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!