The kids have been taken down by a nasty cold so I am keeping them out of the kitchen, but I will post a kids cook later in the week. I had been planning on making chicken satay lettuce wraps for dinner, but due to sick grumpy kids and a change in our vegetable delivery I changed things up a little. Satay is is a great meal to make with kids, there are a lot of things they can do and it is a fun meal to eat. When I cook with the kids I typically have them do the cutting, but with satay I do the cutting and they get to do more of the actual cooking, so it is a meal they take a lot of pride in. I know some people don't like the idea of kids handling raw chicken, but I think it is important to have kids do all types of jobs and learn the responsibilities, like washing well after handling, that go along with the various job. I cut the chicken into strips, but let them flavor and skewer. Not all kids love touching chicken, but my kids love slimy gooey things, and for them chicken is one of the best slimy things around so they will always jump at the chance to "play" with it. Skewering is a great activity for kids, weather it is putting on a bunch of different items, or putting one long piece of chicken on a stick, it helps develop fine motor skills and dexterity. Plus it only takes a few times of watching food fall off the stick before kids realize the importance of getting the stick through the center of the item. I often put my oldest son, 5, in charge of making the peanut sauce. I use a very simple kid friendly receipe, so kids are familiar with all the ingredients and can often do all the mise en place and measuring alone. The sauce is not cooked making it a great solo activity for young cooks.
As I said my meal for last night changed slightly. I had originally planned on doing wraps, with chicken skewers, but we got a bag of lettuce instead of a head of lettuce, so i went with a salad with chopped chicken, instead of wraps, which was just as tasty.
Chicken Satay Salad
1 lb Boneless Chicken breast cut into strips
2 Tbs. of Ginger, finely chopped
1 Tbs. Garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup Apple Juice
1/4 cup Peanut Butter (creamy or chunky)
3 Tbs. Soy Sauce
Dash Hot Sauce
1 Cup Shredded Carrots
1 Cucumber, peeled and julienned
1 Bag/Head of Lettuce
Heat pan with oil, add chicken, ginger and garlic. Cook until chicken is cooked through, remove from pan, cool slightly and chop roughly.
For sauce heat apple juice slightly. Add peanut butter and soy sauce. Toss half of the sauce with the chopped chicken, use remaining sauce as dressing for salad.
Combine carrots, cucumber and lettuce top with chicken and additional dressing if desired.
Fire Truck Cake Timeline
Not an original thing to make with kids, but definitely a favorite. We make it at least once a month, usually more. The dough is quick, fun to play with and easy to make, the kids can work on it with little assistance. The break while the dough rises can be helpful, although sometimes I have lost them completely during this two hour break and they have no interest in returning to finish the job, so sometimes it is good to just make the dough up ahead of time and let them focus on making the pizzas. I usually put my dough in the oven to rise, there is enough warmth in there to speed the process and makes for a nice rise of the dough. Just remember to take the dough out before you preheat the oven, not that I learned that from previous experience. 
The kids have been taken down by a nasty cold so I am keeping them out of the kitchen, but I will post a kids cook later in the week. I had been planning on making chicken satay lettuce wraps for dinner, but due to sick grumpy kids and a change in our vegetable delivery I changed things up a little. Satay is is a great meal to make with kids, there are a lot of things they can do and it is a fun meal to eat. When I cook with the kids I typically have them do the cutting, but with satay I do the cutting and they get to do more of the actual cooking, so it is a meal they take a lot of pride in. I know some people don't like the idea of kids handling raw chicken, but I think it is important to have kids do all types of jobs and learn the responsibilities, like washing well after handling, that go along with the various job. I cut the chicken into strips, but let them flavor and skewer. Not all kids love touching chicken, but my kids love slimy gooey things, and for them chicken is one of the best slimy things around so they will always jump at the chance to "play" with it. Skewering is a great activity for kids, weather it is putting on a bunch of different items, or putting one long piece of chicken on a stick, it helps develop fine motor skills and dexterity. Plus it only takes a few times of watching food fall off the stick before kids realize the importance of getting the stick through the center of the item. I often put my oldest son, 5, in charge of making the peanut sauce. I use a very simple kid friendly receipe, so kids are familiar with all the ingredients and can often do all the mise en place and measuring alone. The sauce is not cooked making it a great solo activity for young cooks. 
My little one woke up around 4:30 this morning and decided it was time to start the day, plus my morning coffee was feeling a little sad a lonely. The cure - Pumpkin Streusel Muffins. I would like to describe the muffin, but I just watched the Saturday Night Live skit with Betty White and I just can't write about muffins right now, so here is a picture and the recipe.
The planned meal for tonight was Lo Mein, but with two sick kids it morphed into a soup and a pretty tasty one at that. I have also rediscovered my love of Ramen Noodles. Like many college students, I lived on them. Easy to fix when living in the dorm and a great cheap food when first living on your own. During those years I didn't do anything except fix them as plain noodles or fix them as soup, and of course I used that salty flavoring packet that tasted so good after a long night out. After a few years of these as the base of my diet I gave them up completely and then a couple of months ago I picked them up as a quick lunch for my kids and ever since I have been hooked once again. My kids love having them for lunch, we alternate between eating them as soup and just as noodles, and of course we use the flavor packet. But there are so many other uses, they are great uncooked in salads or as a replacement for pasta in soup. And if you ask my youngest they are just fun to play with! What is your favorite use?