HOW TO BAKE W/KIDS AND ACTUALLY ENJOY IT!
1.Do not divide your attention. Now is not the time to make your own cookies. Do that when everyone is at school. Or asleep. Or somewhere not near you. Maybe the park? You decide.
2. choose ONLY one activity. In this case- either make the dough with them or do the rolling/shaping OR decorating with them.
3. No plastic table cloth. That’s right. Yes in theory it means you can roll everything up and throw it away, but also, they actually cause more mess. Oh, and there are islands in the ocean 3x the size of France made of plastic. So everyone wins.
4. Set yourself up for success. Have a station for each child set up with EXACTLY what they need BEFORE you begin (it’s that second when you turn your back that lightning strikes 😂)
5. Place a stack of towels on the table for the kids to grab easily and wipe their hands.
6. Give each child there own pile of dough or cookies to work with AND a tray or tin to put them in. Sharing ≠ caring here.
7. Feed the children a good meal before you start. Hangry children do not mix well with any hands on activity.
8. If your nervous about their clothes getting dirty, have them change so you do not have to be the clean police through your the whole process.
9. Have children wash their hands immediately before starting. And if you did, and then something came up and you started 5 minutes later, make them wash their hands again. Bc unwashed hands in the kitchen are shnastola.
10. Cultivate their imagination and creativity. Demonstrate one version of what you are doing. Then let it go. Let them make what they want, how they want with all the tools and ingredients you’ve set before them.
11. Set the mood. Turn up the music. Anything that’s happy, upbeat and fun!
12. Embrace the moment. Do not try to keep things nice and clean. Just be in the moment. Clean up once, at the end, when everyone is washing up.
13. HAVE FUN. if you’re going through all this effort to create an experience and make memories, make sure they׳re good ones. Because I’m pretty sure what they’ll remember most about all of this in years to come, is you. ...

HOT APPLE CIDER
Every year as the night grow longer, we sit around the table and cozy up to hit mug of something! This year apple cider is all the rage in my house and it took me a few weeks but I finally perfected it!
It’s the perfect balance of tar and sweet and has depth of flavor from the spices!!
Just please pay attention when I say *APPLE CIDER ≠ APPLE JUICE! Make sure you start with the real thing! As in freshly pressed apples turned into juice!
You can make it early in the day and keep it on a hot place or a very gentle simmer until your ready to serve!
#recipe
2 liters (8&1/2c) apple cider
4 cinnamon sticks
6 cardamom pods
15 peppercorns
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 bay leaf
1 green apple, peeled, finely diced
(bourbon if that’s your thing!)
Place cinnamon, cardamom and peppercorns in a pot over medium heat. Cook until fragrant, using spoon to move them around often so they don’t burn (about 2-3 min). Pour in cider and add bay leaf and sugar. Bring to a boil. Allow to boil for 5 min. Remove bay leaf, turn heat down to low. Cover pot and simmer for 45 min. At this point you can serve or keep warm on cerrry low heat until serving. Add 1 spoon of diced apple to each cup and pour the hot cider right in. Serve and enjoy! (If adding bourbon, pour 1 shot directly into each mug!)
#cider #applecider #fall #fallrecipes #recipes #easyrecipes #viralrecipes #thanksgiving #thanksgivingdinner #holidayrecipes #vegan #viralfood #foodreels ...

CHICKEN OR TURKEY AND STUFFING
The easy yet ridiculously delicious way to thanksgiving.
YOU ARE WELCOME.
#recipe
6 tbsp olive oil (divided)
4 bone in chicken breasts, halved, or 8 chicken thighs
1/3 + 1 cup dry white wine (divided)
2 tbsp any spice blend (I used TJs green goddess)
1 pkg facon, chopped
1 very large (or 2 medium) yellow onion, diced
1 large leek, diced
2 green apples, peeled + diced
3 large celery stalks, peeled, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp coarse black pepper
1 tbsp kosher salt
2 bags @tuscaninifoods chestnuts, halved
1 large country style loaf sourdough
2 cups chicken stock
Preheat oven to 350°f (180°c). Add 2 tbsp olive oil to a large pan. place chicken down. Pour 1/3 c white wine over chicken and sprinkle with spice blend.
In a pan, add chopped facon. Turn on heat, cook for 3-4 min stirring often. Remove facon bits from pan keeping fat in the pan and set aside. Add 1 tbsp olive oil to facon fat and onion, leek, green apple, celery, chopped garlic. sprinkle kosher salt and pepper. Stir. Roughly chop chestnuts, add to pan and stir often till just starting to brown. Pour in white wine. Reduce till there’s no more liquid. Meanwhile cut the very crusty parts off a large country style sourdough loaf and cut or tear into 3/4 inch cubes. Add bread, facon + all the veg to a large bowl.
Mix well. Add chicken stock. Stir, add in piles around chicken. Drizzle remaining oil over pan. Place parchment on top and then cover tightly with foil. Bake, covered for 1 hour then uncover and bake another 20 min. #thanksgiving #stuffing #turkey #dinnerideas #easyrecipes #familystyledinner #holidayrecipes ...

COUSCOUS REDO SALAD
I always make a grain to have on hand to serve first as a side dish, and then to redo with whatever protein I have leftover along with a bunch of freshly chopped veg and herbs that I always have in the fridge! They key is making the grain with chicken or turkey stock so that it even starts out with flavor and then cutting everything really small and/or thin so that when you mix it all up you get a little of everything on your fork for the PERFECT BITE every time!
#recipe
1, 350g package fine couscous
2 tbsp + 2 tvsp olive oil (divided)
2 cups boiling chicken or turkey stock
1 clove garlic minced
1 lemon, halved
Place couscous in a Pyrex or baking dish (preferably one with a lid if you want to store it right in the dish!). Add couscous and 2 tbsp oil. Rub oil onto couscous with hands so that every grain is coated to prevent sticking. Add boiling stock. Cover tightly with Saran wrap and a towel and set aside for 20 min. After 20 min, add garlic, lemon and remaining oil. Stir well to combine. You can store the couscous for up to 3 days like this.
For the salad:
Leftover grilled or roast chicken or turkey, VERY thinly sliced (I used 4 pieces of leftover onion soup mix chicken)
3 cups, loosely packed herbs, ANY that YOU love! (I want 1/2 cilantro, 1/2 parsley), finely chopped!
Any veg YOU LOVE, diced -
I used:
1 bell pepper
2 cucumbers, halved, thinly sliced
1 tomato, diced
1/2 purple onion, finely diced
(Think grated carrot, edamame, scallions, kohlrabi)
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp coarse black pepper
1 lemon, halved
Place all the veg, herbs and protein right over the couscous. Add salt, pepper and lemon. Mix to combine!
THATS IT!
Serve over a bed of lettuce or shredded cabbage (you can add a drizzle of lemon and olive oil to the leafy veg if you want!) add couscous salad on top, mix, taste to adjust salt to your liking, serve and enjoy!
*the couscous can only be stored for 3 days total. If you made the couscous Friday and added the veg shabbos you can keep the salad till Sunday (maybe Monday!)*
#leftovers #couscous #salad #chicken #turkey #turkeyleftovers #recipes #easyrecipes ...