Cooking With Your Kids

It’s finally Halloween! Have you enjoyed the delicious and fun Halloween-themed recipes from this week? Tomorrow, I’ll start back with regular recipes and some yummy main dishes. I know I’ve neglected those for a week!

To end this special week, I’m going to show you how to make homemade hard candy! For this special recipe, you’ll need to buy a candy thermometer and several candy flavoring dram bottles. You can find these at various specialty candy shops online.

Homemade Hard Candy

Ingredients
3 ¾ cups white sugar
1 ½ cup light corn syrup
1 cup water
2 candy flavoring dram bottles (any flavor)
Food coloring (to match the candy flavoring)

Directions
Lightly grease a baking sheet. Set aside.

In a large saucepan, stir together the sugar, corn syrup and water. Turn the heat to medium and stir the mixture until all the sugar dissolves. Then, boil the mixture until the temperature is 310 degrees. (Do not stir after the sugar dissolves).

Remove from heat and wait for the boiling to stop. Then, stir in the desired candy flavoring and food coloring.

Pour the hard candy onto the baking sheet. Let cool.

When candy is cool, break into pieces and enjoy!

What do you normally do with your pumpkins once Halloween is over? I used to throw them away, but now I use the pumpkins to make pumpkin pie. It’s pretty easy to do, and it’s pretty fun too. Your kids will have a blast making real pumpkin pie with you.

Of course, you can also use store-bought pumpkin from a can, but where’s the fun and adventure in that? I’m all for helping the environment and using everything that you can. (If you plan to throw away your pumpkin, I seriously hope you don’t. Use it as compost for next year’s garden or save the seeds to plant a pumpkin patch next fall).

This recipe calls for a smaller-sized pumpkin, one that you haven’t carved. I’d put carved pumpkins in the compost bin.

Real Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients
1 small or medium whole pumpkin
1 store-bought pie crust
1 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
3 eggs
1 can low-fat evaporated milk

Directions
Wash the whole pumpkin in warm water. (Do  not use soap, just water). Cut the pumpkin in half with a serrated knife. Next, scrape out all the seeds and insides. All you want is the firm pumpkin flesh.

Next, you’ll need to cook the pumpkin. There are several way to do this, but I prefer cooking it on the stovetop. It’s quicker than cooking it in the oven.

Inside a large pot, add 3-4 inches of water. Place a steaming basket on top of the water and add the slices of the pumpkin with skin still on. Make sure that the pumpkin is NOT touching the water.

Cook on medium until pumpkin is soft enough to scoop out of the skin. Next, puree in a food processor or blender until you get a smooth texture.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine together the sugar, pinch of salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and allspice. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs lightly. Add in the pureed pumpkin and spice mixture. Slowly add the evaporated milk.

Pour the pumpkin filling into the store-bought pie shell. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, then turn down the heat to 350 degrees and bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Test the pie to make sure it’s done—insert a tooth pick or knife in the middle. If it comes out clean, the pie is ready.

Cool for a few hours and serve! You can also refrigerate the pie.

I think some of the recipes that we associate with Thanksgiving can be made a month earlier for Halloween. Like today, I’m making a sweet potato casserole. I think sweet potatoes are a wonderful fall ingredient that we should all love and enjoy.

I love the sweet and starchy taste of potatoes. It’s my favorite. If you don’t like sweet potatoes, you can always substitute fresh pumpkins. I find that their tastes are similar enough to pull off this recipe.

Let the kids have fun with the mashing of the sweet potatoes and the topping of the casserole. This recipe makes 6 servings.

Sweet Potato and Pecan Casserole

Ingredients
3 large sweet potatoes
1 1/2 cup brown sugar, divided
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup low-fat milk
1 cup melted butter, divided
1/3 cup flour
3/4 cup chopped pecans

Directions
First, you’ll need to cook the sweet potatoes. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Bake the whole sweet potato for 30 to 40 minutes or until tender. When the potatoes are cool, use a spoon and scoop out the insides into a bowl. Mash them.

Then, add 1 cup of the brown sugar, the eggs, vanilla, milk, and 1/2 cup of the melted butter. Stir together until mixed.
Using a tablespoon of the remaining butter, grease a casserole dish.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Pour the potato mixture until the casserole dish.

In another bowl, make the topping. Combine the rest of the butter, sugar, flour, and pecans. (Make sure the pecans are chopped finely). Sprinkle the topping over the casserole.

Bake  in the oven for 30-35 minutes until the top is browned. Enjoy!

Candy apples have been a traditional Halloween treat in my family for years and years. I loved them as a child, and I still love them. They are so addicting. Biting into these juicy apples and hearing the crackling of the outer candy skin—Mm! It’s a wonderful memory for me, and I hope this becomes a family memory for your children as well.

Obviously, this treat isn’t the healthiest thing, but hey! It’s Halloween. Indulge them once. Halloween only comes around once a year. Make sure your kids brush their teeth after they eat this sugar-laced treat. You don’t want them to have any cavities the next time they go to the dentist! I’m a stickler about brushing after you eat something sweet.

When choosing the apples, go to your local farmer’s market if possible. Try choosing a tarter apple (Granny Smith, Jonathan, Braeburn). The blend of sweet and sour is very yummy! Of course, pairing a really sweet apple (Golden Delicious, Fuji, Jonagold)  with a sweet candy exterior is just as good. Remember to buy the smaller apples—they’ll be easier for your kids to eat in one sitting.

This recipe makes 7 servings (7 apples). If this is your first time making candy apples, you’ll most likely need to invest in a candy thermometer. It will let you know when the sugar is at the right temperature.

Old-Fashioned Candy Apples

Ingredients
7 small or medium apples, chilled in the refrigerator
7 popsicle sticks (or craft sticks)
¾ cup water
1 cup white sugar
½ cup light corn syrup
4 drops red food coloring

First, make sure that the apples are firm and without any bruises or blemishes. Remove the stems from the apples. Wash and dry them. Poke the popsicle/craft stick into the apples.

Take out a cookie sheet and lightly grease it. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, add the water, sugar, and corn syrup. Turn the heat to medium-high. Stir the mixture.

Heat until the temperature is between 300 to 310 degrees (use your candy thermometer to do this). If you don’t have a thermometer, you can test the readiness of the candy by taking a small drop of syrup and dropping it into cold water. If it turns hard and brittle, the syrup is ready to remove from heat.

Remove syrup from heat and stir in the drops of red food coloring. Begin the apple coating process quickly, so that the candy syrup doesn’t harden!

Hold the apples up by the popsicle sticks and dip it into the syrup. Coat the apples evenly and put on the prepared cookie sheet to harden.

When you’ve coated all the apples, place the cookie sheet into the refrigerator to cool. Be sure to eat within three days of making them!

Let your kids sink their teeth into these candy apples!

Halloween isn’t just a time for the kids to go trick-or-treating; it’s also a festive time where adults and kids alike get to enjoy Halloween parties. We all dress up, stuff ourselves with candy, dance, and have fun!

This recipe is for those of you hosting Halloween parties. This punch is always a hit with everyone. It’s cold and has a yummy orangey taste that everyone can enjoy. Of course, this is a G-rated punch. For those of you who are over 21 hosting your own adult parties, feel free to add some vodka for a smashing time!

This punch is super easy to make and even easier to enjoy!

Orange Sherbet Punch

Ingredients
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 can frozen orange juice, thawed
Orange food coloring
2 (1-liter) bottles ginger ale, chilled
Orange sherbet

Combine the can of condensed milk with thawed orange juice. Add drops of orange food coloring to get the desired coloring. Add the ginger ale and mix the punch together.

When serving the punch, add a small scoop of orange sherbet in the guest’s cup. If you don’t have a punch server at your party, top the punch with scoops of orange sherbet and let it melt on top.

Serve and enjoy! This recipe makes 15 servings.

Halloween is coming up just around the corner! Make this extra-special for you and your kids. To help you do that, all of my recipes this week will have some sort of Halloween theme. Today, I’ll be making Halloween cupcakes using yellow cake mix.

For the sake of time, I’m using a store-bought box of yellow cake mix. I recommend buying from the all-natural or organic section of the grocery store or your local Whole Foods.

Some of you may be worried about using pre-mixed cake mix—the preservatives, trans fat, and other yucky chemicals that you want to exposure your kids to. So for those of you, I found this recipe for natural yellow cake on the Whole Foods Web site. Check it out HERE.

The frosting I use is a creamy and plain delicious. I added extra orange flavor and extra orange coloring to make it even more Halloweeny.

Halloween Cupcakes with an Orange Frosting

Ingredients

For the cupcakes
1 box yellow cake mix (or homemade cake mix)
Orange juice
1/2 cup diced candied orange peel

For the orange frosting
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 1/2 cups sugar
1 pinch salt
3 tablespoons orange juice
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 drops orange food coloring
1 tsp orange zest

First, get the muffin/cupcake pan out. Let one the kids line it with cupcake liners. (If you can find orange cupcake liners, it’ll make this recipe even better!)

Next, make the cupcake batter. Follow the instructions on the yellow cake mix package, but instead of using water, substitute it for orange juice. Fill and bake the cupcakes in the oven.

To test the cupcakes doneness, use a toothpick and poke the middle of one of the cupcakes. If the toothpick comes out clean, you’re ready to take them out to cool. Let cool for 30 minutes to 1 hour before frosting.

While the cake is cooling, make the frosting. In a mixing bowl, beat together the softened butter, sugar, and pinch of salt. Beat until the mixture is smooth. Next, beat the orange juice, corn syrup, and vanilla extract. Beat until creamy. Finally, add the orange food coloring and orange zest. Beat until the color is thoroughly mixed in with the frosting.

When the cupcakes are cooled, let the kids have fun slavering on the frosting. Enjoy!

Yield: 24 cupcakes.

Sometimes on the weekend, there’s more time to cook a heartier meal. I never stray from recipes that are more difficult. When I was young, I used to prepare meals with my parents that are more complex. I loved it because it gave me a challenge, and the food was rewarding. I hope you also let your children help when you’re preparing meals that are a bit more difficult.

This teriyaki chicken recipe takes a longer time to cook. It has to marinate for three hours, and then cook in the oven for another hour. I consider this a “weekend” meal. I’d never try this on the weekday, but for the occasional special Saturday dinner, I’ll prepare this. It is pretty tasty, and it also feels like Thanksgiving.

Weekend Teriyaki Chicken

Ingredients

1 whole chicken, cut into halves
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoon fresh ginger root, grated
4 cloves garlic, minced
Pinch of black pepper

Directions

In the afternoon, pat chicken halves dry with paper towels. In a baking dish, place the chicken with its cut side down.
In bowl, let your children combine the sugar, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and black pepper. Mix the sauce well and then pour over the raw chicken. Make sure that the chicken is evenly coated.

Cover the baking dish and refrigerate for 3-4 hours.

An hour before you plan to serve dinner, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Take the chicken out of the oven and place it in the oven.

Bake uncovered for one hour, basting every 10 minutes or so.

After an hour, remove from oven and test for its doneness. Make sure that the meat is no longer pink. Let it cool, cut into small pieces, and serve for dinner.

We have a vegetable garden in our backyard. We grow all kinds of fruits and vegetables in the spring and summer. Now that fall is upon us, our eggplants are growing out of control. We have so  many, and we have to do something with them! Eggplants aren’t exactly the type of vegetable that you could can for winter.

This eggplant parmesan is one of my favorite recipes. It’s an easy recipe to try with your kids, and it’s delicious too! Due to its baking time, it does take longer to cook. If you’re a busy person, I recommend cooking this on the weekend.

Your kids will enjoy helping with this recipe. Let the older kids slice the eggplant; the younger kids can beat the eggs. Everyone can have fun when it comes to layering the casserole.

Healthy and Simple Eggplant Parmesan

Ingredients

2 eggplants (any variety), peeled and thinly sliced
1 medium egg, beaten
2 cups bread crumbs (plain or Italian seasoned, depending on your taste)
2 cups tomato sauce (or store-bought spaghetti sauce), divided
1 package of shredded mozzarella cheese
1 package of shredded Parmesan cheese
Pinch of dried basil

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Take out a large bowl and let one of your younger kids beat the medium egg with a spoon or an egg-beater. He or she will have a lot of fun doing this!

Place the bread crumbs on a medium to large plate.

Let an older child do the peeling and slicing of the eggplants. Make sure that they are thinly sliced.

First, dip the eggplant slices in the beaten egg. Next, coat it with the bread crumbs. Place the slice on a baking sheet. Repeat this process until all slices are used.

Bake the eggplant slices in the oven for 5-7 minutes on each side.

In another baking dish, coat the bottom of the dish with a layer of tomato (or store-bought spaghetti) sauce. Then place a layer of baked eggplant slices on top of the sauce. Sprinkle the shredded mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.
Repeat with the rest of the tomato sauce, eggplant slices, and cheese. Sprinkle desired amount of basil on top.

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until the top of the eggplant parmesan is golden brown.

Take out of oven. Let cool and enjoy a delicious meal!

Banana pudding is one of our favorite desserts. It gets eaten up so fast around my house! Thankfully, I don’t have to spend hours and hours slaving over it. It’s so delicious, and it’s made with fresh bananas!

This is an easy pudding recipe that you’ll enjoy doing with your kids. The only horrible thing is that you have to wait for it to chill—I know, I know, your kids will complain. But the great taste is definitely worth all the groans.

To save time, I’m using an instant banana pudding package mix for this recipe. If you have a homemade banana pudding recipe or you just want to make it from scratch, feel free to do so!

Easy and Yummy Banana Pudding

Ingredients

1 package cream cheese
1 can sweet condensed milk
1 package instant vanilla pudding mix
3 cups whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 container of whipped cream, divided
5 bananas, sliced
10-20 Vanilla wafers, depending on taste

Directions

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until it’s fluffy. Add condensed milk, the pudding mix, milk, and vanilla extract. Beat all of the ingredients together until it is a smooth mixture. Fold in 1/2 of the whipped cream.

Allow one of your kids to slice the bananas. Set aside.

Take out a glass serving dish and layer the bottom with vanilla wafers. Add the slice bananas over the wafers. Spread the pudding mixture on top. Add more wafers on top, if desired. Top the dessert with more whipped cream.

Chill the dish for 3.5 to 4 hours in the refrigerator. Serve and enjoy!

I think that every person should eat at least one green with every meal. I am a fan of every green vegetable—from Brussels sprouts to lettuce to spinach to broccoli.

Today’s recipe is a side dish that you can serve with your dinner. It’s a fusion of Asian and American cuisine. I LOVE garlic, so I tend to use more garlic than needed. Tone down the amount of garlic in this recipe, if you’re not a fan.

This is a quick dish that takes less than 20 minutes to prepare. If it’s a casserole night, this is a great accompaniment.

I’ve specified frozen broccoli florets to save chopping time, but you are free to use fresh broccoli too.

Garlicky Broccoli

Ingredients

1 package frozen broccoli florets
3 tablespoons butter
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon white vinegar
Black pepper, to taste

Directions

Cook the frozen broccoli according to package directions. Most packages will allow you to steam it in the bag via the microwave. Drain any extra water and place the cooked broccoli on a plate.

While the broccoli is cooking in the microwave, melt the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Once it starts to melt, add the slices of garlic and let it cook a little.

When the garlic is fragrant, add in the remaining ingredients. Bring the sauce mixture to a boil.

Remove skillet from heat and pour sauce over the broccoli.

Serve as side dish. Enjoy!