Fun Fruit Kabobs!!

Prep time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 apple
• 1 banana
• 1/3 c. red seedless grapes
• 1/3 c. green seedless grapes
• 2/3 cup pineapple chunks
• 1 cup nonfat yogurt
• ¼ c. dried coconut, shredded

Utensils:

• knife (you'll need help from your adult assistant)
• 2 wooden skewer sticks
• large plate

Directions:

1. Prepare the fruit by washing the grapes, washing the apples and cutting them into small squares, peeling the bananas and cutting them into chunks, and cutting the pineapple into chunks, if it's fresh. Put the fruit onto a large plate.
2. Spread coconut onto another large plate.
3. Slide pieces of fruit onto the skewer and design your own kabob by putting as much or as little of whatever fruit you want! Do this until the stick is almost covered from end to end.
4. Hold your kabob at the ends and roll it in the yogurt, so the fruit gets covered. Then roll it in the coconut.
5. Repeat these steps with another skewer.

Serves: 4

Serving size: 1 kabob

Nutritional analysis (per serving):
141 calories
3 g fat
28 g carbohydrate
3 g fat
1 mg cholesterol
2 g saturated fat
52 mg sodium
103 mg calcium
0.5 mg iron
3 g fiber

http://kidshealth.org/kid/recipes/recipes/fruit_kabobs.html#cat20229

Omelette wedges

Hi everyone!  Here's a great recipe for omelette wedges courtesy of the BBC Good Food site.

All of the ingredients can be prepped in advance, so each child can have a turn adding some of the filling into the omelette.  Because the omelette is cooked on the stove top, students can observe how the eggs coagulate, noting changes in texture and color.  The recipe is finished under the broiler, during which time the group can clean up. Bon apetit!

Omelette wedges
Prep time: 20 minutes; cook time: 10 minutes; serves 6
Ingredients:
3 spring onions
200g new potatoes
4 rashers smoked bacon
2 tbsp sunflower oil , plus 1 tsp
8 eggs
1 tsp English mustard (ready-made rather than powder)
85g mature cheddar
2 tomatoes


Method:
1.  Finely chop the spring onions and set aside. Thickly slice the potatoes (there is no need to peel them first), then boil in a pan of lightly salted water for 10 mins until just tender. Drain.
2.  Meanwhile snip the bacon into pieces with scissors. Heat a frying pan with 1 tsp oil, then stir-fry the bacon until it turns pink. Add the spring onions to the pan, stir briefly for a couple of secs to slightly soften, then tip the bacon and onion into a bowl. Wash and dry the frying pan.
3.  Break the eggs into a bowl, then whisk with the mustard and a little salt and pepper. Make sure you don't get any shell into the mix. If you are worried you might, you can break the eggs into a cup, one at a time, before adding to the bowl - or ask an adult to break them for you.
4.  Grate the cheese and add half to the egg mixture with the cooked bacon, onions and potatoes. Gently stir to mix everything. Heat 2 tbsp oil in the pan; when it is hot, pour in the mixture, then stir a couple of times as it sets on the base of the pan to start it cooking.
5.  Turn on the grill so it has time to heat up. Leave the omelette to cook, undisturbed, over a low heat for about 6 mins. Meanwhile, cut the tomatoes into wedges, scatter over the omelette and sprinkle with the grated cheese.
6.  When the omelette seems set on the base, but is still a little eggy on top, put the frying pan under the grill to cook the last of the egg mixture and melt the cheese. Cool for 5 mins, then turn out of the pan. Cut into wedges and serve with ketchup, toast, tea and orange juice for a delicious family breakfast.


Nutrition information per serving:


290 kcal, protein 17g, carbohydrate 7g, fat 22 g, saturated fat 8g, fiber 1g, sugar 2g, salt 1.05 g

Omelette wedges recipe - Recipes - BBC Good Food

Rainbow Toast!!

While on Pinterest.com, I came across this wonderful project that young children can do.

Ingredients:

• Bread
• Milk
• Food color
• Paint Brushes
• Toaster         

Step 1: Mix a little food color in cups of milk to make different colors of paint.

 Step 2: With new, clean paint brushes paint bread with rainbow paint.

 Step 3: Put bread in toaster.

Step 4: Enjoy toast with butter or other kinds of spreads! :D

Technology and Cooking

There are many ways you can use technology in the kitchen while cooking! You can look up recipes on your tablet device,or just talking to children about the cooking appliances being used while cooking.

Encourage children to explore gadgets and other technology tools. Ask questions such as, "How are a wire whisk, and an electric hand mixer alike and different?" or " How are stoves and refrigerators different?"

 You can plan a trip to your local farm to show children how people use technology. Request a tour and have the guide talk about all the machines they use on the farm. Children will be amazed when they see the machines used to milk cows and harvest the plants.

Together, you and children can have fun using technology while cooking!

Packing Healthy Lunches

I'm sure everyone who has ever gone to elementary school is aware that the lunch you have pretty much defines who your friends are and how your peers view you. This may not be the case in preschool, but, I'm sure that not many of you know how to pack a healthy lunch for your child. However, I've heard that many do want to know. 

Not As Healthy Lunch

While I'm sure the parent packed the lunch with the child's preferences in mind, it's not as nutritious as the one below. Now, I don't mean to attack anyone who does pack lunches like that, but I hope that by reading this you realize that maybe there is room for change.

Healthy Lunch

A child's lunch should have vegetables, fruits, carbohydrates (pasta, bread, rice) and proteins (meats, poultry, nuts). A simple way to know is just by seeing if the lunch is colorful. A colorful lunch will have foods of every color and will usually represent all the different food groups. This, however, is not a healthy lunch even though it is colorful.

For more information visit: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/

Social Studies in Cooking

Sharing family recipes is an opportunity to teach children about your own culture and family history.
For example, I enjoy when my mother cooks enchiladas because she tells me a short story of how her mother used to make them in Mexico. She also walks me through the ingredients and their function in Mexican Cuisine.

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/history-of-enchiladas.html

  
Not only this, but cooking is also a way of teaching children good habits for the environment. 

http://cuesa.org/node/1399

Since cooking creates a lot of waste and can be messy, let's teach children about compost, recycling, cleaning, and hygiene. 
Let's recycle! 
Also, we suggest to keep a weekly picture food diary of everything they eat at their home or school.

Literacy and Cooking

When talking to children about cooking, let's keep it fun and simple. Keep in mind that our children are learning by doing.
Recipe cards, cookbooks, magazines, coupons and any print that relates will expand children's knowledge. 

http://delicious-cooks.com/photos/pretend-soup/03/

Some tips: 

• Always point to the words
• Use alphabet cookie cutters
• Use packages of ingredients as tools for learning, and read the labels!

Remember, it's fun to cook and learn new words.
Let's all eat the alphabet soup! 

http://trollhalla.com/outer-sanctum/2012/03/18/alphabet-soup/