Cooking With Kids Thursday: Healthy Thanksgiving Treats

I can’t believe how many great Thanksgiving treat ideas there are out there!  I would love to make all of them, as would my kids, but I don’t think that would be the healthiest decision I have ever made.  We would all have to go on a diet before we even got to Christmas!  That is why I love the treat ideas at Family Fun.  They have tons of kid friendly Thanksgiving treats and many of them are fairly healthy, like this Gobble Me Up platter.  Some of my kids’ other favorites are the Aut-yum Leaves and the Pumpkin Pie-sicles.

Here is what you need to make the Gobble Me Up Platter:

  • Apple
  • Clementine or navel orange
  • Pear
  • Dried apricot
  • Peanut butter or cream cheese
  • Mini chocolate chips
  • Nut (we used a cashew)
  • Dried cranberry

Here is how to make it -> Gobble Me Up Platter Tutorial 

  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon of water
  • Prepared pie crust
  • Mini chocolate chips or Peanut butter chips or nuts or jam or cream cheese
  • Raw sugar
  • Flour for work surface

Here is how to make them -> Aut-yum leaves tutorial

Here is what you need to make the Pumpkin Pie-sicles:

  • 2 1/2 lbs. butternut squash
  • 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
  • 2/3 cup light cream
  • 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Here is how to make them -> Pumpkin Pie-sicles Tutorial

Here is where to go to see all the healthy and not so healthy Thanksgiving treat ideas -> Family Fun Thanksgiving Treats

Tasty Treat Tuesday: Pumpkin Dessert Squares

I admit it… I absolutely hate pumpkin pie!  I love cooking with pumpkin, I just don’t like the pie crust.  This recipe is for all those pie haters, like me, out there.  These pumpkin dessert squares would make a great substitute for the standard pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving Day.  Thanks to All Recipes for the great idea!

Here is what you need to make them:

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree

1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk

3 eggs

1 cup white sugar

4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix

3/4 cup butter, melted

1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts

Here is how to make it -> Recipe for Pumpkin Dessert Squares

 

Cooking with Kids Thursday: Thanksgiving Treats

Thanksgiving will be here before we know it and what better way to get into the spirit than to bake some festive goodies with your kiddos!  Taste of Home has several really cute and delicious looking treats to get your holiday started right.  My favorites are the turkey cookies (pictured above) and the healthier fruit turkey.

Here is what you need to make the turkey cookies:

  • 48 sugar cookies (3 inches)
  • 1 package (12 ounces) chocolate and marshmallow cookies
  • 1 can (16 ounces) chocolate frosting
  • 1 cup vanilla frosting
  • Yellow and red paste food coloring

Here is how to make it -> Turkey Cookie Tutorial

 

Here is what you need to make the fruit turkey:

  • 1 large watermelon
  • 2 whole cloves
  • 2 medium cantaloupe, cut into 1-inch balls, divided
  • 1 red chili pepper
  • 4 medium navel oranges
  • 2 pounds green grapes
  • Wooden skewers (12 inches)

Here is how to make it -> Fruit Turkey Tutorial

Check out Taste of Home to see all of their Thanksgiving Treat Recipes.

Tasty Treat Tuesday: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

I love when fall rolls around and I finally get to bust out all of my yummy pumpkin recipes.  These are some of my husband’s favorite desserts, but it just doesn’t feel right to make them in the middle of summer so he just has to patiently wait for the temperatures to drop every year to enjoy them.  If you’ve never tried it before, pumpkin chocolate chip bread is so delicious!

Here is what you need to make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup butter, soften
2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 16 oz can of pure pumpkin
1 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Here is how to make it -> Tutorial for making Pumpkpin Chocolate Chip Bread

Tip: Sometimes I opt to make muffins instead of bread because it is easier for me to pack in the kid’s lunches that way.  To make muffins or mini muffins, you follow the directions the same as if you were making bread, but you just cut the time in half for muffins and subtract another 10 minutes or so off of that for mini muffins.

(Thanks to Barbara Bakes for the image and recipe!)

 

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