kid-friendly Archives - Page 17 of 21

Cheesy Broccoli Penne Pasta

August 8, 2013 ·

Cheesy Broccoli Penne Pasta dish is made on the lighter side with a light cheddar and Parmesan sauce and fresh broccoli. A quick and healthy stove top meal, this is a great weeknight dinner!

We love cheesy pasta dishes, and generally the more cheese the better, right? In summer months we tend to gravitate to lighter meals, leaving our beloved cheesy baked pasta dishes by the wayside. They can be a bit heavy, and while I love baked pasta, I don’t always love to turn on the oven when the temperatures rise. That’s where this Cheesy Broccoli Penne Pasta dish is perfect. It has a light cheddar and Parmesan cheese sauce ~ just enough to coat the pasta and broccoli. And it’s all made on the stove top in under 30 minutes. You can’t beat that!…

Filed Under: kid-friendly, main dishes, Recipes, vegetarian Tagged With: cheese, cooking light, cream cheese, easy, pasta, quick, vegetable

Banana Buttermilk Muffins

August 1, 2013 ·

Banana Buttermilk Muffins are healthy muffin recipe that is not only delicious, but takes 10 minutes to prepare. These are sure to become a household favorite!

While I thought it was safe to assume that Pumpkin Banana Muffins are Adam’s favorite muffin, these Banana Buttermilk Muffins may quickly take the top spot, if they haven’t already. Within the first week of making the first batch, I had to make another…and another! It seemed that Adam and Mike (and I too!) were devouring these faster than I could make them. Fortunately, they are super quick and easy to make! The hands on time takes about 10 minutes, and for some reason, these just seem easier to make than other muffins….

Filed Under: bread, breakfast, healthy, kid-friendly, Recipes Tagged With: baby/toddler, banana, brunch, buttermilk, easy, low fat, muffins, whole wheat

Marble Cake with Fudge Frosting

July 25, 2013 ·

Marble Cake with Fudge Frosting is the perfect party cake! Enjoy a swirl of yellow cake and chocolate cake in every bite, topped with a fudgy chocolate frosting. Delicious, a crowd favorite, and easy to make!

Recently, we celebrated Mike’s birthday, and as always I asked him to pick his birthday treat. He usually just tells me to make whatever, but this year he got some advice from our resident 3 year old (who may be a bit opinionated these days). After consulting a couple of his favorite cookbooks (really!) and a few of my printed recipes, Adam’s decision was made ~ Marble Cake with Fudge Frosting. While Adam had never had marble cake before, and at the time was not a fan of chocolate, he was sure this was the perfect cake for his daddy. He was absolutely right!

With yellow cake and chocolate cake in a pretty little swirl, we enjoyed the best of both worlds and the fudge frosting was the perfect icing on the cake (ha!) And while it looks fancy, this cake is super simple to make. The frosting was a bit stiff during the stirring process and goes on thick, yet is a thin layer on top of the tasty cake. Decorate it as you wish, and here is the perfect party cake to celebrate any special occasion.

Marble Cake with Fudge Frosting

Marble Cake with Fudge Frosting is the perfect party cake! Enjoy a swirl of yellow cake and chocolate cake in every bite, topped with a fudgy chocolate frosting.

Yields: 16-20 servings

Ingredients

Cake:
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa
1¼ cups granulated sugar, divided
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
3 eggs
1 cup milk (I used skim)
2 teaspoons vanilla
Cooking spray
Frosting:
1½ cups semisweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
¼ cup milk (I used skim)

Instructions

FOR THE CAKE: Preheat oven to 350* F. Spray a 13x9-inch baking pan with cooking spray and set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a separate medium bowl, combine cocoa, ¼ cup granulated sugar and ¼ cup water.
In a large bowl, with an electric mixer (hand or stand) set to medium-high, beat butter and remaining sugar until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low, and add eggs, milk and vanilla, beating until smooth. Add flour mixture, continue beating on low until combined.
Pour 2 cups of the vanilla batter into the bowl with the cocoa mixture, and stir until smooth.
Pour vanilla batter into the prepared baking pan. Spoon chocolate batter into six puddles on top of the vanilla batter. Drag a knife through the two batters, creating a swirly marble effect.
Bake 22 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven to a wire rack to cool completely. Frost once cool.
FOR THE FROSTING: Put chocolate chips in a glass or metal bowl set over a pan of simmering water (or use a double-boiler), until melted, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and add butter, powdered sugar and milk. Beat on high until frosting comes together. Add more milk or sugar as needed to achieve desired consistency. (If frosting is too stiff, add more milk; if it's too wet, add more powdered sugar)
Spread over cooled cake and decorate as desired.

Source: Real Simple

Filed Under: dessert, kid-friendly, Recipes Tagged With: cake, chocolate, easy, frosting, holiday, marble, vanilla

Chocolate Banana Brownies

July 11, 2013 ·

Chocolate Banana Brownies are so rich and fudgy, you would never guess they are low in fat (and can be made vegan)!

Chocolate Banana Brownies | alidaskitchen.com

I’ve been on a bit of a brownie kick lately and found myself choosing between three different brownies recipes to share with you today. These Chocolate Banana Brownies were at the top of the list. A brownie that is so rich and fudgy, you would never guess it’s low in fat (and can be made vegan)? Yes please!

The addition of bananas not only puts a tasty twist on these brownies, but it also helps reduce some of the added fat. There are also no eggs in this recipe. Changes from the original recipe include using whole wheat pastry flour instead of all-purpose (either one works fine, I just wanted a whole wheat brownie) and using brown sugar instead of granulated, because I love the flavor brown sugar adds to baked goods. Use your favorite non-dairy milk and non-dairy chocolate chips, and you have a delicious vegan dessert that everybody will love!

Chocolate Banana Brownies

Author: Alida Fischbach

Yields: 13x9-inch pan of brownies (see note for servings)

Ingredients

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or all-purpose flour)
2 cups packed brown sugar
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1 cup mashed overripe bananas (2-3, depending on size)
¼ cup milk (use soy or almond for vegan)
¼ cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (use dairy-free for vegan)
Cooking spray

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350*F. Spray a 13x9-inch baking pan with cooking spray and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk flour, brown sugar, cocoa, baking powder and salt.
In a medium bowl, stir bananas, milk, oil, and vanilla until well-blended.
Add banana mixture to flour mixture, gently stirring until just combined. Add chocolate chips, folding gently.
Pour batter into prepared baking pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (Be careful not to over bake, otherwise the brownie may not be as fudgy). Move pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Cut into squares to serve.

Notes

Note: 24 squares = 150 calores/brownie, 36 squares = 100 calories/brownie. These amounts are approximations based on the ingredients I used.

Source: About.com

Have more overripe bananas? Here are some other healthy, easy recipes to try:

Pumpkin Banana Muffins

Banana Buttermilk Muffins

Healthy Banana Cookies

Filed Under: dessert, Favorites, healthy, kid-friendly, Recipes, vegan Tagged With: banana, brownies, chocolate, vegan

sunflower seed butter buttermilk waffles

Sunbutter Waffles

June 27, 2013 ·

Sunbutter Waffles are whole wheat, buttermilk waffles made with sunflower seed butter instead of peanut butter (or other nut butter), making them a nut-free alternative. While perfect just as-is, we also enjoy them topped with additional sunbutter, berries or maple syrup.

We have had a waffles iron for years, but for whatever reason it hasn’t been used much…well, until recently. If you’re a regular reader, you know how much my Adam loves pancakes. At least once per week, I make his favorite kind(s) of pancakes to load up the freezer and/or just to have on hand. Sometimes I would end up making a double (or triple!) batch. On my small little griddle, this exercise could take hours. A labor of love I guess. These days, with a newborn in the house, it’s a bit tricky to devote that much time to cooking or baking anything. On a whim, I decided to try my hand at waffles. Due to Adam’s peanut allergy, I opted to transform my beloved peanut butter waffles into sunbutter waffles. I was pleased to discover cooking waffles is much quicker than flipping pancakes. And Adam had 5 waffles for breakfast that day. Operation waffle was a success!

For another recipe using sunbutter, try these Cocoa Crispy Sunbutter Bars. They make a great snack!

Sunbutter Waffles

Yields: 6 servings

Ingredients

1¾ cups whole wheat pastry flour (or all-purpose flour)
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch salt
¼ cup canola oil
6 tablespoons sunflower seed butter
2 cups buttermilk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

In a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a medium bowl, with a hand mixer, beat oil and sunflower seed butter until smooth. Add buttermilk, eggs and vanilla and stir until incorporated.
Add buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture, stirring until combined. Let mixture sit for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat waffle iron. Cook waffles according to the manufacturer directions for your waffle iron.

Notes

Note: Store leftovers in the refrigerator and toast to reheat. These also freeze well.

Adapted from Everyday Food

Filed Under: breakfast, healthy, kid-friendly, main dishes, Recipes, vegetarian Tagged With: baby/toddler, brunch, buttermilk, easy, freezer friendly, quick, sunflower butter, waffles

White Cupcakes with Truffle Filling and White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

May 30, 2013 ·

truffle filled white cupcakes with white chocolate cream cheese icing

White Cupcakes with Truffle Filling and White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting are a fun cupcake with a gooey truffle center. They are super easy to make too!

This past weekend marked a special second birthday ~ Alida’s Kitchen turned 2! Of course a birthday is not a birthday without cake, right? I’ve been looking for a white chocolate cake for a long time and actually have several recipes I want to try. This particular recipe won me over with two little words “truffle filling.”

truffle filled white chocolate cupcakes with white chocolate cream cheese frosting

While the original recipe called this cake white chocolate, it strikes me as closer to a white cake with a little tang from the sour cream. So my quest for a white chocolate cake continues, but these White Cupcakes with Truffle Filling are definitely tasty. I used a combination of white chocolate and dark chocolate truffles for the center, and both were good. The White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting deliciously rounds everything out, making these cupcakes worthy this special 2-year celebration!

White Cupcakes with Truffle Filling and White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

Ingredients
1¾ cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
⅔ cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 egg whites, room temperature
6 tablespoons butter, softened
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup sour cream
12 round white or dark chocolate truffles (such as Lindt)
Frosting:
4 ounces white chocolate baking bar, chopped
1 package (8 ounces) light cream cheese, softened
¼ cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners and set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk flour and baking powder.
In a liquid measuring cup, combine milk and vanilla.
In a medium bowl, beat egg whites on high until stiff peaks form.
In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add sour cream, and continue beating until smooth.
On medium speed, alternate adding flour and milk to butter mixture, ending with flour, and beat until smooth.
Stir in ⅓ of the egg whites. Fold in remaining egg whites until combined.
Divide batter evenly among 12 muffin cups. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove cupcakes from oven and while hot, cut a ½ inch "X" into the tops of each cupcake. Insert the truffle and press until truffle is flush with the top of the cupcake. Truffle will melt into cupcake. Let cool completely before frosting.
Make frosting: Place white chocolate in microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 1 minute and stir. Continue in 30 second increments until melted. Let cool for 3 minutes.
In a large bowl, combine melted chocolate, cream cheese, butter and vanilla and beat on medium speed until combined. Slowly add powdered sugar and continue beating until smooth.
Frost cupcakes and decorate as desired.

Notes

Source: Pampered Chef

Filed Under: dessert, kid-friendly, Recipes Tagged With: cupcakes, white chocolate

Honey Roasted Chickpeas with Sea Salt {Garbanzo Beans}

May 15, 2013 ·

honey roasted chickpeas with sea salt | alidaskitchen.com

Honey Roasted Chickpeas with Sea Salt are a healthy, sweet and salty snack that is easy to make. They are high in fiber, protein-packed, gluten free, dairy free…and Adam can’t get enough of them (in other words, they’re toddler friendly too!)

Honey Roasted Chickpeas are made with only a few simple ingredients, and you most likely have everything you need already in your pantry. In fact, all you really need is one ingredient, and that’s the chickpeas. The additional ingredients are simply for flavoring, but roasted chickpeas are super crunchy and delicious straight from the oven. In this case I made them honey roasted with sea salt, however I have other variations in the works that I am excited to share with you soon!

Honey Roasted Chickpeas with Sea Salt

Yields: 4 servings

Ingredients

15 ounce can chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1 tablespoon honey
½ tablespoon canola oil (or other neutral tasting oil)
sea salt, add to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Empty chickpeas into a colander. Rinse until no longer foamy and drain. Put chickpeas onto paper towels to pat dry. (Optional: remove skins from chickpeas. Not necessary, but I recommend it).
Place chickpeas in a single layer on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 45 minutes, or until chickpeas are crunchy. (If they're soft, put them back in for 5 minutes until crunchy).
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk honey and oil. Add hot chickpeas and toss to coat. Pour chickpeas back on lined baking sheet and return to the oven for 5 to 10 minutes, or until caramelized. Sprinkle with sea salt, as desired, and let cool. Store in an airtight container.

Notes

Slightly adapted from fitsugar.com

Filed Under: appetizers, gluten free, healthy, kid-friendly, Recipes, vegan Tagged With: baby/toddler, chickpeas, dairy free, easy, honey, quick, roasted, snack

Baked Cinnamon French Toast

May 10, 2013 ·

Baked Cinnamon French Toast is a decadent yet simple breakfast (or breakfast for dinner, as we talked about yesterday). Made with cinnamon swirl bread that is drenched and baked into a rich custard, Baked Cinnamon French Toast toast is beyond delicious. It takes 10 minutes to prepare and then you can bake it right away since this is not an overnight French toast. While it’s not an overnight variety, you certainly can make it ahead and store covered in the refrigerator until you’re ready to bake

baked cinnamon french toast casserole | alidaskitchen.com

This Baked Cinnamon French Toast is not something that I would have every day, simply because I like to have my boring old breakfast of old fashioned oats with a banana every day. But this French toast is definitely a wonderful treat worth enjoying for a special occasion…like perhaps for Mother’s Day this Sunday (hint hint Mike!)

Baked Cinnamon French Toast

Yields: 6 servings

Ingredients

Cooking spray
12 slices cinnamon bread or cinnamon raisin bread
2 cups half and half (fat free works fine)
2 eggs
4 tablespoons butter, melted (light better works fine)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 13"x9" pan with cooking spray.
In prepared pan, place six slices of bread and top with remaining 6 slices of bread.
In a large bowl, whisk together half and half, eggs, butter, vanilla and cinnamon. Pour over bread, pressing bread down so some liquid is absorbed.
Bake for 45 minutes until bread is golden brown. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired.

Source: I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter

Filed Under: bread, breakfast, kid-friendly, Recipes Tagged With: baked, cinnamon, easy, French toast, make ahead, quick

Mini Deep-Dish Pizzas

May 3, 2013 ·

Mini Deep-Dish Pizzas are fun, little individual deep dish pizzas made in a muffin tin. First you roll out little pizza dough circles and then gently put them in the muffin cups. Then fill each dough round with your desired sauce and toppings and then top it with cheese. I used premade dough (from Trader Joe’s), topped them with a marinara sauce, broccoli, red onion and mozzarella cheese, and they came together in less than 30 minutes. These Mini Deep-Dish Pizzas are completely customizable with your favorite sauce and toppings. Mini Deep-Dish Pizzas are a definite crowd-pleaser. Besides – there is always something fun about anything in miniature!

Today I am being featured over at Momma’s Meals where I’m being featured as part of Tammi’s Featured Fridays series! Every Friday, Tammi gets to know her fellow bloggers and makes one of their recipes to share with her family and then with her readers.

I thought it would be fun to make something from Tammi’s site to share with you, and her Individual Deep Dish Pizzas were perfect! Incidentally I had been looking at an Everyday Food recipe for little deep dish pizzas made in a muffin tin, so these Mini Deep-Dish Pizzas that I’m sharing with you is sort of a combination of the two recipes.

Mini Deep-Dish Pizzas

Yields: 12 pizzas

Ingredients

Cooking spray
All-purpose flour, for rolling
1 pound pizza dough (homemade or store-bought) - in 12 pieces
Salt and pepper
1 cup pizza sauce (I used a homemade marinara sauce)
Your favorite pizza toppings - about 1 to 2 tablespoons per pizza (I used chopped broccoli and red onion)
1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray 12 standard muffin cups with cooking spray. Set aside.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out each piece of pizza dough into 6-inch circles. Place into prepared muffin cup, gently pressing dough into bottom and up the sides. Season with salt and pepper as desired.
Put 1 tablespoon sauce in each dough cup. Top sauce with 1 to 2 tablespoons of pizza toppings and then top with cheese.
Bake until dough is browned and crisp, approximately 12 minutes. Let cool for 2-5 minutes before removing from cups.

Sources: Everyday Food,September, 2010 and Momma’s Meals

Filed Under: appetizers, healthy, kid-friendly, main dishes, Recipes, vegetarian Tagged With: baby/toddler, cheese, dinner, easy, italian, muffins, pizza, quick

Baked Dorito-Crusted Chicken

April 23, 2013 ·

Baked Dorito-Crusted Chicken came to me in a dream, which is funny because I’m typically not a flavored chip person (except for salt ‘n vinegar…yum!) I dismissed it as a quirky pregnancy dream. That is, until we had a bag of cheese tortilla chips (remember my Green Giant post?), which were just asking to be paired with chicken.

Baked Dorito-Crusted Chicken tastes like…wait for it….yep, you guessed it. Doritos and chicken. And it’s really good! The chicken is moist and juicy. The salty, cheesy chips give a nice seasoning to the chicken as well. We were very happy to finally turn my crazy dream into a delicious reality!

Baked Dorito-Crusted Chicken

Yields: 2 servings

Ingredients

Cooking spray
1 cup crushed cheese tortilla chips (or any chip will work here)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon milk (I used skim)
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (4 to 5 ounces each)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray baking sheet with cooking spray.
Put crushed chips in a shallow bowl.
In a separate shallow bowl, whisk egg and milk until combined.
Dip chicken breasts in milk mixture and then dip in chips, coating the chicken. Place on prepared baking sheet and lightly spray tops with cooking spray.
Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until chicken is thoroughly cooked.