Ice Cream in a Bag

This recipe was fun to make because the kids got to make it in an unusual way. The recipe said it takes only 5 minutes to make, but we all agreed that was underestimating. For each child you’ll need Ziploc bags in gallon size and pint or quart size and enough ice to fill the gallon bag halfway. We added some chocolate chips, about ¼ c each child. Add whatever you’d like.

So, let’s get cooking!

Fill the gallon bags halfway with ice and add the rock salt. Add the half and half, sugar, vanilla, and any fruit or extras you want to the pint or quart size bags. Seal tightly. Check the kids’ bags; my Megan’s ingredients bag wasn’t sealed all the way and before I realized it, some of the ingredients had squeezed out.

Make sure the gallon bags are sealed tightly too. Have the children shake, shake, shake the bags! My kids’ hands got cold so after a couple of minutes they got cloth napkins and kitchen towels to hold the bags.

After maybe 4 minutes you can take one of the bags out so the kids can see how it’s doing and how much thicker or how slushy it is. Ryan showed us his.

Here is the frozen result. This was Megan’s; she shook hers the slowest and hers got done first, after about 7 or 8 minutes. Ryan and Timmy were shaking theirs like maniacs and theirs got done maybe 5 minutes later.

Inside the bag, it looks just like ice cream you buy.

The children can eat this ice cream right out of the bag!

Enjoy! ~TMMF

Ice Cream in a Bag

(Per Child:)

Ziploc bags: gallon and quart sizes

½ c rock salt

1 c half & half

2 Tbl sugar

½ tsp vanilla

¼ c mini chocolate chips

Fruit & Yogurt Frozen Pops

Well, Summer is in full swing here with hot weather and thirsty, hungry children! What’s a mom to do about this? Make ice cream! And frozen pops of all kinds! Coming up are some very simple recipes for ice cream and a variety of frozen pops that are easy enough for even smaller children to make, with your help. My kids loved doing these, and they loved eating the results even better.

These healthy pops are made with vanilla yogurt and fresh fruit, although frozen could be used also. You also can obviously use light non-fat yogurt. The original recipe calls for 2 Tbl honey. We used a little more yogurt and excluded the honey completely, and the kids loved them. We made both strawberry ones and mango ones.

So, let’s get cooking!

Wash the fruit and take off anything like leaves, or peel, etc. Cut the fruit into chunks.

Measure out the yogurt.

Place the fruit and yogurt into a blender and blend until well mixed. We stopped when the fruit was almost totally crushed up but there were tiny pieces of it still.

Pour into paper cups.

Add the popsicle sticks. This recipe is thick enough that they do stand up in the middle.

You can also use a hand blender like we did with the mango pops. 

Freeze. We let them go overnight. Enjoy! ~TMMF

Fruit & Yogurt Frozen Pops

12 oz vanilla yogurt

2 c fresh fruit

Egg Roll Bowls

Egg Roll Bowl, an egg roll in a bowl! Omgoodness, this is a wonderful recipe from Taste of Home that takes the work out of egg rolls. The rolling part, at least. I only added one thing to this: I got the idea to cut wonton wrappers into strips and fry them, then put them atop the bowl of egg roll. The taste: yummilicious!!

So, let’s get cooking!

In a large deep skillet, sauté the ground pork until cooked through.

While that is cooking, shred (chop) the cabbage….

….and grate the carrots.

Add to the browned meat the cabbage, carrots, sesame oil, soy sauce, minced garlic, and ground ginger, mixing thoroughly. Sauté 4 to 6 minutes.

Heat up about 2” of oil in a skillet. Take a stack of the wonton wrappers and slice into strips about 3/8 inch wide. 

When the oil is hot enough to sizzle, fry the wonton strips until browned, just a minute or so.

Drain on paper towels.

Serve the egg roll mixture in a bowl, topped with the fried wonton strips.

Enjoy! ~TMMF

Egg Roll Bowls

½ pound ground pork

2 Tbl sesame oil

1 Tbl soy sauce

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp ground ginger

6 c shredded cabbage

2 large carrots

1 pk wonton wrappers

Cheeseburger & Fries Casserole

Another wonderful recipe perfect for young kids to make with your supervision! This is from Taste of Home, and the only change I made to it was to add some salt and pepper to enhance the taste. My darling assistant chef Megan made this and she suggested afterwards that we add cheese on top. What a great addition next time we make this!

So, let’s get cooking!

First, cook the hamburg in a skillet until thoroughly done. Drain.

Stir in the contents of both cans of soup, plus the salt and pepper.

Pour mixture into a greased 9 X 13” baking dish. Layer frozen French fries on top.

Bake at 400° for 40-45 minutes, until fries are cooked through. Serve and watch the smiles!

Enjoy! ~TMMF

Cheeseburger & Fries Casserole

2 lbs hamburg

1 can golden mushroom soup, undiluted

1 can cheddar cheese soup, undiluted

1 tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

1 20 oz bag frozen crinkle cut French fries

Mexican Bubble Pizza

This nifty little recipe is one I found on Taste of Home and I realized how kid friendly this would be as far as making it. Other than browning the hamburg, the kids can take over this recipe and cook like bosses! The fact that it’s a pizza recipe is just the icing on the cake.

This recipe was also originally a crock pot meal, but I adapted it to just bake in the oven. I cut down the hamburg from 1.5 lbs to 1 lb and switched out straight cheddar cheese for Fiesta Blend. The result was delicious and a hit with the family. My lovely assistant Megan made this under my guidance and loved every minute of it.

So, let’s get cooking!

Brown the hamburg in a skillet until thoroughly cooked.

Add and stir in the tomato soup, water, and taco seasoning. Simmer for 3 to 5 minutes until thickened. Remove from heat.

Open refrigerated biscuits and cut each into fourths.

Mix the cut biscuits into the beef mixture.

Place the whole shebang into a greased 9 X 13” baking dish and sprinkle the cheese over all.

Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes until biscuits are cooked through. 

Enjoy! ~TMMF

Mexican Bubble Pizza

1 lb hamburg

1 can tomato soup, undiluted

¾ c water

1 packet taco seasoning

2 sm tubes refrigerated biscuits

2 c shredded Fiesta Blend cheese

French Onion Soup Au Gratin Stuffed Meatballs

French Onion Soup Au Gratin Stuffed Meatballs….well that’s certainly a mouthful! And I have to tell you, these meatballs are a heavenly delicious mouthful you’ll want to keep eating! It’s a little more work than you’d want to do for just everyday supper, but if you have company coming, try this to wow them!

For this recipe, from Cupcakes & Kale Chips, I 86ed the red wine in it and added a cup of Swiss cheese, just like what we used on our French Onion Soup when I was a cook in a restaurant back in the day. The resulting flavor was just awesome and I was glad I did it.

So, let’s get cooking!

First, slice the onions in half, then slice up thinly. In a skillet, sauté the onions in the oil just until tender. Add the thyme and the ¼ c beef broth. Simmer, reducing the liquid until almost gone.

Take some of the block of mozzarella and cut 16 cubes about ½ inch in size. Shred the rest for later in the recipe.

To make the meatballs, mix together the hamburg, bread crumbs, parsley, salt, pepper, and egg. I find using my hand to be the best method.

Divide meat mixture into 16 equal pieces.

Flatten each portion of meat, add about a tsp of the onions, and then top with a cube of cheese.

Fold the meat around the onions and cheese cubes, sealing as best you can. This isn’t the easiest thing to do, but do the best you can.

Place the meatballs in a skillet, sealed side down. I used the same unwashed skillet I had sautéed the onions in for extra flavor. Less pans to wash too. ;-) Cook several minutes, turning to brown all sides.

In a small pan, make the sauce. Whisk the cornstarch into the beef broth and cook until thickened.

Pour the sauce over the meatballs in the skillet. Transfer to a baking dish if you don’t have a pan that can go in the oven. Bake at 375° about 15 minutes until meatballs are thoroughly cooked.

Add the shredded mozzarella and Swiss cheeses on top and pop back into the oven to broil for about 5 minutes, just to brown up the cheese a little.

Serve and enjoy! ~TMMF

French Onion Soup Au Gratin Stuffed Meatballs

1 Tbl oil
2 onions
½ tsp dried thyme
¼ c beef broth
1 ½ lbs ground beef
¼ c bread crumbs
1 Tbl minced fresh parsley
¾ tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
1 egg
8 oz block mozzarella cheese
1 c shredded Swiss cheese
1 ¾ c beef broth
2 Tbl cornstarch

Ginger Beef, Mushroom, and Kale Stir-Fry

This recipe comes to us from Gimme Some Oven, and it caught my eye because it’s obviously Asian, which I love, and the kale in it sounded interesting. Um, I have to say right off that I hated the kale and both Timmy and I picked it out. However, Timmy said that if it had been spinach, which he’s not overly fond of, he would have eaten it! So, I leave it to you to make with the kale or substitute spinach, which I wish I had, hahaha.

Other than the evil kale, the recipe was really good and pretty quick and easy. I switched out portobello and shitake mushrooms for regular mushrooms. I got the beef on clearance for way less than the regular price, which is how I could afford it and why I could even make a recipe with beef in it. Hey, works for me! ;-)

So, let’s get cooking!

First, peel and mince the garlic and ginger. Slice the scallions thinly. 

Slice the thin flank steak across the grain into strips about 1 inch wide and 2-3 inches long.

In a bowl, mix together the soy sauce, broth, rice wine vinegar, corn starch, ginger, garlic, and black pepper. Add the sliced beef and marinate for 15 minutes or so.

Cut the mushrooms into chunks, into thirds or quarters. Coarsely chop the kale or spinach. (Choose the spinach! Hahaha)

In a large skillet, heat 1 Tbl oil and cook the beef until done, about 5 minutes. Set aside.

Add the other 1 Tbl oil to the skillet. Sauté the mushrooms a minute, then add the kale or spinach. Add the marinade and cook a few minutes until the leafy green is wilted.

Stir frequently to thicken the sauce, then add in the cooked beef. Sprinkle the sliced scallions on top and serve.

Enjoy! ~TMMF

GINGER BEEF, MUSHROOM & KALE STIR-FRY

1/3 cup soy sauce

½ cup vegetable broth (or chicken/beef broth, or water)

3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

2 tablespoons corn starch

3/4” ginger root

2 cloves garlic

¼ teaspoon black pepper

1 lb. thinly sliced flank steak or sirloin

2 tablespoons oil

12 ounces mushrooms

3 cups chopped kale or spinach

2 scallions