I love croutons but I hate the taste of stale, been in the box too long ones.  Here is a great way to make croutons the way you like with the added bonus of being able to use your favorite flavors at just a fraction of the cost.

Homemade Croutons

Cut any type of bread (hotdog buns, sandwich bread, french bread etc.) into desired size.  Croutons 1

Place in a large and deep roasting pan.

Sprinkle olive oil all over the bread pieces but making sure not to soak them.  You just want to drizzle so they brown nicely. Croutons 2

Sprinkle salt (the amount depends on the amount of bread ranging from 1/4 tsp to 1 tsp) and any other dried herbs or seasonings and lightly toss bread with a spoon.  Croutons 3

Place in a preheated 400F oven and bake (keeping an eye close) until a nice golden color.  Croutons 4

Remove from oven and let COMPLETELY cool (about 1-2 hours) before storing in a covered container.  If you do not let it cool, the moisture from the steam will be trapped in the container and it is a breeding ground for mold.

This is a gread idea for those times when you have a lot of young children coming all together.  Its fast, easy, and makes a lot.

Pizza Crust Wrapped Hot Dogs

Make Pizza Crust

Take a ping pong size peice of dough and place on the counter.  (you may need more or less depending on the size of the hotdog.)

With your hands, rock the dough back and forth slightly firm, bringing your hands apart to make the dough long and skinny. Hot Dog 1

Starting at the top of the hotdog, start to wrap the tube around making sure that the twists are touching. Hot Dog 2

Repeat until hot dog is completely covered in dough. Hot Dog 3

Place on a bread crumb sprinkled cookie sheet and bake at 400F until the crust is nice and golden color. Hot Dog 4

Let cool slightly and serve.

**Tip-if the hotdog has not been frozen, after wrapping with dough you can freeze.  Just take out of freezer and bake.

Having a greased bowl is important when working with all doughs such as pizza dough or bread dough.  It helps with not letting the dough stick to the bowl for easy removal.

 How to Grease a Bowl

With a paper towel, pour a little oil on the towel or place a small amount of  shortening. Grease Bowl 1

Wipe oil or shortening all over bowl in an even coat. Grease Bowl 2

There is no need for a lot of oil or shortening. A little can go a long way.

What better way to get your kids in the kitchen to help with your cooking duties than to make mini pizzas with them.  Its the easiest way to let the eager little ones make their own meals while having a blast.  If you have picky eaters, this will be a hit. It’s even great for you as a snack or for a little comfort food.

 Mini Pizzas

Make  pizza dough (Pizza Dough)

Take a ball about the size of a tennis ball and flatten into a small round keeping it thick (kids love thick crust pizza) Mini Pizza 1  Sprinke a little bit of bread crumbs on a baking sheet and place flattened dough on the sheet.  (if you omit this step it will be a little tougher to remove the pizzas)

In a bowl mix 1 can of tomato paste and 1tsp garlic powder. Mini Pizza 2

Spoon about 1 TBSP of the paste over the pizza dough Mini Pizza 3 and cover with cheese (being careful not to put too much cheese or you will have a mess). Mini Pizza 4

Place in a 400f preheated oven and bake until cheese is golden brown.  Mini Pizza 5

Remove from oven and baking sheet.

Enjoy!!

**Tip- After putting the toppings on the pizza, this is the point that you can freeze the pizzas for later use.  When baking, there is no need to thaw.  Just place in the oven and bake normally.

We love popsicles but I do not love all the sugar.  This delicious snack is made from fresh strawberries and NO added sugar.  Its also a great way to sneak a little fruit in your childs diet and a great snack for you without the sugar.

 Strawberry Popsicles

1 pint fresh strawberries (washed and stem removed)

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1/2 cup milk

Place all ingrediants into a blender and blend until smooth. Strawberry Popsicle 1

It’s ok if there are small chunks of strawberries for an extra special treat.

Pour the mixture into popsicle molds. Strawberry Popsicle 2

Place the sticks into the molds Strawberry Popsicle 3 and place in the freezer.

Freeze for about 5 hours.

To loosen from molds, run a little hot water over the bottom of the molds and pull popsicles out.

I often wonder why people will buy pizza dough from the store when they could make it at home.  Making your own dough is a great way of adding extra ingrediants to the dough such as herbs, spices, and cheeses.  This is a great pizza recipe that is fool proof.

 Pizza Dough-recipe by Maryam Bashiti

1 pkg dry active yeast (2 1/4 teaspoon)

1 tsp sugar

1 cup very warm water

1 tsp salt

2 TBSP olive oil

2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour

Place the yeast, sugar and warm water in a mixing bowl and mix a little to blend. Let sit 5 mins until completely blended Pizza Dough 1

Add the salt and oil and mix with a spoon until oil is even distributed throughout. Pizza Dough 2

If you wanted to add anything extra to the dough this is the time to do it.  You will not be able to add anything beyond this point.

Add the flour and blend just until flour is moistened Pizza Dough 3 and turn out onto the counter. Pizza Dough 4

Knead dough (How to Knead Dough) until the dough is smooth and springy.

Place in a greased bowl (How to Grease a Bowl) turning the dough all around in the grease.  Pizza Dough 5

Cover bowl with a slightly damp kitchen towel. Pizza Dough 6

If it is a particularly chilly day the dough will not rise like normal.  Place a cup of boiled water under the towel next to the bowl to help with heating the yeast to activate it. Pizza Dough 7

Let rise for about 1 hour or until doubled in size.

The dough is ready when you touch it with your finger and an indentation remains. Pizza Dough 8

**Tip-After the dough has risen, you can make the dough into mini pizzas or 2 large pizzas without the toppings and freeze for later use.

My daughter loves french fries like many children do.  But eating french fries from McDonald’s or Burger King can give them extra calories that they do not need.  Making fresh fries from home (even deep frying them) is a more friendly way of giving them what they love without the added calories.

French Fries

Peel and wash your potato

Cut your potato length wise into thin slices (not too thin or too thick) French Fry 1

Cut your lengths into smaller slices (they will look like raw french fries) French Fry 2

Place the potato pieces into a bowl and cover with water.  Let stand at room temperature for 15 mins (you are soaking out the extra starch) French Fry 3

Drain water from potatoes and place pieces on a kitchen towl.  Fold the towel over the potatoes and lightly pat to soak up the water.  French Fry 4

Place potatoes into extremely hot oil and fry until golden brown.

Remove from oil and place on a paper towel lined plate and sprinkly with salt (You must sprinkle the salt right after taking out of the oil so the salt sticks to the fries) French Fry 5

Let cool for a bit and serve warm

Kneading Dough

Place your dough on a lightly floured surface Knead Dough 1

Bring the front of your dough (farthest from your chest) and fold it over firmly to the other end (closest to your chest) Knead Dough 2

Push the dough down with both hands away from your chest very firmly until there is no more dough to push  Knead Dough 3

Keep repeating this pattern until your dough is smoooth and springy (bounces back to normal shape when poked with finger )

Mulokhia or Jews Melon is a widely popular dish in the middle east.  It is not uncommon for a family to have it once a week. It is easy to prepare and is beneficial for children to eat.

Mulokhia (Jews Melon)-recipe by Maryam Pacaj

·         1 pound lean ground beef

·         1 TBSP vegetable oil

·         Picked and washed Mulokhia (How to Wash Mulokhia)

·         1 bunch fresh corriander-washed

·         2 garlic cloves minced

·         1 large or 2 small beef stock cubes

·         1TBSP salt

Place the ground beef with the vegatable oil in a skillet over medium heat. Beef Mulokhia 1  Do not make the heat temperature too high or the beef will cook to fast.  The goal is to brown the beef into very small pieces not huge chunks.  When the beef is cooked, remove from heat and with a fork slice through any big pieces until fine. Beef Mulokhia 2

While the beef is cooking, place the washed mulokhia into a blender and add a little water so it is easily blended.  (make sure not to add too much water or the meal will be too runny) Blend the mulokhia until completely blended and pour into a large dutch oven. Beef Mulokhia 3 The molokhia should look really slimmy and hard to keep on a spoon.  If it looks like you need to add more water DON’T.  The mulokhia will thin out slightly when cooked.

Cut the fresh corriander just above the stalk so that you have mainly just the leaves.  There is no need to pick the corriander.  Place it into the blender, add a little waer, and blend until well blended.  Add to the mulokhia.  Add the minced garlic, the beef stock cubes, and the salt to the mulokhia.

Place the finely minced ground beef to the mulokhia. Beef Mulokhia 4  Cook, uncovered, over medium heat until a rolling boil.  Serve with rice and lemon.

Sometimes removing the skin from the garlic can be time consuming and stinky.  Here is an easy tip on how to remove the skin fast and effective.

Take the clove of garlic, roll it onto your counter top pressing firmly (but not to firm to smash garlic). Garlic 1

Remove skin!! Garlic 2