Kids Can Cook: Graham Cracker Crush & Banana -Marshmallow Delight

Here’s an easy recipe and a way to use up those extra bananas which perhaps you might have purchased. This “lite dessert” quickly disappears at our house. It is a low-fat dessert — virtually fat-free (although it is not calorie or sugar-free). While sorting through a stack of vintage homemakers magazines, I ran across the recipe for “Banana Pudding Supreme” which actually isn’t a pudding at all but instead uses melted marshmallows. Hum. I haven’t cooked with marshmallows in many years. The recipe is simple and calls for layering melted marshmallows/whip cream along with crushed graham crackers and bananas. Other than melting the marshmallows on the stove, this dessert is an activity which kids can help make.

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Kids Can Cook: Cake Box Brownies and an Upscale Variation

Here is a recipe that kids can make: “Cake Box Brownies.”  Mix the recipe up in 5 minutes and bake them for 15 minutes. Quick and easy. It is a good recipe to try with Mother’s Day coming soon. You need a large bowl and wooden spoon, a measuring cup and an 8″x 12″ baking pan. And of course, the ingredients. Why a box of cake mix? Because that is typically what is in my pantry — not brownie mix. Recently I needed to make a batch of brownies in a hurry with no time go to the grocery store for the proper ingredients. So, I quickly checked the internet and found that other folks were making brownies from cake mix, too. Well, my batch turned out pretty good. I’ve made it several times since then, tweaking and adapting the recipe each time. Included is one of my more upscale versions. Continue reading

Grandma Ida Belle’s Oatmeal Bars

Oatmeal Bars is a favorite recipe from my grandmother, Ida Belle Blough Snavely. As children, we’d visit every summer on her Iowa farm. Grandma Ida loved to have her grandchildren help make this recipe. And the soft, chewy oatmeal-texture bars kind of grow on you.  We had a cousin reunion recently, I thought it would be a good time to share the recipe.

Oatmeal Bars and Frozen Spiced Plum Yogurt - 1 - IMG_6296_1

 

The oatmeal bars really shine when served with fruit or ice cream. Here they are served with spicy plum  frozen yogurt. The two make a great pairing for a hot summer day.

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Kids Can Cook: Blueberry Bran Flake Muffins

Grandson holding Blueberry Bran Flake Muffin - 2 - IMG_5480_1When my five-year-old grandson came from Texas to visit and asked if he could help make the muffins, of course I was delighted. Another cook in the family!. Muffins are kid friendly; you just need a couple of bowls and a spatula. I had blueberries from our garden; supplemented with some from the store and was making blueberry muffins with bran flakes added in. Blueberry Bran Flake Muffins - IMG_5476_1

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