Junior Chef Sponsored by Chef Boyardee!

momstown Central Alberta had a great Cooking program with Chef Boyardee!

Every member got to take home a bag of goodies including a super cute apron for the kids, cans of Chef Boyardee ravioli, a can of Pam and a recipe booklet!

We had two delicious recipes to create!

The first was mini Ravioli Lasagna

Recipe
1 Can of Mini Ravioli
I Cup of torn up Spinach
1 cup of cottage Cheese
1 Cup of grated Mozzarella
1/2 teaspoon of Itlatian seasoning

layered twice
Baked in a 425 degree Farnehiet oven for 20 minutes! Yum!!

The other was Chef Pizza-roni in a Pita Pocket
In a skillet combined 2 Cans of Beefaroni
1 cup of diced pepperoni
1/2 cup diced green peppers
Heat through

Add to Pita Pockets
Add extra garnish as desired, we added more peperoni, peppers and fresh mushrooms!

The kids also got even more creative with can stamping to create a Mural of Tomatoes!

Then of course it was time to eat!!

 

 Yummy enriched pasta, cheese and meaty tomato sauce, Chef Boyardee is a hot and hearty meal or snack.  It’s kid approved pasta, and has no preservatives!

Time crunched and faced with starving kids at dinner?  Chef Boyardee has easy meal solutions that the whole family can make together – then gobble up with no complaints!  Combine with different protein options, veggies and cheese for a new take on your regular way to serve Chef! 

Jr Chef sponsored by Et Tu Salad Kids in Red Deer!

It was a beautiful Sunny Day in Red Deer, perfect for an afternoon play date! 

Also perfect for a super easy Lunch!

We have had a week of cold weather so for our Junior Chef Program today we NEEDED to be outside and Play!

Creating a super easy Salad Lunch was the perfect way to enjoy a 

Beautiful Sunny Afternoon.

In between all of the playing, the kids helped create Chicken Caesar Salad, with a tortilla bowl twist!

Here is the Recipe that inspired us today!

Ingredients

Deli Roasted Whole Chicken

Romaine Lettuce

Et Tu Classic Caesar Salad Kit

Tortilla Chip 'Bowls' - small salsa size

Preparation

Take Chicken Meat off bone

Wash Romaine Lettuce, dry and tear into bite size pieces

Place salad into tortilla Bowls. add Chicken and ENJOY!

 

ET TU Salad Kits help you be prepared to create a meal that’s easy, quick and delicious.    These salad kits are so easy and quick, you can prepare your family meal with your toddler / pre-schooler helping out, and it will be fun and easy!

Et Tu Salad Kits are a great way to get kids to eat more vegetables.  

 You can keep them involved in the preparation, and the salad tastes great!

Moms don’t often think of salad as a “pantry item”.  Et Tu salad kits are an item you can “stock up” on.  You only need a fresh head of lettuce or bag of prepared lettuce to have a great tasting healthy salad.  You don’t need to worry abut all the ingredients – they are included in the kit.

Did you miss our on our Salad Making fun event this week?
Sign up to join us at our next event!

On Top Of Spaghetti Jr Chef event sponsored by Barilla in Red Deer

"On top of Spaghetti... all covered with cheeese....."
Remember that song from your childhood?
Well that was the theme at this months Jr Chef event in Red Deer sponsored by Barilla!

Barilla Canada’s latest line of pasta, called Barilla PLUS®, is a new multigrain pasta that contains protein, omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and fibre. Not only does it deliver superior nutritional benefits, but the same great taste you expect from regular pasta, too.  Barilla PLUS offers a taste, colour and texture that is delicious, while delivering a quick and easy meal that’s nutritious.  It’s a quick and easy solution for providing a delicious balanced meal that even the pickiest eaters in your family will enjoy.  Barilla PLUS is available in four different varieties including Penne, Rotini, Spaghetti and Spaghettini.  Barilla pasta can be served any day of the week in hundreds of different ways. 
For recipe ideas, visit www.Barilla.ca.


We started the event with two crafts!

Creating our own Chef hats and...

 colored pasta necklaces and Bracelets.

Then we just had to sing " On Top of Spaghetti"! The moms were shy at first, but the kids LOVED the song and wanted to sing it again and again.

Then it was time for the main event! Eating Our Spaghetti with Meatballs!
 

Thanks to Barilla, everyone was able to take home a box of pasta to try at home!

Junior Chef: Deceptively Delicious!

Have a picky eater in your house? Struggle to get your kids to eat their fruits and vegetables? Why not disguise them with these yummy recipes from the cookbook Deceptively Delicious. 

momstown Central Alberta's Junior Chef event created these wholesome treats full of pureed fruits and veggies. And no one complained about the cauliflower.

We suggest trying these at home!

Banana Bread with Cauliflower

Ingredients:

Nonstick cooking spray

3/4 cup whole-wheat flour

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar

1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil

2 large egg whites

1 1/2 cups banana puree

1/2 cup cauliflower puree

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350. Coat a 9×5-inch loaf pan, or 2 mini pans, with cooking spray.

2. In a bowl or a zipper-lock bag, mix the flours with the baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.

3. In a large mixing bowl, mix the sugar and oil with a wooden spoon until well combined. Mix in the egg whites, banana and cauliflower purees, and vanilla. Add the flour mixture and mix just until combined.

4. Pour the batter into the loaf pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 55 to 60 minutes for the large loaf, 25 to 30 minutes for the mini loaves. Let cool on a rack for 5 minutes, then turn the bread out of the pan to cool before serving.

Applesauce Muffins

Topping:
 2/3 cup old-fashioned oats or instant oats

1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp butter, melted

Batter:
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour or whole wheat flour

1 cup old-fashioned oats or instant oats

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup squash or carrot puree (we used carrot)

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup oil

1 large egg

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray or use muffin baking cups.

2. To make the topping stir together the oats, sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl. Stir in butter. Set aside.

3. To make batter, combine the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl and stir. In a second bowl, mix the applesauce with the milk, vegetable puree, sugar, oil, and egg with a wooden spoon. Add the flour mixture, slowly stirring until moistened. The batter should be lumpy. Do not over mix.

4. Divide batter evenly between muffin cups and sprinkle with streusle topping. Bake until topping is lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean. About 18-20 minutes. Turn the muffins out onto a rack and allow to cool completely. Store in an airtight container (if they last that long).

These make great snacks for lunches, after school snacks and for moms and dads too. 

While we waiting for our masterpieces to bake, we had some park play time!

Rainbow Waffles for St. Patrick's Day

Looking for a Fun St. Patrick's Day Breakfast? 

How about looking for the pot of gold at the end of the Waffle Rainbow? 

momstown Central Alberta's Junior Chef event created these colourful waffles! 

Don't they look fun?

How did we do it?

We started by mixing together our Waffle mix - from scratch!

Here is the recipe we used from www.allrecipe.com

2 cups of Flour

1tsp salt

4 teaspoons baking powder

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups warm milk

1/3 cup butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In a large bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking powder and sugar; set aside. Preheat waffle iron to desired temperature.
2. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs. Stir in the milk, butter and vanilla. Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture; beat until blended.
3. Ladle the batter into a preheated waffle iron. Cook the waffles until golden and crisp. Serve immediately.

How do you make the rainbow? We divided the batter into 5 bowls and used food coloring to color each a different color. We used red green blue yellow and purple. These were then transferred to squeeze bottles. 

Now the fun part! using the squeeze bottles, in a circular motion, layer the colors in the waffle iron and close the lid to wait for the color magic!

When the waffles are cooked, you can see your creation!

Happy Leprechaun hunting!!

Heart Pancakes on Pancake Tuesday

It's Pancake Tuesday and two days away form Valentine's day so we decided we needed to bake HEART Pancakes!

When growing up we LOVED having pancakes for a meal that is NOT breakfast! My girls thought this was an awesome treat as well.

We did cheat a bit and used pancake mix from a box, but we added our own special ingredient, and the girls were able to stir and "help" so they don't know the difference, and baking with kids is about the time spent doing it!

So we measured

And stirred

Added the special ingredient - Peanut butter! This was something my Dad used to do for us, when we had pancakes when I was a kid. I love the taste of memories!

When they were cooked, we used out heart cookie cutter to have HEART pancakes and they were topped with a little bit of Nutella!

YUM! Happy Pancake Tuesday!

Valentine Chocolate Croissants with Kids

momstown Central Alberta has our Valentine's Day party coming up, and it is a potluck affair, so we are "testing" Valentine Recipes at our house today!

We found some Pilsbury Refrigerated Chocolate Croissant packages at the grocery store and decided to make them Valentine!

We followed the package directions - super easy for our almost 3 year old to do!
She loves when the package "pops"
Then she decided that the chocolate filling cannot just be squeezed it needs to be painted!

We then rolled our creations... some MIGHT have been rolled the wrong way, but these are things that happen when you bake with kids!
Then we placed them in the oven to bake, and we waited very patiently for them to be ready.

To make them extra special and to tie into our Valentine's Day Theme, we used the extra chocolate to make hearts, and our course, added sprinkles "just because"

We think they turned out great!
Look for them at our Party on the 14th!

Junior Chef Sponsored by Nutella

Wow what a great event momstown Central Alberta held this past week! 

We had our Junior Chef event sponsored by Nutella!

We started our event by making our own Chef Hats!

Super easy and very fun craft! All you need is card stock, plastic bags, glue, tape or staples and markers or crayons. 

First you cut the card stock to fit your child's head, my kids have big heads, so I used more that 1 piece.  Have your child decorate the cardstok. 

When this was finished, we had Nutella Stickers to add! 

Attach both sides of the card stock to make a circle the size of your child's head. 

Then take a white plastic bag, cutting off the top if it is too big, and attach the bag to the inside of the card stock with either tape, glue or even staples, and voila! 

You have a chef ready to bake!

For our event we baked two fabulous recipes.

We started with Nutella Breakfast Bars

While the breakfast slices were cooking, we started our second creation...  

Fruit 'n' Nutella Yogurt Parfaits.

The kids loved both of their creations.... we had no left overs!!

At the end everyone was delighted to take home their goodies from Nutella! 

Our members loved that they recipe cards were included, especially when they saw how much the kids loved what they created.

Junior Chef: Baking Bread Rolls with Kids

At momstown Central Alberta's monthly Junior Chef Program, moms and their kids got busy baking bread rolls!!

Recipe for Bread Rolls - Makes 16
(taken from Usborne Books Farmyard Tales Children's Cookbook)
4 1/4 cups of wheat flour or strong while bread flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons of sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons rapid rise dried yeast
1 cup 2 tablespoons of milk
2 tablespoons of butter
1 egg ( we used 2)
preheat oven to 425 F

We started the process at home before the event to save time, because the dough does need time to rise.

1. Shake the flour and salt through a sieve into a large bowl. Stir in the sugar and yeast, then make a hollow in the middle.

2. Put the milk and butter in a pan and heat it very gently until the butter had just melted. Take the pan off the heat
3. Pour the mild mixture into the hollow in the flour. Stir until it is all mixed and no longer sticks to the side of the bowl.

4. Sprinkle some flour onto a clean, dry work surface, Knead the dough by pushing it away from you with both hands.
5.  Fold the dough in half and turn it around, then push it away from you again. Fold and turn it then push the dough away again.
6. Knead the dough until it is smooth and stretchy. Dip a paper towel in oil, then rub it inside a bowl. Place dough in the bowl

7. Cover the bowl with plastic food wrap. Leave in a warm place for about 45 minutes, until the dough has risen to twice its size
8.Knead the dough again for about 1 minute to burst any large bubbles of air in it. Divide the Dough into 16 pieces

9. Roll each piece of dough to make a "sausage" about 10 inches long. Tie each one into a knot and put it on a greased baking sheet

10. Turn on the oven. Rub the plastic wrap with oil, then over the rolls. Put back into a warn place for ten minutes.
11.Beat the egg(s) in a small bowl then take the plastic wrap off the tolls. Brush each roll with some of the beaten egg(s). You can sprinkle Poppy or Sesame Seeds onto the rolls after brushing them with egg.

10. Turn on the oven. Rub the plastic wrap with oil, then over the rolls. Put back into a warn place for ten minutes.
11.Beat the egg(s) in a small bowl then take the plastic wrap off the tolls. Brush each roll with some of the beaten egg(s). You can sprinkle Poppy or Sesame Seeds onto the rolls after brushing them with egg.
12. Bake the rolls for 10-12 minutes, leave then on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then leave them to cool on a wire rack.

We had Parmesan cheese and Cinnamon Sugar to sprinkle on our rolls like they were baked in the mall at a pretzel shop. Yummy!!