Little Cooks with Books

Little Cooks with Books:
Apple Picking Time and the Yummiest Apple Cake Ever!

Little Cooks with Books: Apples, Apples, Everywhere!

Apples, Apples, Everywhere!

Little Cooks with Books ~ Strawberry Jam

Strawberry Jam

Little Cooks with Books ~ Blueberries for Sal

Hop on Over!

ABC and 123

I am thrilled to announce that I have joined  ABC and 123 as a contributor.  I will be posting "Little Cooks with Books" there bi-weekly on Wednesdays.  Please stop by to learn about our yummy fun.

 For more details, check out my intro post.

Little Cooks with Books: Peanut Butterflies

Gracen is so excited that after Spring Break her class will be observing as butterflies prepare to hatch.  I thought it would be fun to read a few butterfly-themed books over the break.  Here are our two favorites.

 Where Butterflies Grow (Picture Puffins)

Where Butterflies Grow describes the complete life cycle of a butterfly.  The author brings the process to life through her use of sensory imagery.  My girls especially loved the pictures in this book.  They are realistic illustrations that actually look like photographs.  A fun special feature of this book is the small creatures which are hidden among the plants.  This encourages readers to use their observation skills to locate as many of the creatures as they can.  My kids challenged each other to see who could find the most.

 Velma Gratch and the Way Cool Butterfly

The girls and I love this book.  It is about a first grade girl who feels like she will never compare to her older sisters. She feels like they were the most perfect first graders ever.  However, while on a school field trip to a butterfly conservatory, a butterfly lands and roosts on Velma's finger.  This experience gives Velma some extra special attention.  I appreciate how the author uses the beautiful colorful pictures and a story with which children with siblings can relate to help teach facts about butterflies.  Everyone will love Velma!

Peanut Butterflies

 To go along with our butterfly books, we decided to make Peanut Butterflies. They were fun to make and Wes and Sam thought they were yummy.  Gracen did not care for them.  I think they were to peanutty for her.  John loved them.

Here is how we made the butterflies:

1. Make the peanut butter dough.
2. Roll two large balls of dough, place them side by side on a baking sheet, and gently flatten them.
3. Roll two smaller balls of dough, place them underneath the flattened balls on the baking sheet, and gently flatten.
4. Gently press all of the balls together so they are forming a butterfly shape.
5. Roll a small cylinder shape to create the body of the butterfly.  Place it in the middle of the butterfly wings.
6. Decorate with mini chocolate chips.
   

Printable Recipe with Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Recipe

 This recipe and idea came from The Kids-Did-It!  Cookie Bookie  This deliciously cute cookbook is an introduction to baking for kids ages 3 to 12.  It includes 14 tasty, easy-to-follow and fun-to-look-at cookie recipes, each illustrated with colorful animal paintings and other watercolors created by kids.

This post is part of the Mouthwatering Monday Blog Carnival over at A Southern Fairytale, Tempt My Tummy Tuesdsays at  Blessed with Grace, Tasty Tuesdays at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam, and  Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff.  Stop by for more yumminess.

Little Cooks with Books: An Easy Easter Treat

These Little Bird Nests are the perfect Easter treat. 
They are cute, easy, and yummy.

Ingredients
Bag of chocolate chips
1 C. Peanut Butter
Box of Mini Frosted Shredded Wheat
Cadbury Mini Eggs (my favorite Easter candy)

Directions
Crush the shredded wheat (about half a box).
Melt the peanut butter and chocolate chips in a large bowl.
Add shredded wheat until you get get a nice consistency.
Lightly grease a muffin tin.
Add some of the nest mixture to each muffin cup.
Mold the mixture in each cup into a nest shape.
Put the muffin tin into the refrigerator. 
Once the nests are completely hard, remove them from the tin.
Add a few Cadbury Mini Eggs to each nest.

Printable RecipeChocolate Bird Nests

To accompany this cooking project we read Whose Nest is This?.  It is a rhyming picture book that describes the many types of nests animals make. "There are mammals and reptiles and insects who nest. Birds, too, build unique nests that suit them the best. Some nests provide shelter, and some are for show, but the best nests are those in which young babies grow!"  Gracen and Wes enjoyed this book.  They especially liked it's riddle format.

For older children, I recommend Even an Ostrich Needs a Nest: Where Birds Begin.  This book describes how birds make their nests.  "Many birds build intricate nests out of twigs, leaves, feathers, mud--even dollar bills and clothespins. Some nests are gigantic, housing hundreds of birds or weighing as much as a car, while others are just large enough to keep one egg safe and warm. Whether simple or fancy, every species finds a unique way and clever place to raise its young."

What are your favorite Easter treats to make?

This post is linked to Get Your Craft on Thursday at Life as Lori, We Made It! Friday Showcase at   Ramblings of a Crazy Woman , stArt at A Mommy's Adventures, and Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum.

Little Cooks with Books: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

My children love the book Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.  They think it is hilarious and like to discuss what they wish would fall from the sky.  The girls heard from their friends at school that they movie was great, so we bought it this weekend.  It was really cute, and  all three children enjoyed it (which is a miracle).

After spending a weekend in Chewandswallow, it only made since to make meatballs for our Little Cooks with Books cooking lesson, so that is exactly what we did.  This cooking lesson went much better than our lesson last weekend.  The girls took turns and cooperated nicely.  Best of all the meatballs turned out perfectly!  Sam and Gracen were so proud to serve them at dinner (with spaghetti marinara).

My Goals for This Lesson ~

• Practice reading a recipe.
• Discuss abbreviations commonly used in recipes (For example:  T for tablespoon and tsp for teaspoon).
• Measuring dry ingredients.
• Cracking eggs.
• Roll the meat into balls.  

The Recipe ~  This recipe came from Mommy's Kitchen.

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs ground beef (85% lean)
2 - eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 T. dried minced onion (We used fresh onion.)
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
1/2 tsp pepper

 

 Cutting an onion with our Curious Chef Large Nylon Knife and Green Pepper Cutting Board.

  

 Gracen sautes some onion.

 

Squishing all of the ingredients together.

  

Scooping meatballs with our Curious Chef Ice Cream Scoop.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes.

 

The finished product.

The Results ~  The girls did very well with all of the goals.  The only part with which they needed assistance was making the meatballs a consistent size.  I gave them a scoop to use and that helped.  I also used the opportunity to explain that when they make meatballs or cookies they all have to be the same size so that they will cook evenly and at the same rate.  I told them that if they had some big meatballs and some little ones then the little ones would be done way before the big ones.  This made sense to them.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Activities and Printables

• Printables for Grades 2-4 
• Discussion Questions Grades 1-3
• Weather Activities Pre-K and Kindergarten 
• Pre-K Weather Printables
• On-line Game
• Coloring Pages 
• Spaghetti and Meatball Hat Craft
• We Can All Be Meteorologists Craft
  
  

Curious Chef offers real kitchen utensils for small hands.  Their products are available as individual pieces, Gift Sets, and Build-A-Kitchen Sets.  Curious Chef generously sent my children and I the following products to review:  Ice Cream Scoop, Non-Stick Rolling Pin, 3 Piece Nylon Knife Set, and the Green Pepper Cutting Board.  My children are truly enjoying these utensils.  They like being able to safely cut, chop, and roll with easy-to-use products.  We will be using these products in many of our Little Cooks with Books lessons.

Check out our other Little Cooks with Books lessons!

Little Cooks with Books: If You Give a Pig a Pancake

Tomorrow is National Pancake Day. To celebrate, I thought we should do our Little Cooks with Books lesson on Laura Numeroff's If You Give a Pig a Pancake.  This book about an adorable, but demanding, piglet, is one of our favorites.  When Wes was 2 I must have read it at least 1,000 times!

My intention was to have the girls take pictures of the different steps in the recipes they cook.  However, we did not do to well with this one.   Sam and Gracen had a bit of trouble working together.  They both wanted to do everything. We had to talk about taking turns and dividing up the tasks.  Hopefully, our next lesson will go a little more smoothly.

My Goals (or Objectives) for This Lesson ~

• Practice reading a recipe.
• Discuss abbreviations commonly used in recipes (For example:  T for tablespoon and tsp for teaspoon).
• Measuring dry ingredients.
• Cracking and whisking eggs.
• Flipping a pancake.

The Recipe ~ I have been working on a healthy whole wheat pancake recipe that is tasty and not too heavy.  I combined several reciepes and came up with the following one.  My kids love these, so I think I have found a keeper.
Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes

The Results ~ Overall, our first lesson went well.  Sam was able to read and comprehend the recipe easily.  She does have trouble with fractions (1/4 cup) .  We will be working on that skill.  Both girls can crack eggs with  no problems.  They can both measure dry ingredients, as well.  The skills we will need to practice are whisking eggs and flipping pancakes.  We all loved the pancakes and the book (especially Wes).

***If you aren't up for making your own pancakes, stop by IHOP tomorrow between 7am - 10pm for a free short stack of buttermilk pancakes. 

If You Give a Pig a Pancake Activities

The Itty-Bitty Bookworm - Bo's Curriculum for June Year 2 - SampleDecorate a Cake for Pig
Pick the Correct PigPig's Letter GamePrintables Classroom Activity Guide

Pancake Activity LinksBaker Activities and Printables
Pancake Ideas and Activities 

Little Cooks with Books

 Jamie Oliver's Ted Talk got me thinking about a lot of things, but one thing in particular.   American families and schools are no longer teaching children how to cook.  I really hadn't thought about his, but it is so true.  How can we expect our children to grow up and cook healthy meals for themselves (and/or their families) when we don't directly teach them how?

This truly resonates with me because I was never taught to cook.  My mother died when I was nine years old and my father never remarried.  Dad did the best he could, but with little time and money he turned to many convenience foods.  This left me with little to no skill.  Luckily, I married a man that enjoys cooking.

For most of our marriage John has done the cooking.  Yes, I am lucky.  However, when I began working from home it just made more sense for me to cook dinner.  Therefore, I decided to teach myself how to cook.  I watched lots of Food Network, read cookbooks, and experimented.  This was not the easiest way to learn.  For this reason, I have decided to consciously teach my children how to cook.

Both of my girls are used to helping me in the kitchen and most of the time they really enjoy it.  However, they usually only want to help when I am baking.  Sure it is great to know how to bake cookies and quick breads, but they aren't great "go-to" recipes.  So, starting this weekend, the kids will be preparing one dinner a week.  To make it fun, I am going to connect the dinner with a children's book.  We will read the book as a family and then the kids and I will cook the accompanying dinner.   I think this will be a fun and motivating way for them to learn how to prepare healthy, "real food" recipes.

To make it even more fun ~ the girls will be blogging about their experiences.  They will take the pictures and will write about their experiences.  I will type the post and add links when necessary.  Our blog series will be called "Little Cooks with Books".  I hope you will follow along.  It should be interesting!