Kids In The Kitchen
Recipes: Homemade Chicken Flavored Dog Biscuits
Homemade Dog Biscuits
The dog at our house is super spoiled, even though she doesn’t realize it. And at times she probably doesn’t deserve to be spoiled, like when she shreds our Wall Street Journal. Guess she is no different than humans, we are spoiled and blessed with so much yet we tend to act out. Overall she’s a wonderful dog, well behaved, and is super great with the kids even if she does get herself into trouble at times.
There is a certain child in our family that especially has a soft spot for animals. She has been BEGGING me to make dog biscuit treats with her for our black, furry, four-legged, mischievous family member! Our family had a roasted chicken a few days ago so I decided it was time to experiment with Homemade Dog Biscuits. The biscuits turned out really well and Skipper, our black lab, now has a giant baggie of homemade dog biscuits. She seems to think they are AMAZING, but she is not a picky eater. The girls love giving her the homemade treats too so everyone’s happy (or at least should be).
Homemade Chicken Flavored Dog Biscuits:
- 1 cup Hot Water
- 2 tablespoons Milk
- 2 Chicken Bouillon Cubes
- 3/4 cup Vegetable or Canola Oil
- 2 Eggs
- 1 cup of diced Chicken pieces (we used the heart, liver, gizzard, and pieces of chicken)
- 5 cups Flour
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Grease a cookie sheet and set aside. Stir all ingredients together to make a thick dough. Knead the dough on a floured surface for 3 minutes. Roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut out the shapes (we used a dog bone and bear). Place the cookies on the baking sheet and cook for 35 minutes, turn off oven and leave in the oven for additional 20 minutes. The edges should be slightly brown. Remove from oven and cool. Store in a Ziplock bag or air tight container in the fridge.
Tray full of Homemade Chicken Flavored Dog Biscuits!
The puppy in our family is very happy to get her special homemade treats.
Recipes: Easy Homemade Egg McMuffin
For those of us that eat eggs in my family the Homemade Egg McMuffin is a big hit for breakfast. I have one kid in particular that if given a choice she almost always asks for an Egg McMuffin (and I am pretty sure she has never had one from McDonald’s or anywhere else either). She has recently figured out how to make it completely on her own which means she no longer has to wait for my help! WooHoo!
We’ve been using this recipe for probably almost two years now. My sweet husband came up with the recipe one morning because he wanted to encourage me to eat eggs. As a kid I was NEVER a fan of eggs. However, my husband has slowing been transforming into more of an egg person. Now I actually look forward to and enjoy eating eggs at times. Of course, my version of “eating eggs” usually includes a decent amount of melted cheese and/or bacon on top, but hey that counts too! I am still not of fan of a plain fried egg or anything that dramatic!
Although, there are a lot of great Homemade English Muffin recipes we typically pick up the store bought ones to save time. So while our Egg McMuffin is homemade not all parts are from scratch like the english muffins. After making Egg McMuffins for awhile my kids bought me a handy microwavable Egg McMuffin dish that is much easier to use (you’ll see a picture of it below).
Easy Homemade Egg McMuffin:
- 1 whole English Muffin
- 1 Egg
- 1 slice of Cheese (shredded works too)
- Sprinkle of Real Bacon Bits or 1 slice of Bacon (whatever you have on hand)
Toast the English Muffin, butter it, and set aside (do these steps while cooking the egg so both the English Muffin and Egg are done about the same time).
Spray your Egg McMuffin dish or a small glass bowl (about 3 to 4 inches in diameter). Crack your egg into your bowl and stir to break up the egg yolk. Cover and microwave for 60 seconds on 50% power (the 50% power is important because your egg will cook slow and evenly not explode into a mess). Remove from microwave, uncover and add the cheese and bacon. Cover and microwave for 30 seconds on 50% power.
Flip the cooked egg, cheese, and bacon onto the toasted and buttered english muffin and enjoy!
Egg McMuffin cooking dish. I have really liked having this piece for making Egg McMuffins and it is super easy to use and clean! You can get one for around $3 at your local Walmart or on Amazon.
Crack the egg into the dish
Stir the egg to break up the yolk
Toast and butter your English Muffin
Cook your egg for 60 seconds on 50% power
Cheese and bacon added then cooked for 30 seconds on 50% power
Now your ready to eat Easy Homemade Egg McMuffin!
My Little Chef: Homemade Apple Crisp
Brina’s Homemade Apple Crisp was delicious!
Brina wanted to make homemade apple crisp for the family. She loves to cook and spend time with us in the kitchen. Thankful for her willingness to learn how to cook. She is becoming a great chef!
Mixing up the crisp, the spoon wasn’t working well so she used her fingers.
Freshly cubed apples sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.
Homemade Apple Crisp ready to go into the oven.
Freshly baked apple crisp!
What’s for Dinner: Our Weekly Menu Plan
I am really hoping for a more normal week this week. Last week I cooked for my family, however, my stomach was still upset from the epidural steroid shot so it was a little more challenging. This week I am trying to keep it simple as it will be a busy week. Here is our menu plan for the upcoming week:
Our Weekly Menu Plan
- Monday (Beef or Pork Entree): Beef & Bean Chili, Cornbread
- Tuesday (Kid’s Night to Cook): Hot Dogs, Steamed Vegetables
- Wednesday (Chicken or Vegetarian Entree): Spinach & Chicken Casserole, Fresh Salad
- Thursday (Pasta or Seafood Entree): Broiled Salmon, Mash Potatoes
- Friday, Saturday, & Sunday: Leftovers, Family Preference, and Hosting
I have a general pattern I try to follow for my weekly Menu Plan (for example Monday we have a beef or seafood entree and so forth). It is my goal, at least in the beginning, to have at least the main dish and one side planned. I will put together the remaining side dishes (veggies / fruits) based on the food items that need to be used up first and compliment the main entree.
Setting a weekly menu plan helps me utilize my time better, thus freeing up extra time to spend with my family. On the days that I am working longer hours I can prep the meal in advance so it will be easier to pull together once I am home. As I go through the menu planning process I will try to share some of our favorite family recipes. If there is a specific recipe you would like please let me know and I will do my best to accommodate (some recipes are a toss together meal and I do not use any set measurements).
As a family of four our life can get busy. What’s for Dinner is our weekly menu planning series and one of the ways to help keep us organized, on schedule, and within budget. Our family typically eats 6 to 7 dinner meals at home a week. We do try to go out to eat at least once a month as a special treat. Breakfasts are eaten at home before work and school, lunches are eaten at work, school, or home, so dinner is our main meal together as a family. Dinner is our time to reconnect, share, and enjoy being together after a busy day. Our weekly menu plan covers Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday only because the weekend (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) is our time to spend with family and friends. The weekends tend to be more spontaneous and my husband (who is the better cook) likes pitching in therefore we keep the menu open for variety. We use up the leftovers throughout the week for our lunches and on the nights that we are busy or can’t cook.
Photo by Liz
My Little Chef: Making Blue Raspberry Cookies
Mixing up the cookie dough!
When I am in the kitchen and Brina is around she is always willing to pitch in and help. She is becoming more efficient cook as she gets older. Recently, she decided to whip up some blue raspberry sugar cookies as a “Welcome Home” goodie for Jake who was arriving home that day from a work trip.
When he is away on a work trip we always try to make or pick up something special for him to have when he comes home. It is important to us to make sure he knows how excited we are to have him back home again. It is always so much better when the whole family is home together!
I am so thankful for kids that enjoy helping out in the kitchen. The girls have fun helping out in the kitchen and learning some great lessons along the way too. Grateful for my girls!
A batch of blue raspberry cookies ready to go into the oven!
Cookie rolled is blue sprinkles!
She made the perfect cookies!
Ready to eat and delicious! Thanks B!
Healthy Snacks: Grapes on a Stick
It is fun surprising the girls with healthy treats in their school lunch bags. The girls love it when I put grapes on a stick for their fruit snack. For an extra touch you can add eyes on the grapes and call them caterpillars. Every time we have grapes they request this simple treat to be added to their lunch bag.
School Projects: The Eye Ball Donut Creation & Writing Assignment
A tray of “The Eye Ball” Donuts ready to take to school
The girls recently had a writing assignment that they had to do for school. Brina came up with The Eye Ball Donut creation. For extra credit they could make their creations and share them with their classmates and teachers at school. We came up with a cookie creation using all the ingredients she mentioned in her writing assignment and they turned out fairly well. Instead of using cookies for Brina’s we used a powdered doughnut or in this case a munchkin for Dunkin Donuts. The donuts were a perfect treat to share with her classmates instead of cupcakes on Halloween. Karlie also did a cookie creation and writing assignment called Inside Your Feet.
The Eye Ball was super easy to put together and a big hit with Brina’s classmates.
Her tray of eye balls ready to be wrapped and delivered to school.
The Eye Balls did exactly what we wanted them to do – overnight the blue frosting that we used to attach the pupil part of the eye spread a little giving The Eye Balls blue colored eyes!
The Eye Ball Items:
- White Powdered Donuts (Dunkin Donut sells white powdered munchkins which are perfect for this treat, but you can make homemade if you want)
- Blue Frosting (we used the blue writing frosting but you could use brown or green, etc…)
- Edible Eyes (you can pick these up at Hobby Lobby, Walmart, etc…)
- Red Sprinkles
Once you have your white powdered donuts add a small drop of blue frosting and attached the pupil of your eye to your eye ball. Dip the bottom of the donut into red sprinkles and place on a tray. Let set overnight so the blue frosting will spread a little bit giving you a blue eye color.
The donuts turned out well and were a big hit with Brina’s class. It was a lot of fun putting these together with her and they were super simple. These would be an easy Fall or Halloween treat to do for a party or for fun.
School Projects: Inside Your Feet Cookie Creation & Writing Assignment
A tray of “Inside Your Feet” Cookies ready to take to school
The girls recently had a writing assignment that they had to do for school. Karlie came up with an Inside Your Feet Cookie creation. For extra credit they could make their creations and share them with their classmates and teachers at school. We came up with a cookie creation using all the ingredients she mentioned in her writing assignment and they turned out fairly well. The cookies were a perfect treat to share with her classmates instead of cupcakes on Halloween. Brina also did a cookie creation and writing assignment called The Eye Ball.
A few days before the actual assignment due date we did a trial run and experimented to make sure we could make her “skin, blood, bones, and ankle joint” to reflect the Inside Your Feet cookie as accurately as possible. We tried white sparkle writing gel (bottom right) but is blended too much, we tried straight white sprinkles (bottom middle) it was a lot of work and hard to get straight, we tried round white sprinkles (bottom left) too difficult to get straight, we tried pearl balls (top left) wasn’t too bad and would have been a more do-able option, and the final attempt was our favorite and probably the easiest option too, we used white writing frosting.
We didn’t have any feet cookie cutters and the stores we checked didn’t carry any so Jake made a set we could use with his 3D printer. Once again it saves the day!
Up close of the Inside Your Feet Cookie
Inside Your Feet Items:
- Sugar Cookie Dough or Brownies(we did some of each)
- Red Frosting (or white frosting with red dye)
- White Writing Frosting
- Red and White Mint
Make your favorite sugar cookie dough or brownies (your can make from scratch or buy a mix). The sugar cookies seemed to look more like feet with toes, but the brown mix had less steps to put together. Make your sugar cookie dough, roll it out, cut out your feet, and bake. OR Make your brownies first and cut out your feet after they are baked and cooled.
Once the cookies are cooled you can decorate by putting red frosting on the cookie. We did not go to the edge of the cookie with the frosting because Karlie wanted to show the layers of the Inside Your Feet Cookie (bottom – skin, frosting – blood and muscles, white – bones, and mint – ankle joint). Next add your red and white mint. Draw your foot bones with the white writing frosting.
The cookies turned out well and were a big hit with Karlie’s class. It was a lot of fun putting together with her.
What the different parts of the cookies represent:
- Bottom Sugar Cookie or Brownies- skin
- Red Frosting – blood and muscles
- White Writing Frosting – bones
- Red & White Mint – ankle joint
3/4 with Dairy + 1/4 Non-Dairy = 1 Whole Family Pizza
We have a member of our household who does not eat dairy. It is not a go-to-the-hospital-or-stop-breathing-dairy-allergy, but it is one that we try to be careful with because it does have noticeable effects when dairy is eaten. Over the past few months we have experimented with ways we can make only one family pizza with both dairy and non-dairy toppings. Our dairy-free eater is not a big fan of the soy or vegan cheeses either so after several attempts to “get it right” we have come up with a pizza solution that makes the whole family happy (both those who want cheese and those who do not).
We make one whole pizza crust that is non-dairy (see recipe below), add the sauce, and put two lines of pepperoni’s separating about 1/4 of the pizza from the non-dairy part of the pizza. Approximately 3/4 of the pizza gets cheese and toppings while the remaining 1/4 of the pizza gets sauce and extra toppings. When we cut the pizza we cut the non-dairy part of the pizza first (being careful to stay within the pepperoni lines). Everyone is happy with their special type of pizza, the dairy is avoided for the family member who doesn’t eat it, and we still only have to make one family pizza for our evening meal. It may be hard to make out the exact pepperoni lines in the picture above, but you can see the part that has cheese and the section that is noticeably more red in color with extra toppings which is the non-dairy part of the pizza.
We have done this multiple times over the past few months and it has worked so well. The only thing that may change in the future as the kids get older is one pizza may not be big enough for our family of four. For now it is a simple solution to accommodate all family members diets yet still be able to enjoy the pizza together. The one who doesn’t eat dairy thinks it’s awesome she has her own special section of the pizza and has fun choosing her extra toppings! While some of the other family members who think it’s not really pizza without a good helping of cheese are happy to eat their section of the pizza.
Homemade Pizza Dough
- 1 cups warm water (105 to 115 degrees F.)
- 1 Tablespoons active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoons sugar
- 1 teaspoons salt
- 2 Tablespoons oil (vegetable, Canola, or olive oil)
- 2 1/2 cups flour (can use all whole-wheat, half white/half whole-wheat, or all white)
Pour the warm water into a bowl and sprinkle the yeast over it. Stir to dissolve.
Add the remaining ingredients and mix.
Dump onto a floured surface and knead dough for two to five minutes until smooth and no longer sticky.
Roll out and shape onto a greased pizza pan.
Add pizza toppings of your choice. Bake at 500 degrees for around 10 minutes (until the crust looks crispy and lightly browned).
Makes one pizza!
Most of the time I will double this pizza dough recipe. Once the dough is made split it in half. Roll out one half of the dough for your pizza meal that night and put the other half in a Ziploc bag in the freezer for a meal later when you don’t have as much time to prep for dinner.
Family Activities: Fall Pumpkin Carving Fun
The girls carved pumpkins glowing on the front porch! Can you guess who designed which one?
It has been a tradition for our family to carve pumpkins around Halloween. A lot of times we carve the pumpkins the weekend before Halloween, but with everything going on this year it was a little later this year. On Halloween afternoon our family went out to search for the perfect carving pumpkins. After stopping at three stores we started to wonder if we were even going to find any pumpkins to carve. Finally, we ended up at Publix and thankfully they still had a lot of pumpkins including some huge ones. All the pumpkins, not matter what size were $5! Of course the kids picked the biggest ones they could find. We came home with one 25 pound and one 26 pound pumpkin!
This year instead of dressing up and running around doing trick and treating the kids decided they would rather spend the evening as a family celebrating Halloween. So thankful that the girls wanted to hang out and spend a relaxing evening with us. We let each kid pick out their favorite bag of candy, a pumpkin to carve, some fun games, and family activities to do Halloween evening. For Halloween dinner we picked up Chinese take out as a special treat.
My brother and sister-in-law brought my nephews came by dressed up as the cutest little lion and minion! It was the first year we had trick or treaters because usually we are never home for Halloween! It was great getting to see them and spend some time hanging out with them on Halloween!
The pumpkin is fresh, washed, and ready to be carved!
Cleaning out their pumpkins! They did the majority of the cleaning, designing, and cutting on their own!
Brina saw a cat designed she liked online and used that as an example to draw one on her pumpkin! We used wet erase marker to draw on the pumpkin before carving it out.
Karlie couldn’t find a design she liked online so she drew a rough draft of what she wanted on a piece of paper than drew it again on the pumpkin! She really wanted a rocket, Saturn, and a star on her pumpkin so this is what she created!
Brina carving her cat pumpkin out!
Karlie carving her space pumpkin out!
We have a space and cat pumpkin glowing on our front porch!
The girls chose more non-traditional pumpkin designs. Brina got her cat idea from another pumpkin she saw. Karlie designed her rocket, Saturn, star, and space one completely on her own (and fit her personality and interests perfectly)!
The pumpkins! I am pleased with how well the girls pumpkins turned out and they really did most of the work on them!
