kids in the kitchen

The kids have been doing a good bit of cooking 

- or at least 'fixing' -

food lately.

Lily and Josiah, especially,

but mostly Lily.

She gave me a coupon for Mothers' Day 

to cook dinner for 7,

and suggested that maybe she could make a roast.

My friend, Sandy, hates it, 

but roast is one of my favorites,

so I was all over that idea,

and when I went to Sam's on Monday, 

I picked up a nice one that had been marked down.

Last night,

Lily (10) cooked dinner all by herself!!

(I forgot to take a picture, darn it)

Also when I was shopping Monday,

I picked up some chicken legs that had been marked down to

get this - thirty-five cents a pound!!

When Josiah saw them, 

he remembered that he had a recipe in his cookbook,

and wouldn't you know it?

We had almost everything we needed.

(it called for Asian bbq sauce, which we don't have, 

but it was such a small amount, 

that I told him he could probably just sub our regular bbq sauce

(Sweet Baby Rays - the one with the honey bees on the label)

and it would probably be just fine)

so he and Lily mixed up the marinade that night,

and he dutifully turned the bag every few hours Tuesday.

I had to cook them up for him,

since they don't get home from TKD until 7:30,

and Brandon had to leave at 8:10 for 242. 

After dinner, 

he and Lil made chunky peanut butter cookies,

also from his cookbook.

He'd wanted to make them for  snack for 242 on his birthday.

But since we ended up making puppy chow, 

instead of his preferred chocolate covered strawberries,

because the berries at the store didn't look good,

I didn't think we should bring two things with peanut butter

as a major ingredient....

The chicken was good, and we'll make it again

(he'll make it again...)

The cookies were okay, but nothing special,

especially the texture,

so I've talked them into trying the recipe with  healthy substitutions.
(baking mix for flour, xylitol and stevia for sugar, mostly)

That's one of the things I struggle with,

with kids wanting to cook;

most of the recipes that appeal to them

contain ingredients I'd rather we not eat all that often,

so I have a hard time feeding that desire.

(harhar)

What I'd really like is a cookbook that appeals to them

and me!

(and, of course, for them to clean up their mess...)