cupcake tin

Cupcake paper

Icing

1. Follow the instructions for egg white batter.  You don't want to add egg yolk to the batter or else it will tint the batter yellow.

2. Separate out the batter into three bowls.

3. In one bowl, add one drop of red and one drop of blue food coloring.  In a second bowl, add one drop of blue and one drop of yellow food coloring.  In the third bowl, add one drop of yellow and one drop of red food coloring.  Mix each bowl with a separate spoon.

4. Scoop about one tablespoon of each colored batter into cupcake paper.  You can then bake as is or you can use a toothpick and swirl the colors together.

5. Follow the instructions on the box and bake.

What you can do with your kids:

Show them how to make purple by combining red and blue.

Show them how to make green by combining blue and yellow.

Show them how to make orange by combining yellow and red.

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Homemade Fortune Cookies for Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is all about good luck and good fortune and wishing each other good wishes for the new year.  I decided to make homemade fortune cookies and ask the kids in the family to come up with well wishes for everyone which I will insert in each cookie.  So, I posed the question 'what nice thing would you like to say to someone who opens the cookie and gets your wish?'  Here are some of the responses from the kids (ages 3 to 6):

'You can be my best friend'

'We are all a family'

'I like your cooking'

'Have a Happy Chinese New Year'

Making homemade fortune cookies is tricky.  You have to spread the batter not too thick but not too thin and you have to fold it before the cookie cools or else it will crack.  It takes a lot of practice and patience.  Good luck!

Here is a recipe from food.com:

Ingredients you will need:

2 large egg whites

1/3 cup sugar

4 tablespoons melted butter, cooled

1/2 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon orange extract

  1. Prepare your fortune strips first.

2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

3. Whip the egg whites until foamy.

4. Blend in the sugar and beat until soft peaks form.

5. Pour in the butter, flour, salt and extracts and mix.

6. Using a spoon, scoop a dollop of the batter onto the parchment paper. Spread the batter with the back of the spoon until it spreads outward into a nice circle.

You should cut out circles and place under the parchment paper to guide how wide you want to spread the batter.

7. Bake the cookies for about 5 minutes.  Watch the cookie because you want to take them out of the oven when the sides begin to brown.  Some of the cookies I baked at 4 minutes.

8. Remove with a spatula and insert the fortune.  Fold upward to make a semicircle and then bend the middle over a cup. 

9. Put the cookie in a muffin tin to cool and keep shape.

10.  If the cookie is still soft in the center after cooling, you can bake for another 10 to 15 minutes at 250 degrees.  Then let it cool on a cooling rack.

What you can do with your kids:

Teach them about sending each other good wishes for Chinese New Year. 

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Video of making Fa Gao cake.

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Fa Gao Cake for Chinese New Year

This is a good luck cake we eat for Chinese New Year.  Fa means prosperity and Gao means cake.  As the cake is steamed, it should bloom into a smile which is good luck. 

To make the Fa Gao, mix together:

1/4 cup of all purpose flour

3/4 cup of rice flour

1/4 cup of sugar (you can use up to 1/2 a cup)

3/4 cup of water

1/2 tablespoon of baking powder

One teaspoon of almond or vanilla extract

A few drops of food coloring

Let the mixture sit for at least ten minutes. 

For the molds:

Try to use a thin mold versus a ceramic type cup or bowl.  The thicker the mold, the harder it will be for the steam to go through and bloom the cake. 

Wrap cupcake paper in aluminum foil to prevent the mixture from flattening the cupcake paper.  Fill the mold up to 3/4 of the way with the mixture.  Push up some parts of the aluminum foil so it is not touching the side of the mold.

Steam for about 15 minutes.  Be sure not to lift the lid of the steamer before the 15 minutes or else the cake will not bloom properly.

What you can do with your kids:

Show them how the cake blooms and what is means for Chinese New Year.  Also, you can show them how baking powder is used as the rising agent instead of yeast.

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Here is an instructional of the dinosaur fossil dig blog entry (posted April 29, 2012). 

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Peppermint Cupcakes

Merry Christmas! 

I love this time of year because of everything peppermint.  To make peppermint cupcakes, you can add about one to two teaspoons of peppermint extract to buttercream icing (enough icing for 24 cupcakes).  Or you can grind candy canes in a food processor and sprinkle on top of the icing.  I would sprinkle peppermint dust close to consumption or else it could melt.

For the candy canes, Wilton makes mint flavored white chocolate you can melt into candy cane molds.  To add the red to the candy cane, it came out a little better when I painted the red on the bottom of the molds and then filled in with white chocolate versus alternating red and white colored chocolate in the molds.

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Winter Wonderland Cupcakes

To continue celebrating the holiday season, I made these holiday themed cupcakes for my daughter's birthday celebration in her class.  The figure is made from chocolate although using gingerbread would be delicious as well.  For the eyes and buttons, I used extra icing from the cupcake and piped little dots onto the candy. 

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Blooming Garden Cupcakes

Inspired by a brief few days of warm weather in the midst of the chilly late fall, I made these "flowers in the garden" cupcakes. 

Here are some helpful suggestions:

To make the grass shaped icing, use the Wilton Grass Tip (Tip #233).  Don't fill the icing bag too full or else your icing will start to melt as you are piping it onto the cupcakes.

To make the flowers, use Wilton Candy Melts.  You can try to tint white chocolate but you will need to use an oil based food coloring, not water based which is what you find at the supermarket.  I found it very easy to melt Candy Melts and pipe them into candy molds.  And because the candy molds are small, it was easier when the tip of the bottle was thin and pointy.  Put the candy molds in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes to make sure it sets completely before you remove from the mold. 

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Holiday Cookies 2012

For our annual holiday cookie decorating party, we decorated gingerbread and sugar cookies this year.  We had four icings to choose from  - white, white with almond flavor, green and pink. 

There are many gingerbread and sugar cookie recipes that you can find online or through friends and family.  Use your favorite one. 

Here is a simple recipe for cookie icing:

1 cup confectioner's sugar

4 teaspoons milk

4 teaspoons light corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional)

food coloring

different kinds of sprinkles

You may need to play with the milk and corn syrup combinations depending on the consistency you would like.  What I would recommend is using squeeze bottles with thin pointy tops to help make nice lines and dots.

What you can do with your kids:

Let your kids explore their artistic side by decorating holiday cookies with sprinkles and different color icing.

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Thanksgiving Desserts

For Thanksgiving this year, I was in charge of desserts.  I decided to make a pumpkin pie cupcake and vanilla buttercream cupcakes with fall colors.

To make the pumpkin pie cupcakes:

This amazing recipe is from The Baker Chick.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 15-oz can pumpkin puree

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup half and half

1. Combine the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and pumpkin spice). Blend together well.

2. Combine the pumpkin puree, sugars, eggs, vanilla and half & half.   Whisk together.

3. Add the dry ingredients with the mixture and mix well.

4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

5. Line a cupcake or muffin tin with paper liner and spray well with cooking spray.

6. Pour the batter into the molds and bake for about 30 minutes or until you stick a toothpick into the cupcake and it comes out clean.

7. Chill and serve with whipped cream (either homemade or from the can). 

To make the vanilla buttercream cupcakes:

1. Use your own cake mix from scratch or mix from the box.

2. Follow the recipe for buttercream icing from our Rainbow Cupcakes post from September 2, 2012.  Tint with one drop of red food coloring and one drop of yellow food coloring.

3. To make the leaves, melt candy melts and pour into leaf molds and let it cool.  What I would do is fill the molds only halfway and then tap them out gently to let it distribute evenly in the mold and to remove any air bubbles.

What you can do with your kids:

Thanksgiving is a great time to ask your kids about what and who they are thankful for.