If you need a quick and easy treat for a party, I’ve got ‘em. I made these for a Snack Bar at a kid’s birthday party. No one can resist chocolate covered marshmallows. NO ONE.

ingredients:
1 pound bittersweet chocolate (I prefer Callebaut)
1 bag regular sized marshmallows
sprinkles, nuts, etc

Poke the stick into the end of the marshmallows. I use extra long lollipop sticks so that I can get TWO marshmallows on one stick. Set aside.

In a double boiler, melt the chocolate down to a nice runny consistency. I like to use bittersweet chocolate, just because the marshmallow itself is so sweet, there’s no need to go into a total sugar coma overload. The bittersweet is a nice contrast.

Dip the marshmallows into the chocolate to coat. I like to leave the bottom ‘white’ of the marshmallow showing, just to give people an idea of what they are eating.

Then coat with sprinkles. Nuts, candies, whatever you like. Color coordinating with the party’s theme is always a winner.

Place the dipped sticks on a silpat lined baking tray. Place these in the fridge to set.

I like to bag them up with a ribbon for a nice presentation. The kids love these because….well, let’s face it – pure sugar. These make great favors for a party!

Not your ordinary pb&j – wanted by only the best bounty hunters.

ingredients:
King’s Hawaiian sweet bread rolls
peanut butter
jelly
bananas
honey
sea salt

I’m a big fan of King’s Hawaiian sweet bread rolls because they are just the right size for a snack, or two…or three. I cut them in half, and spread one half with peanut butter, the other with jelly. Typical, right?

Then I slice some bananas, drizzle a little honey and sprinkle just a touch of sea salt.

And THAT is your fancy pb & j right there. No one can resist them, not even Boba Fett.

The Dark Side…of cheese. You didn’t think I was going to use these Star Wars cookie cutters for cookies, did you? Well. I am – just not yet. No, first I needed to make lunch for the Kid, and we all know how much he loves cheese…

ingredients:
soft white bread
cheese

Man, that’s a pretty sad ingredient list. Anyway, I used very, very soft fresh bread from a Japanese bakery, but I’m sure Wonderbread or another soft white will do fine.

I positioned the cutters so I could maximize the bread and got both a Vader and a stormtrooper out of one piece. It’s pretty lame how excited that made me.

Once I cut the face out, I then pressed down to imprint the image. Voila – instant evilness.

Then I used just the outside to cut the outline of the cheese to fit.

Sure you could butter these bad boys up and make grilled cheese, but there was something nice and subtle about the shadow images of the faces pressed into the soft bread. Something…super evil. But mostly…super cute!

I saw these in The Manga Cookbook which has a bunch of great recipes, but more importantly they are EASY.

The thing that caught my eye about these were how cute and SIMPLE they were, using very few ingredients – and you can make a momma and a hatchling! I think these eggs would be so cute for Easter!

ingredients:
eggs
black goma (sesame seeds)
1 carrot

If you are afraid of boiling eggs, don’t be. You don’t need a special boiler or one of those floaty things that tells you when it’s done – just do it the old fashioned way, plain and simple.

Carefully place your eggs in a pan. (I usually do 6 in a saucepan, if I do more I use a large pot.) Gently cover the eggs with about 1-2 inches of water.

Bring the pot to a boil – obviously watch it, don’t go far it will be boiling before you know it. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat OFF. Cover with a lid, and let it sit there for 12 minutes.

Prep a bowl filled halfway with ice water, set aside. When the 12mins are up, drain the eggs and place them in the ice water to cool. Keep them in the fridge til you are ready to use them.

Once the eggs are cooled crack and shell them. If there are little pieces of shell stuck I like to run the egg under water and then dab it with a paper towel.

Now to prep the other ingredients let me first tell you, quite obviously you won’t need a whole carrot. Just an itty bitty tiny piece. Cut a slice of carrot, cutting out a small wedge shapes. Set aside.

As far as Black Goma is concerned finding black sesame seeds can be hard, but usually an asian market would be your best bet. You can find them online too.

For the momma chicks:

Take a toothpick and poke two holes for eyes. Place the black sesame seeds in.

Poke a hole with a toothpick and insert the carrot for the beak.

For the baby chicks:

This time slice the egg in half – carefully so you don’t tear the yolk – then do the same for the eyes and beak.

So simple, it’s hard to not want to make an army of baby chickie eggs!

The Kid insisted we sign up for a one day Parent/Child cooking class at school. It was mostly nutrition and assembly, frankly he’s done more sous chef-ing on his own at home, but he loved it and he immediately wanted to show the Baby what we had made.

These are very simple veggie rolls, mostly using what was in my pantry, but they are easily adaptable and so easy for kids to put together themselves.

ingredients:
tortillas
hummus
cream cheese
shredded carrots
sliced tomatoes
sliced bell peppers
Sliced cucumbers
cheese
olives
lettuce

Spread the tortilla with either hummus or cream cheese (or both).

Layer in the veggies.

Roll from one end, tightly. Poke with a toothpick for support and cut in half.

The kids had so much fun making their own dinner and the Kid who just loves vegetables thought these were the best things ever. However…the Baby refused to eat it unless I threw some ham in there. So veggie – not quite, but still delicious!

The Kid got to bring home the ‘Class Bear’ to take on a weekend adventure and we decided to make cupcakes. Everyone knows you should wash your hands before you cook, and everyone knows I am a total germ-a-phobe.

Hot water, double rinse. Poor bear didn’t know what hit him.

Once the bear was clean the Baby and the Kid were ready to help make cupcakes! I went for mocha cupcakes, the coffee really brings out the chocolate flavor but if your bear is afraid of caffeine, just use decaf coffee…

ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup Valrhona cocoa powder
2 cups flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup coffee

Chocolate Whipped Cream (recipe, here)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prep a cupcake pan with liners.

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer cream the butter and sugar until fluffy.

Add the eggs, one at a time. Then the vanilla.

Alternating the flour mixture and the buttermilk until combined. Add in the coffee.

Pour the batter into the prepped liners. Bake for 15-20 minutes depending on your oven. Let cool on a wire rack.

I topped these off with Chocolate Whipped Cream, the bear approves.

I hope the Bear enjoyed his foodie vacation and has just as much fun with his next family!

This how-to is easy when you don’t want to go out. Keep these items in your pantry and you’ll be good to go any night of the week.

ingredients:
focaccia
pizza sauce or marinara
mozzarella cheese
pepperoni
mushrooms
shredded italian cheese

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Prep a baking pan with a silpat.

Now I happened to have focaccia bagged up in my freezer. I cut the 3 pieces in half – they were rather TALL pieces, and got 6 flatter slices of bread.

I usually keep homemade sauce (leftover from when I make spaghetti) in the freezer, this was a good use to get rid of it but you can also buy jarred pizza or marinara sauce. Spoon that on top of the focaccia, about 2 Tablespoons on each piece.

Then lay a slice of mozzarella on top of the sauce. On top of this you can layer whatever toppings you like. The Kid like mushrooms, the Baby likes pepperoni.

Then on top of your toppings, add about 1/4 cup of shredded Italian cheese – parmesan, mozzarella, provolone is a good mix that you can usually find bagged together in the store. Adding the shredded cheese on top will keep all the toppings together and give the top a nice melty cheese effect.

Place above the middle rack in your oven and bake for 20-25 minutes depending on your oven. Watch it, you don’t want burnt cheese.

The focaccia gave the pizza a nice crunch. It was the perfect base for a pizza with just enough heft to hold all the toppings. I served it to the kids with fruit, veggies and OF COURSE, ice cream sandwiches for dessert.

Does this really need a how-to? No, it’s pretty self explanatory but it was a lot of fun to do with the kids. I had the boys write down all the foods they could think of according to color, then I had them help me lay them out in a cupcake pan.

This is something I like to pull out when the kids have friends over for playdates. They seem to think it’s a lot of fun, and it’s great to hear them think of other things that we could have put in there, as well as seeing the kids try new things. Note: No one ate the spinach, but hey it was worth a shot.

I had major dental surgery and am now toothless. While I should be on a steady diet of anything through a straw, I still jammed a piece of cake on the ‘good side’ of my mouth and chewed it up. Hey, a girl can try.

However the Kid got right to work on my new liquid diet. He said he wanted to make smoothies and when I went to get the blender, I turned around and he’d already drawn up a visual recipe for me to follow. He’s a quickdraw! He made me follow his instructions EXACTLY and it came out fantastic.

ingredients:
16 ounces frozen strawberries
1 banana (cut up)
1 cup apple juice

The ingredients in this are simple. While I wanted to add some more ’stuff’ the Kid wouldn’t hear of it. He was right. Simple was best.

Frozen strawberries are great because it gives you just the right amount of slush factor without having to add ice. Blend frozen strawberries, banana and apple juice in a blender. Add more apple juice if you need to, but not too much.

Blend until the smoothie starts to turn in on itself like a mini tornado. That’s how you know it’s ready!

Saturday morning the Kid woke me up at 6am – very concerned about Haiti. For a six year old, that Kid has a lot of worries. I thought a fun and interesting way to help would be to go to the Food Trucks for Haiti fundraiser in West L.A. Not only would part of the profits go to the Red Cross, but we’d get to sample some of the best food trucks in Los Angeles.

This is my main reason I don’t let the kids eat fast food – there are so many better ways to spend your money locally on great tasting food without preservatives. The Kid said he loved everything he ate and felt good that we were giving money to a good cause. My little foodie philanthropist.