Kids Cooking – food ideas to make with your kids

Kids Cooking

Cooking is a popular activity at Holiday time. Children just love to roll up their sleeves and get stuck in whether it is reading the recipes, weighing the ingredients, washing and preparing the foods, there are so many varied jobs to do.

We have had a couple of cake afternoons when the weather hasn’t been that great and it’s a great way for kids to learn about weights and measurements – as well as get a little bit messy too!

You’ll need to be on hand to supervise the chopping and placing the food into the hot oven. There is nothing more pleasing than eager ears waiting to hear the oven buzzer go off and the automatic reply ‘It’s ready!!’

Here’s a couple of easy to follow recipes that you can make with your children.

The cheese scones are great for snack time and the sausage & bean pot makes a delicious main meal.

Cheese Scones ready in 30 minutes

The cheese scones can be served with the sausage & bean main course or are also ideal in a packed lunch.

Ingredients (makes 10 scones)

40g Butter
225g Self-raising flour
1 Level tsp baking powder
Pinch salt
Handful fresh herbs, chopped
125-150ml Milk
40g Cheddar cheese, grated

Grease a baking tray. Sieve the flour and baking powder into a bowl. Rub the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the salt, herbs, milk and ¾ of the cheese.
Get the kids to knead the dough until it is smooth. Lightly pat the dough until it is approx 3cm thick.
Cut out the scones, this can be done using an up turned plastic cup dipped first in flour. Put the scones on the baking tray. Brush tops with a little milk and sprinkle over the remaining cheese. This will give the scones a nice crisp coating.
Cook in a preheated oven (220 oC/425 oF/Gas Mark 7) for 8 to 10 minutes until risen and golden. Adjust temperature for fan ovens.

Main meal – Sausage & bean pot ready in 40 minutes

Whilst the cheese scones are baking, you can start cooking the main meal.

Ingredients (serves 4)

Olive oil
8 Sausages
6 Rindless bacon rashers, chopped
2 Garlic cloves, crushed
700ml Passata (or use 2x 400g tins chopped tomatoes)
400g Tin of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 tbsp Smoked paprika (1/2 tbsp if you prefer mild flavours)
1 tbsp Dark brown sugar
1 Onion, roughly chopped

Heat a little oil in a large pan, add the sausages and gently cook for 10 minutes until evenly browned, then remove from the pan.
Add the chopped bacon and onion and cook for 5 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for a further minute.
Pour in the passata, add the beans, paprika and sugar, then season and mix well. The paprika in this dish will add a sweet and smoky flavour that kids love.
Return the sausages to the pan, bring to a simmer and cook everything together for a further 15 minutes.

As with all recipes you can experiment a bit and substitute ingredients with other items or add extra vegetables to make a substantial meal.

Additional ideas and inspiration for kid and cooking can be found on BBC Good Food website, and UK TV.

If your children often take a packed lunch to their friend’s house or off to Holiday Club / Summer Camp it’s a good idea to label items so they don’t get lost.

At Simply Stuck we have a great range of colourful personalised self-adhesive stickers, fun tags and shape stickers ideal for lunch boxes, drinks bottles and rucksacks.

Check our online site to see the fantastic designs and see how easy it is to order and customise these inexpensive personalised labels.

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Tags: fun tags, kids cooking, kids food, kids recipes, Labels, Stickers

Back to School

Up until a few years ago, parents had to buy school uniforms from specialist shops or direct from the school. Now many major retailers have school wear departments for boys and girls and are currently actively running “back to school” uniform campaigns on TV and in store.

Retailers like ASDA, M&S, Tesco and Sainsbury’s provide a competitive one stop shop for your children’s school clothing whatever your budget.

School Uniform items available include coats and jackets, dresses, jumpers and cardigans, pinafores, polo shirts, shirts and blouses, skirts, trousers, socks and tights, underwear, not forgetting shoes and sportswear. You can also view the variety of styles and sizes online. Most retailers cater for children sizes aged 3 to 16 years and it is easy to mix and match the clothes with personalised school labelled polo and t-shirts.

We have had trawl through soem of the early Back to School campaigns and here are our findings:-

ASDA Back to School

Asda

This year the George schoolwear department has introduced a new and improved range of school clothing offering quality and styling at unbelievably good prices. School knitwear and sweatshirts are made of 100% Cotton for extra warmth and comfort. The school trousers feature secured hems, adjustable waistbands and Teflon finish important for growing and active children.

Prices start from £2 for girl’s tops and boy’s shirts and come with a 100 day quality guarantee on their school clothing. ASDA offers free delivery on schoolwear when ordering on their easy to use website with a minimum spend of £10 and delivery is within 2 to 3 working days.

More information on the Asda Back to School range

M&S Back to School

M&S

Marks and Spencer sell quality school uniforms and their outstanding value unisex pure cotton jumpers are priced from £2.00. You’ll pay a little bit more for school uniform clothes that include:

Adjustable waist for the perfect fit
Crease resistant – stays smart all day long
Permanent pleats stay neat and tidy to save you time
Stormwear™ – keeping dry whatever the weather
Stain Defence™ – the high performance finish that helps to repel stains

You get free standard UK delivery from 3rd June to 14th September when you order selected school items.

More information on the M&S Back to School range

Tesco Back to School

Tesco

Tesco one of the largest UK retailers is offering a back to school bundle for £12.

The package deal includes a coat from a selection of 4 styles, any 3 pack of shirts, trousers or dress or skirt from the F&F signature and Fashion Academy ranges. Girl’s individual jumpers are priced from £2 and boys shirts from £3.

Tesco are offering free delivery for a limited time only.

More information on the Tesco Back to School range

Sainsbury’s Back to School

Sainsburys

Sainsbury’s “Back Tu School” range has over 50 products and Sainsbury’s are selling 12 products in the range for just £2 each including polo shirts, jumpers, trousers and cardigans.

All clothes in the “Back Tu School” range are machine washable with features such as adjustable waists and longer length trousers for growing kids. Polo tops and shirts are 100% breathable cotton. Recently 86% of Netmums from the online parenting organisation who tested the uniform for a full term voted the polo shirt great value for money.

Back Tu School is now in over 429 Sainsbury’s stores nationwide and an entire school uniform can cost as little as just £4.33. Boys will love the cool styles, and girls the heart details on zips, belt buckles and scalloped edge trims for that extra special finish.

More information on the Sainsbury’s Back to School range

Clarks Shoes – Back to School

Clarks

Shoes can be the most expensive item on the school uniform list. Clarks are well known for their quality footwear, comprehensive and stylish school and sports shoes. Cost can be a little higher than budget ranges but the old adage you pay for what you get is never truer. With growing feet it really does pay to get good quality well fitted footwear.

Clarks are now stocking their new range of school shoes for boys and girls. Not surprisingly there is a large range of girl’s school shoes to choose from including the Daisy Jump, DaisyWatch, Daisy High, Daisy Wish, TrixiDaisy, Daisy Dust, Dolly Jazz and No Drama to name a few. Boy’s school shoes collection includes Jack Class, Deaton, Air Master and Gravel Mover.

Prices start from £26.00 and orders placed before 3pm on Fri or Sat will be delivered the following Mon. Orders placed before 3pm on Sunday will be delivered the following Tuesday. The charge for this service is £5.50 per order. There are no chargse for orders for delivery within 5 working days within the UK.

More information on the Clarks Back to School range

Labelling School Uniforms

Although many school clothes provide a label to write your child’s name, we all know from experience that we either forget to write it on or it fades quickly in the wash.

Simply Stuck provide a number of quality labelling solutions to help ensure your new purchases don’t go astray early in the new term.

Options include iron-on labels, woven labels, stickers and even shoe labels. The labels are easy to apply to the school uniform, are waterproof, and can be personalised to include your child’s name and their chosen picture motif.

Ordering is very easy via the Simply Stuck online shop and delivery is within 3 working days.

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