Cooking with Kids: Meatloaf Muffins and Cheesy Fries

My mother cooked ALL the time and she taught me to cook. I would be in the kitchen with her and ask questions. She would explain why she was doing certain things and would share little tricks with me. I sometimes still call her for advice or with questions and I am thankful that she gave me such a useful life skill.

As a mom now, I want my kids to learn and enjoy cooking too. I have always tried to keep them involved in the fun stuff like cookie and cupcake making, but with my step-daughter now being 11 and with her showing an interest in learning more, I decided to add a night to our monthly menu in which she is in charge of planning and helping with the preparation.

This month is courtesy of  Rachel Ray and her 30-Minute Meals for Kids. If you want to get your kids involved in the kitchen, Rachel Ray's books and website are a wonderful resource. For someone who only has fur-kids, she is very into getting kids involved in the kitchen and the kids like her and her enthusiasm. My dear tween girl chose meatloaf and cheese fries:

Entree: Meatloaf Muffins with Barbecue Sauce
1 1/2 pounds ground beef (we used 93% lean)
1 small yellow onion cut into quarters
1 small green pepper
A splash of milk
1 large egg beaten
1 cup plain bread crumbs (we used whole wheat)
2 tablespoons grill seasoning (we used Canadian steak seasoning)
1 cup smoky BBQ sauce (Sweet Baby Ray's )
1/2 cup tomato salsa
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Preheat oven to 450 degrees and brush a 6-muffin tin with Olive Oil. (We did not have a 6 muffin tin so we used a regular 12-muffin tin and just made smaller portions)

The ground beef goes in a bowl. The onions and bell pepper went into the food processor until they were finally chopped. This was added to the meat. The splash of milk was whisked into the beaten egg and also added to the meat. Finally, we added the bread crumbs and grill seasoning.

The sauce consisted of the BBQ sauce, salsa
and Worcestershire. Half the sauce is added to the bowl and the other half set aside. Then came my step-daughter's favorite part: mixing it by hand. Then she filled the muffin tin with the mixture and each "muffin" was topped with a spoonful of reserved sauce. Rachel's recipe says to bake about 15 minutes but we checked them at that time and had to put them in for another 4 minutes before they were done. The flavor was great and the meat was very juicy!
Side: Cheese Fries
1 sack frozen French fries prepared to package direction
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar
1/4 cup ketchup (about 3 squirts)

(A funny story about the French fries. The only frozen potatoes we keep on hand are sweet potato fries and tater tots. Interestingly, we had eaten out Friday night at a local burger joint and come home with a good amount of leftover fries. So, we reused those fries and added tater tots!)

So basically the recipe calls for making a roux which in this case is comprised of the butter melted in a sauce pan over medium heat and cooked with the flour. Both kids enjoyed whisking that together. Then, the little guy got to add the milk while daughter added it. I helped her determine when it had thickened enough to add the cheese. Both kids got to add the cheese and my little guy was very excited about squirting in the ketchup. The sauce was very creamy and had a yummy flavor...we also had a ton left over, so tonight it's being used to make macaroni and cheese!

The kids cooking night was a huge hit and she's already chosen the recipes for next month. Not only is the learning component there but so is the opportunity to try new things. I am hoping the 3 year-old is encouraged to expand his palate as we get him more involved too.