Kids and Teen Blog

Tag: Food

Mom Minute- Holding on to Those Last Minutes of Summer

by Crystal
Craft + Excerpts + Food & Drink + Kids + Parenting / August 31, 2011

The last days of summer are upon us, and this mommy is doing everything she can to make the most of every last moment. From buying flats of blueberries to make freezer jam, to visiting the water park and spending lazy afternoons eating PB&J in the shade of a big oak tree and running through the spray, to visiting the farmers stand every weekend to buy the freshest, local produce that money can buy. 

To help you hold onto these last, lazy days of summer here are two summertime recipes that you can make with the help of your little one. 

What's summer without spending at least one afternoon setting up a lemonade stand? No lemonade stand is complete without a sweet treat to go with your lemonade. When flipping through a copy of Cutie Pies for Kids recently these Beach-Style Lemonade Pies looked like they would be a fun summertime treat. 

Beach- Style Lemonade Pies

For Crust:

-2 cups Nilla wafer crumbs

-4 tablespoons butter, melted

 

For Pie:

-1 can (21 ounces) lemon pie filling

-2 cups whipped cream

-Thin lemon slices

Instructions:

To make crust, combine wafer crumbs and butter in a medium bowl. Press into the bottoms and sides of 12 minie pie pans or paper cupcake liners and chill for at least 2 hours before filling.

In a large bowl, fold together lemon pie filling and whipped cream. Spoon creamy lemon filling into prepared mini pie pans. Garnish with lemons slices. 

Makes 12 mini pies

 

Beach Style Lemonade:

Photograph by Zac Williams from Cutie Pies for Kids by Jennifer Adams.  Reprinted with permission by Gibbs Smith.

 

 

My daughter and I love taking trips to the farmer's stand together. She helps me pick what fresh, local produce she would like to try. She loves peaches, cherries, strawberries, blueberries, apples-- basically if it's fruite she loves it, wish I could say the same for vegetables. 

When I cracked open my copy of Cake Mix Cooking For Kids this morning the Mini Cupcake Kabobs recipe immediately caught my eye. The recipe calls for strawberries, pineapple and bananas but really I think you could substitue any fresh fruit you have available. I bought a mini cupcake pan at the beginning of this summer with the intention of making mini muffins with my little girl. I think this weekend might be the perfect opportunity to give it a test run with the below recipe. 

Mini Cupcake Kabobs

Ingredients:

-1 Strawberry or pineapple cake mix

-Ingredients listed on back of box

-20 hulled strawberries

-1 can (20 ounces) pineapple chunks

-2 to 3 bananas, peeled and cut into chunks

-20 wooden skewer sticks

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cake mis according to package directions. Prepare mini muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray. Place 1 tablespoon batter into each cup. Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden around edges. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before removing to cooling rack where the cupcakes can completely cool. Repeat process with remaining batter. You will have 80-84 mini cupcakes when you are done.

On each wooden skewer, thread cupcake, banana chunk, cupcake, strawberry, cupcake, pineapple chunk, and a final cupcake.

Makes 20 kabobs

 

Mini Cupcake Kabobs- Photograph by Zac Williams from Cake Mix Cooking for Kids by Stephanie Ashcraft. Reprinted with permission by Gibbs Smith.

I hope you, and your kiddos enjoy these recipes. If there are any specific ideas you would like to see in my Mom Minute posts or my Notes From A Children's Book Publicist posts please let me know through our comment form.

Also don't forget to enter our contest to win the fantastic new card game Quallop!

Happy (last days of) Summer!

Are You Eating Something Red?

by Dan
Board Books + Kids + Picture Books / May 28, 2010

Here's a super-cute book trailer for Blue Apple's Are You Eating Something Red? by Ryan Sias:

A sturdy board book that's perfect for mealtime fun, Are You Eating Something Red? introduces Greenie, a new mascot for young readers and eaters, who helps kids choose healthy and nutritious fruits and vegetables.  

Are You Eating Something Green? placements that accompany the book are also available.