Category: Recipes

I’m on a quest.  I don’t know how to get my kids to eat vegetables.  I need to find the answer. They aren’t in any immediate danger, except to drive me crazy telling me they won’t eat the vegetables.  And, as a human being with a somewhat basic knowledge of eating, I know that a vegetable is something that’s good to eat.  At least this is what I’ve heard. And so I have been experimenting with my kids to see if I can coerce, trick, sneak, beg, or force them to eat the veggie goodness.  I failed miserable with the crispy kale chips. But when I saw a facebook post from a high school friend, Amy Dykes Dohner, mentioning an awesome smoothie she makes that her children love (that has SPINACH in it!) I thought this is definitely worth a go! Without further ado…the recipe: (more…)

There I was, researching about stay at home dads, and I come across an episode of the Martha Stewart show that was all about the stay at home dad. For the most part, it was dads sharing their little crafty projects that they do with their kids.  There was even a silly video that showed this one dad’s daily routine.  Every part of this dad’s day, with four kids by the way, was fun filled and seemingly smooth.  Total BS.  I did, however, see a dad discuss making kale chips for his kids.  They love it, apparently.  And it’s healthy! So I decided that because it was such an easy recipe, I would experiment and see if my kids would love it as much as the show says.  Plus some of you told me how much your kids love it, so I just had to try.

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As a working mom I always try to find ways to be “present” at home during the times when I am not actually there.  One way that I do this is through cooking.  In truth, I don’t only cook for my family because I want them to know how much I love them, it’s also because…I think we’d all rather eat my cooking than my husband’s.  Try as he might, he just can’t seem to grasp concepts like:

• Don’t over salt the food
• Raw meat is not good for you
• Ketchup doesn’t go with everything
• Onions taste better when they’re not burnt (more…)

Noble took me on a culinary adventure! Here is a concoction that he calls “Mustrid Worm Soup”. It’s surprisingly simple, and yet filled with all sorts of palate pleasing flavors.

Here’s the recipe:

1. Start by digging a hole in your backyard. I know it’s unorthodox cooking, but trust me, the end result is perfection!
2. Next, fill that hole, half full, with water.  Play in that hole until your shoes and socks are good and muddy.  That’s how you’ll know it’s ready for step 3.
   
3. Now it’s time to add the flavors.  Noble liked starting with some baby carrots from the fridge.  4-5 of them will do.
4. Get some old basil that mom was going to throw out…because everybody knows that right as basil is turning bad is when it’s flavor really sings!  Add all of it to the mixture.  Stir with a golf club.
   
5. Next, pilfer from the variety of fruit bearing trees that you have in your immediate surroundings.  We are very fortunate to have oranges, lemons, and some mini-oranges at our disposal. Add to mixture and stir with golf club.
6. Grab two handfuls of yard.  Place in hole.
7. Mix in some flower petals.  Helps if they are nice ones that people enjoyed looking at.  Good rule of thumb – if you enjoy looking at it, then you’ll REALLY enjoy eating it!
   
8. After stirring this mixture, add the fire pit lid over top so that no bugs get in.
   
9. While this cooks, be sure to poke holes and make long tears in the fire pit lid. (It helps to have the owner of the fire pit out of sight at this point, as they may not approve of the mutilation of their property.)
   
10. Next, take a badminton shuttlecock and scoop up a sampling of this delicacy. Then throw the muddy shuttlecock at something random.
11. If you are like us, and have a Yeti problem, then you need to make sure you put some anti-Yeti agents in the mixture.  This is done by putting 5 or 6 rocks into the bottom of the soup. That way if the Yeti tries to eat it, he’ll bite a rock and then blow up.  (This doesn’t sound right, but who am I to question a 3 year old culinary genius)
12. Soup is done.  It might be a little dry from absorbed water, so just add more water, and then beat the mixture with the golf club until it gets all over your face. (The following picture of Noble has something photoshopped out. Check out the previous post to see.
    

    

13. Yummy!!

I think I found the best playdough recipe.  I’ve tried to make homemade playdough a ton of times, and it would either end up too sticky, or too flaky.  But those days are OVER!  I can now make playdough all day long!!

Here’s the recipe, and the secrets I have learned.

• 1 cup white flour
• 1/2 cup salt
• 2 tablespoons cream of tartar (this is a powder found in a small container in the spice section)
• 1 tablespoon oil (NOT 10W30…I’m talking vegetable oil)
• 1 cup water
• FOOD COLORING (the best part)

The secret is to mix all the dry ingredients together.  Then add the oil to the mixture.  And while all that is going on, boil the cup of water.  I put the food coloring in the water as it’s coming to a boil.  Then, pour the boiling water into the mixture and stir away!  Knead the hell out of it, and eventually you will be working with a nice glob of playdough that your 3 year old will rub on his face, kiss, and try to eat.  Or is that just my kid?