As our series of Easy Cookies Kids Can Make continues, we present the easiest one yet! Inspired by a batch we saw on 100 Days of Real Food, we wanted to know if these cookies were as easy AND as delicious as they seemed. Answers: yes and OH, yes. For today’s super simple cookies (which…
Reindeer Snickerdoodles: Simple Christmas Cookies Kids Can Make
I love easy Christmas cookies kids can make and these Reindeer Snickerdoodles do not disappoint! Two were mailed off to my step-father, who has Parkinson’s and lives in a round-the-clock care facility. Looking for a way to spread a little cheer, my mom told me that snickerdoodles and sugar cookies are his favorite. You get…
Easy Melting Snowmen & Sparkly Santas: Simple Christmas Cookies Kids Can Make
Today’s post is part of a series we’re doing on Easy Christmas Cookies Kids Can Make. The first two are Easy Melting Snowmen & Sparkly Santas. You’ll need 2 cookie cutters: a star and a circle. (Which are part of a basic cookie cutter set like this one.) If you want to give these cookies…
20-Minute Pork Tenderloin with Balsamic Vinegar and So Many Olives
Slam dunk! All four kids (and one husband) LOVED this 20-minute pork tenderloin with balsamic vinegar and olives. That’s right, every single one of our four the kids gave it a Thumbs Up and one review: “The olives are the best part.” – Phoebe (6) Three of our kids were born in Italy, where we ate…
Easy Eggplant Parmesan (No Dredging, No Frying)
This no-fry eggplant parmesan got a solid “5 Stars!” from my mother-in-law. “Thumbs Up!” from my father-in-law. Baby Violet is one year old and DEVOURED her first eggplant parmesan without caring whether it was dredged, easy or not! Ditto for my six year old. Here’s how you can make it too: 2 Shortcuts for Deliciously…
Candy Bar Blondies
Got leftover candy? These Candy Bar Blondies are my favorite way to use Halloween Candy (and depending on how you celebrate, they’re also awesome for the day after Christmas and Valentine’s Day too.) We went trick-or-treating for the first time this year and there’s basically candy oozing out of our house right now. That’s because we’ve…
3 Kid-Tested Toppings to Make Toast a Healthier Breakfast
My kids love toast for breakfast. They’d eat it every day. So for the sake of variety — both in terms of appreciating new flavors and nutritional value — we started getting adventurous about toppings. This is only a start (and I’d love to hear about your ideas) but these 3 ways to make toast a healthier…
Slow Cooker BBQ Ribs 2 Ways
Let me warn you about these slow cooker BBQ ribs. The delicious smell is so overwhelming that you may be tempted to snack yourself to death before all that juicy, soft meat is ready for dinner. That’s the thing about slow cookers. They make me so hungry! But if you can handle all the awesome…
the homemade dressing that made our kids love kale
I know. I’ve already lost you. Kids who “love” kale? But there’s a secret: it’s this dressing. The balsamic vinegar combined with a shot of real maple syrup is so sweet and tangy that the bitterness of kale actually works perfectly with it. It’s the homemade dressing that made our kids love kale. Still Don’t Believe…
Roasted Squash Stuffed with Sausage & Apples
Have you seen it? The how-to video on Facebook showing roasted squash stuffed with sausage and apples? (And are you following Foodlets on Facebook?) That’s where the inspiration for this delicious dinner came from. We gave it the Foodlets treatment: made it simpler, healthier and more kid-friendly. Here’s how it turned out. Foodlets Rating: Phoebe (6):…
3 Simple Halloween Recipes Preschoolers Can Make
You know how I feel about cute food, right? If there’s a culinary — or worse, architecture — degree involved, I’ll pass. Toiling away in the kitchen is not my dream. But I want our kids to learn to love food, to be totally up for trying new things and generally aware of what they’re…
The Perfect 3-Step Waffle Bar Setup for Kids
I thought putting together a waffle bar for kids would be a kind of a pain. But it wasn’t. Yes there was set up and clean up but let’s face it, even sandwiches don’t make themselves. For a fun lunch (and an amazing idea for a kid-friendly dinner party), I set up a waffle bar…
Frozen Yogurt-Banana “Boo!” Pops, a Healthy Halloween Treat Kids Can Make
The only thing I love more than an easy Halloween treat is a healthy Halloween treat! Bonus points for one the kids can make themselves. And with both of these in spades, these Frozen Yogurt-Banana Boo! Pops are the cutest way to celebrate Halloween so far. Here’s how you do it: Grab a couple containers…
Sweet Potato Oven Fries with Cinnamon: 5 Minutes and 3 Ingredients to Prep, Kids Love ‘Em
There’s nothing better than a vegetable that takes 5 minutes and 3 ingredients to prep. Except a vegetable that all kids love. That’s sweet potato oven fries with cinnamon, a simple side our kids devour every time. Sweet potato oven fries with cinnamon are part of our regular rotation. They’re easy, full of nutrients and…
Cook for the Cure: {Real} Strawberry Cupcakes & Strawberry Buttercream Without Food Coloring
These pink cupcakes might just help save lives. That’s right. But they’re also pink cupcakes without food coloring or artificial strawberry flavoring. They’re pink cupcakes, without food coloring or flavors that are part of 10,000 Cupcakes & Cook for the Cure. And KitchenAid will donate $1 to support the fight against breast cancer right now. I’m thrilled to…
Lunchbox hits and misses: Pictures of my 6-year-old’s school lunches before & after
Does your child’s lunchbox come home half eaten? Are you struggling to find the right balance between Nutritious Food to Keep Them Going and Stuff They’ll Actually Eat? Me too. But I’ve figured a few things out. Since our goal at Foodlets is raising kids who love real food–and we’re right in the thick of…
How a Cutting Board Teaches Portion Control & a Breakthrough Rule for Myself
Do your kids eat too much? Do you? Those can be tough questions but part of my mission here is to teach my kids to love good food. And to enjoy it, whether they’re together or alone. And not eat too much of it. That’s right. Just like Michael Pollan says, “Not too much.” Even if…
5-Minute Meatball Skewers
The season for packing school lunches is in full swing around here, and these 5-Minute Meatball Skewers are part of the reason I haven’t tried to climb into my morning cup of coffee. So far. These meatball skewers are so easy, hearty and a colorful addition to any lunch box. Technique Start with frozen but…
Beginner Ethnic Food: 6 Kid-Friendly Dinners
It was almost too late for me. I became a person who appreciates ethnic food pretty late in life. That’s because I grew up in the seventies, but finally I came to realize how good Qualty osetra caviar from Iran is. Then the eighties. When there wasn’t any goat cheese anywhere. No Pad Thai. And…
TRIED IT: Frozen Grapes, Another “Why Didn’t We Do This Sooner?” Snack
Welcome to a new feature on Foodlets called “Tried It”. These are recipes or bits of advice that I’ve heard and seen elsewhere put to the test with our own four kids. I’ll give you the scoop on the difficulty-to-worth-it ratio, plus whether the kids liked it and whether we’d do it again. Tried It: Frozen…