Low-Fat, Low Sugar Pumpkin Dessert

It's that harvest time of year again when I start thinking about using pumpkin more. I love canned pumpkin because it's inexpensive, convenient and 100% natural. I have an easy and delicious pumpkin dessert that I would like to share. I used to make this dessert each year around Thanksgiving with my preschool classes and I continue to make it with my own children at home. It's called Creamy Pumpkin Mousse and I obtained the recipe years ago from a chef "Mr Food" who made it during a segment on one of our local news channels. It's diabetic friendly and figure friendly. It's also easy for kids to help make this recipe.

Creamy Pumpkin Mousse

1 Can (16 ounces) solid pack pure pumpkin
1 package (6 oz) instant sugar-free vanilla pudding
1/4 cup low-fat milk (I use fat-free)
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups frozen light whipped topping, thawed (I use a small tub of fat free, sugar free whipped topping)

1. In a bowl, use an electric mixer on medium speed to beat the pumpkin, pudding mix, milk and cinnamon

2. Fold in whipped topping until thoroughly blended then spoon into serving bowl. I like to sprinkle a bit of cinnamon on top because it looks pretty. Cover loosely and chill until ready to serve.

I know that I haven't offered up a challenge in awhile so I would like to challenge everyone to give this recipe a try. It's a great way to get another vegetable into your kids because it's "disguised" as dessert. Let me know how you and your children like the creamy pumpkin mousse. Maybe it will become a seasonal regular at your home as it is at mine.

Enjoy!

Choose Something New (Challenge)

Do you bring your children grocery shopping with you? My children almost always go grocery shopping with me and one of the things they look forward to is choosing a food item. Sometimes I let them look around in the produce section and I encourage them to pick out a new fruit or vegetable because trying new things can be a lot of fun. Letting your children pick out a new food item is a great way to encourage trying new things and healthy eating.

Weekly Challenge: Before you go shopping, have a discussion about new foods that might be fun to try. Look through the grocery store ads and ask your children to name the fruits and vegetables. Take your children grocery shopping with you the next time you go. Let them look around and choose a new fruit or vegetable to try. When you are ready to try the fruit or vegetable at home, let you child help prepare it in some way if at all possible (washing, peeling, cutting, etc).

I would love you to leave a comment and let me know what your kids ended up trying and whether or not they enjoyed the experience. You may want to give it a try every time they go grocery shopping with you.

Pumpkin and a Cake Mix

Not long ago I heard about a lower fat chocolate muffin recipe that is super easy to make. I love chocolate so I went looking for the recipe. I discovered the Hungry Girl website and found the recipe. All you need is a boxed cake mix and a 15oz can of solid pack pumpkin. I used a Betty Crocker chocolate fudge cake mix and one 15 oz can of all natural solid pack pure pumpkin. Don't add any other ingredients. Mix the pumpkin and cake mix together and then separate it into muffin tins. I used an ice cream scoop as the mixture is very thick. It says to bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes but I found that 20 minutes was a bit to long in my oven so I would advise checking them after 15 minutes.

If you want to make this recipe with your children, they can help pour the cake mix and spoon out the pumpkin but stirring will be difficult for little kids as the mixture is very thick. You could let your kids help scoop the mixture into the muffin tins when finished. My kids thought the best part of this recipe was getting to lick the spoon and ice cream scoop at the end. I don't usually let my kids lick the spoon for muffins and cakes because of the raw eggs but since this recipe didn't need any eggs or oil, they were able to lick the spoons clean. These muffins received a thumbs up from my kids.

I don't know if you have already heard of or tried these muffins but since they are so easy and turned out well, I wanted to share. I also read that you can use any flavor of cake mix with the can of pumpkin to change the muffin flavor.

Enjoy!

Weekly Challenge: Kids make lunch

I've been so busy this week. We've been remodeling our kitchen and I decided to tackle the kitchen cabinets on my own to save money. After 3 days and nights of sanding, priming and painting, I'm almost finished. My cabinet doors still need installed and I'm waiting for my husband to get some time to work on that with me. Since I don't have to paint tomorrow, I thought it would be fun to take the kids to the park for a picnic. The weather is hot and there is a park nearby with a splash pad that we've been wanting to try out. To add to the fun, I thought that I would ask my kids to pack their own picnic lunch tomorrow. I've done this several times before and my kids loved having the responsibility. I give them a few lunch food options to choose from and then I let them prepare their own lunch while I watch. My kids usually choose to make their own PB & J sandwiches because that one of their favorites.

My Weekly Challenge for you is to choose a day this week and let your kids make their own lunch. You could let him/her pack it up for a picnic or eat at home. I usually offer a variety of sandwich makings (turkey and cheese, peanut butter and jelly, etc) to choose from and some fruit that is easily prepared (grapes are a favorite here, wash and pluck). Bon Appetit!

Fourth of July (Independance Day) Crafts and Activities

I've always loved the Fourth of July. Getting my kids involved in Patriotic decorating and activities is so much fun. I thought that I would share some of our red, white and blue crafts and activities with you.

American Flag: This is so easy. If you have little kids who are not good with scissors yet you will need to do some preparation while older kids can do their own cutting. Provide a piece of white construction paper to work on. Next provide strips (older kids can cut their own) of red construction paper (these are the red stripes on the flag). Let your children glue the red strips onto the white paper (leaving enough space between the red strips so that the white appears to be stripes too). After gluing the strips onto the paper glue a blue rectangle in the corner. Use white chalk to draw stars on the blue paper. Instead of chalk, you could also use foil star stickers if you happen to have any on hand.

Fireworks Art: Provide black construction paper, red, white and blue tempera paint, glitter and sponges. I like to use the round puffy dish washing type sponges but they can be hard to find so you could simply cut a rectangular sponge into a circle and them cut a few jagged edges to make it look more like a firework burst. Let the children dip the sponges into red, white and blue paint and then sprinkle glitter onto their firework.

Patriotic Shakers: Attach a few pieces of red, white and/or blue crepe paper to a paper plate (these will be streamers). Fold the paper plate in half and staple all but a small opening. Fill with dry beans and then finish stapling. I like to put clear tape across the staples so they don't poke little fingers. Let your children decorate the shakers with red and blue crayons or paint. You could also provide star cut-outs or stickers if you wish.

Flag Cake: Simply bake your favorite cake (I just use a cake mix for this cake) in a rectangle pan. After the cake has cooled, cover it with whipped topping instead of frosting. Use fresh strawberries for the stripes and fresh blueberries in the corner for the star area.

Shaving Cream Fun: Provide 3 large cookie sheets. Spray shaving cream on each cookie sheet. Leave one white but add red food coloring to one and blue to the other. Let your child play in the shaving cream. This is very messy but good clean fun. I like to put the kids in their bathing suits and do this outside so that I can just spray everything (and everyone) down with the hose when finished. If you have children who like to put everything in their mouths, you could use the spray whipped topping instead.

Red, White and Blue Bubbles: Fill 3 separate containers with bubble mixture. Leave one plain but add red food coloring to one pan and blue to another. Check out my website to make your own bubbles.

USA Map Floor Puzzle: Cover a USA map in clear contact paper. Cut the map into several pieces according to your child's ability to make a big floor puzzle.

Homemade Popsicles and other Cool Treats

I have been enjoying making Popsicles with my kids this summer. Homemade Popsicles are fun to make and even better to eat.

One of our favorites is what we call Smoothie Pops. We place two bananas (the kids slice them first), a small hand full of fresh strawberries and about 1/4 cup of vanilla yogurt into the blender. After everything is well blended I pour the mixture into Popsicle molds and then freeze them until we are ready for our cool and tasty treats.





I bought my Popsicle molds at Target. Mine make 4 Popsicles and the cost for the molds was $3.99. I like them because they keep the Popsicles from dripping. If you don't have Popsicle molds you could also use small paper cups and Popsicle sticks.

We also enjoy making Banana Pops. We slice a small banana in half or a large banana into thirds. We insert a Popsicle stick into the banana length wise and then cover the banana in chocolate pudding (you can make chocolate pudding or to make it even easier, give each of your children a store bought chocolate pudding cup). I lined a rectangular plastic container with wax paper and we lined the wax paper with the banana pops. We also put colored sugar and sprinkles on the chocolate covered bananas. You could leave them as is or add chopped nuts if you like. I put the cover on the container and placed it in the freezer for several hours.

I remember making all sorts of Popsicles when I was a kid. My sister and I filled ice cube trays with our favorite concoctions. We used toothpicks for the sticks. We also filled the little paper Dixie cups and used Popsicle sticks. One of my favorite Popsicles was simply pouring lemonade into my mold and freezing it. I also used to enjoy making chocolate pudding Popsicles. Many of our Popsicles were simply frozen juice. As simple as it is, we also enjoyed eating plain ice cubes on a stick. You might be surprised how much your children enjoy plain ice. You can even add some food coloring to make it more fun.

Another of my favorite childhood treats was something that my mom made for us. She broke a graham cracker in half and then put whipping cream (Like Cool Whip) on top of the graham cracker. Next she put sprinkles or chocolate chips on the whipping cream, topped it with the other graham cracker halve and then froze them.

Weekly Challenge: Make a Homemade Popsicle or another summertime treat with your children this week. Let me know what you enjoyed.

I'm always looking for new recipes to try with my children. If you have a favorite homemade treat that is great for a hot summer day, please share it with me. You can leave a comment or email me at kim@lessonplansplus.com.

Father's Day Chocolate Peanut Butter Dessert

Several years ago, my friend and former co-worker Cindy brought this dessert to a work potluck. The dessert was an instant hit. I asked for the recipe and have since made it several times. It's a great recipe and it's easy to involve the kids in the preparation. My children especially enjoying crushing the cookies. I think this would make a great Father's Day dessert. I know that the daddy in this house loves the combination of chocolate and peanut butter.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Dessert
2- 1/4 cups crushed peanut butter cookies (you can make your own ahead of time or use store bought)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine melted (I use a light version)
2 Packages (3 oz each) cream cheese (I use fat-free)
1 cup Powdered Sugar
1 container (8 oz) whipped topping (I use fat-free)
2-1/2 cups cold milk
2 packages (3.9 oz each) instant chocolate pudding mix

In a bowl combine crushed cookies, sugar and butter. Press into an ungreased 13 X 9 inch baking dish. Bake at 350 for 6 to 8 minutes or until golden brown. Cool.

Beat cream cheese and sugar together in a mixing bowl. Fold in 1 cup of whipped topping. Spread over cooled crust. In a separate bowl, beat milk and pudding mix until thickened. Spread over cream cheese layer. Top with remaining whipped topping. You can also sprinkle additional crushed cookie pieces on top of the dessert as a garnish. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving. Enjoy!

Memorial Day Activities and Patriotic Projects

I would like to start off by saying thank you to all of the military families past and present. I have so much respect for all of the men and woman who serve our country.

In honor of Memorial Day my children and I have been doing a few patriotic projects. We planted some "patriotic" flowers in the yard and have been doing our annual red, white and blue decorating. We've also enjoyed a few art projects and a simple, healthy and yummy patriotic snack. I would love to share some of our ideas with you. These simple projects would be perfect to do at home or in a classroom or daycare setting.

Patriotic Straw Painting:
I added some water and liquid soap (my trick to help paint wash off easier) to a small bowl of red paint, a bowl of white paint and a bowl of blue paint. I wanted the paint to be a runny consistency. I gave my children paint brushes, construction paper and straws. I demonstrated how to splatter paint onto construction paper and then I instructed them to aim their straws at the splattered paint on the paper and blow the paint around the paper (being careful not to suck in any paint).

Hand Print Flags:
I used red, white and blue paint to paint the palms of my children's hands like a flag. I alternated red and white paint on their fingers, painted a small blue square in the corner of their hand (across form the thumb) and I painted their thumbs blue (white would look nice too). When finished, they pressed their hands onto a small piece of construction paper and then placed a star inside of the blue square on their hand print. The end result was a sweet little hand print flag.

Patriotic Painting with Brushes:
I gave my kids blue construction paper along with red and white tempera paint and just let them paint however they chose. I did the same with red construction paper, blue and white paint. The end result was red, white and blue creative artwork.

Fancy Patriotic Parfait:
My children helped make a healthy fruit parfait by slicing bananas and strawberries with a plastic knife. I used their prepared fruit to make parfaits. I used some champagne glasses to make the parfaits a little more fun and fancy. We layered vanilla yogurt, blueberries, bananas and strawberries. I ended with a dollop of yogurt on top sprinkled with a few more blueberries. This was an was an easy, healthy and fun snack that my kids loved.

Some other ways to celebrate Memorial Day and be patriotic:

Go watch a parade with your family. Many cities and towns host Memorial Day parades.
Wear red, white and blue clothing.
Invite some friends, neighbors or family members over for a back yard barbecue.
Enjoy spending time with your family.
Fly an American Flag
Make cards for Veterans and drop them off at a nearby Home for Veterans if you have one in your area.
Make sure to say thank you to anyone you know who serves or has served in our military.
Visit a Veterans Memorial if you have one nearby.
Do a random act of kindness for a Veteran or Veteran family. Some ideas could be weeding, raking leaves, mowing a lawn or even dropping off a homemade treat or card to show gratitude.
Pray for the men and women who serve our country and all of the families associated with them.

Muffins for Mom

When I was teaching preschool outside the home, I had an annual tradition each Spring to have my students host "Muffins for Mom". We planned the event a few days before Mother's day. The children helped make invitations to give to their mom and/or grandma a few days before. We made the invitations in the shape of a muffin. I bought a bunch of easy muffin mixes to keep things simple and the children worked hard the day before baking muffins and making decorations for the tables.

I set aside a 1 1/2 hour block of time in the morning where mom's could come and go as needed. We offered a variety of muffins, fruit and juice for the moms, grandma's and children to enjoy. The children surprised their mom's with handmade Mother's Day gifts and/or cards during the muffin breakfast. I also purchased items that would serve as table decorations and be additional gifts for the moms. Some examples of the items I have purchased: Fresh flowers, individually wrapped chocolates set out in pretty bowls and unlit candles. Muffins for Mom was always a simple event but the mom's and children always looked forward to it and really enjoyed the special day.

If your toddler or preschooler is not in a classroom setting, you can still have fun altering this idea at home. You can bake muffins with your children and enjoy them together or even organize a muffin making play date with some little friends and moms and enjoy eating the muffins together.

Recipe For Fun: Pizzas

Recipe for individual mini pizzas:

I like using refrigerated biscuits but you can also use half of an English muffin or half of a bagel.
Each person can put his/her own sauce and choice of toppings on the mini pizza. I like to put several topping choices out in small bowls. Bake biscuits according to directions on tube or if using a bagel or English muffin, bake until cheese melts.

Tip: You can offer the traditional pizza sauce and toppings or get creative and try something different like barbeque sauce instead of pizza sauce and chicken instead of ham or pepperoni. One time my children and I even made breakfast style pizzas with maple syrup, bacon and cheese.

For more fun recipes check out the recipe section of my website: http://www.lessonplansplus.com/recipes.html

Cooking With Kids

I love cooking with kids. It’s often messy and most projects take longer than anticipated but it’s worth it because it instills a sense of joy in the kitchen at an early age. It also helps children feel like they are great helpers thus boosting their self esteem. When I was teaching preschool outside the home, I usually did a cooking project with the children once per week. At home, I cook, bake and create with my kids often. My children love helping in the kitchen. If you dropped by my house nearing a meal time or snack time, it would not be uncommon to find my kids in the kitchen stirring, pouring or spreading something. Cooking is a great way to easily incorporate math, science and a sensory experience into your day. And as a bonus, often children will be more likely to try something new just because they helped make it.

A challenge for the week: Let your children help cook at least one meal or snack. It doesn’t need to be anything elaborate, it can be as easy as letting them dump a pudding mix into a bowl, pour milk from a measuring cup into the pudding then whisk. Maybe even letting your child slice a banana with a butter knife (with close supervision) to add into the pudding. If you are just beginning to cook with kids, keep it easy.

I plan to add several kid friendly recipes from time to time so stop back often to see what's new.