Okay, not really, but I am going to share some of the fun ones we tried over the summer. It seemed to be my hobby of choice while the kids were home all day.
For the most part we got these recipes from this book:
It actually belongs to my mother. She might have lent it to me ages ago. I might get it back to her someday. :o)
It has a copyright of 1985 and I'm sure she purchased it for ideas she could use in the daycare she ran out of our home while I was growing up. It's pretty cute.
I also want you to know that sadly more often than not, my kids eat PBJ's, macaroni and cheese, quesadillas, chicken nuggets, or corn dogs. We just finally broke that mold this year and found a little more variety for meal time. Finally!
So, without further ado, our summertime fun recipes!
Sunflower Sandwich
This is one of the first we tried and probably our favorite.
1/2 of a split English Muffin or hamburger bun, or 1 slice bread
Peanut butter
1 canned pineapple slice, cut into 8 pieces, or canned pineapple tidbits
Raisins
Sunflower nuts (if you like)
Use a table knife to spread English muffin half, hamburger bun half, or bread slice with peanut butter. Arrange the pineapple pieces on top of the peanut butter in a circle to look like the petals of a flower. Fill the center of the flower with raisins. If you like, sprinkle with sunflower nuts. Makes 1.
That is the recipe exactly as written. As you can see I substituted canned mandarin oranges for the pineapple. I think it looks pretty that way and frankly, we've just never tried it with pineapple, but I'm sure it's tasty. I also usually use whole grain sandwich thins because I've had those on hand and they are healthier than a white hamburger bun anyway, right?
Celery Boats
This is so easy-sneezy that you're probably wondering why I even took a picture. I refer you back to my statement about PBJ's and the like. ;o) Not really a need to write out a recipe. It's just celery, cream cheese and cheddar cheese.
Cinnamon Snails
Samantha requested these for her birthday breakfast. Mine don't look as much like snails as the picture in the book, but they were still tasty!
4 slices soft-texture whole wheat or white bread
1/4 cup soft-style cream cheese
3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
Trim the crusts from the bread slices. Speead 1 tablespoon of the cream cheese on each slice of bread. Roll up the bread slices with cream cheese on the inside. Cut each roll into thirds. Stir together sugar and cinnamon until well mixed. Dip each cut roll into the melted butter or margarine, then into the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Do not dip the ends of the rolls. Place the rolls, seam side down, on on ungreased baking sheet. Heat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit. Bake cinnamon snails about 12 minutes or until light brown and crisp. Serve warm or cool. Makes 12.
Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
I got this recipe here off of a blog called Natalie's Sentiments. They were yummy and I did double the batch so I could freeze some for later. I also tossed a handful of blueberries into about 1/2 the batter.
1/2 cup butter (1 stick or 4 ounces)
1/2 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
1/4 cup honey
2 large eggs
2 cups whole wheat flour
2/3 Cups chocolate chips
1/2 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
1/4 cup honey
2 large eggs
2 cups whole wheat flour
2/3 Cups chocolate chips
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Farenheit. Line or grease a 12 cup muffin pan.
Beat together the butter, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla in a medium bowl until smooth. Add the banana, honey and eggs, beating until smooth. Add the flour and chocolate chips, stirring until smooth. Divide batter into the muffin cups, they’ll be nearly full. Bake the muffins until a cake tester inserted in the center of one comes out clean, 23-28 minutes. Remove from oven and after a couple of minutes transfer the muffins to a rack to cool.
Flag Day Fun!
I kind of like the days when I can be sure to put out my American Flag. I think a lot of people forget about Flag Day on June 14th, so I decided this year to have a little fun with it. When I posted this picture on Facebook I said, "Happy Flag Day! (Did you even know that it is?) ;o) We had a fun Flag Day party at the Wilkins house today. We invited some Lay cousins over for a feast of stars and stripes (stelline and egg noodles) with cheese, red, white and blue yogurt (vanilla with strawberries and blueberries), breadsticks (made by Aunt Celeste and they tasted like Olive Garden's!), jiggly star jell-o (I found a great recipe that uses unflavored gelatin and fruit juice. No red dye #5!), and for dessert, Chips Ahoy cookies with red, white and blue candy in them. It was a ton of fun and since I rarely do anything like this for my kids, it felt good to make a memory."
The jiggly star jello was a recipe from the Kid Snacks book called Shaky Shapes.
Here it is:
1 1/2 cups water
3 envelopes unflavored gelatin
1 6-ounce can frozen apple, cranberry, orange, tangerine, or grape juice concentrate
Pour the water into a medium saucepan. Sprinkle the gelatin over the water. Let stand 1 minute. Bring mixture to boiling, stirring constantly until gelatin dissolves. Remove from heat. Stir in frozen juice concentrate. Stir until juice concentrate is melted. Pour mixture into a foil-lined 8x8x2 inch baking pan. Cover and chill until firm. Invert the gelatin mixture onto a cutting board. Remove the foil. Use cookie cutters or a table knife to cut the gelatin into shapes. Makes about 36 (1 1/2 inch) pieces.
Rumplestilt-skins
I know you're dying over my amazing photography of this paper plate, right? My version used bacon, cheese, and crushed croutons.
1 medium potato, baked
2 teaspoons cooked bacon pieces, finely chopped, fully cooked ham, finely chopped, finely chopped cooked turkey, or flaked tuna
1 teaspoon shredded cheddar cheese and/or French-fried onions, slighty crushed
Cut potato lengthwise into quarters. Scoop out potato, leaving skins 1/4 inch thick. (Save scooped-out potato for another use.) Place potato skins on a baking sheet.
Sprinkle potato skins with bacon, ham, turkey, or tuna. Top with cheese or crushed French-fried onions or both.
Bake in a 350 degree oven about 5 minutes or until hot. Makes 2 servings.
Roundabout Banana Cake
This was a fun one. I used my bundt pan and the kids loved the fun shape.
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 beaten eggs
2 medium bananas, mashed (2/3 cup)
1/3 cup cooking oil
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate pieces or semisweet chocolate pieces
In a mixing bowl stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Make a well in the center.
In another bowl combine beaten eggs, mashed bananas, cooking oil, milk, and vanilla. Add all at once to the flour mixture, stirring until well mixed.
Stir in chocolate pieces. Spoon the batter into a greased and floured 5 1/2 or 6 cup ring mold. Bake in 350 degree oven about 35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted between center and edge comes out clean. Cool in ring mold on a wire rack 10 minutes. Remove; cool completely. Makes 8 to 10 servings.
Hot Dog "Pizza"
Um...okay. I know this is not the most appetizing picture. My kids ate these, however, and sometimes that's all that counts. I think I got the general idea for this one from my Rachel Ray 30 Minute Meals for Kids cookbook, although she adds scallion and sweet relish. (Blech.) Not much of a recipe. Just spread ketchup for your "sauce" on the hot dog bun half and then add hot dog slices and cheese. Broil until melted and toasty!
Apple Smiles
How cute are these?
1 red medium apple, cored and sliced
Peanut Butter
Tiny marshmallows
Spread one side of each apple slice with peanut butter. Place 3 or 4 tiny marshmallows on top of the peanut butter on one apple slice. Top with another apple slice, peanut butter side down. Squeeze gently. Eat right away. Makes 8 to 10.
Peanut Butter Face-ups
Our version included whole wheat bread, peanut butter mixed with applesauce, honey, granola and raisins. The recipe has a LOT of other options:
Toast bread, if desired. In a bowl mix 2 tablespoons peanut butter with Mix-In. Spread the mixture on the bread. Top with a Sprinkle-On. Makes 1.
Breads
1 slice white bread
1 slice whole wheat bread
1 slice raisin bread
1 slice French bread
1 small pita bread round, split
1/2 split hamburger bun
1/2 split hot dog bun
1/2 split English muffin
1/2 split bagel
Mix-Ins
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon jelly or jam
1 tablespoon maple-flavored syrup
1 tablespoon applesauce
1 tablespoon mashed banana
1 tablespoon drained crushed pineapple
Sprinkle-Ons
1 tablespoon raisins
1 tablespoon sunflower nuts
1 tablespoon peanut halves or chopped peanuts
1 tablespoon tablespoon crisp rice cereal
1 tablespoon coconut
1 heaping tablespoon granola
1 tablespoon alfalfa sprouts
1 tablespoon shredded carrot
1 teaspoon sesame seed
Several dashes ground cinnamon
PBJ Bananas in a Bun
I think these look pretty. Not sure why...
2 hot dog buns
Peanut butter
1 small banana
Your favorite jam or jelly
Raisins, chopped peanuts, or miniature semisweet chocolate pieces
Open hot dog buns. With a table knife spread peanut butter on inside of buns. Peel the banana; throw away the peel. With the table knife thinly slice banana crosswise into circles; arrange on one side of each open bun.
Spoon jam or jelly over peanut butter on the other side of each bun. Sprinkle jelly side with raisins, peanuts, or chocolate pieces.
Close bun. Cut each bun in half crosswise. Makes 4 servings.
Pizza Soup and Tortillas with cheese cut like pizza
This was just what we did for fun one day. I made up a can of tomato soup (using half milk and half water because I like it that way) and added pepperoni, mozzarella cheese, and a sprinkling of Italian seasoning.
When my husband was little he'd ask for "tortillas with cheese cut like pizza". Here I used flour tortillas, but usually we use corn tortillas and cheddar cheese and broil them for a few minutes until the cheese is bubbly and melty.
So that's it! Not any fussy, hard recipes at all, but lots of fun. I'm feeling inspired to look through my cookbooks again for cute, easy meals like these!
