CSA Roundup February 26, 2009
Posted by kitchenconfidence in Uncategorized.Tags: CSA Recipes
2 comments
Venetucci Farms CSA (in Colorado Springs, CO) has it’s signup deadline this week. I’m looking forward to the bevy of fresh vegetables and accompanying culinary challenges they will present. The weather is almost spring-like and I’m hankering to sit in a warm breeze.
As I prepare for the new season mentally, I’d like to put out a call for vegetable recipes of any type that you’d like to share. The CSA Recipe Spot will grow also this season and you can help! Send along your jewels to kitchenconfidence@gmail.com and I’ll post them in the appropriate sections!
Food Music: Bon Appétit January 20, 2009
Posted by kitchenconfidence in Uncategorized.Tags: Bon Appétit Musical Food Tunes
add a comment

Bon Appétit is a great collection of songs about eating and where food comes from. ”Germs” is a great track about why you need to wash your hands before eating. It is one of my daughter’s favorites. She also loves the jokes on “Food Jokes” which are semi-lame jokes to give you a good chuckle the first time around anyway.
The tunes are upbeat and catchy. We often listen to this CD in the car. Check out the tunes for yourself by clicking: Bon Appetit.
At the Ready Recipe: Bran Muffins January 16, 2009
Posted by kitchenconfidence in Recipes, Uncategorized.Tags: Bran Muffins recipe, family food traditions
add a comment
Here’s another recipe from my grandma’s collection. It has been updated by my favorite aunt, and is really tasty. Bran Muffins aren’t something I would usually consider in the tasty category, but these are truly the exception to the rule. The batter keeps in the refrigerator for up to three months, so you can keep it at the ready and have fresh muffins in minutes anytime.
Ice Box Bran Muffins
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 Tablespoons oil
1 cup boiling water
1 cup bran buds
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups buttermilk
2 1/2 cups flour tortillas
2 1/2 teaspoons soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups all bran
1 Preheat oven to 400° F.
2 Pour boiling water over Bran Buds. Let stand 10 minutes.
3 Mix sugar, oil, eggs, and buttermilk.
4 Sift flour, soda and salt.
5 Add water and Bran Buds, then flour and all bran. Mix slightly.
6 Pour into muffin tins and bake 10-20 minutes depending on your oven and size of muffins selected.
Festive French Dressing December 19, 2008
Posted by kitchenconfidence in Uncategorized.Tags: cooking with preschooler, French Dressing recipe
1 comment so far
This dressing is a dream to make with the food processsor and tastes great. It’s sweet enough to appeal to young palates and is a lovely red which looks great against greens whether you’re celebrating Christmas or another holiday.
French Dressing
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup catsup
1/2 onion diced fine
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Put in food processor and blend well.
A Warm-You-Up from the Land of Corn December 15, 2008
Posted by kitchenconfidence in Uncategorized.Tags: cooking with preschooler, Corn Chowder, Lil' Red
add a comment
Lil’ Red, University of Nebraska Mascot
Whenever the thermostat needs to be turned up because of wintery weather, my desire to eat soup is piqued. I love the heartiness of chowders and the extra starchiness of a corn chowder appeals to my carb addiction. Being tied to my favorite College Mascot through the corn connection doesn’t hurt either.
This recipe came to me from my dad’s wife. It’s easy and fairly quick too.
Your young cook can aid you with peeling the potatoes and measuring the other ingredients. My own young cook added some steamed broccoli to the mix which we had alongside the soup and she says it’s delicious.
CORN CHOWDER
3 potatoes
3 slices bacon
1 onion
2 cans creamed corn
4 cups milk
8 oz. Colby or Cheddar cheese
Cut the potatoes into chunks, boil in water until tender. (about 20 minutes).
Brown 3 slices bacon until crisp. (alternatively use the microwave to cook bacon- high power for 3 minutes).
Dice and Sauté an onion.
Add 2 cans creamed corn, bacon, potatoes, and 4 c. milk- heat. (do not boil)
Grate 8 oz. Colby or Cheddar cheese, melt in soup.
Tasty Time with Ze Fronk December 4, 2008
Posted by kitchenconfidence in Uncategorized.2 comments
In the midst of the feature shows on the Disney Channel, you’ll find Tasty Time with Ze Fronk from time to time. This is a 5 minute program on which a daschund (Ze Fronk) teaches snack recipes. Its shortness doesn’t allow for much actual instruction, but does give kids some ideas to get active in the kitchen. The recipes are kid appropriate, for instance: turkey roll up, tuna sandwich, banana berry smoothie, juice ice cube tray Popsicles, and energy mix.
If you don’t have the Disney Channel in your lineup, you can still access the information Ze Fronk imparts through the web. Here is the recipe book he cooks from. There are also videos on line that you can watch instead of trying to catch it whenever it’s presented on tv.
At the very least, the characters are very cute and Ze Fronk has a fun French accent.
Which Bite Rule Do You Subscribe To? October 20, 2008
Posted by kitchenconfidence in Uncategorized.Tags: appetite encouragement, bite rule survey, picky eather strategies
add a comment
Many parents I’ve spoken with make sure that their children try at least one bite of anything new that they’re balking at. Others demand two bites, allowing for the initial gross out and then one additional evaluative session with bite two. What about you? What results do you have with your method?
For my part, we demand one bite. It has to be a real bite, not an imaginary touching of the utensil to the food in question. More times than not, my daughter grosses out for 2-3 seconds and then decides that the food is actually good. Of course, this doesn’t mean that it will rate in the good column the next time it’s presented to her. Still, any number of bites of healthy food ingested count in the win column as far as I’m concerned. I do find that if she has participated in the preparation of the food, she’s more enthusiastic about eating it.
Participate in the following poll to register your own experiences. Add a comment to give expanded results that you have to share.
Lovely Leeks September 3, 2008
Posted by kitchenconfidence in Uncategorized.Tags: CSA Recipes, leek recipes
add a comment
Last week I made a batch of Cooking Light’s Vichyssoise with my Venetucci Farms yukon gold potatoes and leeks. It was a good recipe, I added more chicken broth than they suggested to make it a bit thinner as it was more like rice cereal than soup as far as I’m concerned. Still, it tasted wonderful.
Looking for other things to do with leeks? How about Chicken Breasts with Leeks and Mushrooms, Spaghetti Carbonara with Leeks and Pancetta, Creamed Leeks with Tarragon Tomato and Bacon, or Goat Cheese and Leek Galette? If you want to use some zucchini as well, try Lemon Zucchini Vichyssoise.
Do you have a favorite recipe using leeks? Please let me know and I’ll include it with the collection! Note: all these recipes are also posted on the CSA Recipe Spot tab under the appropriate vegetable for your reference later.
Clean Up, Clean Up, Everybody Clean Up August 26, 2008
Posted by kitchenconfidence in Uncategorized.Tags: cleaning games, getting time in the kitchen
add a comment
![]()
If your house is like mine, there are often obstacles to getting your protégé in the kitchen. One major one of mine is the toy room which is frequently attacked by cyclones. Right now it looks like a toy store was imported and subsequently regurgitated. Sometimes my tact is to ignore it and hope it will get better on its own. I’m sorry to report that there are no cleaning gnomes at our house and to date it remains awful unless we parents do something about ordering it be cleaned.
A breakthrough in motivating my protégée to do the cleaning came out of a game she likes to play, namely “birthday.” She likes to get out gift bags that I’ve saved to recycle as the occasions come up and put a big pile of toys in each one. After she gets everything in a bag, it’s birthday time. Either she or I are the birthday girl and we then open the presents and put away what’s inside a little at a time. All the while, we ooh and aah at the great gifts we’ve received. It somehow makes the task a bit less daunting and borders on fun.
Here’s wishing you less obstacles and more time enjoying experiences with your own protégé.








