Cooking Naturally

Hi every

one! One of my passions, besides making dollies and fun toys for children is food. You see my mom and dad are both chefs. Growing up they would take my brothers and I to “help out” at the family restaurant on Saturday’s, and we would peel, measure, pound, husk and pour all morning long. We loved it! Every time we were able to cook or 

help out during a meal it seemed to taste better, or if it was something we had never eaten before we were not afraid to try it. Maybe it was because we were proud of our wonderful concoctions or “experiments” as my mom still says, or because of the connection between us and our parents as we prepared our meals. 

Cooking is a wonderful way to teach, entertain, and connect with your children. Hopefully some of these recipes or suggestions will be able to make food fun for your children. They are very simple, delicious and can be changed to suit your family.

For my first tutorial, we will start with Yogurt. I love yogurt! You can use it in so many different ways, and it’s a great substitute for mayo or sour cream. Also now that the weather is getting warmer it’s a great no cook snack . This is a good alternative to store bought, what the heck is in this? Snacks. it’s a good way of getting the kids to try new fruits and vegetables, by dipping them into the flavored yogurt.

Simple Yogurt 

A very easy way to make a large batch of your own no fuss yogurt. This is great for large families, or when you have a party or get-together, and if you’re a yogurt freak like me. It will take a while but its easy and a great science project/activity for the kiddies. 

ingredients

8 cups whole milk, 1 container of plain yogurt, clean cake pans or glass quart canning jars

Mix the milk and yogurt in a large cooking pot and let it boil for a couple minutes. Let it cool for about 10 minutes, then pour it in to cake pan, or fill up 2 quart canning jars. Heat your oven to 100 degrees and leave the mixture in it over night. It should take about 10-12 hrs. When you wake up you should have a nice batch of yogurt. Put it on the refrigerator for about 8 hr or until its nice and cold. Then your ready to flavor your yogurt!

Flavoring

For a sweet treat you can flavor your yogurt with maple syrup, brown sugar or your choice of sweetener.

Slice any of you favorite fruit ( I used strawberries) and put them at the bottom of your cup and pour you yogurt over them. You can use whatever fruit that is in season, I like any kind of berries, peaches , bananas and apples. This is also great frozen. Pour it in small cups put a Popsicle stick in the middle and freeze. When they are nice and frozen take them out and let them sit for a minute and they will slide out easily. 

For a nice veggie dip here are three simple and yummy suggestions. 

1.Take 1 avocado 2 cups of plain yogurt and put in blender. Use salt and pepper to taste and viola! Dip.

2. Take a small bunch of dill and chop it into 2 cups of yogurt , squeeze one lime or lemon into it. Use salt to taste and your done!

3. Chop cilantro, tomato, cucumber and onions (optional) and add to 3 cups of yogurt. Squeeze 1 lime into it and salt and pepper to taste and you are done!

You can also use these dips for crackers, pretzels , pita bread or in a sandwich. Some of my favorite veggies to dip are asparagus, snow peas, red bell peppers celery, and carrots with a black olive on the tip. 

Thanks and have a great time in the kitchen. I would love to see what you come up with, or if you have more ideas!

Some Natural Kids shops that have wonderful things to make your meals more enjoyable are: Weebeaks (cloth napkins ), Gopita (reusable snack and lunch bags), Birchleaf Designs ( wooden spoons and utensils), BuzzHandmade (candles for mood lighting)

this post brought to you by D. Garcia www.dayanra.etsy.com