Cooking With Kids--Potato Chip Cookies

When I saw this recipe in the Martha Stewart Living Magazine I knew I just had to try these!  My daughter LOVES chips and cookies!  If she had anything to do with it, all she would eat is chips!  My kids and I whipped these cookies up yesterday morning.  They love cooking/baking and had a lot of fun making these cookies. I think their favorite part was smashing the chips into crumbs!

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

I made this dessert for my husband on Father’s Day.  He loves cheesecake, so I thought this might be a quick alternative!  I am usually not big on cheesecake, but I still had to have a tiny sample of this one!  Hubby loved it!  Fast, easy and yummy…my kind of dessert!

Ingredients:

3 (8-ounce) pkg. cream cheese, softened

3 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 (16.5-ounce) rolls refrigerator chocolate chip cookie dough

Directions:

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.) In a large bowl, beat together cream cheese, eggs, sugar, and vanilla until well mixed.  Set aside.

3.) Spray a 9 x 13 inch glass dish with cooking spray.

4.) Use one roll of cookie dough, and press in to the bottom your glass dish.  You will then spoon your cream cheese mixture over the cookie dough.

5.) Slice the other roll into thin slices and place them on top of the cream cheese mixture.

6.) Bake 45-50 min. or until golden and center is slightly firm.

7.) Remove from oven, let it cool and then refrigerate.  Cut into slices when chilled.

 

You could even add toppings to this just before serving!

(Recipe from MrFood.com)

Canned Cinnamon Roll Waffles

 

I have seen this recipe floating around blog land and thought my kids would think this was fun.

All you need is a can of Cinnamon Rolls.

Spray your waffle maker with oil before placing your rolls.  Place 1 roll in each section on your waffle maker.  (See I sprayed the bottom and forgot to spray the top!)

My waffle maker has a timer and beeps when it thinks it is finished.  I set the temp. on medium-low.  I did not want burnt waffles!

This is what they look like when they are finished!  I let the kids ice their own waffles!  I am positive that these would be great with syrup also!!

The kids and husband approved and it was a very quick and easy breakfast when you are short on time!  I think I will add this to my list of favorites!

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White Chicken Enchiladas

I am sad that my Spring Break is coming to an end.  It goes WAY too quickly these days.  I always have such great plans of what I am going to accomplish.  I truly did get quite a few things done, it is just never enough!

Anyway, it is funny how I am much more motivated I am to cook dinner at night when I have not spent my day chasing around 5 yr. olds!  Usually by the time I get home cooking dinner does not sound all that appealing!

Braided Spaghetti Bread

I LOVE this recipe!  This recipe came from a teaching friend of mine!  She is addicted to trying lots and lots of Pinterest recipes. (Which is good for all of us at school…she tries them and then she gives us the low down on how they actually turned out!)   I am sure that is where this one originally came from.  You can check her out over at Cooking With The Clouds.  She writes about her adventures in the kitchen! (This recipe and very detailed directions can also be found here.

This picture does not even begin to describe how great this meal is!  I am really not a spaghetti girl!  But add the bread and all of the cheesy goodness and YUM!  Need I say more?

Braided Spaghetti Bread

1 Loaf Rhodes Bread Dough or 12 Rhodes Dinner Rolls, thawed to room temperature
6 oz spaghetti, cooked
1 cup thick spaghetti sauce
8 oz mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2 –inch cubes
1 egg white (I used butter on top of mine instead of the egg whites.)
Parmesan cheese
Parsley flakes

Lay out dough several hours before you plan on rolling out your dough.  The dough is frozen and needs to thaw out.

Spray table or place dough on parchment paper.  Roll out dough until you get a 12x16 inch rectangle.

Let dough set for about 10 minutes.

Cook spaghetti, drain and let cool.

Mix in your spaghetti sauce. (add meat if desired)

Unwrap dough.

When the spaghetti has cooled off, place the spaghetti lengthwise down the center of the bread.

Place mozzarella cubes on top of the spaghetti.

You will now cut 1 1/2 inch strips down both sides of the bread.  You will then criss-cross the sides, alternating one over the other to make a braid.  (left over right, right over left)  Tuck the ends in.

You can use the egg wash or butter on top of the bread.  Sprinkle with parsley flakes and parmesan cheese.

Bake 350 for 30-35 minutes or until brown.

Slice and serve! 

I would LOVE to know if you try this recipe!

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Homemade Pizza and a Movie

Yesterday was definitely a “Let’s just chill day.”  Since it was the first full week of school, we have been going non-stop.  When I am at school all week, I am less likely to want to go on the weekends.  I just need to have down time at the house. 

So I decided we would make pizza and watch a movie with the kids!

My husband likes to say that I am very spoiled when it comes to homemade food.  My mom and my grandmother always bakes rolls and lots of yummy desserts.  So I come by this honestly.  I just don’t have as much time as I would like to bake.

This is also fun for the kids!  Both my kids rush in when I am making pizza!  They are always fighting over who is putting on which toppings! 

So here is the recipe for the homemade pizza dough that I grew up eating! 

Homemade Pizza

This recipe will make 1 pizza crust.

1 pkg. yeast

1/2 cup warm water

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tbsp. oil

Start by adding the warm water to a bowl or big stand mixer.  Next, add your yeast.  Stir water and yeast until the mixture is bubbly.  Add your salt and oil to the mix.  Lastly, add your flour a little at a time.  The dough should be stiff.

Knead your dough.  Put a little oil in the bottom of a big bowl.  Place the dough in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  I usually wrap the bowl in a towel so it will rise quicker.

Let rise about and hour or until it doubles in size.

You will then roll out the dough on your pizza pans and add your desired toppings!

Bake at 375 until crust is light brown and cheese is melted.

Enjoy!

(I like lots of crust!  So, I will usually make 3 to 4 crust for two large pizzas.)

Oh and the movie the kids choose was:

Overall, it was a cute and family friendly movie!

Fun times and memories made!

PRICELESS!

Banana Pancakes

 

I had some really ripe bananas sitting on the counter the other morning.  I was trying to decide what I could do with them and for some reason Banana Pancakes came to mind.  I have actually never had banana pancakes before, but I thought it would be worth trying.  I goggled it and came up with this recipe.

Banana Pancakes

2 ripe bananas
1 1/2 C Bisquick
1 egg
1/2 C milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon
nutmeg
1/4 tsp vanilla

With a fork mash bananas leaving some lumps. Add in Bisquick and egg stir until just blended. Add in milk, cinnamon, vanilla & a pinch a nutmeg. Stir until blended there will be lumps from the banana.
Makes 12 pancakes.

I did not put the nutmeg into the pancakes.  I stuck with using just the vanilla and the cinnamon.  I probably used a little more than 2 bananas also.

I would definitely make these again!  My husband usually does not eat pancakes or waffles.  He said that he really did like them.  (Always a plus when the kids and husband likes a new recipe!)

As for the picture with the bananas on top…I did not tell my 6 year old that they  had bananas IN the pancakes.  I had asked him if he wanted Banana Pancakes and he said, “No”.  Of course!  Anyway…after they were made he told me that he did want bananas on top of his pancakes!  I am not sure he even realized that they actually had bananas IN them!  (JUST ON TOP!)  LOL!

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Saturday Morning Yummy-ness!!

Pumpkin Muffins...Oh how I love you!

Ok, if you have not tried these Pumpkin Muffins...well let's just say you will never think of pumkin the same way! At first thought..I turned up my nose. I don't like pumpkin pie, pumpkin cake or anything pumpkin related.

These muffins are now my favorite go-to muffins! This recipe came from one of our Kindergarten parents several years ago. She had brought these muffins for a co-woker of mine. Of course our sweet co-worker shared these muffins with the rest of us and we instantly agreed that we all needed this recipe.

Oh so simple....

1 Spice Cake Mix

1 Can of Pumpkin

1 Bag of Hershey's Cinnamon Chips

This is all you need. Stir the ingredients together and place in muffin pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until done.

That's all! The easiest muffins you will ever make! And of course the yummiest!

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Snow Day # 3 & Cake Mix Cookies

I love being stuck inside for a couple of days! To me this means....project time! I have had time to pick up the house, actually cook dinner, play with the kids, and work on finishing a few crafty projects. On my weekends, I am so consumed with the "What needs to be done to start the next week" question that my free time flies by way to quickly.

So yesterday my 2 year old and I baked some cookies! We made Cake Mix Cookies!

There are a ton of recipes out there for these. I just used the one that I found first.

I tend to forget how easy they are!

Here is what you will need:

These cookies turned out great! They were a big hit on a cold, snowy day!

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