Do your children eat everything set in front of them?
Yeah, neither do mine.
That’s why when I was introduced to Catherine McCord’s fantastic blog Weelicious I was hooked.
You see, I was always of this mind set that I’m a pretty decent cook, confident around the kitchen, my children should love everything that I make because it tastes good, end of story. Turns out it doesn’t really work that way. My husband and I have tried different approaches to get our 4-year-old interested in food; we have a garden, visit the Farmer’s Market regularly, and almost always sit down to dinner together as a family, but still she could care less about eating or food in general.
What I didn’t realize until I started reading the Weelicious website and her brand-new Weelicious Cookbook was that despite my best efforts I have failed to really involve her in the actual process of cooking. Sure we bake cookies occasionally and once in a while I will have her help me peel a carrot or something, but I really don’t let her have any control over the food that she eats.
So when The Weelicious Cookbook arrived on our doorstep I handed it over and asked Louisa to pick a recipe for dinner. It didn’t take more than a glance at some muffin-looking concoction on a stick and she was sold.
I’m proud to say she helped me with the whole thing. I even let her break the egg and crack it into the bowl (which for me was slightly terrifying, but I remained silent and she did it perfectly!)
We had fun and she was excited to take on some big girl responsibility. I’m excited to try more recipes from the book, like Chocolate Velvet Beet Cupcakes, Bacon and Cheese Waffles and the Teething Cookie for the baby.
If you want to get your hands on a copy post a comment below telling me what your favorite thing to make with your kids is, or if you don’t have kids what was your favorite thing you made with your parents, or grandparents, when you were a kid. I will pick a winner at random on October 7th and that person will get their own copy of The Weelicious Cookbook!
Corn Dog Bites On a Stick and a Giveaway
Recipe from Weelicious Cookbook If you don't have ice pop sticks on hand, you can make these without them and serve them as Corn Dog Mini Muffins.
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup cornmeal
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup milk (I used soy milk and it worked great)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil
- Olive oil or canola oil cooking spray
- 3 to 4 hot dogs or veggie dogs, sliced into 1/2-inch pieces (I only ended up using 1 1/2 hot dogs, but maybe my dogs were longer than usual)
- Wooden ice pop sticks
Accompaniments:
- Ketchup, mustard, barbecue sauce (my husband liked them doused in hot sauce too)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, and oil.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir to combine.
- Spray a mini muffin pan with cooking spray. Drop 1 tablespoon of the batter into each mini muffin cup, place 1 piece of hot dog in the center, and drop 1 teaspoon of batter over the hot dog.
- Place a stick in the center of each corn dog bite, making sure the stick pierces the hot dog. (You can also bake first and insert the sticks after the bites cool.)
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden.
- Serve with your desired accompaniments.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 301Total Fat: 18gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 51mgSodium: 740mgCarbohydrates: 26gFiber: 1gSugar: 8gProtein: 9g
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My favorite was making pies and cookies with my grandma. I pretty much grew up in her kitchen.
Oh my goodness, your kiddos are SO cute! I love how proud Louisa is of her corndogs–what a sweet moment!
I love all these photos of the little ones — I can never get over how grown-up Louisa is looking!
My 4 year old son loves to make pizza and anything involving cracking eggs. He makes some impressive scrambles eggs on the weekends! 🙂
I’m not great yet about letting my kids cook with me and I didn’t ever really cook as a kid either but I remember very distinctly how much I hated helping my mom mix up meatloaf. The squish of egg and hamburger haunts me to this day and I have to wear gloves to prep raw meat. I’m trying to be better about letting the kids mix things and someday I might even give the 9 yr old a knife.
how fun are these?! I cannot wait to get my hands on her cookbook & try some of these recipes, including these! I’d even eat this myself 😉