cooking with kids
Star Shaped Food Ideas
Star Shaped Food
We made a few different star shaped foods and star shaped snacks to serve. The best thing is that they were all fairly easy to pull together. The star shaped food ideas you’ll find below include:
- Star pretzel rods (homemade icing candy stars)
- Star cookies
- Star shaped tortillas (so easy to make!)
- Star cherry pie
- Star shaped brownies
Other items that we used to create a star theme for the party food were star toothpicks, star garland, and sugar sprinkles to top chocolate covered Oreo cookies.
Star Shaped Icing Candy- To make this star treat, I used royal icing in a piping bag. I spread out a piece of wax paper and drew small stars on the wax paper, in rows. After the icing dried, I simply peeled away the wax paper. You can read the full instructions and see pictures of the candy making process on our blog post about the star candy recipe.
The star candies would be fine on their own, or use them to decorate chocolate dipped pretzel rods like we did.
- Use a cookie cutter to cut store-bought tortillas.
- Toss them on a cookie sheet with a little olive oil.
- Bake at 350 for 20 min.
- Stir them up every once in a while with the spatula. Think of the shaped possibilities using cookie cutters…
Buffalo Chicken Dip & Barbecue Chicken Dip Cups
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Crock Pot Mac and Cheese With Broccoli
We love how easy this crock pot mac and cheese with broccoli recipe is. Kids love it, too. The steps are easy, and using a crock pot to make the mac and cheese recipe means that it’s a good starter recipe for cooking with kids. Let’s get cookin’!
Crock Pot Mac and Cheese with Broccoli
My kids love Mac n’ Cheese. I love the fresh baked, hot out of the oven, home made kind. I was trying to find a recipe for Mac n’ Cheese in the Crock Pot and decided to try this one…
- Cooking spray
- 24oz Uncooked Macaroni
- 2 tablespoons Vegetable Oil
- 4 cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese
- 2 cups Shredded Mexican Cheese Mix
- 12 oz can of Evaporated Milk
- 1 can of Cheddar Cheese Soup
- 14 oz Frozen Chopped Broccoli
- 3 cups Milk
- 1 tsp Paprika
- 1 tsp Onion Powder
- 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Spray the inside of the crock pot with cooking spray.
- Pour the uncooked macaroni and oil into the crock pot and stir until the pasta is covered.
- Add the remaining ingredients and stir until well mixed.
- Turn the Crock Pot on low heat and let cook for 3 hrs.
National Cookie Month!
Lemon-Raspberry Cupcakes
With summer coming to an end, I decided to bake something to remind me of the hot days- what could be more summery than raspberry lemonade? These little minis were such a hit at my work bake-sale. People bought them two for a dollar!
Voila!
I didn’t have a pastry bag so I used a Ziploc and cut off a corner…this made a big mess. This works in a pinch, but next time I will make sure I have a pastry bag handy.
Delicious!
Healthy Double Chocolate Chip Muffins
These healthy double chocolate chip muffins are a delicious recipe that kids can help to make. Getting kids active in the kitchen in cooking with kids recipes supports development of skills, and this muffin recipe does the job! Here’s how you make this healthy treat.
Healthy Double Chocolate Chip Muffins
If you like chocolate, this double chocolate muffin is for you.
I usually use apple sauce instead of oil, but was out of apple sauce. I looked through the fridge and found yogurt. That works! Plain Greek yogurt would be even better. What else do these muffins need?
Peanut Butter!
Healthy Double Chocolate Chip Muffins Recipe
Our recipe includes bananas to help hold the ingredients together.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Cream butter with sugar and peanut better.
- Add egg and beat lightly. Add mashed bananas, vanilla, and yogurt.
- Then add all dry ingredients and mix well.
- Spoon into lined mini muffin tins.
- Bake 10 minutes. Enjoy!
Colleen Beck, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 2000, working in school-based, hand therapy, outpatient peds, EI, and SNF. Colleen created The OT Toolbox to inspire therapists, teachers, and parents with easy and fun tools to help children thrive. Read her story about going from an OT making $3/hour (after paying for kids’ childcare) to a full-time OT resource creator for millions of readers. Want to collaborate? Send an email to contact@theottoolbox.com.
Mint Chocolate Chip Cupcakes
Our Favorite Homemade Haluski Noodles Recipe
One of our favorite recipes to make with kids is homemade Haluski Noodles. I love that this traditional comfort food of our heritage is a favorite among my kids, and they are gaining more benefits, too: of family and tradition, combined with the learning and development that happens in the kitchen when cooking with kids!
Homemade Haluski Noodles
Close your eyes and breathe in the enticing aroma of butter sizzling in a skillet, perfectly caramelized onions, and the harmonious blend of tender, homemade haluski noodles and cabbage. These are the flavors that bring warmth and nostalgia to the table, courtesy of the beloved dish known as haluski.
In this blog post, we’re sharing the art of crafting haluski noodles from scratch—a tradition that celebrates simplicity, flavor, and the joy of homemade comfort food.
Creating haluski noodles from scratch is a labor of love, one that involves kneading dough with care and transforming it into delicate, pillowy noodles. (Great for functional heavy work for kids!)
Whether you’re a seasoned cook or a novice in the kitchen, you can easily make homemade noodles right on the counter top or you can turn the homemade dough through a haluski noodle maker…it’s an easy recipe that is worth the extra effort!
How to make homemade Haluski Noodles
- 2 cups flour (and some extra for rolling out the dough)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 eggs
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 tablespoon warm water
- One large onion
- One head cabbage
- One stick butter (more/less depending on how buttery you like your haluski)
- Sausage or Kielbasa (I used Turkey Sausage)
Directions for Haluski Noodles:
- First put the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix together.
- Create a well in the center of the flour.
- Crack the eggs into the well.
- Add the oil and water to the well.
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Set up the noodle maker on the edge of a table. Attach the desired fettuccine noodle attachment.
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Divide the dough: Cut the dough into smaller portions, as this will make it easier to work with. Dust each portion with flour to prevent sticking.
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Adjust the noodle maker settings: Most noodle makers have adjustable settings that control the thickness of the noodles. Set the desired thickness according to your preference.
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Begin the rolling process: Feed one portion of the dough through the noodle maker, starting at the widest setting. Crank the handle or turn on the machine, depending on the type of noodle maker you have, to roll the dough through the machine. As you roll the dough, gradually decrease the thickness settings to achieve the desired thickness for your noodles. This is a GREAT activity to involve kids in. It’s a bilateral coordination task that they will love!
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Cut the noodles: Once you have rolled out the dough, switch to the cutting attachment for the specific type of noodles you want. Pass the rolled dough through the cutting attachment, and the noodles will be formed as you turn the handle or operate the machine.
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Dust and separate the noodles: As the noodles come out of the machine, lightly dust them with flour to prevent sticking. Use your hands or a wooden dowel to gently separate and arrange the noodles. You can create nests of noodles or lay them flat on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
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Repeat the process: Continue the process with the remaining portions of dough until all the noodles are formed.
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Cook and enjoy: Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the homemade noodles for a few minutes until they reach the desired tenderness. Drain the noodles and incorporate them into your favorite pasta dishes or sauces.
Directions for Haluski:
Use the haluski ingredients listed above and follow the directions below:
- While the noodles were boiling, I chopped the onion and melted the butter.
- Sauté the onions in the butter until they are tender.