Appetizer Ideas…

• Asparagus
• Green beans
• Pea soup
• lettuce wraps (with beef or chicken)
• Green apples
• Celery Sticks
• Guacamole
• Avocado Sushi rolls

Salad ingredients…..

Try making an all green salad – this shouldn’t be too hard but try the following:

• Lettuce
• Cucumber
• Green Peppers
• Green Onions
• Snap Peas
• Kiwis
• Mint

Side Dishes….

• Steamed Broccoli
• Basil, Green Tomatoes and Bocconcini Cheese
• Grilled Asparagus
• Peas

Main Course Ideas….

• Green Curry
• Cream of Broccoli Soup
• Banana Leaf Rice
• Spinach Lasagne

Dessert

• Green Jello Cubes
• Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
• Green fruit Medley (Kiwis, Green Grapes, and Green Apples)
• Green Tea

That’s our list!  Have any more ideas?  We’d love to here them at info@cackleberries.com. 

Today’s Olympic theme feature is……

Olympic Ring Cookies

The concept here is pretty simple.  just follow the steps below to achieve a gold medal of approval from your family!

1 – Select your favourite shortbread cookie recipe and bake as many cookies as as you want

2 – When ready, use a cookie cutter to cut out circles and a smaller cutter to cut out the centres

3 – bake the cookies as directed in your recipe

4 – Allow the cookies to cool

5 – Prepare or purchase frosting for the five colors required to make the Olympic rings

6 – Serve and Enjoy!

With Valentines Day not far away, we went searching for some fun themed valentine treats that you can make at home with your kids.  From our search, we located not only a great recipe to make but also a fun valentines craft to do with your children!

Today’s valentines Treat is…..

heart necklace Valentine cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 3 drops red food coloring
• 2 1/4 ounces colored candy sprinkles
• 60 long red vine licorice

Directions

1. Cream 1 cup butter or margarine and 3/4 cup white sugar together. Blend in egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and grated lemon peel. Sift together 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour and baking powder. Add to creamed mixture and blend well. Cover and refrigerate dough for approximately 2 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
3. Roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Use a floured heart shaped 1 to 2 inch cookie cutter and cut dough into heart shapes. Place the cut-out hearts on greased cookie sheets.
4. Using the drinking straw, make a hole at the top center of each heart before baking. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes until very lightly browned. Cool the cookies on a wire rack.
5. To Make Butter Frosting: Mix 3 cups confectioners’ sugar and 1/3 cup butter together. Stir in 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract and 2 tablespoons milk. Beat until smooth making sure frosting is of spreading consistency. Stir in food coloring to create a pink or red colored frosting, if desired.
6. After cookies have cooled, frost and decorate them with nonpareils, sprinkles, dragees, or colored sugar. Use a toothpick to dislodge the hole, if necessary. Let the frosting dry.
7. To make a necklace, tie the ends off of two pieces of red colored licorice with a knot. Thread it through the hole at the top center of the cookie. Tie the other ends off with another knot to create a "chain." Makes approximately 30 heart necklaces.

*Recipe Courtesy of Allrecipes.com

Toddler Finger Food Recipes by Cackleberries.com

Continuing with our healthy Snack Recipes for Kids Series, today we focus on a variety of simple, healthy, and time-saving snacks that are choices to feed to your kids – whether at home or on the go!

Toddler Finger Food Snack Ideas

Cheese Sticks/Cubes – Either prepared yourself or bought readymade, Cheese cubes are a great source of energy and will keep your child from going hungry, especially when you’re out of the house.

Cereal – Simply take some cereal you have around home and pour some into a bowl or Ziploc bag.  Served dry, cereal is as easy a snack as it gets.

Fresh Fruit – if you have a couple minutes, cutting up some fresh fruit is always a great way to make sure your child eats a healthy snack.

Bread – What toddler doesn’t like a simple piece of bread as a quick and easy snack?

Crackers – Another simple but effective children’s snack are crackers.  Ritz, Stone-wheat thins, triscuit or premium plus are all good options

Mini-Sandwiches – these can be as simple as crackers and cheese or more complex including other healthy ingredients like cucumber and avocado – the sky is the limit.

Dried Fruit – not only is dried fruit good for your child but it is also great to have around the house since it’s not messy and lasts a long time

Sliced Vegetables – similar to fresh fruit, if you have a couple minutes, sliced vegetables are a great way to ensure your child is getting their fill of those important vitamins.  If your child is fussy, you can always try serving them with a dip.

Mini-Muffins – whether store bought or homemade, your children will love them!  Not only can you pack them full of bran or oats to ensure they’re healthy but your children will love eating mini-muffins because they make them feel like a grownup eating a child size version of something!

So there are some ideas of Toddler Finger Food Recipes that are easy to prepare, healthy to eat, and something that your child will enjoy!

Healthy Kids Snack Recipe # 2 – Cornbread

Continuing with our new years health kick, we have another healthy snack recipe for you and your kids!  if you missed last weeks snack recipe, you can find it here – Healthy Snack # 1

This week, we’ve got another tasty recipe for you and your family to try.  This week, we show you how to make…..

Cackleberries Cornbread – Kids Healthy Snack Recipes Series

Here’s what you’ll need…

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup of Cornmeal
• 1 cup of Milk
• 1 cup of Flour
• 1/4 cup of Canola Oil
• 1 Tablespoon of Sugar
• 2 Teaspoons of Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon of Salt
• 1/2 cup of thawed, canned, or fresh Corn

And here’s how to make this snack…

Directions

1. Place all the ingredients into a mixing bowl
2. Heat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit
3. Grease a bread pan with shortening or butter
4. Mix together the contents of the bowl thoroughly until smooth and consistent
5. Add the corn and mix together
6. Pour the contents of the bowl into the greased baking pan
7. Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes or until the top of the bread has turned a golden brown
8. Allow to cool slightly then Serve and Enjoy

And with that, you have another great and healthy snack recipe for kids!  See you next week for another tasty snack idea.

Healthy Snack Recipes for Kids

After an overindulgent holiday season, The Cackleberries Team, as promised, is going to provide a number of health conscious meal ideas and healthy snack recipes over the next few weeks to help kick-start your and your family’s new year.

This week, we offer a healthy spin on a long time Cackleberries classic family snack….

Bacon and Tomato Sandwiches – Healthy Snack Recipes

The key to making this tasty snack into a healthy eating option is to focus on the specific ingredients you’ll be using when making these sandwich snacks.  For this specific recipe, all you’ll need to do is concentrate on 4 key changes to make this a very healthy option.

Change 1 -  When it comes to bread or buns, select health conscious varieties such as whole-wheat or better yet, multigrain.  Served fresh, your kids will likely enjoy the bread, regardless of what they think it will taste like.

Change 2 – Another important health change you can make is to substitute regular bacon for a healthier alternative such as turkey bacon.  While at first this might not sound appealing, you will be surprised when you look at what’s actually available on the market and how good some of these products actually taste.  Don’t be afraid to try a few different kinds until you find one that your family enjoys.  This one switch will go a long way in implementing healthier eating habits in your family.

Change 3 – Next time your at the grocery store, pickup a lite mayonnaise instead.  With a nearly identical taste to regular mayo but much better for you, this alteration of ingredients can be used every time you reach into the fridge to make a sandwich of any kind.

Change 4 – If you’re making a tomato and bacon sandwich, don’t be afraid to add a lot of tomatoes – the more the better!  Tomatoes are a great item to eat at anytime and since they taste so good in a snack such as this, you might as well take advantage of the opportunity to make sure your kids eat their fill of them.

And with a few simple tweaks, you can turn a normal snack into a healthy snack recipes for kids!

From now until Christmas, The Cackleberries Team will be offering brand new Christmas Recipes every Monday.  Over the next four weeks, we will highlight some of our favourite seasonal snacks and festive foods. 

Part 1 of our Christmas recipes feature was yet another of our classic Christmas Cookie Recipes.  Part 2 featured our incredible Cackleberry Christmas Cranberry Apple Pie and recipe 3 was Christmas Shortbread Cookies.  For the conclusion of our 4 part Christmas recipe series, we close with one of the most enjoyable of all Christmas traditions – the Christmas Gingerbread House!  Good luck!

HOW TO MAKE AN EASY CHRISTMAS GINGERBREAD HOUSE

Ingredients

Dough

• 6 cups of flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
• 2 sticks of unsalted butter
• 1 cup of dark brown sugar
• 4 teaspoons ground ginger
• 4 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups of molasses

Icing

• 3 egg whites (whipped until frothy)
• 5 cups of powdered sugar (slowly add to egg whites)

Directions

1. Put all ingredients into a mixer and blend together thoroughly
2. After mixing, place ingredients in the fridge for 1 hour
3. Find a template of a house to use (try finding one online and printing it off the internet)
4. Roll out dough onto a floured surface to about 1/4th to 1/8th of inch thick
5. Place the template on top of the rolled out dough and cut the dough to shape
6. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
7. Once the dough is cut to shape, transfer it to a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees
8. Make Icing
1. (whip 3 egg whites until frothy, then slowly add 5 cups of powdered sugar)
9. Transfer baked dough to a cooling rack and allow to cool thoroughly

**This recipe comes courtesy of India Gaylean and her YouTube video of how to make a Christmas Gingerbread House

How to put your gingerbread house together

Watch this video to see how to make your very own Gingerbread House!  The first half features the process of how to make the materials needed (featured above).  The second half shows you how to put it all together!

Hope you enjoyed this Christmas recipes feature and that your gingerbread house turned out a success!

Classic Christmas Shortbread Cookie Recipe

From now until Christmas, The Cackleberries Team will be offering brand new Christmas Recipes every Monday.  Over the next four weeks, we will highlight some of our favourite seasonal snacks and festive foods. 

Part 1 of our Christmas recipes feature was yet another of our classic Christmas Cookie Recipes.  Part 2 featured our incredible Cackleberry Christmas Cranberry Apple Pie.  So what is Part 3 of our Christmas Recipes Series?

Cackleberries Classic Christmas Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients

• 2 Cups of Flour
• 1 Cup of Butter
• 1/2 Cup of Brown Sugar

Directions

1. Add the Butter and Sugar into a mixing Bowl and cream together well
2. Slowly add the flour and mix until consistent
3. Once the ingredients form a stiff dough place the mixture onto a floured surface
4. Slowly knead into the flour until the dough starts to crack slightly (refrigerate Dough for a couple of hour for best results)
5. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
6. Roll the Dough out until about a 1/4 inch thick (make sure you’re working on a flat surface)
7. Cut the dough into Christmas shapes and objects with cookie cutters or a fine knife
8. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30 minutes or until the cookies begin to brown just slightly
9. Serve and Enjoy!

And with that, we hope you enjoy our Cackleberries Classic Christmas Shortbread Cookie Recipe!

From now until Christmas, The Cackleberries Team will be offering brand new Christmas Recipes every Monday.  Over the next four weeks, we will highlight some of our favourite seasonal snacks and festive foods.  so without further ado, we present to you part 2 of our 4 part Christmas recipe series.

For our previous Christmas recipes feature – click here – Christmas Cookie Recipes

For today’s recipe, we present Cackleberries Cranberry Apple Pie.  Good Luck and enjoy!

Ingredients

Directions

1. Peel, core, and cut each apple into 8 wedges each
2. Combine the apples, cranberries and orange juice into a large mixing bowl
3. In a separate bowl, combine the sugar, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg
4. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the large and cover the apple/cranberry mixture
5. Pour the contents into the pie crust pie crust
6. Dot with butter
7. Cover with the top pie crust,  flute the edges and cut slits in the top crust
8. Bake the pie at 425 degrees for 10 minutes
9. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 50 minutes or until the crust is golden brown
10. Cool on a wire rack
11. Serve & Enjoy!

And that’s our second Christmas Recipes Instalment!  We hope you enjoy your Cranberry Apple Pie!

]]> http://blog.cackleberries.com/cackleberries-christmas-recipes-cranberry-apple-pie/feed/ 0 http://blog.cackleberries.com/festive-christmas-recipes-from-cackleberries-com-ginger-cookies/ http://blog.cackleberries.com/festive-christmas-recipes-from-cackleberries-com-ginger-cookies/#comments Mon, 30 Nov 2009 23:49:00 +0000 CBAdmin http://blog.cackleberries.com/festive-christmas-recipes-from-cackleberries-com-ginger-cookies/ From now until Christmas, The Cackleberries Team will be offering a brand new Christmas Recipe feature every Monday.  Over the next four weeks, we will highlight some of our favourite seasonal snacks and festive foods.  so without further ado, we present to you part 1of our 4 part Christmas recipe series.

for part 1 of our 4 part Christmas Recipes series, we feature…..

Christmas Ginger Cookies

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp cloves
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1 egg

Directions

1. Sift together dry ingredients
2. Cream butter and sugar, add molasses and the egg
3. Add dry ingredients to creamy mixture and mix
4. Shape into 1 inch balls and roll in white sugar
5. Place balls 2 inches apart on baking sheet
6. Bake at 375 for 8-10mins
7. Cool before removing
8. Serve and Enjoy!

We hope you enjoyed this Christmas Recipes Feature!