When the kids and I cook together, there are many times when we like to use fresh herbs. Since it’s planting time here in good ‘ole Minnesota, We’re planting our annual patio herb garden. Each year, at the end of the season, I try to bring my herb garden indoors, but my thumb is not so green, apparently, so we usually have to start over each spring.

This year, we’re planting:
-basil
-cilantro
-sage
-thyme
-rosemary
-lemon mint
-lavendar
-chives
-and a tomato plant
-oh, and I can’t forget Sophia’s begonia

Hopefully, they’ll survive and you’ll see us using them in future episodes.

Enjoy the show and Happy Memorial Weekend everyone!

Alex, Sophia and Mom

P.S. Don’t forget to stop by and check out our new Two Kids Cooking Shop, with great tools to bring out every kid’s inner-chef!

In honor of Mother’s Day, this week the kids and I demonstrate just how we make my favorite Tabouli recipe. And, as mentioned in the Recipe of the Week that featured Tabouli, the kid’s do not eat it. BUT, that doesn’t matter, cuz, remember…it’s Mother’s Day!

Happy Mother’s day everyone. Enjoy the show!

Alex, Soph and Mom

Since this is strawberry week here at the 2 Kids house, we’re sharing one of our concoctions that includes—you guessed it–strawberries! It also has bananas and vanilla yogurt and milk, adding some potassium and calcium to the party.

Strawberry Banana Smoothie
2 ripe banana
1 1/2 cups sliced strawberries
6 oz light vanilla yogurt
1 Cup Milk

Instructions
Mix all of the ingredients together in a blender. Blend on a high speed until the mixture is smooth. Pour into the glasses of your choice and serve.

We say it’s strawberry-tastic!

Alex, Soph and Mom

Anyway, here’s the recipe we use. It’s a conglomeration of a bunch of recipes I’ve seen, I just sort of took what I liked and added it. I think it’s super delicious

The Mom’s Tabouli
2 cups bulgur wheat, pre-soaked
1 1/2 to 2 cups fresh parsley, minced
1/4 cup fresh mint, minced (optional)
4 green onions, sliced finely
1 large tomato, diced
1 large cucumber, seeded and diced
1 green pepper, diced
1/4 to 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp salt
pepper to taste
1/4 to 1/2 cup lemon juice
1/4 to 1/2 cup Olive Oil

Instructions
The first thing you do is soak the bulgur wheat in water for about 1 hour – 2 cups of water for the 2 cups of bulgur should be perfect.

While the wheat is soaking, prepare the other ingredients, mincing the parsley, slicing the onions and dicing the tomato and green pepper (some recipes include minced, fresh mint, so adding about 1/4 cup of that wouldn’t hurt either, we do sometimes, too). You can also prepare the dressing by mixing the olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper together. We usually use a measure closer to the 1/2 cup range for both the lemon juice and olive oil, bu the recipe is still well dressed when you cut the dressing down to 1/4 cup each.

When your bulgur is ready, mix everything together and then let it chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour for the flavors to blend. Then, you’re ready to serve!

Enjoy!

Alex, Soph and Mom

P.S. Have you signed up to get our weekly show notifications? If not, fill the form out in the right side area–you wouldn’t want to miss an episode of Two Kids Cooking TV, would you?

Disclaimer: the picture is not my tabouli, I don’t have a picture of mine yet, but it looks a lot like this…I got the image here.

This week we share our experimentation with dehydration and making Beef Jerky.  A few weeks ago, Alex shared his love of Beef Jerky–I knew then that we’d have to try making our own and record our efforts. I have made Jerky with our dehydrator before, when Alex was a baby and I was preserving some of the Venison from the kid’s Dad’s annual deer hunting catch, but the kids and I had never make it together.  Well, now we have and we’re sharing just how we did it with you this week!

Oh, and don’t forget to give us a follow over on Twitter or maybe fan us on Facebook, we like to keep in touch with our viewers!

Plus, everyone has to eat. That means, if the family cooks together, they get to spend some quality family time together AND they get to eat!

Incorporating family time into the cooking process without adding stress can be more simple than you might think. There are three three simple tips I always follow when the 2 Kids and I are in the kitchen:

1) Choose a day and a menu together
Pick out a day of the week that works best for everyone. Alex, Soph and I cook together a lot, but there are days that we prefer, like Mondays or Fridays, when we get home from school earlier. Whatever day will allow the most relaxing, non-rushed experience is the best to pick.

Choosing the menu should also be a group decision. If everyone in the family actually likes the menu, or at least parts of it, the whole experience will be much more enjoyable.

2) Go over the game plan before starting
Just like with any group event, when everyone on the team knows what the goal is, the whole process goes much more smoothly. Every time the kids I make a recipe, we run through what we’re going to be doing first. Then, once we’ve all got the same picture in our heads, we divide tasks and work our way through each step. By choosing tasks in advance, we also prevent arguments over who will do what while we’re in the middle of making the meal–and we all know that’s a good thing

3) Plan for fun, not perfection
If you’re looking for everything to go perfectly smoothly…well it won’t. Even with the amount of time Alex, Sophia and I spend in the kitchen, we still end up with extra salt in the marinade, or half an egg in the bowl, or a tipped-over bottle of lemon juice, or–I think you get the picture. The thing is, it’s these little imperfections that make the whole experience fun. Plus, the memories you make will be priceless.

Yes, life is busy, but we all know that kids grow up fast. Family time is precious and cooking together is one way to get some of that time back.

Now go, get those kids and cook something together!

This recipe takes traditional pizza, and wraps it up in a pocket. Each person gets their very own ingredients and can make their pizza just the way they like it. When we made them, Sophia didn’t dd any sauce, ’cause she doesn’t like sauce, just cheese and a few other items. Alex added extra sauce and a variety of meats to address his carnivorous tendencies. The best part is, it’s a fun meal to make together, as a family!

Enjoy the show, and check out the recipe for Personal Pizza Pockets if you get the urge to make them for your family!

Which story you ask? Well, one of my favorites is when we were making our Spider Cookie recipe for Halloween. Cookies area always fun to make with the kids. All the measuring and mixing ensures everyone will get to do something. On this occasion, Alex was in charge of pouring in the flour and then the vanilla. As he poured the vanilla onto the flour, the vanilla sort of rolled off the flour rather than penetrating and soaking into it. Alex found this amazing. As he watched, he muttered these words:

“Wow! Flour has repellent properties…that could be useful…mental note.”

The way he says it is hilarious…If you watch the Spider Cookie episode you can witness it as it happened.

I hope you check out ‘What’s Cooking with YOUR Kids’, but most of all, I encourage all of you to get in the kitchen together as a family. It’s easy and fun (our show is evidence of that )

Now, go cook together!

This high in lean protein, low in fat meal is super tasty and fun to make with the kids!

Enjoy the show and we wish you a Happy New Year filled with lots of time cooking, eating and sharing together as a family

For details on the recipes demonstrated, check out the New Years Hors D’oeuvres recipes here.