Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Choosy Kids in the Kitchen

In honor of #kidstakeoverthekitchen day, some of our Choosy Kids staff have shared favorite recipes from their childhood. It allowed us to take a trip down memory lane, and even give our parents a call to get the recipe! If there is a recipe from your childhood that you love, and you don't have it written down, put it in a cookbook because it may become a favorite of your child's and will forever be in their recipe book to share for generations!

Brianna Robins: Banana Bread


2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 stick of butter
1/2 tsp salt
1 teaspoon of baking soda
3 rotten bananas
 2 eggs

Melt the butter and add the sugar along with the eggs (already beaten). Then add the dry ingredients with butter, eggs, sugar, and bananas. Cook at 350 degrees for about 45-60 minutes. Insert toothpick, once the toothpick is dry, voila!

Christine - The Choosy Mommy's Meatballs 


1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 small onion, chopped (about 1/4 cup)
1 egg

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix all ingredients. Shape into 20 1 1/2 inch meatballs. Place in rectangular pan, 13x9x2 inches. Bake 20-25 minutes or until no longer pink inside.

4+ servings.

The Choosy Mommy tip: I put my meatballs into the microwave for 5 minutes prior to the oven. This helps to keep them in ball form and helps with the cooking process.

Paige Powers: Chicken, Broccoli and Rice Casserole


I actually had to call my mom and discuss what some of my favorite recipes were as a child. She said all I ever wanted to eat was cheesy potatoes. She also said she was pretty basic and made the same things every week for the most part: a meat, a vegetable, and a carb. She did point out one recipe that I liked and here it is:

2 boxes Uncle Ben's Broccoli Rice Au Gratin
1/2 cup celery (optional)
1/2 cup onion (optional)
Side note: She never put either in when I was young because I hated both of those veggies, especially onions, haha!
1 can chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
2-3 chicken breasts
1 bag frozen broccoli

Cook Uncle Ben's rice per directions on the box
Cook chicken how you prefer (boiling works) and cut up into small pieces
Mix all of the ingredients together
Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees!

Pretty simple recipe, but it was one of my sister and I's favorite recipes!

Marianne Jenkins: Cheese Lasagna


As a kid, my siblings and I always enjoyed watching our parents cook, and as we got older, there are a few recipes that are still family favorites! Below is a lasagna that puts a spin on traditional sauce-lasagna.

1 bag of flour
1 1/2 jar of cheese sauce
2 1/2 cups water (for noodles)
4 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
Seasonings of your choice (we always used salt, Italian seasoning and black pepper)
Vegetable oil or butter

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl mix even amounts of flour and water (we never mixed all the ingredients at once, instead we did small batches of dough at a time, this helped to ensure we didn't make too many noodles) until the mixture is in a dough form. Add seasonings and knead. Then place flour on counter (to avoid dough from sticking), and lay the dough out. With a rolling pin, flatten the dough to be a desired thickness of noodle. Cut even strips.

Bring water to a boil in a large deep pan and place the strips into the boiling water (we always did a handful of noodles at a time). Use oil or butter to help noodles from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Once noodles float (around 3-5 minutes), carefully bring them out and put them in strainer. Once all noodles are done (this process of making small amounts of dough, flattening, cutting, and boiling can take around 15-25 minutes), begin assembling the lasagna.

Using a large glass rectangular pan, place a thin layer of cheese sauce at the bottom to ensure the noodles don't stick. Then begin the lasagna by placing one layer of noodles, followed by  thin layer of cheeses sauce, and a thin layer of mozzarella cheese. Continue this until you have layered the lasagna to the top of the pan.  Bake 10-15 minutes or until sides of the top layer are crisp.

10+ servings.
Tip: To make it a healthy Choosy plate, be sure to serve with fresh veggies or a salad.


Do you have a favorite childhood recipe? Is it written down for your children? And remember to check out this month's free song download from Choosy Kids called My Choosy Plate!

35 comments :

  1. One of my favorite recipes from childhood was my moms tacos. She'd fry the shells, and they were so delicious!

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    1. That sounds really good and there's so many different things you can put into a taco! Do you have it written down exactly how your mom made them?

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  2. These all sound so good. Nor sure which one I want to try first.

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  3. I loved my mom's fried potatoes and her potato soup. I have both recipes and I am grateful to have them. I can't quite make it the way mom does, though!

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    1. mmmm both yummy choices. It is understandable that it doesn't turn out quite the same as when your mom made it. It is that extra little touch that makes it so good <3

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  4. Yum! These sounds like great recipes. I also love the idea of keeping all recipes in a cookbook for future generations!

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    1. It would make a really nice wedding gift some day!!

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  5. i love this list! it's kid-friendly and perfect for my boys!

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    1. Do they eat anything and everything? Are the fruit and veggie lovers?

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  6. I make sure I have all the recipes that my mom used to make. I think it's awesome that you're sharing these as well, everything sounds so good!

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  7. Both sounds yummy. I wrote down all my favorite recipes from my mom's cooking.

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    1. That is a really good idea. Now you have them forever!

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  8. These are great ideas! My son was so picky when he was younger. Baby sister eats everything so he starting to come around but we still have our challenges.

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    1. Christine, our Choosy Mommy, has kids that are the same way! Little brother eats everything and older sister is now picky. She believes it is an age thing and the older sibling will soon eat everything again!

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  9. This is great! One of my favorite things to make in the kitchen as a kid was banana bread! I haven't baked banana bread in a long time, this kind of makes me want to make some!!

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    1. 'Tis the season, right? Cooler days make for good baking time with the kids!

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  10. These look like such great recipes to try. I have three kids and I'm convinced that they are the pickiest kids on the planet.

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    1. We hear you! Kid can be picky but you also have to provide different options. Just like Paige mentioned with her story, her mom always had a meat, vegetable and a carb. Change it up and offer a variety of colors.

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  11. I swear my kids are some of the pickiest eaters ever!! I love these recipes, lasagna is a favorite of theirs

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    1. Lasagna is great! Do you sneak veggies into it? ;)

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  12. Banana bread is our family favorite all the way!! We make it with pecans or we get extra crazy and do it with chocolate chips.

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  13. Meatballs, meatballs! I want to try those. Of course banana bread sounds great right now too.

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    1. If you give anything a try, let us know how it comes out for you!

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  14. All these recipes look great, but I'd start with the banana bread! I have given my daughter the recipes to her favorite dishes for her to make while she's in college.

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  15. Mmmm! I love a good banana bread recipe. My kiddos just started liking it, so I can't wait to make it and pumpkin bread this fall!

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  16. Wow, my son loves meatballs! I will make some this weekend!

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  17. These recipes look awesome! We love banana bread at our house, it always smells so great too!

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  18. These recipes sound really good!! Now, that I think about it... I can't think of any recipes from my childhood :(

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  19. I remember that my mom taught me how to make her pie crust when I was little. Never forgot it!

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  20. I have always loved hearty recipes like these. It's important to make foods that are family friendly and that the kids will want to eat.

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  21. These sounds so good, and you're making me super hungry! I love having my kids help in the kitchen. Good idea!

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  22. These recipes are great! My kids definitely have their favs of mac and cheese and spaghetti.

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  23. Banana bread is one of my kids' favorites. It was a fun way to get them to eat fruits.

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