I am Noah

Meet my eleven year old (I can't believe I have an eleven year old, crazy).  He eats sleeps and breaths basketball.  He is easily frustrated when he can't do something perfect and he hates to disappoint.  He gets up early in the morning to get all the things done that he doesn’t like doing (practicing piano, reading, unloading the dishwasher).  He is my pickiest eater, but loves all things sweet (chocolate cake being at the top of his list).  He has a signature funny face that makes me laugh every time and he seems to be growing up way too quickly!  Meet my Noah. 

I am Noah.  I picked cream cheese eggs because I love them.  I started to like them when my Grandma Lisa made them for me.  They are my favorite because I like the taste of cream cheese.  I am going to make them again for breakfast tomorrow.

Cream Cheese Scrambled Eggs

10 large eggs

1/2 heaping teaspoon salt

Several grinds of ground black pepper

1/2 cup milk

1 tablespoon butter

3 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

Crack eggs into a medium bowl.  Add salt, pepper, and milk.  Whip with a fork until streaks are gone and color is pure yellow; stop beating while bubbles are still large.

Meanwhile, put butter into a 12-inch nonstick skillet, then set the pan over medium high heat.  When the butter foams, swirl it around and up the sides of the pan.  Before foam completely subsides, pour in beaten eggs from one side of the pan to the other, slowly but deliberately, lifting and folding eggs as they form into curds, until eggs are nicely clumped into a single mound, but remain shiny and wet.  Add cream cheese to eggs and carefully fold into the eggs until just white streaks remain.  Serve immediately. 

Meet Stella

This week my guest post is a four year old little girl who is extremely determined and stubborn.  She loves to cuddle and give kisses and hugs.  You can't leave our house without giving her a kiss and a hug or there will be tears, a lot of tears.  She loves Cheetos.  She loves to have her nail painted and wear dresses (she changes numerous times throughout the day).  She can walk lightning fast with her walker and when I go in to her room at night to give a kiss after she has fallen asleep, I still get a tight excited feeling inside when I look at her.  This is Stella (or Stells for short).

Stella picked to help me make pancakes for breakfast and this is my conversation with her while we were eating breakfast.

Me:  What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?

Stella:  Maybe Sprite.  No we don't drink sprite.  I like to drink sprite for breakfast.

Me:  Why did you pick pancakes?

Stella:  Because I like pancakes.

Me:  What kind of pancakes do you like?

Stella:  Strawberry.  Guess what would be gooder?  Dipping strawberries in soup.

Me:  What kind of soup?

Stella:  Strawberry shortcake soup.

Me:  What did you want your pancakes shaped like?

Stella:  A pig and Minnie mouse.

Me:  Is your Minnie mouse pancake good?

Stella:  Yes.  I'm still thirsty.  Can I have some more juice?

Me:  Do you like to help me cook?

Stella:  Yes.

Me:  When you help me cook what do you like to do?

Stella:  Play in the water.

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes

1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup white flour

2 tablespoons ground flaxseed

2 tablespoons wheat germ

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 cup buttermilk

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 large egg

1 large egg white

Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife.  Combine flours, ground flaxseed, wheat germ, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk.  Combine buttermilk, oil, egg, and egg white, stirring with a whisk; add to flour mixture, stirring until just moist.

Heat a nonstick griddle or nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium heat.  Spoon about 1/4 cup batter per pancake onto griddle.  Turn pancakes over when tops are covered with bubbles and edges look cooked.  Serve with butter and syrup.

Adapted from Cooking Light

Meet Preston and His Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Today I would like to introduce you to my guest post and I think he is pretty darn cool.  He is eight years old, he's easy going, he's constantly dribbling or bouncing a ball in our house, he wants to be an astronaut and go to the moon, his entire face lights up when he smiles and he still comes into my bedroom every night around 2 AM to sleep on the floor.  This is Preston (or Tone for short).

My name is Preston.  Today I was looking on taste spotting with my mom and I saw a recipe for red velvet crinkle cookies.  It said they were really easy to make and so I asked my mom if she would print the recipe so I could make them.  My mom took me to Wal-Mart to get a red velvet cake mix, but they didn't have red velvet and so I picked a chocolate cake mix.  We came home and I read the recipe and then I started making the chocolate crinkle cookies.  I took some pictures before they were baked and after they were baked.  I was really excited to eat them because I made them by myself.  When I was done with my first cookie I said to my mom, "I made these by myself and they are really good!"  I asked all my family if they were good.  They all said that they were incredibly good.  I'm excited to learn to make more food!

Preston's Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

6 tablespoons butter, melted

2 large eggs

18.25-ounce box Devil's Food Cake Mix

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and line two cookie sheets with a silicon mat and parchment paper.  Place powdered in a shallow bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine melted butter, eggs, vanilla, salt and chocolate cake mix and mix until combined.  Roll dough into 1 inch balls and coat with powdered sugar.  Place on cookie sheets, leaving about 2 inches for spreading.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the tops have cracked and the tops look set.  Let sit for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooking rack.

*This summer I am going to have a guest post from one of my little ones each week.  They will pick what they want to make and then they will make it (with me standing nearby).  They will also take the picture and write the post.  I thought this would be a fun way for them to get involved in the kitchen.

Recipe adapted from The Novice Chef