Tag Archives: kid friendly

Pretzel Dogs

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These are seriously good! My sister made these for our 4th of July party this summer and they were a big hit with kids and adults alike. In an effort to redeem these nutritionally (every little bit helps), I used half white whole wheat and half all-purpose flour for these. Also, the hot dogs are uncured, grass-fed beef…yes, I am a food snob! 😉

This dough is so easy to work with and easily rolled, and shaped without that annoying snap-back of some other doughs I have worked with. Be careful when you add the baking soda to your pot of boiling water, as it will boil more aggressively. Use a slotted spoon to carefully add the dogs to the pot and, again watch for the crazy boiling water!  We’re going to experiment with these in the kid’s lunch for school tomorrow – here’s hoping for no soggy pretzel dogs! 😉

UPDATE: The kids took one each in their lunch yesterday, and they didn’t become soggy! It helps that I didn’t refrigerate the leftovers, and I ate some for lunch too and they still tasted great. I’m really happy with these, and no one could tell that they’re nearly half whole wheat! Thanks for reading, enjoy!

Pretzel Dogs – adapted from Fake Ginger

  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1½ cups warm water
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 package dry active yeast
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (312 grams)
  • 2 cups white whole wheat flour (240 grams)
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 10 cups water
  • â…” cup baking soda
  • 1 large egg yolk, beaten with 1 tablespoon water
  • Pretzel salt (or kosher salt), for topping
  • 8 hot dogs, cut in half (*I used these*)

Directions:
Combine the warm water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Let the mixture sit for about 5 minutes, until the yeast is foamy and begins to smell of yeast.
Add the flour and butter to the yeast mixture. Attach the dough hook to the stand mixer and, on medium-low speed, combine the mixture until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and appears shiny, roughly 4 to 5 minutes.
Spray a large bowl with non-stick spray (or lightly grease with vegetable oil) and place dough in greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap. Place bowl in a warm area and let dough rise for about 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Spray parchment paper with non-stick spray. Set aside.
In a large pot, bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a roiling boil.
Place the dough on a greased surface, and divide into 16 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a long rope, roughly 12 inches long. Carefully wrap each piece around a half hot dog. Pinch the ends together to seal the dough.
Boil the shaped pretzels and pretzel dogs, one at a time, in the baking soda water for 30 seconds each. Using a slotted spatula, remove each pretzel dog from the water and place it on a drying rack to allow any extra baking soda mixture to drip off.
Place the boiled pretzel dogs back on a parchment lined baking sheets.
Brush with beaten egg yolk and sprinkle with pretzel or kosher salt.
Bake until golden brown, roughly 14 to 15 minutes. Transfer pretzel dogs to a cooling rack for a few minutes before serving. Serve with a variety of mustards.

Miracle Mac n’ Cheese

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It was getting closer and closer to dinner time, but I had no idea what to make. My girl and I flipped through Pintrest and came across this recipe and she said I should make it 🙂 This mac n’ cheese is so easy, you don’t have anymore excuses to buy boxed stuff, and if you can boil water, you can make this tasty macaroni and cheese! It’s pretty neat how cooking the noodles in milk makes all the difference. My daughter (aka. The Picky One) ate two servings of this – that is a very rare occurrence in this house. Thanks for reading, enjoy!

Miracle Macaroni and Cheese – heavily adapted from Budget Bytes

  • 4 1/2 cups milk
  • 1 pound elbow macaroni pasta
  • 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese ( I used sharp white cheddar)
  • 1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon Salt, More To Taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon Seasoned Salt, More To Taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
  • 1/8 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon paprika

Directions –

Combine the dry macaroni and 4 cups of milk in a medium pot. Place a lid on top and bring it up to a boil over medium/high heat while occasionally stirring. As soon as it reaches a boil, reduce the heat to low and let simmer until the pasta is tender (about 10-15 minutes). Make sure to stir often during this process to keep the pasta from clumping or sticking to the bottom of the pot. Promptly replace the lid each time to help hold in the moisture. Once the pasta is soft and has absorbed most of the milk, season with salts, pepper, paprika, and dry mustard, or the spices of your choice. If the mixture begins to look dry, add the remaining 1/2 cup of milk. Turn the heat off and stir in the shredded cheese. Serve immediately.

Pepperoni Pizza Puffs

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I made these once before, but I think all the pictures that I took stunk, so I decided not to post about them. I have declared Wednesday night to be “Fun Kid Dinner Night”, because M is never able to be home with us on Wednesday nights. It’s a good opportunity to make something I know he wouldn’t care for, and that way I can still get my mushrooms, bell peppers, mustard and onions in somewhere. I mentioned her before that he’s a little picky 😉

Verdict: These were really good and would make a great appetizer. The ratio of cheese and pepperoni is quite a bit higher than batter, so oil up your muffin tin liberally! I like my addition of chili flake which gave these a little kick. Also, marinara is a must for dipping which makes these little puffs a quick substitute when you’re craving pizza. Thanks for reading, enjoy!

Pepperoni Pizza Puffs – adapted from Gimme Some Oven

  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 3/4 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
  • 1/4 tsp. dried basil
  • pinch of chili flake
  • onion powder
  • garlic powder
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 4 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded
  • 4 oz. pepperoni, diced
  • Pecornino Romano cheese to taste
  • 1/2 cup pizza sauce (homemade or store-bought)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375o.  Grease a 24-cup mini muffin pan.  In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and dried seasonings; whisk in the milk and egg.  Stir in the mozzarella and pepperoni; let stand for 10 minutes.

Stir the batter and divide among the mini-muffin cups.  Bake until puffed and golden, 20 to 25 minutes.

Warm the pizza sauce, then stir in 1 tablespoon basil.  Sprinkle the puffs with the remaining 1 tablespoon basil.  Serve the puffs with the pizza sauce for dipping.

Peanut Butter Granola Bites

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The kids love snacks – especially my five year old. If I let her, she’d graze all day long – she’s a bit of a snacking fiend. This aren’t the healthiest snack that I could make, but at least I know what is in them. The kids were running low on granola bars and I have been meaning to make them some, and I made the mistake of mentioning it to my son. That boy never lets me forget a food promise! He’s as bad as his dad 😉
These are sticky to work with, so I recommend chilling the mixture for at least 10 minutes before forming them. I tried one (for quality control’s sake *wink*) and they were really tasty. The peanut butter flavors this nicely and they’re only slightly sweet. The mini chocolate chips are a nice addition, the coconut and oats give these a nice chewy texture and the rice cereal adds a pleasing crunch. I was afraid the uncooked oats would make these hard to eat but I was pleasantly surprised. I will make these again, but maybe in bar form. The bites wont make good lunch box snacks, but rather after school snacks because they fall apart easily. Maybe it’s because of the humid climate that these never set up tightly, so I serve these straight from the fridge. I placed the ball in a muffin paper so the kids’ hands wouldn’t get sticky. Thanks for reading, enjoy!
Peanut Butter Granola Bites – adapted from Lisa is Hungry
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1/4 cup natural peanut butter
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 cup cold cereal like Rice Krispies
  • 1 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened dessicated coconut
  • 3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
Directions:
1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, stir together the maple syrup or honey, peanut butter and butter. Heat until the butter is melted and the peanut butter is loosened.
2. Combine cereal, oats and coconut in a medium bowl. Pour the warm peanut butter mixture over the dry ingredients and fold tom combine. Stir until all of the dry ingredients are moistened by the peanut butter mixture. Allow the mixture to cool a bit for easier scooping. Mix in chocolate chips if desired.
3. Using a small scoop, scoop mixture onto a wax paper lined baking sheet. Press balls together with clean and damp fingers if they break apart a bit. Place in the fridge for about 15 minutes to harden and set. Place balls in cupcake liners and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. Makes about 24 bites.

Pizza Bites

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This recipe has been on my list for a long time now. Today was a great day to try it because I had all of the ingredients sitting in the fridge – bits of mozzarella, already opened pepperoni and only one 18 ounce ball of dough (left over from calzone night). M was away golfing, so I decided to treat the kids and I to a fun dinner. How cute are these? And they’re so easy to put together. I divided my dough ball into 18 equal pieces, cut up cubes of mozzarella and cut my giant slices of pepperoni into thirds. These little bites would also make a perfect party appetizer.

Verdict: These were so yummy – the kids loved them too. The only problem is that 18 isn’t enough for the four of us, but lucky for them I wasn’t super hungry. Next time I’d double the amount, or make sure we eat a salad along with this. These will be in our rotation for sure, and I know that these would be well received at any party.

Pizza Bites – adapted from Annie’s Eats

  • 1 -18 ounce ball of dough, divided into 1 ounce pieces
  • 4 ounces mozzarella, cubed into 18 pieces
  • 6 large slices of pepperoni, cut into thirds
Topping –
  • Parmesan, Pecorino Romano
  • Pizza seasoning or oregano
  • olive oil
Directions –
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly oil a pie dish with olive oil. For easy clean-up I use plastic wrap to cover my work surface 🙂
Flatten a piece of dough with the palm of your hand, place a slice of pepperoni and a cube of mozzarella cheese on top of the dough. Pull the dough around the filling and pinch closed. Place the ball seam-side down into the pie dish. Repeat with remaining dough pieces.
2. Lightly brush the tops with olive oil, sprinkle with pizza seasoning and cheese. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with pizza or marinara sauce if desired.