Cooking with Kids: Broccoli Cheese Quiche

My four year old son loves cooking in the kitchen with me. He loves measuring, stirring, and can crack an egg better than some adults. Last Christmas I bought him the book Salad People by Mollie Katzen and it has turned out to be one of the most used gifts I have given him. The most used recipe is the broccoli cheese quiche. It is ultra simple, yummy, and nutritious. A great beginner recipe for a chef in training. In fact, he made it for dinner last night. I think it turned out beautiful. We even have left overs for tonight.

Broccoli Cheese Quiche 

• 1 1/2 cups chopped broccoli (we use organic frozen broccoli slightly thawed in micorwave)
• 1 cup grated Swiss cheese
• 1 unbaked 9 inch pie shell (store bought is fine)
• 4 large eggs
• 2/3 cups milk
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 scallions, trimmed and finely minced
• 4 shakes paprika

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Steam fresh broccoli until just tender or thaw frozen broccoli in microwave for 1 minute. Sprinkle cheese into the crust, then spread broccoli evenly over cheese. In a large bowl, whisk eggs until smooth. Add milk, salt, and scallions. Whisk until blended and poor over broccoli and cheese. Dust the top with paprika and bake in center of oven for 40 minutes or until solid in the center. Cool on rack and serve warm or at room temperature. 

Serves 4-6.

Adapted from Salad People And More Real Recipes by Mollie Katzen

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                                                                Salad People

Epic Homemade Halloween Costumes

I have never liked buying costumes for the kids. It just seems part of the taking on a whole new persona for an evening of fun and candy collecting is to really make it your own. Sometimes the costume making is very last minute, like the time my oldest son decided to be Steve from Minecraft. It took some time measuring out the pixel squares and painting them, but his costume looked awesome! It was a bit cumbersome to wear and since this was before Minecraft had become really popular he only had one person know who he was. Steve hangs in my garage to this day.

We get a lot of our materials for homemade costumes from things lying around the house, recycled cardboard, and thrift stores. Although some costumes have taken a lot of time, most take little time and cost very little to make.

Every year we try to top the costume worn the year before, but sometimes this can be difficult. Like this epic Spartan costume that won my son first place in the school costume contest, uhm, wow, five years ago. It involved lots of foil, black fabric, and cardboard. The helmet is actually crafted around a hard hat and was quite heavy. His shield is actually a plastic trash can lid covered in foil with the Spartan upside down V added to it. The photo isn't the greatest, but it was an awesome costume. The helmet sits on a shelf in the garage if anyone wants to borrow it!

Then there was the headless costume that gave his little brother a scare. It got a lot of attention around the neighborhood as the kids went trick or treating. It's actually an easy costume to make. We got the instructions from a book but there are several tutorials around the web. The pants actually come up under his arms. 

The little one's first homemade costume was a cow. He was going through a phase of mooing everywhere. I just took brown jersey pants and a matching brown hoodie and painted spots on them. I cut hooves out of black foam and twisted little paper horns covered in masking tape. Then I crafted a tail out of wire. Some people confused him for a puppy, but that's ok. He was so stinkin' cute either way. 

Last year little one was Puss In Boots. This costume came together after he started wearing my western boots around the house, clunking everywhere because they were way too big. About this same time he watched the movie Puss In Boots. It was also fairly easy to put together. Black fabric for the cape, a store bought hat with a large feather. orange pullover, and some make up. He had a blast walking the neighborhood in this costume and nearly everyone got it. 

This year the little one wants to go as Dr. Who. Should be pretty easy to do though I wonder how many people in our neighborhood will get it. I told him I was going as River Song. She is one of my favorite Dr. Who characters because she kicks butt. Nothing scares her. Little one wants me to go as the Tardis. Who knows. There is still time.