Kids Cooking and Cookbook Blog Site

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I just came from the store and saw they had tons of oranges and grapefruits. I bought some red grapefruits and they are oh, so tasty and good! Had enough oranges so didn’t buy any.

Since I had a good supply of oranges, I’ve been enjoying making fresh orange juice and smoothies, and adding oranges to salads, meats and desserts.

Here is a simple but very fancy dessert using oranges that I often make. I hope you will like it, too. So go ahead, get out some showy tall glasses or dessert goblets and surprise your family with this elegant dessert:

Fluffy Orange Parfait

If using fresh oranges, separate and save segments from one orange.

1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
or prepared unsweetened orange juice
1 package (1 tablespoon) unflavored gelatin
1 3/4 cups orange juice
1/2 pint whipping cream

Add gelatin to 1/4 cup orange juice and wait a few minutes to allow the gelatin to dissolve.

While gelatin is resting, pour 1 3/4 cup orange juice into medium size pan and bring to boiling point. Gradually add gelatin, stirring gently until gelatin is dissolved.

Cool and then refrigerate until mixture is slightened thickened.

At this point, pour whipping cream into a deep bowl and beat with electric beater or rotary beater. Beat until cream is light and fluffy but don’t beat too long or it will turn into butter. When mixture is fluffy, slowly add cooled gelatin mixture and beat at low speed until it is blended throughout.

Spoon into parfait glasses, goblets, or other dessert-type dishes and refrigerate until firm.

When ready to serve, top each dessert with three segments from orange or use canned Mandarin orange segments.

Simply delightful!

Chef Crombie

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Instead of despair and frustration, think and talk about possibilities and hope. Hope for the future and hope our lives get better. These dismal days will not last forever. After the storms, the sun will shine.

Good things continue to happen to us, our friends call us, there is food on the table. We are blessed with what we have. It may not be all we want, but it is what we have, and for that we are truly thankful.

Chef Crombie

Valentine’s Day is over, but are you still on a sugar high? Chocolates and other sweets can be highly tempting as well as addicting.

Here are 5 tips you can use now to cut back or eliminate sugar:

• When the urge hits to have a candy or sweet, have a drink of water or brush your teeth.

• When you have the craving, wait 10 minutes, then wait 20 minutes, then see whether you have defeated it.

• When a candy attack hits, say to yourself, “I only eat foods that are healthy for me,” or other saying that reinforces your will to stay away or cut down on sugar.

• Exercise helps to keep you focused. Go for a walk, ride your bike, or shoot some baskets. Do anything active that will push your sugar thoughts into the background.

• If you don’t have candy, cookies, and cake in the house, you won’t binge on them.

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I hope you are spending time with your family and special friends today.  Here are some easy suggestions you can do to express your love in a fun way on this Valentines Day.

• Hide candy hearts or chocolate kisses in cereal, under lettuce leaf, or in other food.

• Make pancakes in the form of a heart. Serve with strawberries and whipped cream.

• Set out paper place mats and decorate them with a Valentines Day theme.

• Write an “I love you” note with soap on your bathroom mirror.

• Plan a treasure hunt by leaving little notes around the house expressing your appreciation for something others did. End with a riddle or clue to the next hiding place where they will find a candy or special memento. Have something special at the last hiding place such as a toy or treat.

• Show your love and appreciation to others. Affirming statements such as “I love you just the way you are; I’m so glad you’re my (son, daughter, mother, father, friend)” need to be given often, not only on Valentines Day.

There are lots more suggestions for this and other special days  in Cooking Around the Calendar With Kids — Holiday and Seasonal Food and Fun. This is a fun book you can read and use all year long.

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Oh, what a busy day! All of these Valentine cookies to bake yet, each with its own secret message.

Here is my secret message for you inside this “Valentine cookie”:

“Thanks for reading my blog.
I hope you are enjoying this.
Come back often.
I appreciate you stopping by
and wish you a very
Happy Valentine’s Day
filled with much happiness!”

Best wishes,
Chef Crombie

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This is a cool, refreshing frozen salad perfect to go with your Valentine’s Day meal. It is especially attractive if you have a heart shaped log in which to freeze the salad. If you don’t have a heart shaped container, the mixture can be poured into paper cup-lined muffin pans, individual gelatin cups or other small dishes.

Frozen Fruit Salad

3 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup crushed pineapple, drained
1 -10 oz. package frozen strawberries with juice
1 banana
1 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed

Combine cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl. Drain pineapple and add 1/4 cup pineapple to bowl. Add strawberries. Slice and quarter banana. Fold in thawed whipped topping.

Pour into individual cups or into tubes for freezing.

Freeze until firm.

Pouring the mixture into the empty pineapple can will work, too. Just don’t cut your fingers on the edge. When removing, dip can in hot water for a little while to loosen salad, open other end, and slip salad out of can. Cut into individual slices.

The salad will be a pretty pink color. If it has been molded in a heart shape, this will make a very impressive dish to place before the King or Queen of Hearts.

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Why go out to eat if you can whip up a tasty meal in less time than it takes to stop for fast food. You may need to add a few ingredients to your grocery list so you have them on hand. Planning is the key.

This is an easy recipe kids will enjoy. Adult may need to do the cooking of the meat, depending on young helper’s age. But children can help prepare vegetables and roll up their finished product.

These burritos use the “other white meat – pork” for the protein. With a skillful blend of vegetables, spices and seasonings, you will have a delicious meal ready to go. Here is the recipe. It is an adaption from the Minnesota Pork Producers Association.

South of the Border Burritos

1 pound lean ground pork
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup green pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon ginger
2 cups coleslaw mix with carrots
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons honey
1/4 teaspoon cumin
4 (10 inch) whole wheat tortillas, warmed
Garnish with fresh cilantro, chopped

Cook pork in large frypan over medium heat. Break up meat with fork while it cooks. Add onion, garlic, green pepper, and ginger. Cook until vegetables are soft and pork is not longer pink. If there is excess fat, pour it off.

Add coleslaw mix and stir-fry with pork until vegetables are wilted.

In small bowl, combine oil, soy sauce, juice, and honey. Add to fry pan. Cook, stirring gently until all ingredients are heated through and blended.

Spoon burrito mixture evenly onto warm tortillas and roll up. Garnish with chopped cilantro. Makes four servings.

Give Kids the chance to create healthy dishes they make themselves.

If you give kids the chance to help prepare their own food they will eat more nutritionally. What better way to get them hooked on working with food than to have them “help” you in the kitchen.

Just like adults, many children when given a cookbook will not put it down. Encourage this. It is an excellent preparation for this life skill.

Here is a cookbook that will get your kids excited about wanting to make something in the kitchen. They will beg you to let them make something for supper. Check it out.

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Is what you eat really “food”? If you eat it, does that make it “natural food”?

A diet high in “natural food” or “real food” and low in food products (or those heavily processed foods) is a much healthier choice. But how can you tell the difference?

One way to generally tell whether the food you eat is considered “natural food”, or “real food”, is to check on the following:

• Is the food grown and does it have a close connection to the land? (Considered the best is if the food is grown locally).

• Does the food go bad quickly? (Does it spoil easily)?

• Does the quality of the food vary? (Some may be more ripe, more colorful, or shaped differently).

• Does it require any preparation before you eat it? (Do you have to cook it? Peel it? Change it’s form?)

• Are the colors bright and rich?

Many food products have questionable health benefits. These types of “foods” are the ones that:

• Keep forever

• Are artifically flavored

• Are artifically colored

• Form never varies

• Are heavily processed

• Contain hydrogenated fats

• Contain high fructose corn syrup

• Are not grown but are manufactured

It is best to read labels and choose real food for you and your family.