Monday, March 2, 2015

Cooking With My Little Ones

by guest blogger-- Stacey Starley

I sit writing this, giggling to myself at our fun adventures this week.  Andrew and Abigail assisted me in many cooking projects.  We made homemade rolls, roasted chickpeas for a snack, and chocolate dipped pretzels for a dessert. 


Each day was eye opening at just how much my kids like to help me.  I will be honest, that old adage about food being the key to a man's heart was certainly true for my Andrew.  I was number one love up until he turned one and stopped nursing.  Dad became his true number one.  When I made these rolls though, wow!  He couldn't get enough of mom time and mostly her rolls.  Melt my heart.

 For the rolls it was mostly dumping ingredients into my stand mixer and brushing melted butter onto the dough before we rolled it.

When we shucked the chickpeas/garbanzo beans mass giggling erupted.  Truly it was simply washing a can of beans and then wiping the covering off before putting in a bowl of seasonings and then laying them on a cookie sheet.  But Andrew, 22 months, was determined to be like his big sister and mom, and be a sous chef in the making.

Pretzels were simply dipped into a tall cup of melted caramel, chocolate and toppings sprinkled on top.

What fun cooking experiences have you shared with your kiddos?





This week we will surely be having fun with Dr. Seuss!  Check out the local libraries, there is usually a party happening!  Happy Literacy and Cooking! 





Roll recipe courtesy of LittleSousChef.com.

Crescent Rolls
Yield 3 dozen
Ingredients:                            

2 C warm water
2 Tbs active dry yeast
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C butter, at room temp
2 tsp salt
2/3 C nonfat dry milk
5-6 C flour
1 large egg
1/2 melted butter

Directions
1. Chef: Adjust water to a temp of warm, not hot.
2. Little Sous Chef: Add water and yeast to the bowl of a stand mixer.
3. Chef: Let it stand 5 min.
4. LSC: Add sugar, salt, dry milk, and TWO cups flour.
5. Chef: add butter
6. LSC: Tap egg on counter top to crack open.
7. Chef: add egg to bowl and discard shell.
8. Chef: Turn on mixer to low and beat until smooth (about 30 seconds or less).
9. LSC: Add more flour, one cup at a time, until soft dough is formed.  (Dough should not stick to the sides of the bowl and should be soft but not sticky).
10.  Chef: knead dough with bread hook, in the mixer for 3 min.  Dough should be smooth.
11. Chef: place dough in a large greases bowl, cover with towel and allow to rise until double in size.
12. Chef: preheat oven to 350 degrees
13. Chef: divide the dough in thirds with knife.  Roll each third with rolling pin into a circle 1/4" thick.
14.  LSC/C: using a pastry brush, brush melted butter on the circle of dough.
15. Chef: using a pizza cutter, slice dough evenly into 12 triangles.
16.  Chef: roll up the triangles starting at the long end and ending at the pointy tip.  Tuck the tip under and place on a greases baking sheet.  Bake for 12-15 min and golden brown.
17.  Chef: remove from oven and brush with melted butter.


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