Kid Friendly Recipes

The dog days of summer are upon us and we all need a few good treats to help us cool off. Kids love to help in the kitchen, and preparing fun food makes it all the more interesting. Working together to create something also provides a great opportunity to connect with your child. Here are a few fun and simple recipes to get you started.

Heart Healthy Peppermint Green Tea
Green tea is known for it's health benefits. Here's a way you can add it to your repertoire of cool, refreshing drinks this summer. Better yet, use it as a substitute for those highly sweetened, unhealthy sodas and canned teas.

Bring 4 cups of water to a boil. In a glass jar or plastic jug, place two green tea bags, and two peppermint tea bags, cover with boiling water. Let the green tea steep for 3 minutes, then remove (the reason being that green tea turns bitter if left to steep too long). Allow the peppermint to steep a few minutes longer, then remove also. Fill the container with cold water, and sweeten tea to taste. Serve over ice.
Serves 4

Super Scrumptious Lemonade
This is so simple, but people will rave about the taste, and ask if you squeezed the lemons yourself! After preparing a can of frozen concentrated lemonade, slice up 1 or 2 lemons, remove seeds, and add to the lemonade. In a nice glass jug, it looks pretty, and gives the impression of freshness, but you will also find that the addition of a few lemon slices will vastly improve the taste of your lemonade.

Orange Wheelies
Cut several oranges into thin slices-cut crosswise so that the orange segments look like spokes on a wheel.
Dip each slice into sugar, coating both sides. Lay slices onto a wax paper covered tray, and freeze.

Frozen Choconanas
Peel as many bananas as you need. Gently (careful not to scorch!) melt 1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips. Dip each banana into melted chocolate, so that half the banana is covered. Lay bananas onto a wax paper covered tray, and freeze. Before serving, allow to defrost just a little.

Simple Sorbet
1 can frozen orange juice concentrate
1-1 ½ c. fresh or frozen fruit (strawberries, peaches, pears…)

Mash the orange juice and fruit together (this is a perfect job for kids!). Pour into ice-cube molds, and freeze. 10 minutes before serving, remove from molds, and allow to soften enough that you can stir the mixture to a smooth finish. Serve and eat quickly, as this will melt very fast!

This mix also makes great Popsicles, if you use a Popsicle mold instead of ice-cube molds.

Trifle
1 small yellow or pound cake, cubed
2 small boxes Jello (or 1 large box)
2 small boxes pudding (or 1 large box)
whipped topping
fresh fruit

Layer cake into the bottom of a clear glass or plastic serving bowl. Prepare Jello according to the directions, and allow to set in the fridge until pourable, but not runny. Layer Jello on top of cake, and put in refrigerator to set completely.
Prepare pudding according to directions, pour over Jello, and put in refrigerator to set completely.
Top your creation with whipped topping and fruit.

Note: You can play around with this recipe a lot, mixing and matching the Jello and fruit you use. Just be sure you'll like the combination! We usually use a red Jello (strawberry, cranberry, raspberry) with red fruits. Other options would be strawberry-banana trifle (strawberry jello with sliced bananas as your fruit), or a lemon trifle (omit the fruit topping). You can also make a chocolate trifle by layering brownies, chocolate pudding mixed with whipped topping, French Vanilla whipped topping, and raspberries.

Creamy Citrus Pie
1 graham cracker crust
1 can frozen citrus juice concentrate (lemonade, pink lemonade, limeade)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
8 oz Cool Whip
extra Cool Whip for topping.

Thaw concentrate slightly, and mix together with sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Fold in Cool Whip. Pour into crust and freeze.
Top with more Cool Whip.