This week is strawberry week here at the Two Kids household. So, to kick-off our week-long tribute to one of our favorite berries, we thought we’d start off with a ‘The Kids Cook Monday’ episode sharing a tasty, strawberry snack.

The best thing about it–it’s not just sweet and delicious, it’s good for you!  The graham crackers contain whole grains, we use reduced-fat cream cheese, and only a small amount, and strawberries are packed full of vitamin C and other good stuff! (Check out Super Healthy Kids for more details on the health benefits of strawberries).

Alex and Soph just gobble these up, and they are so easy for us to make together after school for a quick snack.  If you give ‘em a try, they’ll disappear quickly, we guarantee

Strawberry Grahams
4 full sheets of low fat graham crackers
3 to 5 strawberries, sliced
2 Tablespoons Reduced Fat, strawberry cream cheese

Instructions
First, rinse off your strawberries and then slice them. Next, break the graham cracker sheets in half so you have 8 squares. Spread a thin layer of the cream cheese on each cracker. Finally, layer on your strawberries and you’re ready to serve.

Enjoy!

Alex, Soph & Mom

You may have seen this episode just a couple of weeks ago, but we thought it was worth a re-share for The Kids Cook Monday. This recipe is great to make with the whole family, getting all messy with some hands-on burger making. Tuna is also a lighter alternative to the standard, and here at the Two Kids house, Alex and Soph actually prefer them to hamburgers.

Tuna Burgers:
3, 12oz cans of tuna
2 eggs
3/4 cup of saltine crackers, crumbled
1/2 tsp lemon pepper
salt to taste
butter
hamburger buns

Open your cans of tuna and drain the water off. With your hands, combine the tuna, eggs, saltines, lemon pepper and salt. Once everything is all mixed together, form burgers.

On the stove, heat a frying pan with butter (although these are good on the grill too, just make sure they’re extra moist so they stay together). Once the butter is melted, add your tuna patties and cook one each side until browned.

Place each patty on a bun and serve– we recommend a little mayo too

Now go, get in the kitchen and have some fun cooking together!

Mom, Alex and Sophia

Here’s another re-post of a show from February that we think is great for ‘The Kids Cook Monday’. The Kids Cook Monday is an initiative and soon to be website from The Monday Campaigns. The idea behind this concept is to make Monday an eating right, family night where families take the time to cook and eat together for better nutrition and greater communication.

Alex, Sophia and I strongly support this initiative because we know first hand the benefits that cooking & eating together as a family brings–lots of fun & memory making, a life-long skill for the kids, and healthier meals for all of us. Plus, the folks at the Monday Campaigns shared a couple of interesting facts that make taking the time to cook together that much sweeter:

1) A recent study in the journal of Pediatrics finds lower incidences of obesity among children who eat together with their families.

2) Columbia University’s annual ‘The Importance of Family Dinners,’ study consistently reports that children from families who eat together often get better grades in school and have lower incidence of recreational drug usage.

With data like that, plus all the fun and memories you’ll make together, taking one day out of the week for some family cooking and eating seems like a must do.

We’ll pass on more information, and the URL to ‘The Kids Cook Monday’ site as soon as it’s available, but in the meantime, we encourage you all to take one day this week and make your evening meal a family event.

Herbed Chicken:
2 to 3 Cloves Garlic
1 tsp Italian Seasoning
1/2 tsp Salt
Dash of Pepper
4 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 1/2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
4 to 6 Skinless, Boneless Chicken Breasts

Instructions for Herbed Chicken:
Mix together all of the ingredients except the chicken. Once they are blended together, add the chicken, making sure it’s well coated. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 20 minutes to 1 hour. When the chicken is done marinating, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. While the oven is preheating, in an oven-safe pan brown the chicken on both sides over medium-high heat–discard the remaining marinade. When both sides of the chicken are browned, move the pan with the chicken to the oven to finish cooking (about 10 to 15 minutes).

Garlicky Spinach:
1 to 2 Cloves Garlic, minced
3 tsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 9 oz bag of Spinach

Instructions for Garlicky Spinach:
Heat the olive oil on medium-low in a large saute pan. Add the minced garlic. When the garlic becomes fragrant, after about 30 seconds, add the entire bag of spinach. With tongs, continually flip the spinach around until it starts to wilt. When it has wilted by about half, it’s ready to serve.