Apple Monster Snack

It's been too darned HOT to cook much these days. As of yesterday, we've had 36 days of triple digits so far this year (Yow!) and it's also what's forecasted for the rest of this week. So, let's all refrain from creating MORE heat. That is, until you can't stand it anymore and your stomach cries out for something baked, or cooked, or heated. But, if possible, wait until that point. It's just too hot!

When most folks here in the South head for the lakes all weekend in the summer, I go cower in the house, close all the shades and try not to move to stir up any body heat. It's not that I have anything against sweat, I just like to chose WHEN I sweat. If I decide to go out for a brisk walk or some other predetermined exercise this time of year, of course I know I'll sweat. But just sitting in the house? No sweat for me, please!

We can still have fun with the kids and food...and not stir up the heat, right? Of course. I even made these funny little guys for Dad. After all, they're gluten free, and if you just use peanut butter, they're also lactose free.

Aren't they kind of cute?
As you can guess, these are just apple wedges, peanut butter, slivered almonds, raisins, and little dabs of cream cheese.

Sometimes, when my cheese girl asks for an even quicker snack I'll hand her one of these. A monsterfied "cream cheese lolly pop".
Or for my almost-non-meat-eating daughter, I may give her this kind of monster instead of a regular peanut butter "lolly pop", as they've always called them.

But the apple guys are our favorite. They're a tasty and complete snack.

So, stay out of the heat! Keep it fun! Keep it silly! Keep it scary cool!

This snack is not my original idea. I was going to give credit to my Cooking for Kids Bible, but after scouring it I couldn't find the little critters. So, I'll have to wait to give credit for the Apple Monsters to the appropriate source after I find it.

Guaca(squishy)mole...by kids

Our kids LOVE to make this for me. To be honest, when I'm making Tex-Mex there's enough other chopping, assembling, and heating to do that it's very helpful to get the kids involved and take this one off my hands! Here's Kathleen's recipe:

1 ripe Hass avocado (it'll give a little when squeezed, but has no air pockets)
1 tsp. lime juice
salt to taste, ~1/4 tsp.
1 clove minced garlic (optional)
zip-lock baggie

Adult: Cut avocado in half lengthwise, say, "hah-YAH" and stab the large pit with your big ol' knife and twist to pull in out. Toss pit in garbage, unless you want to grow your own avocado tree.

Kids: With a large table spoon, scoop out each half of the flesh and toss it into the baggie. Pour lime juice and salt on top; add garlic, if using. Zip up the baggie (after removing all air) and squish and squeeze it all around, then pass it to your sibling. Make sure to leave some lumps in it if you like it that way, or do what our kids do...pulverize it to near liquid form. Come to think of it, you may want to use the better fortified FREEZER zip bag for this!

More fun: Squeeze all the guacamole down into one area of the baggie and cut off the corner of the baggie with a scissors. Squeeze and swirl all the guac out into a bowl or right into your tortilla soup...or on top of your fajita, or on the side to dip. You choose!

If you like...
Mix in:
1 small Roma tomato, diced
1 rounded teaspoon fresh cilantro, chopped

Kool Aid Dough

The kids are still on a bit of a break before we start our new school year in a couple of weeks...so they are ripe for some kitchen chemistry experiments (in our Adventures with atoms and molecules book) and for a little fun making their own concoctions.

Here's a kids' concoction that always goes over well. I guess with the ingredients used, it could be ingested by the gluten-eating sort...but I'll just consider it another non-edible recipe! If you've tasted it, you'd say, "EWWW!" also.

With summer going strong, it's too hot to bake! Since we're not eating much regular flour around here, this recipe will also help us to use up all that white fluffy stuff hanging out in our pantry!

Mix:
2 pkgs. of unsweetened Kool Aid
2 cups hot water until dissolved

Add:
2 TBSP vegetable oil
Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine:
2 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 TBSP cream of tartar

Add Kool Aid water to dry ingredients and mix well.
Knead in additional flour as needed.
Store in air-tight container.

This dough has a very nice consistency and keeps a LONG time without drying like other commercial doughs.

In the picture above (of mostly dwarves in a goblin cave), the dough was made from strawberry Kool Aid. Cherry makes a better scent and a brighter pink! You know...just FYI!

Last year, the kids made this for their friends on Valentine's Day. It was a good alternative to giving kids more CANDY!! They divided it up and put balls of the dough into zippy snack bags, put some Valentine's stickers on them and made their deliveries! We made 2 batches, and I believe they had enough to give to 12-15 friends.

Check out this site for MANY many more dough recipes to try. Our kids also really like the peanut butter dough since they can snack as they play!

Kathleen's Mini S'mores

Using some of our staple ingredients, Kathleen assembled mini s'mores that don't require a campfire...and the kids don't need my help at all! They sure didn't seem to mind that the marshmallows weren't laboriously toasted over a camp fire (or our stove burners)! I was happy she also helped get rid of some of our leftover large marshmallows from our Easter Resurrection Rolls. Here's the assembly.

1/4 graham cracker, broken into 2 even pieces
1 large marshmallow
3 chocolate chips

Stick 3 chips into top of marshmallow, place marshmallow between crackers, set on parchment or waxed paper, and microwave for only 5 seconds. WATCH IT: The marshmallow starts to puff up immediately.

Tapioca Pudding

Kathleen makes a treat for Daddy!

Last week Joe saw a bag of tapioca in our pantry and commented that he loves tapioca pudding. Since I just purchased the tapioca for a stew I made, I didn't think much of it at the time. Then I realized that pudding is naturally gluten free (at least if you make it from scratch) and can be made lactose free as well by using Lactaid milk.

Kathleen, so intrigued with the fact that she could make a dessert that Daddy could enjoy, set out to make it for him.

Here's the recipe:

3 TBSP granulated (instant) tapioca
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg, well beaten
3 cups milk, lactose-free as necessary
1 tsp. vanilla

Combine tapioca, sugar, milk and egg in medium saucepan; let stand 5 minutes. Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a full boil. Cook additional 1-2 minutes to thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Cool 15 minutes; stir. Serve warm or chilled. Refrigerate leftover pudding.

Serving tip: Nice with fresh raspberries or other fruit on top! Why not go all out--top it off with whipped cream (non-dairy for lactose free).

Makes 6 servings (1/2 cup each)