Family Fun in the Kitchen

These family friendly recipes are almost as fun to make, as they are to eat.

Graham Cracker Baseball Field

This yummy treat encourages creative play.

Ingredients

Graham crackers
Cake frosting
Pretzel sticks
Fruit leather
Gummy bears
Sliced banana

Directions

Create your own mini baseball field with two large graham crackers.
Spread cake frosting evenly over both crackers.
Use pretzel sticks to form a diamond.
Make the bases and home plate out of fruit leather.
A thinly sliced banana can easily be transformed into a pitching mound.
Finally, add the most important ingredient, the gummy bear players!

3rd Base Sliders and Home Plate Chips

Baseball season is my favorite time of year. This easy recipe is my personal homage to America’s favorite pastime.

3rd Base Sliders

Ingredients

1 lb lean ground beef
¼ cup grated carrots
¼ cup chopped fresh spinach
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp seasoning salt (Lawry’s or McCormick work well)
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp parsley flakes
1 package of whole grain hot dog buns

Directions

In a bowl, combine ingredients and mix well, ensuring everything is well combined.
Form small, 2 oz patties and place on a well greased grill or grill pan.
Cook each side for approximately 3-4 minutes ensuring the whole patty is cooked through.
Cut hot dog buns in half and toast until brown.
Place cooked patty in toasted bun and enjoy.
Possible condiments to include: ketchup, mustard, mayo, grilled onion, pickles, lettuce and / or tomato.

Home Plate Chips

Ingredients
1 russet Potato
1 sweet potato or yam
Seasoning salt
Olive oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Using a sharp knife, thinly slice both potatoes into round pieces.
Generously grease a cookie sheet with olive oil.
Place potato rounds on cookie sheet and sprinkle seasoning salt to taste.
Bake 10-12 minutes or until brown.

Serving Suggestion: To add an element of fun, serve the sliders and chips in a cardboard box just like they do at the ballpark! Using a pair of sharp scissors, cut out the face of a recycled cereal or cracker box, making sure to keep the rest of the box (four sides and the remaining face) in tact. Have your children decorate the box with their favorite baseball scenes. Serve the sliders and chips in the box on wax paper.

Monkey Bread

Thank you to Karen Kendall and Cynthia Karr for this recipe
I got this recipe from my college roommate after eating it at her 5-year-old son’s birthday party. It’s a delicious alternative to birthday cake and less expensive too!

Ingredients

1 tube of pre-made buttermilk biscuits
1/3 cup sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
1 tbs ground cinnamon

Icing:
2 tbs butter
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup brown sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Pull apart the biscuits from the tube and cut into halves or thirds (give your kids butter knives so they can help with this step).
In a plastic bag, combine white sugar, cinnamon and brown sugar.
Place biscuit pieces in the plastic bag and shake until each piece is well coated. Con
Layer coated biscuit pieces in a greased bunt cake pan and set aside.
Make icing by melting butter in a small saucepan and adding brown and white sugar.
Continue to stir until the icing is thick. Pour icing over prepared biscuits (in the pan).
Bake for 30 minutes.
Serve warm.

Ice Cream Sand Castle

The perfect ending to any springtime meal is this easy to make sandcastle.

Ingredients

Vanilla Ice cream
Small Paper Cups
Toasted Wheat Germ
Whole-wheat cereal such as Multi-Grain Cheerios or Shredded Wheat
Graham Crackers
Pretzel Stick and small piece of Fruit Leather

Directions

Scoop ice cream into small paper cups.
Wrap cups with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for at least four hours
Place each ice cream cup upside down on a serving dish
Peel off paper cup so only the ice cream remains in the form of a sand castle.
Add “sand” by sprinkling a coating of crushed graham crackers, wheat germ and whole-wheat cereal.
Construct a “flag” to the top of your castle with a pretzel stick and piece of fruit leather