April 3, 2013 by Jenny

Welcome to Fantastic Thursday!

What a beautiful day it was today….. my Little Chefs are out of school on Spring Break. And we have been having so much fun enjoying every bit of this warm weather.And who thought your could get a sunburn in 60 degree weather? Lesson learned!

Have you checked out our GIVEAWAY that is going on right now? Enter here to win a AquaChef!!!

Our Favorite from last week’s party is the Yarn Pom-Pom Streamer/Garland from Simplistically Sassy! This is such a cute idea for birthday parties…..and the Little Chefs could help make them. What a fun idea! We are for sure going to make some of these for Little Chef K’s next birthday party!

Congrats and be sure to grab a Featured button!

Remember our party is now more inclusive, not just recipes! Let’s see those fun craft and DIY projects! Easter is just around the corner, and the weather is getting warm – so I can’t wait to see what you all have been up to lately! Come back next week to see who will be featured.

We will post our favorites to our Featured and Favorites Pinterest board.

Let’s get this party started……….Link up and have fun!!!

April 3, 2013 by Kimberly FiveLittleChefs

Spring has come and we are starting to get very involved in after school activities. Kahula Pork is a good meal option because you prepare it the night before. When we come home from the activity of the night the house smells good. The rice is started right away and dinner can be on the table in the time it takes for everyone to wash up, set the table and cut some fruits and veggies.

The first step is to poke holes in your 6 pound pork shoulder or pork butt roast. Don’t worry about trying to avoid touching the pork because that is unavoidable in the next step.

Rub the liquid smoke and the black hawaiian sea salt all over the pork. Place it in the slow cooker and now you can wash your hands. My Little Chefs are always relieved when it is time to wash up!

Peel a banana, but leave it in the peel. Now close up the banana as best you can and place it on top of the pork. Cover and cook on low for 18 to 20 hours. This is why you start it the night before, which might make for a busy night, but the next night you will be happy you did!

When the pork is tender discard the banana and place the pork on a tray or platter to shred. It should shred very easily with two forks. If the meat is a little dry add some of the cooking liquid to it. If we have time and the meat is tender before going to our activity for the night we will shred it and then put it back in the juices on low until we are ready to eat. Just make sure you use tongs to squeeze out a lot of the liquid so you do not have a mess on your plate. But then again most Little Chefs in my house do not like food touching so this is an absolute necessity for us! Serve it over rice and your easy meal is ready! If you need another slow cooker meal option try our Beef Stroganoff.

Ingredients

  • 1 (6 pound) pork shoulder or pork butt roast
  • 1 1/2 Tablespoons Hawaiian black sea salt
  • 1 Tablespoon liquid mesquite smoke flavoring
  • 1 banana

Instructions

  1. Poke holes in the meat all over with a fork.
  2. Rub salt and liquid smoke all over the meat.
  3. Place meat in a slow cooker.
  4. Open a banana then close it (banana stays in the peel). Place it on top of the meat.
  5. Cover and cook on low for 16 to 20 hours. Turn halfway through.
  6. Discard banana. Transfer meat from slow cooker to a tray or platter and shred with two forks. Add some of the liquid from the slow cooker to moisten the meat as needed.

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Kahula Pork

April 2, 2013 by Kimberly FiveLittleChefs

Hair accessories, too many, no way! My Little Chefs are always on the lookout for something new. With 4, possibly 5 girls we have a need for many different sizes, types and styles. I love shopping the clearance deals at craft stores! I love it even more when all the clearance is an additional 90% off! That is exactly what recently happened. I went into the store not expecting to find a lot, but secretly hoping there still are some good things there. It is SUPER hard to actually browse any store with crazy Little Chefs in tow. Not to mention, I just had to go the week I decided to potty train which is always an adventure in itself. What luck when I did find some fun odds and ends…between bathroom trips!

For $0.10 each I found these cute crochet shapes. I thought I bet there is something we could do with these….hair accessories!

Little Chef D has been DYING to use my big hot glue gun (yes I have two) so with two older Little Chefs in school and one younger Little Chef amazingly taking a nap it was just the two of us. I figured this is a great time to teach her how to safely use a hot glue gun and to allow her to do it all by herself.

Ingredients:

  • barrettes or alligator clips, your choice
  • various crochet shapes
  • button
  • hot glue gun

Directions:

  1. We decided to use this type of plastic barrette because they stay in my Little Chefs hair so much better then alligator clips. Hair accessories have a fun time sneaking out of their very fine hair. Normally I would line the barrette or clip with a piece of ribbon, but we measured and you will not be able to see the barrette so we skipped this step this time. That usually is the step where I burn my fingers which is another reason to skip it with Little Chef D’s first experience using hot glue alone. 
  2. Next I verbally instructed Little Chef D to apply the glue to the barrette. I asked if she wanted me to show her how to do it, but she said “No I understand. I want to do it.” After one try she figured out she needed to constantly hold the trigger to get a complete line of glue. 
  3. She then took the cupcake and placed it on top of the glue and very carefully and gently pressed down to make sure it was going to stay.  One hair accessory completed! She followed the same steps for the flower and the heart.
  4. Then she looked in my big bowl of buttons and found a yellow one to put in the center of the flower because there was a hole and that just didn’t look right. I’m not sure I like it with just the button, but she is VERY proud of her work. That is it! Super simple and easy. I already had the barrettes from a previous clearance sale so these cost $0.30 for all 3!

When Little Chefs A and C got home they were promptly told by Little Chef D that she was able to use the BIG hot glue gun ALL BY HERSELF and make some hair clips. It was a very proud moment for her. She has already decided what outfit would go best with each hair clip! She is going to LOVE wearing these hair accessories even more now because SHE made them.

April 1, 2013 by Kimberly FiveLittleChefs

 Zesty Orange Bites were created after a friend of mine introduced me to orange sugar. Last year we made Cinnamon Sugar Churros and loved them. In fact they were a hit for some friends of my Little Chefs. They all were able to make their own and had so much fun doing it. We merged two recipes together and came up with Zesty Orange Bites.

The process is still simple and easy for Little Chefs to do. First, let the puff pastry thaw for about 30 minutes on the counter. We usually cannot wait any longer! Unroll the puff pastry and place it on a cutting board. Using a pizza cutter (we use it for everything!) cut straight or kind of straight lines in both directions to make small squares. This is no exact science which makes it perfect for Little Chefs!

Line up the squares on a parchment lined baking sheet. Don’t worry if they are not all the same size it is not a problem. Spread them out so they are not touching. The puff pastry puffs, it does not expand. See, ours were very close together and none stuck together. Bake in a 450 degree preheated oven for 8 minutes or until golden brown and puffy.

While the puff pastry is baking, zest an entire orange over a bowl of sugar. Why clean up another bowl or plate if you can zest it right into 1/2 cup sugar? In a separate bowl melt 1/4 cup butter.

When the puff pastry is golden brown they already look delicious!

Here is where you have two options, one keeps the shape better while the other is faster. Your first option is to dip each bite into butter then roll in the orange sugar mixture then set back on the parchment paper to dry. This option keeps the structural integrity of each individual bite. The second option is to put all the bites into a zip top bag, add the melted butter and the orange sugar, zip it up and shake gently. Depending on how vigorously your Little Chef shakes the bag will depend on what shape the Zesty Orange Bites come out! They might be a little flat.

  

Whichever method you choose they are still perfect sized Zesty Orange Bites. I LOVE that I do not need to cut them up for my Little Chefs. I LOVE that in one bite, maybe big bite for some, they are in the mouths and not all over their hands and everywhere else! If you like the orange flavor try Sweet Orange Rolls.

Ingredients

  • 1 sheet frozen pastry puff sheet, thawed (usually they come in a 2 pack . . . if you want to make both sheets, just double the recipe)
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • zest from one orange
  • 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
  2. Unfold and cut puff pastry sheet in bite size squares.
  3. Place squares on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
  4. Bake 8 minutes or until golden brown.
  5. Meanwhile, combine sugar and orange zest.
  6. Remove pastry squares from oven and dip in melted butter, then roll in orange-sugar mixture.
  7. Let stand on a wire rack 5 minutes or until dry.

2.2

Zesty Orange Bites