A couple of weeks ago, Alex, Soph and I tried one of our Kitchen Chemistry Experiments–we made our very own fresh mozzarella cheese. Both of the kids love science, and learning about making cheese seemed right up their alley…plus I’ve always thought it would be fun to try. I was right, it is fun. But, beware, it’s kind of addicting too. Maybe I’m just a perfectionist, but I can’t stop trying to get each batch a little more perfect. Luckily, Sophia is a fresh mozzarella eating monster, she just scarf’s it right up

If it’s something you’ve wanted to try, you definitely should. You’ll see just how easy it is in this episode. If you want more detail on exactly what we did, check out our Kitchen Chemistry: Making Mozzarella post.

Happy Cheese-making everyone!

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You may have seen the kids and I demonstrate this tasty recipe on last weeks episode of 2 Kids Cooking. If you did, you know just how easy Pizzadillas are to make. They have the benefit of filling customization, which we love, plus they’re good for kids at any skill level to do some hands on helping.

Pizzadillas
Main Ingredients:
Flour Tortillas
Cheese – Mozzarella, Cheddar, a Marbled variety, whatever you prefer
Pizza Sauce for dipping
Cooking Spray

Optional Ingredients:
Pepperoni
Sausage
Chicken
Olives, black and/or green
Artichoke hearts
Onions
Whatever you like on your pizza

Instructions:
The first thing you’ll want to do is prep the ingredients. Grate the cheese, slice your olives, cut up your chicken, etc… Next, give everyone two of the tortillas and have them start adding their favorite toppings. Be careful not to overfill or it will be hard to flip when it’s in the pan. Once each person is satisfied with the contents of their pizzadilla, add the second tortilla to the top and you’re ready to melt it up.

Heat a pan on the stove top. Once it’s hot, spray it with cooking spray and then set in your first pizzadilla. When the first side is browned, spray the side facing up and then flip the pizzadilla over. After side two has browned and the cheese has melted, lift it out of the pan and let it cool on a plate. Next, it’s time for cutting! We usually cut ours into either 4 or 6 pieces.

Once your pizzadilla is cut to your satisfaction, serve with a side of microwave-warmed pizza sauce and you’ve got yourself a quick, easy and tasty meal!

We hope you have fun with your own family pizzadilla fest!

P.S. Don’t for get to follow us on twitter (@twokidscooking) and become a fan at facebook.

In case you didn’t know, March is National Nutrition Month. And, since I’ve proclaimed 2010 the year the 2 Kids household will improve the nutritional quality of the food we eat, I’m kind of excited about it. For this year’s theme , the American Dietetic Association has chosen to emphasize, ‘Nutrition from the Ground Up,’ reminding us all that improving our diets doesn’t have to be complicated, it’s just a matter of starting to focus on the basics, building a foundation of health.

To help celebrate this month and continue to build our own ‘foundation of health,’ we’ve decided to expand our vegetable horizons. Each Monday in March, I’ll be sharing Alex and Soph’s opinions on some veggie recipes I’ve dug-up from around the inter-webs (and a couple will be my own creations). March 1st will be a Broccoli-fest, followed by Peas, then Carrots, and closing out the month will be Green Beans. All of the recipes will be kid-cooking friendly too, so the whole family can get in on the preparation and eating of these veggie-ful creations.

If you’re interested in more information on National Nutrition Month, head on over the ADA’s website.

OK, so we love pizza and we like to make in as many different forms as possible. This recipe is takes a classic quesadilla, and some pizza fixings (your favorite of course!), adds some pizza sauce ‘dip’ and viola! you have Pizzadillas.

The best part of this recipe is the simplicity. It is perfect for making with the kids and it’s quick to whip together. Alex, Soph and I show you just how easy in this weeks episode…enjoy!

P.S. Don’t for get to follow us on twitter (@twokidscooking) and become a fan at facebook.

NOTE: Alex wrote this post

I love beef jerky. So much I wish I could make my own. Lucky for me, mom has a food dehydrator. Ever since I heard this, I’ve been searching the web for just the right recipe. With my taste, I prefer high salt and a whole lot of garlic (I would eat it raw if possible). I also like mild spicy things like teriyaki & also a touch of sweetness, like in brown sugar. I’ve found a recipe that has all that, yet room for improvement, as every dish on the planet does. Here’s the link, though I must give credit to Cooks.com for providing us with great recipes-Beef Jerky.

P.S. From the Mom…we’re going to be testing this recipe (with a few tweaks, as Alex indicates) in an upcoming episode of 2 Kids Cooking. We’ll update you with our feedback.

We love science, and since cooking can and does involve science, we end up doing lots of kitchen experiments–sometimes they involve food, sometimes just mixing stuff together to see what happens This week, though, we’ve had a focus on cheese-making, mozzarella cheese-making to be specific.

Before we made our first attempt, I did lots of research online. Mainly because two of the ingredients you need (Rennet, Citric Acid) are a bit challenging to find in a local store. In order to get my hands on the rennet, I spoke with the cheese department at Lund’s in NE Minneapolis. They sent me to the Lunds in Uptown, where I bought two boxes so I had plenty to work with. Citric acid, which I thought wouldn’t be that difficult to find, well, I never actually found any. I ended up using lemon juice (despite some recommendations not too). After the first batch, I found some ‘Fruit Fresh’ which contains citric acid & absorbic acid, both of which I had read were acceptable. (NOTE: you can get these ingredients online from a variety of places, I’d recommend one, but I didn’t order it online. If you have a source, please share!)

Anyway, we’ll share more of the details on each specific batch on February 27 when we post our experience on Two Kids Cooking TV. But, in the meantime, if you want to try you’re own, here’s the main recipe I followed:

How to Make Great Fresh Mozzarella Cheese at the Instructables website…it is step-by-step and easy to follow.

I also had some questions answered The New England Cheesemaking Supply Company.

My advice:
-lemon juice does work (I used about 1/8 to 1/4 cup)
-If you use tap water, boil and cool it first–it does kill the rennet if you don’t
-do Not over stretch it, it gets really dense if you do.

Again, we taped our second try and will be sharing it on the show in a couple weeks, so if you want to see how we did it, make sure to get on our mailing list, follow us on Twitter or Facebook or subscribe to our feed.

When it comes to meal time, I always try to provide food options that meet three criteria:
1) The kids will eat it
2) I will eat it
3) It has some nutritional value

We have a number of standard menus that meet these criteria. We eat these standards regularly and the kids are perfectly satisfied. The kids are also perfectly satisfied to watch the same episode of Phineas and Ferb 50 times in a row; I, however, am not.

This desire for a more adventurous meal plan has lead to many cooking experiments designed to broaden the palette preferences of the kiddies. Throughout these food trials, there are a few things I’ve noticed:

1) Taking something familiar and changing it up a bit usually works. For example, we eat a lot of chicken and we have a couple favorite ways to make it. So, to change it up a little, I did a tandoori style chicken, soaking it in a yogurt based marinade and then broiling it. The flavor was different then our standard, but subtle. The kids and I both loved it and now we have a new taste that I know will be eaten!

2) Changing or adding one dish in the meal can prove successful. This works well when the meal consists of a main food item and side dishes. For me, it’s usually a new vegetable concoction that I’d like to try. Most recently I did this with a broccoli recipe. The kids both like broccoli, but only steamed and with a bit of butter and salt–this gets a bit boring for the mom. The recipe I tried included red bell peppers and a garlicky stir-fry like sauce. I knew if I just made a stir-fry it would be a no-go, so I snuck it in as a side dish to salmon & rice. I’ll admit they didn’t love it, but they ate it. And, they ate the salmon so I didn’t end up with hungry kids grumbling for something to eat right after dinner.

3) Let the kids help ‘invent’ a new recipe. This is one of our favorites and is actually the most successful. It doesn’t always result in menu item that is loved, but the kids always try their inventions and give honest feedback. Plus, they’re always excited to tweak their own recipes to make them more to their liking. One of our favorite recipes that Alex was instrumental in inventing is our Chicken Strips (which we’ll be demoing in a future episode of 2 Kids Cooking).

I think that trying to keep meal time interesting is always a challenge, but giving up is not an option. I don’t care how many times Alex and Soph wrinkle their noses at a new dish–most of the time, once they taste the food, they like it. Even if they don’t, exposing them to lots of different kids of healthy foods will keep their minds open so that when they get older, they just might appreciate a little variety.

It’s Valentine’s Time! And every good Valentines meal needs a tasty dessert. We think you’ll find this dessert fits the holiday perfectly. It’s Red, and White and Sweet and even good for you (ok, better for you than most desserts).

We can tell you with complete honesty, though, that it is delicious–we ate almost the entire thing right out of the bowl after filming. It definitely warmed our hearts We’re sure it’ll warm yours too!

Enjoy the Show, AND, Happy Valentines Day!!!!

XXOO,

Mom, Alex and Soph

P.S. You can find the recipe for Banana Berry Valentine Trifle here, in case you want to make if for your sweetie

Making your very own roasted is sooo easy. So easy Soph’s gonna show you how:

Here’s the recipe:

1 head of Garlic
Olive Oil

Instructions:
Peel much of the papery outer part of the garlic head. Cut the top of the garlic off. Place the head of garlic in the center of a piece of aluminum foil. Pour about 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of Olive Oil over the garlic, making sure to coat the entire head. Wrap it up in the aluminum foil and bake it at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes, until it’s soft.

That’s it, easy and tasty!

2010 is the Two Kids Family year of trying to improve the nutritional value of the food we eat. This recipe stems from this goal, and, even though the kids weren’t huge on the Spinach, (as you may have seen in the recipe of the week post), they did try it and they loved the chicken. One thing is for sure, though, we had a great time making the meal together.

You’ll see how easy it is to make this recipe with the kids–and maybe, since they helped make it, they’ll try the spinach too

Find the recipe for Herbed Chicken and Garlicky Spinach right here!