NurtureStore » Recipies

Easy Easter recipes: yummy in a hurry

Cathy @ NurtureStore — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 13:00:55 +0000

It’s not too late to get the kids in the kitchen and whip up some delicious Easter treats. Try these easy Easter recipes for yummy in a hurry.

Easy Easter recipes

Dying eggs using natural dyes is very easy, using ingredients your are likely to have in you’re store cupboard – try these egg dying recipes

I’ve been collaborating with Parentdish this week and we have a three course selection of easy and delicious Easter food – try Amy’s Hot Cross Buns for breakfast, Mari’s lamb with white wine, lemon and rosemary for dinner and my bunny rabbit chocolate lollipops for pudding.

We make these Easter crispy nest cakes every Easter and they’re so easy and cute.

Cooking with eggs is a great time to introduce new kitchen skills - do your kids know how to crack an egg? And why not make some crazy eggheads with all the left over shells?

More Easter ideas

Like some Easter crafts and activities to go with these easy Easter recipes? Check our all our other Easter ideas.

Kids Easter recipe: Easter bunny lollipops

Cathy @ NurtureStore — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 19:54:50 +0000

What’s Easter without bunnies and chocolate? This Easter bunny lollipop recipe combines both and is great kids Easter recipe.

I’m joining in a debate with Mari and Amy over at Parentdish to find out what’s your favourite Easter treat: roast lamb, hot cross buns or chocolate rabbits. I need you to head over to Parentdish and vote for the bunny! And while you’re there you can enter their competition to win a family holiday at Alton Towers.

Easter bunny lollipop recipe

Here’s a step by step guide to making these super sweet lollipops, with a printable recipe card at the end. If you like this idea I need your vote please. Click here and give me your vote to say Chocolate Easter bunnies are the best Easter treat.

To make these Easter bunny lollipops:

Put 25g butter and 170g white (or pink) marshmallows in a large pan. Heat gently and stir until all the marshmallows have melted.

Add 120g rice crispy cereal and stir gently until all the cereal is coated with the marshmallow mixture.

Line a baking tin (ours was about 25cm square) with baking paper and then fill with the rice crispy mixture. You need the layer to be fairly thick (2cm+) so there is room to push in the lollipop stick later. Flatten down the surface with the back of a spoon and pop in the fridge to chill and harden.

Once the rice crispy mix has cooled, cut out your rabbit shapes with a cookie cutter. We found this quantity of ingredients made 10 rabbits, but it will depend on the size of your cookie cutter.

At this time of year there are lots of rabbit shaped cookies cutters available in supermarkets and craft stores but if you can’t get hold of one you can still make a rabbit with a round metal cookie cutter – like we did. Just squeeze your cutter into an egg shape and you have a great shape to make your rabbit’s face. Use a knife to cut out some ear shapes, wet the ends and the marshmallow in the mixture will stick the ears onto the bunny’s head. Carefully push a lollipop stick into your bunny to make your lollipop.

Now to add the chocolate – this is an Easter bunny after all! Use chocolate chips for the bunnies eyes – stick them on with a little blob of icing, and use some extra white icing to pipe on whiskers and a mouth. Using little tubes of writing icing makes it easier for the kids to do this bit. We added a pink-coloured puffed rice sweet as a nose – but you could use a chocolate chip if you prefer.

Finally, add some chocolate to your bunnies ears. Bring a little water to the boil in a saucepan and sit a glass jar on the top. Put around 100g white or milk chocolate in the bowl and melt it – then quickly dip the ends of your bunnies ears in the melted chocolate to give them a choccy coating. Sit the bunny on some greaseproof paper until the chocolate sets and then your bunnies are ready to eat or give away as Easter gifts.

You can also use this recipe to make Easter egg lollipops, adding some chocolate buttons or icing on top as decorations.

Recipe card – and vote for this bunny!

Like this idea? Print off you recipe card here and show the bunny some love by voting for me here. Go on, go on – one click is all it takes! Go on, go on – let the bunny win!!

And enter the competition to win a family holiday at Alton Towers while you’re there.

#sponsored

Valentine food for kids

Cathy @ NurtureStore — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 14:00:52 +0000

Love is in the air this week and we are embracing the idea that the way to someone’s heart is through their stomach with some fun ideas for Valentine food for kids. All of them are easy for the children to make, super cute and very yummy.

Valentine food for kids

These loveheart lollipops use a marshmallow crispy cake recipe. We made them to hand out to the girls’ school friends and they were a big hit. Print off the free recipe card and you don’t need to worry about getting marshmallow all over your laptop.

This mini meringue recipe is another great one for the kids to try and with a little added pink you can make a sweet Valentine pudding.

You can transform pretty much anything into a Valentine theme with the addition of lovehearts. Cookie cutters and silicone baking cases are not just for cake and biscuits through – why not try some jelly in the cases or A Mummy Too’s lovely chocolate idea?
Get creative with your condiments and even a humble bacon butty gets a Valentine twist.

What Valentine food are you making with your kids?

Valentine lollipops crispy cake recipe

Cathy @ NurtureStore — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09:51:37 +0000

If lollipops make your heart go giddy-up this Valentine crispy cake recipe is for you! Just three ingredients (with a few added decorations) and about 20 minutes to make, it’s a recipe the kids can do by themselves with a little supervision. We made some at the weekend to give out to the girls’ school friends and it was fun!

Here’s how we made them and at the end you’ll find a printable recipe card you can download.

Valentine crispy cake recipe

To make around 20 small heart shaped lollipops you will need:

25g butter :: 170g marshmallows :: 120g rice crispy type cereal :: sprinkles, jelly sweets or red laces for decoration :: lollipop sticks

Put the butter and marshmallows in a large pan. Heat gently and stir until all the marshmallows have melted.

Add the rice crispy cereal and stir gently until all the cereal is coated with the marshmallow mixture. Add in any sprinkles for extra decoration.

There two ways you can make your heart shapes.

:: line cookie cutters with cling wrap and then fill well with the rice crispy mixture. Leave to cool and then pop out the shapes. You’ll need lots of cookie cutters if you do it this way.

:: line a baking tin (ours was about 25cm square) with baking paper and then fill with the rice crispy mixture. Flatten down the surface with the back of a spoon.

You need the hearts to be fairly thick (2cm+) so there is room to push in the lollipop stick later. You might like to add some extra sprinkles on the surface of the hearts while the marshmallow is still sticky.

Once the rice crispy mix has cooled, cut out your heart shapes with a cookie cutter. Flip the cutter over as you cut along to fit more hearts in. Doing it this way does mean you have some of the crispy cake left over – but I’m sure you’ll find someone who’s willing to eat the offcuts!

Carefully push a lollipop stick into each heart to make your lollipops.

For extra fun you can add jelly sweets on to the lollipops. Just brush a tiny bit of water over the surface of the lollipop as a little ‘glue’ and press on the sweets. You can even use Red Laces sweets to write words or make kisses.

If you’re giving the lollipops as gifts you might like to wrap them with a piece of cellophane and fasten with a red or pink rubber band or a piece of ribbon.

Like this? Please share!

If you’d like a copy of the recipe to take in to the kitchen print our crispy cake recipe here.

You can find all our other Valentine ideas here.
And if you liked the crispy cake recipe you might like to try our other Kids in the Kitchen recipes.

happily shared with craft schooling sunday and sunday showcase and funsparks

Kids in the kitchen: customised soup

Cathy @ NurtureStore — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 13:52:14 +0000

Inviting kids in to the kitchen is about lots of things: developing a relationship with food, seeing how meals are prepared and learning lots of important skills. This recipe for vegetable soup is delicious and healthy but it also gives children a chance to build their confidence in cooking because they are the ones who decide which ingredients to use. It encourages them to use their own taste buds and try out making a recipe of their very own.

Customised soup recipe

The great thing about this vegetable soup recipe is that there isn’t really a recipe at all- just suggestions for your children to help them create a signature dish of their own. Whatever combination of vegetables you choose, a ratio of around 10 veggies to 2 pints stock is a rough guide – but have some extra stock ready just in case you need it. We went with 1 onion, 2 celery sticks, half a bulb of fennel, 3 carrots, 3 parsnips and 1 sweet potato, together with 2 pints of chicken stock. This made enough for two lunches for four.

Vegetable soup basic principles:

1. Fry some base vegetables in oil in a really big pan: onions, garlic, celery

2. Peel and chop some root vegetables and add them to your pan: potato, carrots, sweet potato, parsnips, swede and fennel are all good. We always add fennel as our secret ingredient as a little of it makes the soup delicious. Use a child-friendly peeler to make it easier and don’t worry too much about all the vegetables being chopped to the same size.

3. Add some herbs for extra flavour: take a pick from cumin, coriander, oregano, thyme, caraway, parsley or rosemary

4. Add chicken, turkey or vegetable stock to cover the vegetables and simmer away for around 20-30 minutes

5. Once the vegetables are soft you can blend the soup, adding more stock or water if you like to get the thickness you prefer

6. We love to serve our customised soup with Parmesan cheese and pine nut kernels on top. The soup freezes really well too

More kids in the kitchen ideas

:: do your kids know how to crack an egg?

:: ever made mini meringues?

:: ever eaten a snowman?

:: ever made edible snowflakes?