Mac and Cheese Bites

Mac and Cheese is one of my son's favorite dish.  He makes sure it's on the menu every time we have family gatherings.  When I found this recipe on Annie Eat's.  My two kids absolutely love these mac and cheese bites. You can make them using a standard cupcake pan or mini cupcake pan.  For nibblers like my son, I suggest the standard cupcake size.  I prefer the standard size when packing my kids lunch.  

Ingredients

12 oz. elbow macaroni noodles
2 cups butter cracker crumbs (such as Ritz)
3 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1 (5.2 oz.) package Boursin garlic herb cheese
2 tbsp. cold unsalted butter
2 large eggs
¾ cup milk
¼ cup sour cream
¼ tsp. salt
Pinch red pepper flakes


Directions
 

• Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Bring a large pot of water to boil.  Cook the pasta according to the package directions.  Drain well.  Meanwhile, lightly grease standard size cupcake pans with cooking spray. 
•  In a medium bowl, combine the cracker crumbs, ½ cup of the shredded cheese, and melted butter and mix until combined.  Spoon a bit of the mixture into the bottom of each cupcake well and tamp down with the flat bottom of a glass or other.
• Once the pasta is cooked and drained, add it to a large mixing bowl with the remaining shredded cheese, the Boursin and cold butter.  
• In a liquid measuring cup, combine the eggs, milk, and sour cream and whisk to combine.  Add the liquid mixture to the bowl with the pasta.  Stir in the salt and red pepper flakes and mix until evenly combined.
• Divide the macaroni mixture between the prepared cupcake wells.  Bake until light golden, about 20-25 minutes.  Let  the mac and cheese bites cool in the pan for at least 10-15 minutes before taking them out.

Things to do with your little one

• You can have your little one turn Ritz crackers into crumbs by putting the crackers in a zip-log bag and have him/her smash it into crumbs.
• You can have them measure the ingredients and put them in a bowl
• Your little one can mix all the ingredients together
• Your little one can spoon the cracker crumbs and mac mixture into the cupcake wells

Cheesy Apple Mini Muffins

I was reading the Aug/Sept 2015 Parent & Child magazine given to me by my daughter's Kindergarten teacher and noticed this recipe for Apple Cheese Muffins.  It looked very easy to make even for a novice baker such as myself.  I decided to mark the page and make it as an evening activity I can do with my 3 and 5 year old.  I knew any baking that results in anything cupcake shaped would be something my kids would want to do, but for the taste I wasn't so sure.  I mean cheese and apples??

Well...as I type this post I can tell you that we did bake this last night, and we don't have any more left.  Yup, all 24 mini muffins have disappeared.  I was lucky enough to be able to steal some muffins under my kids' noses for their lunches.   My kids L-O-V-E-D these muffins! It's so quick and easy to make that I thought I'd share the recipe with you.

Ingredients:  

1 1/2 cups All-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup vegetable oil (I didn't have this on hand, so I used canola oil)

2 lightly beaten eggs

1 Granny Smith Apple, finely chopped

1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack Cheese

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 F 
• Coat a 24 cup mini-muffin pan with cooking spray (I used two 12 cup mini-muffin pans and canola cooking spray)
• Whisk the flour, baking power, and salt in a large bowl. (This will be the bowl you will put all the ingredients in.)
• Whisk the buttermilk, vegetable oil, and 2 lightly beaten eggs in another bowl. (So, you need 2 bowls. One for your dry ingredients.  Second for your wet ingredients)
• Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.  Whisk until mixed.
• Fold in the chopped apple pieces and  the Monterey Jack Cheese.
• Spoon into the pan and bake for 24 minutes

Things your little one can do:

• With your supervision measure out the ingredients and add into the bowls.
• Whisk the dry ingredients.  
• Whisk the wet ingredients.
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry bowl
• Add and mix in the apple pieces and cheese
• Spoon the mixture into the baking pan

This recipe was great because it allowed both my kids to whisk separately.  My older daughter took care of the wet ingredients while my son took care of the dry.  My daughter then helped me pour her wet ingredients into my son's bowl. They each took turns mixing the apple pieces and cheese into the mixture.  Both then happily spooned the mixture into their own mini-muffin baking pan.  My kids were so proud and took ownership of each baking pan they were assigned to.  After I placed each pan in the oven they even sat in front of the oven watching their muffins rise and bake.

Source:  Parent & Child Magazine  Aug/Sept 2015 Issue p 96

Crispy Baked Chicken Nuggets

 I never knew how easy it was to make a healthy version of chicken nuggets until I stumbled upon this recipe from Annie's Eats.  The recipe calls for baking the chicken instead of frying and using panko bread crumbs to make the chicken nuggets crispy.  I tweaked the recipe a bit because my kids did not like the taste of Dijon mustard and thyme nor do they like anything spicy. 

I usually cut the chicken in bite size similar to chicken nuggets rather than long strips.  It's easier for my toddler to eat since she tends to gobble everything in one bite.  With two kids helping me out, the total time for this recipe is around 60-70 minutes.  I have never made this dish by myself, but I can imagine it would take half the time.

Ingredients

2 cups panko breadcrumbs
2 tbsp. canola oil  (I use olive oil)
1/2 cup of grated parmesan 
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. garlic powder
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper (I omitted this)
3 large egg whites
1 tbsp. water
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard (I omitted this)
1 tsp. minced fresh thyme or ¼ tsp. dried  (I omitted this)
Cooking spray
1½ lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into ¾-inch wide strips

Directions 

• Preheat the oven to 475˚ F
• In a large skillet, toss the panko with the oil.  Toast over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 8-10 minutes. 
• Transfer the toasted crumbs to a bowl.  Add 1/2 cup of grated parmesan into the same bowl.
• In a second bowl, whisk together the flour, garlic powder, salt, and cayenne pepper. 
• In a third bowl, whisk together the egg whites, water, mustard and thyme.
• Spray a wire rack lightly with cooking spray and place over a rimmed baking sheet.  Working in batches, dredge a few pieces of the chicken in the flour, then the egg whites, and finally the breadcrumbs to coat, shaking off the excess between each step.  Lay the coated pieces on the prepared wire rack and repeat with the remaining chicken.
• Spray the tops of the chicken pieces lightly with the cooking spray.  Bake until the chicken is cooked through, 10-12 minutes.

Things you can do with your little ones

My two little ones enjoy making these crispy baked chicken nuggets.  I usually prep everything ahead of time so 3 bowls are placed on the dining table like an assembly line.

•  1 bowl for the dry ingredients 
•  1 bowl for the wet ingredients
•  1 bowl for the toasted crumbs with grated parmesan cheese

I prefer my kids to handle the bowls with dry ingredients while I handle the bowl with the wet ingredients. With a spoon,  I have my kids toss the bite size chicken pieces in their bowls until it is properly coated.  This is done in small batches. Then the coated chicken pieces are tossed to the next bowl until it makes its way to the wire rack.  My kids get a kick out of seeing  a plain cut chicken slowly looking like an uncooked chicken nugget.