Fresh Fruit Snacks

Fresh Fruit Sticks

Already have a Step2 Play Kitchen or some of the kitchen accessories? Here’s a healthy snack for afterschool fun – adults and older kids can make this with real fruit and smaller children can use the play fruit to follow along.

Fresh Fruit Sticks

Makes 4-6 6 inch k-bobs

Uses play fruits - apples, pineapple, oranges and pears

Ingredients

1 Red Delicious apple, cut into chunks

1 cup fresh pineapple chunks

2 oranges, seeded and quartered

2 firm pears, seeded and quartered

8-12 large marshmallows

Let’s make fruit sticks!

1. Using 6 inch wooden skewers, place fruits in alternate patterns with marshmallows on each skewer.

Kid-friendly Kitchen Tip

1. Make a super breakfast on-the-go by adding mini muffins on each k-bob in place of marshmallows. Add chunks of angel food or pound cake and decorate with sprinkles to turn k-bobs into a festive party dessert!

Click here for nutritional information

Back to School, Back to Cooking

With kids back in school, we know the lazy days of summer are over. Weeknight dinners need to be fast, but they also need to taste great while bringing the family together. We want to teach kids healthy eating habits at a young age. A great way to get them into the kitchen and involve them in the process of choosing what to fix for snacks, meals and treats is to take them to the grocery store when possible, get them to local farmers markets, and involve them at an early age. Kids love the kitchen; it is the parents most often who are scared to cook!

Parents should try to use fresh fruits, fresh veggies presented in a fun, clever way. Use what is in season and whole wheat tortillas and pastas. Nothing we all haven’t read or know already, but parents are great at leading by example and if you take a few minutes to find a clever recipes and involve the kids in the cooking process, it will go a long way. This is where change begins and ends. Here are some suggestions to get kids eating healthy after school:

· Cheese dip can be laced with bits of broccoli – just put out some whole grain crackers or some cut up veggies and it’s a great snack

· Get cooked veggies (which kids least like) mixed into rice, pasta, or mashed potatoes.

· Serve small portions to try new things and do not demand they finish...simply "try" a new taste.

Some Tips from Guest Blogger, Barbara Beery

Hi y’all! I’m Barbara Beery and I run a cooking school in Austin, Texas called the Batter Up Kids Culinary Center – I wanted to inspire young children everywhere to learn to love cooking but also learn how to cook easy, healthy meals for themselves. I’ve also written a few cook books, most recently the Green Princess Cookbook, designed to inspire children how to cook using homegrown foods, organic produce, and other earth-friendly materials.

I’m particularly excited about partnering with Step2 this holiday season to get parents and kids in the kitchen cooking together. Make sure you check out my Step2 Little Helper’s Cheese Manicotti recipe. And check out these extra cooking tips to make it even more interactive.

Barbara’s Kid-friendly Cooking Tips, Tricks and Tools
1. Encourage young chefs to get actively involved in almost every step of this recipe with the help of some kid-friendly kitchen tools. Lettuce knives are the perfect tool for young chefs because they easily cut through veggies with no possible way of cutting their little fingers. We call these “safety knives” and have had kids successfully (and safely) use them for years in our cooking classes.

2. Equally as safe for chopping is a manual food chopper with veggies chopped inside a totally enclosed container.

3. Kids love string cheese and they love pasta. Encouraging a child to “stuff” a piece of string cheese into a cooked pasta shell is simply irresistible. It’s also a great way to help improve a toddler’s hand–to eye coordination. You may want to buy a little extra string cheese to allow for some healthy snaking while kids are preparing this savory dish!

4. Try to use a whole wheat manicotti if that option is available in your market. You get the added bonus of great nutty- flavored pasta with more nutritional value.

5. Include a large leafy salad for a complete healthy meal, the whole family will enjoy.

Welcome!

Greetings! Step2 is proud to announce the first ever “Step2 Ultimate Play Kitchen Guide” and the “Creative Kids in the Kitchen” contest. Enter today for your chance to win a dream kitchen from Frigidaire and the perfect play kitchen for your child.

Want to know which Step2 play kitchen is right for your home and family? Visit the Kitchen Selector to help get you started.

Do you like to cook with your kids? Barbara Beery, a cooking instructor who runs her own cooking school for kids has offered some exclusive recipes. We hope this site inspires you to get cooking with your kids and get creative in the kitchen. Please feel free to share your stories, photos and ideas about how you cook – just send them to CreativeKidsintheKitchen@Step2.net