Kid-Friendly Recipes

Breads and Baked Goods, Condiments, Side Dishes

Amazing Parmesan Garlic Bread

Spaghetti for dinner is always a hit here.  If I take a few extra minutes to make this special garlic bread, the smiles are twice as wide!  For ease, I usually make the fried garlic a night or two before for this broccoli side dish.  But as mentioned below, roasted garlic may also be used.…

Pastas, Sauces

Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce

This meaty sauce is easy to make and always a crowd-pleaser. The yield is a generous 3+ quarts, so there’s plenty to freeze or to share! This meaty sauce is the ideal foundation for a winning spaghetti dinner. It’s also perfect for sharing with a friend (or two) while having enough for your family as…

Breads and Baked Goods, Breakfast, Cookies, Desserts, Snacks

Quickie Cookie Baked Oatmeal

When I have the pleasure of some one-on-one time with my 3-year-old niece, I like to think of a project or activity she will really enjoy.  Whether it’s making homemade play dough (has to be blue!) or a simple walk to the playground, I have at least as much fun as she does. After making…

Main Dishes

April Fool’s Meatloaf Cake

A family favorite meatloaf recipe masquerades as a cake in this tricky dinner that delights kids and adults alike!    My dad’s favorite April Fool’s joke wouldn’t play very well this year. When I was a girl, he’d celebrate this mischievous holiday by waking me up with the proclamation that a foot of snow had…

Breakfast

Instant Baked Oatmeal — 4 ingredients with a protein punch!

Four basic ingredients are all that’s needed for single-serve, protein-rich muffins that can be customized to taste…and they take just minutes to make!   When preparing a bowl of stovetop oatmeal or one of my many baked oatmeal recipes, I use regular or steel cut oats.  So when I was challenged a while back to…

Breakfast, Snacks

Make-Ahead Granola Parfaits

This slightly different preparation yields surprisingly delicious results. Consider preparing several at one time, as the parfaits will keep in the refrigerator for up to three days.       Preferring my granola crunchy, I was skeptical the first time I tried this.  After resting in the fridge overnight, I was pretty sure the granola…

Breakfast, Snacks

Chunky Homemade Granola Snack Mix

Mixing Chunky Homemade Granola with dried cranberries, cashews, and white chocolate chips makes a snack mix so incredibly delicious with the added benefits of being mostly healthy and portable. It’s a welcome lunchbox addition and a convenient on-the-go snack. My husband, a frequent flyer, thinks this mix is the perfect snack to take while traveling…no need to…

Breakfast

Yogurt Almond Flour Dutch Baby

Almond flour, Greek yogurt, and eggs form the base of this wholesome, filling, grain-free twist on the traditional Dutch baby.   Did you know that February is National Pancake Month? I recently discovered this when Stonyfield Organic issued a friendly challenge to create a pancake recipe using yogurt.   One of the early recipes on…

Cakes, Desserts

Classic Chocolate Cake

Light, moist, and perfect for any celebration, this classic chocolate cake mixes up quickly in a single bowl with ingredients you likely have on hand. (And the gluten-free adaptation fools even the gluten-eaters!) When it comes to chocolate cake, this tried-and-true recipe is, without a doubt, the best that I have found. It has been…

Breakfast, Cookies, Desserts, Snacks

2-Ingredient Breakfast Cookies…with options (and a fun kitchen experiment!)

  I never set out to be an oatmeal expert, but one baked oatmeal with an enormous following at a local cafe put the wheels into motion. For those who haven’t read the story in one of my umpteen other recipe posts for baked oatmeal, I initially started making baked oatmeal years ago to replicate…

Burgers, Sandwiches

Toasted Cheeseburger Wrap (with a “neat” vegetarian option)

The daily task of getting dinner on the table can often be a grind for even those who truly enjoy cooking.  Dinnertime is so often the busiest time of the day, with people getting home from work and school activities and then dashing back out for meetings and sports practices. And, of course, sometimes we…

Cookies, Desserts, Snacks

Chocolate Chip Cookies in a Jar

A popular hostess and holiday gift and a great project for kids to make for friends, Chocolate Chip Cookies in a Jar are fun to bake, give, and eat. Printable tags included!    A delicious cookie-in-a-jar recipe was harder to devise than I expected.  Not only did the cookie have to taste great, the mix…

Get recipes delivered straight to your inbox.