Summer Fun 101 » Recipes

Cream Cheese Recipe

Goaskmom — Sat, 23 May 2009 16:04:22 +0000

This ancient recipe is so easy and delicious we had to pass it along. In Lebanon it is called lab’-nee, and it’s often served for breakfast on pita bread. It also is delicious spread on bread with cucumbers and/or tomatoes. And then you can put olives with it…The other cool thing about making this cream cheese is that you can see what Little Miss Muffet is all about: curds and whey. Any time you eat cheese, you’re really eating curds. Ordinarily the whey is drained out, and this recipe is no different. We don’t know what Little Miss Muffet was thinking!Ingredients and other Equipment

1 large container plain yogurt
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil plus 2 or 3 drops
1 yard cheesecloth (available at Wal-Mart)
WIRE colander or very large strainer (see picture)

Instructions:

Fold the cheesecloth into a layer of four, and use it to line the wire colander. It is important to use something with larger holes than a regular colander, so the whey can drain. We found ours at the Dollar Store. For a dollar.

Mix the salt and 2 or three drops of olive oil into the yogurt. Dump the yogurt into the cheesecloth. Cover the yogurt with the top of the cheesecloth. Put the yogurt in the sink to drain. It won’t spoil. We usually leave ours overnight, but sometimes it takes a bit longer than that. You’ll see the whey begin to drip out the bottom almost immediately.

When the yogurt feels like cream cheese, it’s not yogurt any more, it really is cream cheese! Take it out of the cheesecloth and put it into a bowl. Use a fork to mix in 1 tablespoon olive oil.

Look at the picture to see how beautiful the cream cheese looks on a table! We drizzle a bit more olive oil over the top to make it pretty.

Caramel Corn Recipe

Goaskmom — Sat, 23 May 2009 15:45:56 +0000

Ingredients

1 quart plain popped popcorn
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 stick of butter
1/4 cup corn syrup
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Instructions:

Mix brown sugar, butter, corn syrup, and salt in a microwavable bowl. Cook in the microwave on HIGH until the mixture begins to boil. Cook for about 90 seconds, then take out and mix in the soda. Put the popped corn in a large bowl and pour the syrup over it. Mix well. Cover the bowl, and cook on high for 90 more seconds. Remove, mix well cook another 2 minutes. Pour onto a cookie sheet to cool.

Summer Cooking With Kids – A Boxed Mix

Goaskmom — Mon, 18 May 2009 20:11:22 +0000

Giving my child a boxed mix to make was one of the best things I’ve ever done. The boys learned:

   ~Following directions.
   ~To measure.
   ~Self sufficiency.
   ~Kitchen safety.
   ~Creativity. Ever put Butterfingers in your brownies?
   ~To live through mistakes.
   ~The joy of sharing.
   ~To clean up after themselves. (Well, sort of…)

Next snack time, choose a boxed mix, and watch a child take a step toward being a great chef – who wouldn’t dream of using a boxed mix!

Ideas:

Boxed Brownies with Walnuts are our favorite. We use the Food Lion brand, and people always ask me for the recipe!
Dessert Bakes. Try the Lava cake!
Cornbread.
Blueberry muffins.
Oatmeal.
Mashed Potatoes.
Macaroni and cheese.
Shake and Bake chicken.
Cake mix and canned frosting. Get a disposable decorating set, and let your child do the decorating!

Note that each of these has a link to Amazon. With their low prices, their free shipping option as well as their 15% discount for autoship, you really can’t beat their service!

Summer Apple Turnovers

Goaskmom — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 01:31:44 +0000

Ingredients

2 apples
1 can crescent rolls
Sugar
Cinnamon
1/2 cup orange juice concentrate, thawed
Baking dish

Roll up crescent roll.

Instructions:

Slice the apples into eight pieces. Cut out the core and seeds. (Most kids will also prefer to peel them. Actually, so do I!) Rinse the apples in water to get rid of the bits of core, seeds, and peel. Put them into a small bowl.

Sprinkle three teaspoons of sugar over the apples, and stir the apples so the sugar is sticking on all of them.

Separate the crescent rolls, and unroll them. Place one or two apple slices at the end of each crescent roll, and roll them up together. You will probably have apples left over. Eat them.

MMMM!

Place all the turnovers in a baking dish, and sprinkle them with one teaspoon of sugar and a bit of cinnamon. Pour the orange juice concentrate over the top.

Bake in a 350^o oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown. You can eat them with vanilla ice cream if you would like.

Summer Smoothies

Goaskmom — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 20:55:18 +0000

This recipe is limited only by your child’s imagination. In the past, we used a traditional blender to make our smoothies, but one of my boys used his Christmas money to purchase a hand

handheld blender that we all really like because there is less to clean up!

Orange Smoothie

1/2 cup orange juice
1 cup vanilla ice cream or yogurt
Optional: 1 cup sliced fresh fruit
Optional: 1 tablespoon honey

Chocolate Cookie Smoothie

1 cup milk
1/2 cup ice-cream,
6 or 7 crumbled Oreos or chocolate sandwich cookies

Strawberry/Banana Smoothie

1 cup apple juice
2 cups sliced strawberries
1 banana

Instructions:

Put all ingredients into the blender and blend until smooth, about 45 seconds.