As the temperature outside begins to warm up, families head to their local garden or hardware stores in search for gardening materials.  Many people are eager for bright color after a cold and dreary winter, others are very enthusiastic about growing their own produce.  These days, to reduce grocery costs, many families are growing their own food. Gardening with your family has other great benefits, too.

Yesterday my 8-year old son and I went crazy on picking out herbs and vegetables at the garden center. Of course we had to get a Jalapeno pepper plant. He loves them! We picked up basil, oregano, thyme, dill, a few tomato plants, pumpkin, squash and some different types of peppers to start.  Rosemary is an easy herb that requires little watering. Starting a garden with your children is not only a great way to connect with them but with nature too.  It also helps build an appreciation for the food we eat.  We decided on planting some herbs and vegetables in a couple of wine barrels to start so it can be easily manageable for the kids.

We deciding on trying pumpkins this year. You will need to dedicate an entire box to growing a few pumpkin plants, but the results are quite amazing. Your kids will love following the progress of these plants.

With herbs and vegetables comes fresh salads for any occassion. This salad will take you approximately 25 minutes to make. I came across it years ago and it’s very tasty and fresh.

Parsley and Herb Salad

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups tender 1-inch curly-leaf parsley sprigs

2/3 cup tender 1-inch Italian parsley sprigs, or more curly-leaf parsley

1 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

2 tablespoons each minced fresh tarragon and majoram leaves

1 tablespoon minced fresh sage leaves

3 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese

1 small clove garlic, minced

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 1/2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Salt and pepper

Directions:

Mix parsleys, basil, tarragon, majoram, sage and parmesan. In a capped jar, shake garlic, oil, water, and juice to blend. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

If making salad and dressing ahead, chill separately, airtight, up to 4 hours To serve, shake dressing; mix gently with herbs.

A great recipe to enjoy all the fresh herbs from your garden! More garden updates from our family to yours coming soon!

Now that the kids are less than two weeks away from getting out of school and the days are getting longer, you’ll want to spend more time in with your kids and outdoors than you do in the kitchen. Getting started and incorporating these tips will add hours or more each week for fun quality time with your family. After all, no one wants to labor over a hot stove during the summer.

Meeting after meeting, hours of working on a computer, getting the kids dressed, organized and ready for a summer play date, taking them to the shopping mall. These factors can present not only a challenge, but can also be an opportunity to change your cooking habits for the summer months to come and provide a great menu for your nightly family dinner.

Let’s get started on implementing some new techniques on making summer time cooking quick, fun and easier on you and your family.

Do you hate the last-minute frenzy when you are trying to put a meal together and everyone is hungry and in a hurry? Be ready by having a Shopping List. You don’t want to go to the grocery store without one. We tend to spend more on items we don’t need or that are not on sale. Every week grocery stores come out with a weekly ad. Take a quick peek at the ads as your making your list. Make your meals according to what items are on sale. Even when you are physically at the grocery store, sometimes they will have even more added savings with in-store coupon ads next to the shopping carts. Always check those out. Once you have your shopping list made, your ready to go shopping.

I try and do most of my shopping when I have time afterwards to be in the kitchen. Just choose one day that works for you. Once your in the kitchen, your are ready to start.  Once you’ve created your meals, it’s time to freeze them. This way, while your making dinner on Sunday, take out Monday’s dinner and put it in your refrigerator to thaw and it will be ready for Monday. During the Spring and Summer months, I double recipes for meals that will freeze well. It will definitely save you and your family an hours worth of cooking time you can turn into family time.

Make Your Own Spices~ Every wonder what to put on your food? Why not try and create your own family spice creation! Prepare a blend of your favorite spices ahead of time. Just make sure you write it down somewhere so when you run low you remember what you created. For example, lemon pepper, garlic powder, hickory salt, paprika and dried mustard makes a quickie rub for steaks. Do the same for spaghetti, vegetables, etc. Try putting your marinade on your meats before you put them in the freezer. While they are thawing, they are marinating. Pop on the grill, cook and serve. How fast was that?

Leftovers~ If your leftovers start to pile up in the refrigerator or your family wants something new, freeze them before they go bad. Designate on spot in your refrigerator to put leftovers. This way they don’t get pushed to the back of the refrigerator and you forget them. This is where Mr. Mold decides to come for a visit. Mr. Mold is not welcome in our house.

Coupons~ As I mentioned previously, it’s always good to check your weekly grocery store ads. They tend to put extra coupons in their ads for additional savings. Searching the Internet for coupons is also a great asset to your shopping.

Alternatives for Eating Out~ Home cooked meals can be such a great experience for your family and is less expensive than eating out. For a family of 6, you could easily spend over $100 on a complete meal for the family. Spending that $100 to eat at home from food you’ve prepared can feed a family of 6 for at least 3-4 days. Spending good quality time with your family is pricesless. Pick a night where everyone contributes to preparing the meal. Kids find this so rewarding.

21st Century Crock Pot~ This is a lifesaver in the kitchen. This is a must 21st Century Crock Pot for every kitchen. Cooks your food in the microwave or oven. Make your meals in a matter of 29 minutes or less. Great way to make a meal in a matter of minutes and very little prep time. It’s also fun and easy to experiment with recipes by combining those ingredients you know will go well together. An all year round kitchen tool that definitely helps when you have little energy to work in the kitchen or want a quick meal.

Have a Picnic~ When the day starts cooling down, enjoy a light meal outdoors. If you’ve been feeling couped up from the weather, this will help your family take a break away to enjoy a relaxing meal together. Invite friends to go along. Make it a potluck, socialize and have fun! We have a wonderful backyard where we can choose to have a pool party theme or just a backyard grilling adventure.

Hope everyone has a great summer and enjoy the warm weather!

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Summer Potato Salad

Don’t you just love potato salad on a nice summer day? It’s a great picnic dish. At a family barbecue, it’s the perfect compliment to any barbecue hamburger. You can use Idaho, Red or Yukon Potatoes.  In this particular family recipe, I used Red potatoes. Good-quality red potatoes will be firm, smooth-skinned and have bright-red coloring. They should have few eyes, and those few eyes should be shallow.  Red potatoes are available in your local grocery store all year long. I have made my own recipe for the past 20 years. It’s a very simple, basic, flavorful and chunky recipe. I like being able to taste the chunks of potato. No potato salad should ever be mashed.

Ingredients

3 pounds red potatoes

1 cup chopped celery (include some celery leaves)

2 hard boiled eggs

1 cup red onion

1 cup diced dill pickle

1/4 cup Ranch dressing

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly cracked pepper

1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon cumin

Directions:

Wash and rinse potatoes. Cut in 1/3 slices. Place potatoes in pot and fill with cold water just above potatoes. Add a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and let simmer 25 minutes or until potatoes can be pierced with a fork. Remove from heat. Drain and set aside. Let potatoes cool for approximately 1 hour. Using a knife, slice potatoes so they are in smaller bite size pieces. You can do this in the bowl they are in. Avoid mashing potatoes. To the potatoes add sliced egg, celery, onion and pickles. In another bowl mix remaining ingredients thoroughly. Add to potato mixture. Chill for 2-3 hours. Serve.

For an added special touch, add sliced black olives on the top. This is a perfect salad for a summer picnic.

This is one of many family recipes that will be available in my cookbook coming soon. Please visit again soon or send me an e-mail Noel Chapman to be kept posted on the cookbook release. As always Enjoy the kitchen!

I found this great recipe for Breakfast Pizzas that I had to share. It’s low on calories but big on flavor. It’s a perfect recipe for kids in the kitchen, with a little help from mom or dad whisking and scrambling the eggs, kids can take charge on toasting and assembly. Take a deep breath – I know you imagine ingredients all over the floor and maybe even on the walls.  But with a little bit of attention, the quality time you will spend with your child will be fun and productive, not disastrous.

Ingredients

2 whole wheat English muffins,
split and lightly toasted

Cooking oil spray

4 eggs

4 slices turkey bacon,
cooked and chopped

1 tsp tarragon

Salt and pepper to taste

4 slices tomato

2 oz grated reduced-fat cheese

Directions

Spray medium frying pan and preheat over medium heat. In a bowl, whisk the eggs. Stir in cooked bacon, tarragon, and salt and pepper to taste. Pour into pan. Scramble eggs lightly over medium heat until eggs are set. To assemble: Place one slice of tomato on English muffin half, top with scrambled eggs, and sprinkle with a tablespoon of cheese. Place English muffins on cookie sheet and broil 3–5 minutes until cheese melts. Serve immediately.

Makes: 4 servings

Nutrition information per serving:

Calories 161, 65 calories from fat; 6 g fat; 2 g saturated fat; 0 g trans fat; 20 mg cholesterol; 483 mg sodium; 15 g carbohydrate; 2 g fiber; 4 g sugar; 13 g protein

If you have ideas for Cooking with Kids topics that I should include in future, please leave a comment.

I was an exhibitor at the Spring Home and Garden Show  this past April. Across from me was a man selling Calolea Olive Oil  in many flavors.  I’m a sucker for a good bottle of Olive Oil so I purchased two, one was a Garlic Olive Oil (my family loves garlic), the other bottle was their Extra Virgin Olive Oil which won the bronze in 2008 at the Los Angeleles Extra Virgin Olive Oil Competition. I’m using the California Garlic Olive Oil in my recipe. I highly recommend you try this Extremely Delicious Olive Oil.

 It’s a perfect olive oil to drizzle over pasta, use as a marinade for fish, chicken and meat. Saute it with fresh vegtables. Or simply just dip your favorite breads.

In this recipe I used the California Garlic Olive Oil on my Asparagus. Very simple, nothing fancy. I made the Grilled Chicken and Asparagus Salad from leftovers. So basically with this recipe, I created two meals.

Ingredients:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (I only used 1/2 chicken breast for salad recipe)

1 pound Asparagus (I only used 4 Asparagus for salad recipe)

1 small red onion

1 beef tomato (I like to use the tomatoes on the vine because I love their smell, as if they were just picked)

1 teaspoon salt

fresh cracked pepper

1/4 teaspoon garlic and herb seasoning

Mesquite Barbecue Sauce

1 teaspoon honey mustard

Directions:

Cut the ends off the Asparagus, lay them flat on a cookie sheet, drizzle with the California Garlic Olive Oil, approximately 2 teaspoons, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and fresh cracked pepper.  Toss until well coated.  Spread evenly. Heat broiler or grill.  Broil or grill for 8 minutes, turning occassionally or until tender.

For the chicken, I used 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts. Season the chicken breast on both sides with 1/8 teaspoon salt, freshly cracked pepper and sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon garlic and herb seasoning. I happen to have Old Bay on hand. Place in broiler or on the grill. Broil 6 inches from heat, 20 minutes on each side. Last few minutes, baste with a mesquite barbecue sauce. The Mesquite barbecue sauce adds a sweet tangy flavor to the chicken.

Salad

From the leftover chicken, I chopped 1/2 cooked chicken breast and 4 Asparagus. I sliced  two slices of the tomato and a couple slices of the onion.  Mix 1/2 teaspoon honey mustard with a dash of the California Garlic Olive Oil. Drizzle over the chicken and Asparagus mixture, toss coating evenly.  Serve. This is only one serving but you can add more chicken and Asparagus to make more servings.

This is a perfect summer salad. Very light and simple.