February 14, 2013 by Jenny
Welcome to Fantastic Thursday!
Happy Valentines Day! We hope that your day is full of LOVE, good food, and FUN!
And by the way, have you checked out our giveaway that is going on right now? If not, enter here for a chance to win a Family Favorites Cookbook. We will be announcing with winner of the cookbook at next weeks Fantastic Thursday, so be sure to check back!
Please show us some LOVE on this Valentine’s Day……. and Link up to get our Party started!!!
February 13, 2013 by Jenny
We thought we would mix things up a bit and make a dish that is usually prepared for summer barbeques in the WINTER! And yes, we broke out the BBQ Grill in the winter, with snow on the ground! My Little Chefs thought it was so much fun.
We came across this delicious Chicken recipe when a good neighbor of mine brought us dinner one night. Our Chef Dad was out-of-town for work, and she knew that when he is out-of-town, us Chefs take a break from the kitchen and pretty much eat cereal for dinner. She was thoughtful and assumed we would enjoy a home cooked meal, rather than cereal….and she assumed right!!! It was amazing, and my Little Chefs loved it. So, it became a favorite recipe of ours. We had not made it for a while because it is best when grilled, and since this winter has been a COLD, cold winter, the grill has been hibernating for the season…….Until tonight!
To make this very simple marinade, in a shallow pan add the italian dressing mix, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, soy sauce, honey. and mix till combined.
You then butterfly your chicken and pound it out to your desired thickness. (Tip – cover the chicken with plastic wrap before pounding it out to avoid a chicken splattered mess) Add it to the marinade and let it sit for at least 8 hours.
Break out the grill….winter or summer, (because its worth it), and Chef B thought is was the greatest to stomp around in the snow while waiting to flip the chicken!
And Enjoy! So a big thank you for an amazing neighbor for sharing this AWESOME Chicken Marinade recipe with Five Little Chefs.
Tangy BBQ Chicken Marinade
Ingredients
- 1 lb. chicken, boneless and skinless
- 1 envelope Good Seasons Italian salad dressing mix
- 2 T apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 c olive oil
- 1/4 c soy sauce
- 2 T honey
Instructions
- In a shallow dish combine the Italian salad dressing mix, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, soy sauce, and honey.
- Butterfly your chicken, pound it out to desired thickness and add it to your marinade.
- Marinade chicken overnight or for at least 8 hours.
- Grill on the BBQ and enjoy!
2.2
February 12, 2013 by Jenny
With all the candy around at Valentine’s Day (and don’t get us wrong, we LOVE conversation hearts and cinnamon bears) we try to give a little more love than just candy. This year we decided to give homemade playdough as Valentine’s Day gifts to all the Little Chef’s friends.
This playdough recipe we created by combining a couple different recipes. We LOVE this recipe because it is so smooth and not crumbly, it will last forever (I think I just threw away a batch from last October!), and the recipe is SO easy!
The Little Chefs threw all the ingredients in a bowl and whisked it together. Little Chef E decided that 2-4 drops of food coloring needed to be more like 6-8 drops. However, it did make it really bright pink, just perfect for Valentine’s Day!
We then poured the mixture to a saucepan on medium heat. And stir CONSTANTLY!! Keep stirring until the mixture pulls from the sides and forms a ball.
Remove from heat, and let cool for a few minutes. Knead the playdough a couple times. Then let it cool completely before you start playing with it, or before you store it. Store playdough in an airtight container.
Perfect Playdough
Ingredients
- 1 c flour
- 1/4 c salt
- 2 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 c water
- 1 T oil
- 2-5 drops of food coloring
Directions
- Add all ingredients to a bowl and whisk together
- Pour mixture into a saucepan over medium heat and stir constantly
- Stir until it forms a ball.
- Remove from pan, and let cool for a few minutes and knead the playdough.
- Let it cool completely before playing with it or storing it.
- Store in an airtight container.
February 11, 2013 by Jenny
For Valentine’s Day we have a yummy tradition that the Little Chefs help make, EAT and share chocolate covered strawberries. This year, however, we decided to mix things up a bit and try a new take on the delicious chocolate dipped strawberry….to turn it inside out and have the chocolate on the inside! We thought of this idea after making our Cream Filled Strawberries.
We first had to think of a way to get the strawberries to stand up, and to be able to easily fill them with chocolate. We pulled out our mini muffin tin, and they were perfect size to fit each strawberry. It was Little Chefs K’s idea to use the mini baking cups, to make them look “cute”. Which ended up working great for clean up, and it did make them look really cute! Little Chef E washed the strawberries. He loves this step because he washes two, eats one, washes two, eats one!
We pat them dry and trimmed off the stems. Then hallow out a small bowl shape in the strawberry. The bigger the bowl the more chocolate will fit in there 
I found a really clean and easy way to melt your chocolate chips. Simply place them in a ziplock bag and sit it in a hot (not too hot) bowl of water. Softly squeeze and mash the chocolate chips every 30 seconds, or so. You may need to change your water more than once to make sure they are all melted. This way you simply snip the bottom corner of the baggy and fill each strawberry. And when you are done, just throw it away! No mess! Brilliant!
We filled each strawberry with the chocolate and placed them in the fridge for about 20 minutes to allow the chocolate to harden. And there you have it……we just started a new tradition, an inside out chocolate covered strawberry. A big hit with the Little Chefs.
Chocolate Filled Strawberries
Ingredients
- 12 – 15 Strawberries
- 1-2 c semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Prepare a mini muffin tin with baking cups (baking cups optional)
- Wash, trim the strawberries.
- Pat dry and hallow out a small bowl shape in the strawberry.
- Put chocolate chips in a ziplock back and place in a bowl of hot water until they are completely melted.
- Cut a small corner off the end corner of baggy and fill each strawberry.
- Place in fridge for about 20 minutes or until chocolate has hardened.
2.2
February 8, 2013 by Jenny
Image courtesy of Favorite Family Recipes
I am very excited about this giveaway!!! My Little Chefs and I have been big fans of the Favorite Family Recipes blog for quite some time. So, when their cookbook came out, we knew we had to try it. It has become one of our go-to recipe cookbooks. Why do we love the Favorite Family Recipes cookbook?……..
- Great everyday recipes
- Recipes have ingredients that are easy to find
- Variety of recipes – breakfast to lunch to dinner, desserts, and even some of our favorite restaurant foods
- The photos of each recipe all look amazing, it really makes you want to cook every recipe on every page. It also makes it easy for our Little Chefs to choose a recipe for our next adventure.
The Favorite Family Recipes cookbook is a must have!! And the sister’s at Favorite Family Recipes are letting one of our lucky readers win this fantastic cookbook!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
February 7, 2013 by Jenny
Welcome to Fantastic Thursday!
We would first like to announce the 5 WINNERS for the Twist Me Pretty eBook.
CONGRATS to –
Allison Wiltse
Mary Van Every
Rose Santuci-Sofranko
Maegan Morin
Robin Abrams
And come back tomorrow because…….we have another GIVEAWAY!
I hope everyone has had a fun week full of cooking and creating. We would love to see what you have been up to!
If you could help spread the word of the linky party by posting to twitter or facebook we would appreciate it!
So, with that said……Let’s get this Party started!
February 6, 2013 by Kimberly FiveLittleChefs
Celebrating holiday’s is so much fun! My Little Chefs wanted to make something that they could be creative with. We decided to make rice krispie treats, dip them in chocolate and then decorate them in their own way.
The first step is to make rice krispie treats in a jelly roll pan because we didn’t want them to be too thick. One trick we have is when pressing the rice krispie treats into the jelly roll pan place a piece of wax paper over the top and press on that. Using a heart cookie cutter cut out various hearts and eat the remaining pieces!
Making the dipping chocolate is the next step. Little Chef A combined 1 cup milk chocolate chips with 1 Tablespoon shortening. Microwave in 30 second intervals stirring in between until melted, about 2 minutes.
Each of the Little Chefs had a turn decorating some hearts. Each heart was dipped in the chocolate on all sides then set on a cooling rack so the extra chocolate could drip off onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. They then had fun using sprinkles and little candies and let’s be honest…anything else they could find to place on the hearts. They each had their own method of either making a design or piling the candies up as high as possible!
My Little Chefs had just as much fun making and decorating their hearts as they did eating them and sharing their creations with each other! I call this a success!
Chocolate Covered Hearts
Ingredients
- Rice Krispie Treats made in a jelly roll pan
- Heart cookie cutter
- 1 cup milk chocolate
- 1 Tablespoon shortening
- Sprinkles, small candies, decorations of your choice
Instructions
- Cut out rice krispie treats with a heart cookie cutter.
- Melt chocolate and shortening in a small bowl in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, about 2 minutes.
- Dip the rice krispie hearts in the melted chocolate and cover on all sides. Remove with a fork and place on a cooling rack.
- Decorate with your choice of sprinkles, candies…anything you choose.
- Let chocolate dry. Enjoy!
2.2
February 5, 2013 by Kimberly FiveLittleChefs
We have been having fun with origami and paper lately. Some attempts have been successful, while others have failed miserably. If I can’t figure out the directions to teach it to my Little Chefs quickly they get bored and distracted and move on to something else. This fold-out heart card was one of our successful attempts. It was also fun because Little Chef C was immediately able to write a valentine for Grandma and Grandpa. Not only was she able to show them her creative work, but she was able to write a note. She LOVES writing notes!
I got the instructions from a book by Karen Elaine Thomas called Origami Card Craft.
You will need a double sided piece of scrapbook paper cut to 10″ x 10″. While this craft was fairly easy for Little Chef C to complete, using scrapbook paper vs. origami paper was a little more difficult to get the corners right and the folds deep because of the thickness of the paper.
Step 1: My final heart is going to be pink so I place the pink side up. “Valley fold the sheet of paper in half in both diagonal directions and then unfold.” This is what your paper should look like when completed.
Step 2: “Valley fold all 4 corners to meet in the center.” This is what your paper should look like when completed.
Step 3: “Valley fold the top and bottom corners so the points touch the outer edge.” This is what your paper should look like when completed.
Step 4: “With the points still folded, valley fold the left and right sides to meet in the center.” This is what your paper should look like when completed.
Step 5: “Open out the sides just folded completely, so the points face left and right.” We only had one side opened when we took the picture.
Step 6: “Make the outer 2 folds on each pointed flap into mountain creases. Refold along new creases back toward the center.” Step 7: “Mountain fold the outer flaps just underneath themselves (but not all the way around the card).” Basically, just refold each flap you just unfolded to look like this.
Step 8: “Valley fold the right top layer to the left as if turning the page of a book.” This is what your paper should look like when completed.
Step 9: “Valley fold the bottom corner of the top layer over to the right to meet the crease line, then mountain fold the top layer back to the right.” This is what your paper should look like when completed.
Step 10: “Repeat steps 8 and 9 for the left.”
Step 11: “Your paper should have two angled flaps on a cupboard fold.”
Step 12: “Open out the right and left sides as shown in the diagram and cut a slit about 1 5/8″ long at the top of the outermost crease on each side. Mountain fold the little cut sections in so the outside edges line up. Turn the paper over and glue down the loose folds of the heart shape. Turn the paper over again.”
Step 13: “Mountain fold the top and bottom points underneath.”
Step 14: “Fold the sides back to the center along the existing creases.”
To make a closure: Cut a strip of paper or ribbon 1″ wide. Wrap around the completed card then glue at the closure. We had to cut a piece off because ours was too long.
If you want the heart to stand out more you can embellish it by inking the edges, or applying glitter or whatever you choose. Give it a try. Little Chef C felt a great sense of accomplishment when it was completed and she delivered her very cute homemade valentine!
Don’t forget to enter our Twist Me Pretty Giveaway! Today is the LAST day!
February 4, 2013 by Kimberly FiveLittleChefs
We had a really fun time using phyllo dough for the first time with our Balsamic Strawberry Napoleons we decided to give another recipe a try! This time we thought it would be fun to roll up some of our favorite jam in the middle and top it with chocolate! I must admit phyllo dough is not the easiest for Little Chefs to work with. Ours cracked and broke a lot, the butter was not as easy to brush on as we thought, but it was still fun. The fun is really what matters for us!
The first step is to lay out one sheet of phyllo dough and brush one half of it with melted butter. Which half? Well you are going to fold it over like a hamburger when you are finished. Remember folding like hamburgers and hotdogs at school?! (If not, one way is skinny-hotdog and the other is fat-hamburger.)
After you have folded it like a hamburger it should be double thickness. Next, Little Chef A spread a narrow strip of our favorite homemade raspberry jam almost end to end. Apricot jam would be our next choice! (We make our jams smooth so it does work well for this recipe.) We didn’t want to go all the way because we didn’t want the jam to leak out the ends…but it did, though not very much.
Butter again using a brush the remaining portion of the phyllo dough. Starting at the end with the jam roll and roll and roll until there is no more.
Place all the rolls on a parchment lined cookie sheet and brush again with melted butter. Bake at 400 degress F for about 10 minutes, or until they are golden brown.
After removing the pan from the oven let them cool for a bit. We had some leftover chocolate sauce in the refrigerator which we warmed up then used a fork and decorated the tops. If we didn’t have this I’m sure the Little Chefs would have used chocolate syrup in the same manner to make it look “fancy”!
The result was great! The Little Chefs had a good time making these, and loved how they looked when they were completed. They even enjoyed the taste!
Raspberry Filled Pastries
Ingredients
- Phyllo dough
- Raspberry jam
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- Optional: chocolate sauce for decoration
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Place one sheet of phyllo dough on your work space.
- Brush one half with melted butter. Fold over and lightly press to seal.
- Carefully spoon jam into a thin line from almost one end to almost the other.
- Brush the phyllo dough with melted butter.
- Starting at the end with the jam, roll the phyllo dough into a tight roll.
- Place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- When all rolls are completed, brush tops with melted butter.
- Cook for 10 minutes or until they are golden brown.
- After cooling for a few minutes top with chocolate sauce. Enjoy!
2.2
February 1, 2013 by Kimberly FiveLittleChefs
Have you ever heard of a Hoo-Rag? I hadn’t either until I was contacted by the company to do a product review. A Hoo-Rag is a tubular bandana made from spandex. Because it is so stretchy it can be worn in many different ways. It can be a pony tail holder, a headband, a face mask and more. It is designed for indoor and outdoor sports activities for men and women. The fabric designs vary so don’t worry men you won’t be wearing anything girly…unless you really want to!
I have found the Hoo-Rag great as a headband to keep my hair out of my face really quickly, like when it is dinner time and my Little Chefs have played hair designer with MY hair.
It is great to keep in your glove compartment. I never know when I need another pony tail holder, or in this cold weather it can be used as an immediate face mask. A few weeks ago our extended family was having fun in the snow. Face masks were absolutely necessary to avoid a wind blown face. It was a great opportunity to have a Hoo-Rag party and let everyone have a try and take one per family. We all had different shapes and sizes of heads, funny to say but true. I am happy to report the Hoo-Rag lived up to our expectations. It worked well for all. Of course some had it a little tighter then others, but overall it was great.
Being a Mom of many Little Chefs I am forced to improvise A LOT! I have found the Hoo-Rag to be a great accessory with the ability to transform into many different costumes. Right now they are loving pirates. When we are not home and they want to play the Hoo-Rag in my glove compartment transforms into a pirate cap or head band acceptable to a pirate.
Overall I am impressed at the versatility of the Hoo-Rag. It works well for adults as well as for Little Chefs. My product testers and winners also approve of this product. Thanks Hoo-Rag!
Visit Hoo-Rag and Like their Facebook Page
All images from Hoo-Rag.