Saturday, January 19, 2013

Child's Play in the Kitchen

I don't know about you, but my kids love to help in the kitchen. I've tried from an early age to include them in many aspects of cooking and meal planning. I believe this will give them a life skill, and encourage a healthy lifestyle into adulthood. I also want my kids to try new foods all the time.

This was one my inspirations for my next little project. I'm taking my love of cooking and a child's natural love of learning and creating recipes to do in the classroom. My first "assignment" is for my son's kindergarten class. I want to keep it healthy and fun while simple enough for a 5 year old to do... With supervision. I chose Strawberry Shortcake. My mom always made strawberry shortcake with sweetened biscuits, so in my school-friendly version I'm using biscuits made with oatmeal and whole wheat flour with a little honey for sweetness. Instead of the whip cream, I'm using vanilla flavored Greek yogurt.

Now, the number of servings for this recipe is low considering it's for a classroom, but my plan is to keep the work groups to 4 or 5. This will also work perfectly for home use. In the classroom, multiple quantities accordingly.

Oatmeal Biscuits

1 cup oatmeal, ground in a food processor
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tbsp ground flax seeds
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup shortening, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup skim milk
1 tbsp honey

In a bowl, combine dry ingredients. Add shortening and mix (with hands if you want) until it looks like coarse crumbs. Mix in milk and honey.

Turn dough out onto the table and form a flat disk. Cut out biscuits using a biscuit cutter or hand form small circles. Place on a baking sheet. Bake at 375F for about 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack. Cool slightly.

For strawberry shortcake, split in half and top with sliced strawberries and vanilla Greek yogurt.

Yum