Hamburger Cookies - A "No Bake" Recipe

It's been a busy summer, and for the most part on our down times we're ready to just unwind with some swimming, playing, and and other summer activities. But occasionally we get inspired to tackle some new projects. 

In the last few weeks we've been invited to several barbecues. I used to make these fun and easy "no bake" cookies with my mom as a kid, and they are the perfect treats to bring to a barbecue! 

Even better, while they are super cute they are also a "No Bake" recipe which means you don't have to run your oven in order to enjoy them. Perfect for hot summer days. 

Kids Cook: Jam Thumbprint Cookies

It's been a while since we shared one of our Kids Cook posts, although the boys still enjoy helping me cook and bake on a regular basis. That's why we're excited to participate in the Summer 2016 A-Z Cooking with Kids Blog Hop hosted by 3 Princess and 1 Dude.

Almost 20 bloggers have come together to share different recipes that kids can either create on their own or create with a bit of grown up help. In fact - there 26 recipes kids can create- one for each letter of the alphabet! 

We had the letter J - which instantly made me think of JAM. And as we love cookies we decided to try our hand at Jam Thumbprint Cookies. 

Christmas Fruit Wands

We go to several holiday parties over the course of this month, which can sometimes be hard as our boys can have moments of being picky eaters. It's hard sometimes at a large, busy meal to try and get them to really eat much of anything. So I'm often trying to thing of something I can bring that I know I can get into them easily. The one thing both my kiddos consistently love are fresh fruit and veggies. We like to put a fun spin on the traditional fruit and veggie platters though to match the holiday season.

Last weekend for our first holiday event we tried making Christmas Fruit Wands.

Christmas Fruit Wands

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Last year we had a lot of fun creating our Holiday Veggie Platter for several events. 

This year we know we'll make some of those again, but we also wanted to create something new. 

So we came up with Christmas Fruit Wands. 

Pudding Beach Cups

We wrapped up our Ocean themed week over the weekend by making these yummy Pudding Beach Cups. We connected this activity both to our Quick Pick & Projects of the Week and our Kids Cook! posts.

Because we used instant, no cook pudding mix Big Brother could do most of the work himself and was pretty proud of his work at the end. (It also meant they were a little brighter and a little less smoothly assembled than if I had made them, but the point was for him to be hands on with this special treat.) 

Before cooking we read a new find from our library, Beach by Elisha Cooper. The book tells the story of a day at the beach from morning to night through simple watercolors and a variety of little pictures. It reminded us of our day trip to the beach a few weeks before, which is what kicked off ocean week to begin with. 

Kids Cook: Chocolate Chip Craisin Oatmeal Cookies

It's been a while since we posted a recipe, and I can't believe we haven't posted this recipe yet. This has been our "go to" cookie recipe for almost a year now.

We love the yummy goodness of the mix of the craisin, chocolate, and oatmeal flavors. They mix together and bake up easily. And they always disappear quickly. 

"Stuffed Snake" Stromboli (Kids Cook!)

A few years ago we originally made this stromboli for one of our Halloween parties, it quickly became a family favorite for dinner, although we don't always turn it into a snake . . .

As Big Brother has gotten a little older, he can really help with the whole recipe which makes it even more family friendly. 

Kids Cook: Banana Bread

We love getting kids into the kitchen, and this easy banana bread recipe means that everyone can get involved in the making of this treat.

If you've been reading our blog for a while now you know we love making muffins on a regular basis, but banana bread is also a staple in our household. The tips below really can be used with any banana bread recipe, but this just happens to be our favorite.