"Master Chef" Recipe of the Day

JELLO FLUFF

1 small package jello
1 cup boiling water
8 oz. regular cream cheese - softened
1/4 cup sugar

- Place the boiling water in a 2-quart heat-proof bowl.
- Stir in jello and sugar until dissolved.
- Break the cream cheese into small pieces and mix into hot Jello mixture a few pieces at a time, stirring after each addition.
- Whisk to combine thoroughly.
- Set in the refrigerator until it just begins to thicken slightly, about 30-45 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make whipped cream
     - put 1 cup heavy whipping cream, 4 tsp sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract in electric mixing bowl with whip attachment.  Begin mixing at low speed until mixture begins to thicken and then increase speed to medium.  Continue to whip until you have 3-4 cups of whipped cream and it is relatively stiff.
    
- Fold in 3 cups whipped cream into thickened jello mixture.
- Chill for at least one hour before serving.

Suggested flavors - raspberry, peach, orange

recipe adapted from one found in Everyday Low Carb Cooking

Cooking Camp - Day 5

     We made delicious Fritatas this morning for breakfast, with each pair of students designing their own combination of meats and vegetables.  Then we did some prep work so that we could have some free time this afternoon.  We made One Pan Cake (a chocolate cake with cinnamon sugar on top), two batches of Jello Fluff (jello mixed with cream cheese and whipped cream), and prepared vegetables for our stir-fry dinner.  Since we already cooked some ground beef on Sunday, it didn't take much time to make Sloppy Joes for lunch.  After lunch, we went to see "The Green Hornet", which we enjoyed.

After the movie we walked through Willams Sonoma to see all the fun cooking gadgets - the kids were less than impressed - oh well.

"Master Chef" Tip of the Day

Yams vs. sweet potatoes

Yams are a reddish-brown color on the outside, and orange on the inside. 
Sweet potatoes are a tan color on the outside and whitish on the inside.
Sweet potatoes have more fiber, so they are better for you than yams.
Cooking suggestion: line a cooking rack with aluminum foil and pre-heat oven to 400.  Wash and dry short, thick sweet potatoes or yams and place them on the foil.  I try to find ones that are shaped kind of like russet potatoes, but you can cut off small ends, if you need to.  The cut end will seal when you cook it.  Bake for 1 hour to 1 and-a-half hours, or until they soften and sugars start coming out (thus the need for aluminim foil).  Cut them open (like a baked potato) and add lots of butter, brown sugar, and a little sprinkle of cinnamon.  Yummy!

Cooking Camp - Day 4

     Another busy day!  We made French toast, and then the kids got to experiment with add-ins for their chocolate chip cookies.  This turned out to be quite a delicious experiment.

For lunch, the kids were given some free reign to turn cooked chicken breasts into chicken salad.  They are REALLY taking their cooking seriously!  They were chopping, and mixing, and tasting, and spicing, until they were proud to share their results with everyone.  Each chicken salad tasted different, and they were all yummy.

    For a little out-of-the-kitchen fun, The kids spent a couple hours at the community center pool.  They were pretty wiped out, so then we just all had a little down time.  For dinner, we made homemade Macaroni and Cheese, salad, and Bisquick Biscuits.  Sorry, we were too busy eating to take pictures, but it did look as good as it tasted.
     I wish I could put in words the excitement, interest, and hard work that these kids are putting in to this cooking camp.  They are great about cleaning up, sharing, and working together.  And wait until you see their knife skills in action!  They are slicing and dicing fools!  (And still no bandaids required)

Gold star for Skye -     she is almost always the first one ready at her station, and is always attentive to the master chefs and their instructions.

Cooking Camp - Day 3

  

   

     After learning different ways to cook eggs for breakfast, we headed to the grocery store.  

We spent 2 hours choosing fruits and vegetables, checking labels, learning about different kinds of pasta and potatoes and onions, and discussing fat content in meats.

     A really nice produce worker, Byron, came to the rescue to help us ALL learn how to choose a ripe melon, define the difference between sweet potatoes and yams, and showed us how to peel broccoli so that you can cut and cook the stems. 
     When we came home and put the groceries away, we used some of the ground beef we had cooked the day before to make burritos.  Dinner consisted of Creamy Baked Chicken (sort of like Chicken Cordon Bleu only much easier to make) with Confetti Rice (white rice with carrots, onions, and celery), and sauteed zucchini.  The kids are really good about trying new things and are fine-tuning their critiquing skills and thinking about how they might do things a little differently.  "I think I would have liked the zucchini better if it was cooked a little more."  "The sauce on the chicken is really good mixed with the rice."  "Can I use ground turkey instead of ground beef for the burrito meat?"  Yes, we are having fun.

Gold star for Kyndall -     She guessed, within 2 dollars, how much we spent at the grocery store.

Cooking Camp - Day 2

Color-coordinated work stations

This was a busy day with lots of prep. Started the day with a surprise of fully-stocked stations and their cook books.  The kids were impressed with themselves when, in three hours, they had made blueberry muffins from scratch, cooked oatmeal, eaten breakfast, cleaned up, and cooked 4 pounds of ground beef and 8 chicken breasts (to be used later in the week for lunches). They weren’t too crazy about the oatmeal breakfast, but they were good sports and ate it. They flipped over the Chicken Parmesan for lunch, I mean, FLIPPED! They also loved their meatballs and gravy with homemade mashed potatoes. Kid's spirits are still good, and they are doing a fantastic job of keeping their areas clean and working in teams. When Master Chef Eileen told the bunch that they would have popcorn and a movie in the evening, Robert, with shoulders slumped whined, “Do we have to make the popcorn?” Yeah, we are working them hard.

Gold Star for Robert - great cooperation with partner and cleaning both work stations

Cooking Camp - Day 1

Paying close attention

Wow! Can’t believe how well the first day went! Master Chef Eileen and Master Chef Brandy gave the orientation wearing their new aprons and chef hats. You should have seen the looks on the kid's faces - priceless. After rules and procedures, a tour of the kitchen, and choosing their work stations, the students watched a video of Alton Brown (Food Network chef) showing cutting techniques, knife safety, and knife cleaning. Then, to put that learning to good use, each student helped to cut, slice, dice, and grate ingredients for chef salads. They took this task very seriously, and the kitchen was quiet except for the sound of knifes on cutting boards. And not one cut! All-in-all a great start!

Gold Star for Kyndall - quick and efficient prep work, clean area

Gold Star for Jack - creativity with prepping for chef’s salad

Prepping chef salad

Family Thyme Cooking Camp

     Talking to Ann on the phone tonight, I came up with the idea of blogging about the Cooking Camp that my mom and I are hosting for 4 teenagers in the family. So, here we go. I'm going to kind of back track a little to get things caught up. I will try to update every day so you can find out what our campers are up to.
     

 

"Master Chef" Eileen

 

"Master Chef" Brandy