Cooking Class #3: Stuffed Mushrooms and Chocolate Cake

Curly is really enjoying his time in the kitchen. I mean, he doesn't always want to stop reading or playing to get in the kitchen, but once he's in there... it's pretty smooth sailing.

This time our task was stuffed mushrooms and a warm chocolate cake.

I'm not sure where either recipe is from originally. My mom gave me the stuffed mushrooms, and an old friend gave me the cake. Both are pretty simple and very tasty. Neither falls into the healthy category, either, but have I mentioned they are tasty?

We started with the mushrooms. I had to help him with the stems because the mushrooms were pretty fragile. But otherwise, he was on his own again. He learned the importance of softening the cream cheese, how to cream ingredients together, measuring, and drizzling with butter. He struggled a little more with this recipe because you really need to get your hands dirty to make these. He has a very hard time with messy hands, so a lot of the steps were "disgusting" in his words. He did enjoy the end result, though!

Then we moved on to the cake. This is ridiculously simple. You just need a chocolate cake mix, cook-and-serve chocolate pudding mix, milk, and mini chocolate chips. Make the pudding according to the directions on the package, then stir in the cake mix. Once it's all mixed together, put it into a greased 9x13 and sprinkle generously with the chips. Bake 30 minutes at 350 and serve warm. 

It does take constant stirring, which wore his skinny, little arm out, but it was a good lesson in stirring so something doesn't burn.

Once again, we all really enjoyed the fruits of his labor!

Cooking Class #2 - Taco Dip

This might not exactly fall into the healthy food category, but this is a treat our whole family loves. I think the recipe is originally a Pampered Chef recipe from the very early days of our marriage. Now it's a treat we have on a movie night with the kids.

Curly made this one with Papa's supervision. It's super easy, so it's one he can make on his own any time. And when we decide to have it, he runs right to the fridge to make sure we have all the ingredients. He's a pro after the first try. ;)

This was a fun one because we don't measure any of the ingredients, so he was learning how to guesstimate. A useful skill for a cook.

Here he is.

He might have not been so excited by the look of the refried beans.

Learning how to judge spices by sight.

How to make it?

1 can of refried beans
1 package cream cheese, softened
1 cup(ish) sour cream
shredded Mexican cheese
cayenne pepper, chili powder, cumin to taste

Layer bottom of pan (we use our round Pampered Chef stone) with the beans. Mix together cream cheese, sour cream, and spices. Layer these over the beans. Top with a layer of shredded cheese. Pop into the oven (350) for about 20 minutes.

That's it! I like it with some salsa on the side for extra spice.

Cooking Class #1: Chocolate Chip Cookies

Curly is taking a cooking class this fall. The end goal is to have a Mother/Son dinner at our home. The boys can practice serving their mothers, good manners, and appropriate table conversation. I am a little nervous about how that meal will go, but we have some time until then.

In the meantime, Curly is beginning to learn how to cook. He will learn three appetizers, three entrees, three side dishes, and three desserts. The final menu will be determined at the end of the class. He will have some input into what is served based on how successful his attempts are.

Where did we begin? With dessert, of course!

We choose chocolate chip cookies because they are easy, and everybody likes them. We just followed the Nestle recipe to keep it really simple.

We hit on some of the main points in cooking:

Cleanliness

Gathering supplies

Reading the entire recipe before beginning

Paying attention to what you are doing.

I didn't help him with any of it. I just supervised and instructed when necessary. Otherwise, I let him do all of the work.

Here's a glimpse of how it went.

He wasn't so good at the paying attention part. He made a huge mess while waving things around.

The mixer is a cousin to a power tool.

One thing we had to work on was mixing. He had a habit of just mixing what was on top.

This poor child absolutely hates to touch anything sticky. This was a real challenge for him. The smile is his attempt at hiding how much he hated this part.

Waiting for the oven.

Successful? Judging by how many cookies they all ate, I would say so. 

But seriously, he did really well with this task. Cookies may be easy, but they take time. He was thrilled with how much his brother and sister liked them. And he was really pleased with himself for doing it all alone. He has plans to sneak into the kitchen while we are all sleeping to make some more for us.

A very good attempt at our first class.