5 Days of Culinary Adventures for Boys: Wild & Peculiar Cooking

Years ago we lived outside Memphis, TN. Downtown Memphis featured a restaurant where you could go pick out your own steak and cook it on a massive grill. Along this grill was every seasoning known to man. Men stood around this grill armed with turning forks...sprinkling this and dashing that.

I never got the attraction. I let The Muffin cook my steak. I went out to eat...not to cook.

I think it was the Call of the Grill. Cooking in the elements holds a fascination for many. I want to give you a few challenges and resources to help your young man find his inner Wilderness Survivor.

1. This site (which made me pucker up...and not in a good way) has all manner of Wilderness eating. Just in case you ever want to eat a bug they will tell you how. Boys will undoubtedly find this fascinating.

2.  And in case you want to eat your bugs first here is a site (with illustrations) on how to build all kinds of cooking fires. I think it would be a good printable.

3. I thought this was cute. Cooking eggs in a paperbag.

4. Here is a video of Easy Emergency Wilderness Survival Food. Just in case you leave your campfire at home.

5. Just in case you don't have time to drag the boys into the wilderness you can find wild edible plants in your backyard.  Of course, when you start foraging you need to be sure you know what you are foraging for. All God's creations are not harmless....even if they are pretty.

6. I mentioned yesterday that I enjoy watching Depression Cooking with Clara. She talks in the video above about making a dandelion salad.

7. Some of my favorite meals are Hobo Meals. You can make these over an open campfire, on top of a grill or in the oven. You can find my post for Hobo Meals here. Try these at home with your guys. They will be a hit!

A really yummy campfire dish are Campfire Banana Boats

I want to discuss Peculiar Foods just for a minute.  If your son is like mine any food that is not a pancake, mac & cheese or comes from a fast food restaurant is a Peculiar Food. I promise that I've exposed the child to new and different things since he was able (to be exposed). Sometimes we just have those picky eaters.

Nevertheless, strange food is somewhat a fascination. Here is a challenge.

The challenge is to take your son to a store like The Dollar Tree and have him choose items that he is unfamiliar with along with some familiar things and make a dish.

It's amazing what they will be willing to try if it is there own creation!

I thought briefly I would take him to the Asian Food Market (which we love)...but I thought the Dollar Tree would be more contained and a little easier for me to assist (which I didn't need to).

He took this challenge very seriously and finally settled on the ingredients below.

He wasn't familiar with the pickled vegetables or asparagus tips. He decided that he would make a pasta salad. I was pleasantly surprised. However, I think he came up with this choice because he had helped me make a pasta salad a few weeks ago. This stuff made sense to him. I was also surprised he didn't make a beeline towards the canned fish.

He wanted a tomato in his salad and because he likes ranch dressing on his lettuce salads he decided to use it as the dressing to his pasta salad. 

He was pretty proud of himself.

It was actually quite yummy.

And if your guy is into the real peculiar foods the series Bizarre Foods is a fun one to watch. There are plenty of episodes on Youtube. I've included just a snippet of this one on Strange Bugs in Madagascar. I think your guys will get a kick of it. Mine did.

I've hope that you've gotten some inspiration this week from this series.

I am participating in a bigger blog hop. Check out some of the blogs below or click on the banner for even more.

 Beth @ Acorn Hill Academy ~ Nature Study
Aurie @ Our Good Life ~ Photography Tips and Tricks
Dinah @ The Traveling Classroom ~  Tips for Learning a Second Language
Julie @ Nurturing Learning ~ Art Resources
Tara @ This Sweet Life ~ Preparing for a New School Year
Sara @ Embracing Destiny ~ Purposeful Living
Beth @ Ozark Ramblings ~  Photoshop Elements for Homeschool
Hillary @ Our Homeschool Studio ~ Fitting in the Extras

5 Days of Culinary Adventures for Boys: It's a Garden Out There!

Josiah was 7 in this picture. He and Papa (my Dad) are planting a garden in our backyard. How they grow (the gardens and the boys!)

Do your boys (or kids for that matter) balk at green veggies?

Do they know the difference between a zucchini and a cucumber? 

I think we need to get back in our gardens…or at least become friendlier with the produce section in our grocery stories. 

When I was a little girl part of my responsibility as a member of my family was to work in the garden. Trust me, I wasn’t in love with garden work. Even after I became an adult and my husband and I planted a garden on our own I dreaded it. Okay. So maybe dread is too harsh. Let’s just say it wasn’t my favorite. 

I didn't quite understand the life skills I was learning when I was young. To become self-supporting, substainable, organic...those are goals many of us have nowadays. It's ironic that this is exactly how many of our relatives lived in days gone by. It's time we get back to some of that. Today we live in an apartment. And while I am thankful I have my Dad’s garden I can enjoy, I miss having at least the option to sow a little seed. 

You might be fortunate to have a green thumb or have a child (or children) who was born with a green thumb. My son loves working outside. To work on my parents’ farm is one of his favorite boyhood experiences. I hope it continues as he grows.

 In any event, I am doing my best to show him what cool and yummy things we can do with a bountiful harvest. Even if it comes from the grocery store.  

Before we get to the Challenge Recipe Josiah chose to make for today (Spaghetti!), I want to give you a few ideas for incorporating a garden into your life (even if you don’t have the dirt). 

Plant Me a Bean (or something) 

Let’s talk about growing something. Anything. Maybe you are already a seasoned gardener. Or maybe you need gardening wisdom. I don’t have any advice for you. Research. Study. Ask somebody with a green thumb. In the meantime, I am giving you some easy challenges to introduce the idea of “farm to table” to your boys.   

1.      Play this fun interactive game from Nourish.com

2.      This page is also a great interactive way to find out more about veggies. Are there any that you weren’t familiar with? I had no idea that a turnip is also called a swede. 

3.      If you have the space, I urge you to let your kids plant a small garden. This video gives easy, step-by-step advice for planting a successful kid’s garden. 

4.      Take a trip to a nursery or garden center. The best ones are run the family run kind. Those people know their gardening.

5.      If you are short on space (like me) you can always plant a container garden. Even a few pots in a window sill will produce something. This year, Josiah and I are going to plant a few herbs in pots for our balcony.

This picture is from an activity I did for a review last year. The kids (Josiah and his cousins) had to identify the herb by its smell. Josiah was surprisingly astute. I say "surprisingly" because I didn't think he had been paying attention during our little cooking lessons. He proved me wrong!

I have created a Pinterest Board dedicated to gardening with the young ones. There are so many great ideas. 

Preserving

Years and years ago, this was the only method to keep a family fed through the lean winter months. It is becoming more in fashion again. In my family it never got out of fashion. I used to despair that we didn’t have any ‘tin can’ green beans in our pantry growing up. Now I hoard the canned green beans I get from my parents like they are chocolate. Persevering food is science, really. Here are some challenges to try with your guys (and gals). 

1.      Now who doesn’t like a piece of toast slathered with homemade jelly, jam or apple butter. Canning jam is not actually as hard as you might think. There are plenty of things to think about. Food safety, etc. This is a video for making Strawberry Jam. She does a great job of explaining the whole thing. 

Plus, this is a recipe for a small batch. Perfect for a guy to help mom whip up. 

2.      So this is not something you are going to find in your garden. But how cool would it be to make your own jerky. Oh, yes! This recipe does it without a dehydrator!

3.      My son loves pickles. One of the things on our “to make” list this summer are refrigerator pickles. This recipe does it just right. No fancy canning equipment required!

4.   I put this next video in because it is precious. There are a whole series of these. It is called Depression Cooking. I believe the sweet host has passed away. They are worth watching. In this one she cooks peppers and eggs. You have to watch it.

Recipe Challenge!

My challenge today is to make something that contains 3 things that one would find in a garden. As tempting as it might seem, I suggest staying away from any wiggly pests. 

My first idea was to take Josiah to the grocery store and let him pick out 3 things from the produce department to use in a dish. Some kids would go the exotic route and chose things that are unfamiliar and strange. Most won’t. At least mine won’t. He likes predictability. 

One of Josiah’s favorite meals is Spaghetti. And would you know that my spaghetti recipe has not one, not two, but 5 ingredients found in a garden. In fact, if we were to count the herbs it would be more than that! Not only that but you can make it in the crockpot. It's a good recipe for busy days. 

I am including the recipe below. Here are a few tips.

This recipe has celery, garlic, onions and carrots. Josiah used the food processor. The veggies cook down in the sauce and the food processor gets them nice and small. 

I used canned tomatoes...a whole lot. In the summer, when tomatoes are in high supply, I use whatever I have. My parents can tomatoes, but by this time of year (Spring) we have gone through them. They are my PRECIOUS. Josiah could open a can before he could read. We have our priorities straight around here.

Josiah "chunked" up the whole tomatoes with his hands. Don't worry. He had clean hands. This method will leave the spaghetti sauce a bit more chunky. I actually prefer a smoother sauce so I will give the whole tomatoes a whirl in the food processor.

Crockpot cooking is just plain handy for homeschoolers. We made 2 batches of this spaghetti sauce. And we made it after supper and let it cook all night. We were going to have an early morning so I made sure we had a plan (and supper). Don't get too excited. I am seldom so practical.

You can download the recipe below. Stay tuned for our final day of Culinary Adventures for Boys. We will be talking Wild and Peculiar Food.

Garden Fresh Spaghetti Sauce

 Beth @ Acorn Hill Academy ~ Nature Study
Aurie @ Our Good Life ~ Photography Tips and Tricks
Dinah @ The Traveling Classroom ~  Tips for Learning a Second Language
Julie @ Nurturing Learning ~ Art Resources
Tara @ This Sweet Life ~ Preparing for a New School Year
Sara @ Embracing Destiny ~ Purposeful Living
Beth @ Ozark Ramblings ~  Photoshop Elements for Homeschool
Hillary @ Our Homeschool Studio ~ Fitting in the Extras

You can find even more by clicking on the banner below.

5 Days of Culinary Adventures for Boys: Unlocking the Mystery of a Recipe

I don’t wander too far into stereotype land, but men are notorious for ignoring an instruction manual.  This starts when they are boys. 

However, I’ve noticed something. My son can watch a tutorial on youtube for hours on how to beat the bad guy in his “favorite game of the moment.”  Forget reading the directions when he’s ready to sit down with his English homework. 

Reading recipes have been much the same. Why should I care so much about how much baking soda goes in those cookies? One of these days I’m going to let the chocolate chips fall where they may. 

Just not today. 

So how do we go about reading a recipe?

I am going to do it step-by-step and give you a handy printable (or two) at the end. 

Today we are making a Cookie Monster Pie (also known as a Tollhouse Pie with a twist). I’ve found that baking is great for teaching basic cooking skills. For one, baking is like chemistry. It might not turn out if you don’t pay attention. 

Here is the recipe:

Cookie Monster Pie

Serves: 8

    2 unbaked 8-inch pie shells

    2 large eggs

    1/2 cup flour

    1/2 cup granulated sugar

    1/2 cup packed brown sugar

    3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened

    1 cup (6 oz.) Semi-Sweet Chocolate chips

    1 cup M&M’s

Directions:

PREHEAT oven to 325° F.

BEAT eggs in large mixer bowl on high speed until foamy. Beat in flour, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat in butter. Stir in morsels and nuts. Spoon into pie shell.

BAKE for 55 to 60 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between edge and center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Serve warm with whipped cream, if desired.

* If using frozen pie shell thawed completely. 

The first thing we do is make sure to read the recipe all the way through. Do I have all the ingredients? Do I understand what the recipe is asking me to do? Will it make enough?  And do I have enough time to complete the recipe?

You will notice that initially Josiah got out the pressure cooker instead of the mixing bowl. Oops.

Recipe title: Cookie Monster Pie. This obviously tells me what I am making. I could have called it the Tollhouse Pie or a Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie. No matter what I call it I know that I am making a pie that will taste like a cookie.

Servings: This number will tell you how many the recipe will make. For example, this recipe serves 8. Which tells me it will make 8 pieces of pie. Oops! Josiah is making the pie for his dad’s friends at work. There are 10 of them. We decided we need to make 2 pies. That means we will need double the ingredients. 

Here are what we need for the ingredients:

    2 unbaked 8-inch pie shells

    2 large eggs

    1/2 cup flour

    1/2 cup granulated sugar

    1/2 cup packed brown sugar

    3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened

    1 cup (6 oz.) Semi-Sweet Chocolate chips

    1 cup M&M’s

Not every recipe will tell you everything you need to know. This is a well written recipe, but it doesn’t necessarily tell me what some of the terms mean. For example, what does granulated mean? How about packed brown sugar? And how soft does the butter really need to be?

When you are teaching kids to read a recipe there will be things you might know and take for granted. How about recipes that talk about teaspoons? We have to teach them the difference between measuring spoons and our cereal spoons.  Also, some recipes might abbreviate measurement terms. C for cup. T. for tablespoon and so on. 

Directions:  These are step-by-step instructions. We can’t forget any of them. It could be a disaster! 

PREHEAT oven to 325° F.

BEAT eggs in large mixer bowl. Beat in flour, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat in butter. Stir in chocolate chips and M&M’s. Spoon into pie shell.

 

BAKE for 55 to 60 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between edge and center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

The directions also tells us how hot the oven has to be. 325. We talk about “preheating.” The time tells us how long we have to cook it in the oven and what to look for when it’s done. I also teach Josiah to check any kind of baking early. Our oven gets hot. And the timer is our friend.

 Another thing to look for in a recipe are all the describing words. For instance we can see that it calls for granulated sugar. Which is, of course, regular white sugar. The brown sugar needs to be packed.This simply means to get as much brown sugar in the measuring cup you can by pressing it down.

You can print out this recipe below. Just be sure to save me a piece.

 

Cookie Monster Pie

I've created some boy-themed recipe printables for the dudes.

Click on the pictures. The links will take you where you need to go to download anything you would like to print off.

This is the western-themed set for all of the cowboys in your life.

Here is a set just for the Little Chef.

This set is perfect for the Dude who might think a Little Chef is too babyish. We have to keep our men happy.  It's has a grungy look.

Tomorrow I will be talking Growing and Preserving Food. Good Stuff.

Please check out these wonderful blogs!

 Beth @ Acorn Hill Academy ~ Nature Study
Aurie @ Our Good Life ~ Photography Tips and Tricks
Dinah @ The Traveling Classroom ~  Tips for Learning a Second Language
Julie @ Nurturing Learning ~ Art Resources
Tara @ This Sweet Life ~ Preparing for a New School Year
Sara @ Embracing Destiny ~ Purposeful Living
Beth @ Ozark Ramblings ~  Photoshop Elements for Homeschool
Hillary @ Our Homeschool Studio ~ Fitting in the Extras

You can find even more by clicking on the banner below.