Pre-K Fun Alphabet Cooking

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Cool Whip Finger Painting 

Let children fingerpaint with Cool Whip. 
Sprinkle on Nestle’s Quick for them to mix together.

Chocolate Sundae

2 scoops Vanilla Ice cream
2 Tbsp. Chocolate Sryup
2 tsp. chopped nuts (optional)
whipped cream
Maraschino cherry

Scoop ice cream into a dish, pour over chocolate syrup. Add nuts and whipped cream.

Cinnamon Apple Smoothie

1 cup milk
1 cup vanilla yogurt
1 small apple
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
handful of ice cubes

Wash and peel apple. Cut up into cubes and take out the
 seeds. Add ingredients and blend for one minute.

Caramel Apple Milkshakes

3 cups frozen vanilla yogurt
3/4 cup 1% low-fat milk
1/2 cup applesauce
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup caramel topping

Place the yogurt, milk, cinnamon, and topping in a blender. Cover
 and blend until smooth. Pour into 4 glasses. Serve immediately.

Chicken Nuggets Pizza Style

1 package of frozen Chicken Nuggets
1-14 ounce jar of Pizza Sauce
1-8 ounce package of shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Bake frozen Chicken Nuggets as directed on the box or package in a shallow
 baking dish. When the chicken nuggets are cooked through and lightly crispy,
 remove them from the oven and completely cover all of the chicken nuggets
 with the pizza sauce. Generously top the chicken nuggets and pizza sauce with
 the shredded mozzarella cheese. Return your pan to the oven and bake at 400 degrees
 until the cheese melts. Remove the chicken nuggets from the oven and
 place a serving size on each plate using a spatula. Serve with French fries.

Cheddar Scrambler

4 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
2 slices crisp-fried bacon, crumbled
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons butter

Break eggs into small bowl. Beat with fork until foamy. Add milk, cheese, bacon
 and salt and pepper; mix well. Melt butter in skillet over medium heat. Add
 egg mixture gradually. Cook until eggs are set, stirring frequently with fork.

Crustless Cheese Pizza

1 egg
3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper (to taste)
1 cup milk
1 cup shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly spray an 8 inch pie pan with nonstick cooking
 spray. In a small bowl , beat together the egg, flour, salt, pepper and 1/2 cup milk
 until smooth. Beat in remaining milk and 1/2 cup of cheese, then pour into
 prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes, then sprinkle remaining cheese over the top
 of the pizza and bake just until the cheese melts - about two minutes.

Easy Chicken Pie

3 cups cooked, diced chicken
1 ( 10 oz. ) pkg. frozen mixed vegetables
1 ( 10 3/4 oz. ) can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 c. chicken broth
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 c. Bisquick
3/4 c. milk
1/4 c. margarine, melted

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In 2 quart shallow baking dish, spread
 chicken and vegetables. Stir together soup, broth, and pepper in a
 small mixing bowl. Pour over chicken mixture. Combine Bisquick, milk
 and butter in separate bowl; stir until smooth. Pour this mixture over other
 ingredients in baking dish. Bake for 45 -50 minutes or until golden brown. Serves 4 - 6.

Stuffed Cucumbers

Cucumber
Cream cheese or Cheddar cheese

Scrape cucumber. Cut in half and hollow out center. Stuff with cream cheese or soft
 yellow cheese, such as Cheddar spread or Cheez Whiz, then chill. Cut in thick slices.

Cowboy Cookies

1 1/2 C. margarine
1 1/2 C. sugar
1 1/2 C. brown sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 C. flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1 C. chopped nuts
3 C. quick cooking rolled oats
1 C. chocolate chips

In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer, beat together margarine,
 sugars, eggs, and vanilla. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt,
 and nuts; mix well. Add oats and chocolate chips.
Chill dough in refrigerator for several hours. Roll dough into 1 inch balls.
Flatten with palm of hand and put on ungreased cookie sheets.
 Baked in a preheated 350 degree oven for 8 to 10 minutes.

Cheese Robots

At snack time cut cheese into different sized chunks. Then provide the children with
 pretzel sticks and let them put the chunks together to create "cheese robots."

Chili Dog Pizza

2 C. Bisquick
1/2 C. cold water
1 (7 1/2 oz.) canned chili
5 hot dogs sliced thin
1 C. cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix together Bisquick mix and water.
 Stir until a soft ball forms. Roll or pat dough into a 12 inch circle on an
 ungreased cookie sheet. Pinch the edge of the circle to help form a crust.
Spread chili over crust, and then add cheese, and hot dog slices.
 Bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes.

Chili Cheese Dip

1 can chili without beans
1 small can chopped green chilies
1 large jar cheese sauce (ie Cheeze Whiz or store brand-
NOT CHEESE SOUP OR CANNED CHEESE SAUCE)

Put all into a small microwavable bowl. Heat on 80% power for about 3
minutes or until thoroughly heated. Stir well to blend. Serve with tortilla
chips either as a dip or poured over chips in a bowl.

Chili Dog Casserole

2 (15 ounce) cans chili with beans
1 (16 ounce) package hot dogs
10 corn or flour tortillas
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Spoon one can of chili into 13 x 9-inch baking dish. Roll hot dogs up in tortillas.
 Place in baking dish seam side down. Top with remaining chili, then sprinkle the
 cheese over the top. Cover the pan with foil (without the foil touching
 the cheese) and bake at 425 degrees F for 30 minutes.

Cheese Tuna Melt

6 slices French bread or as desired
1 (6 1/2 oz.) can tuna, drained
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 tbsp. mayonnaise
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 c. shredded American cheese

Brown both sides lightly in broiler and remove. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
 Combine. Combine all ingredients except American cheese. Divide evenly on each slice
 of bread. Top with American cheese and bake 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Cheese Tortilla

tortilla
lettuce
cream cheese
shredded cheese
tomato
butter
pan
taco sauce
toothpick

Take a tortilla, spread with cream cheese, then sprinkle some shredded cheese
 on top. Chop the tomato and lettuce and sprinkle on. Spoon on some taco sauce, roll up
 and secure with a toothpick. Put it in the oven or microwave until cheese melts. Cut and serve!

Children's Cannoli

One 15 ounce container part skim ricotta cheese
2/3 cup of confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon of grated orange peel
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 tablespoons of miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips
10 sugar ice cream cones

In a large bowl with electric mixer at low, beat ricotta cheese, sugar, orange
 peel, and vanilla just until smooth. Stir in chocolate chips. Cover and refrigerate
 30 minutes. To serve: Spoon mixture directly into ice cream cones.

Chocolate Frosted Marshmallow Cookies

1/2 cup butter
2 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate
1 egg
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup milk
1 (16 ounce) package large marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F(180 degrees C). Lightly grease
cookie sheets or line with parchment paper. Melt butter and
chocolate in small heavy saucepan over low heat; stir to blend.
Remove from heat; cool. Beat egg, brown sugar, vanilla and
baking soda in large bowl until light and fluffy. Blend in
chocolate mixture and flour until smooth. Slowly beat in milk
to make light, cake-batter-like dough. Drop dough by
teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto prepared cookie sheets.
Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until firm in center. Cut
marshmallows in half. Immediately place halved marshmallow,
cut side down, onto each baked cookie. Return to oven 1
minute or just until marshmallow is warm enough to stick to
cookie. Remove to wire racks to cool. Frost with Fudge Frosting (below).

Fudge Frosting

1 1/2 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 egg white
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt chocolate and butter in small heavy saucepan over
low heat; stir to blend. Beat in powdered sugar. Beat in
egg white and vanilla, adding a little water, if necessary,
to make smooth, slightly soft frosting.

Chocolate Chip Pancakes

2 cups of Complete Pancake mix
½ cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
Vegetable oil
Butter, pancake syrup or whipped topping

Prepare pancake mix as directed on the box. Prepare a skillet with a thin layer of
 vegetable oil and place over medium-low heat. Add prepared pancake mix into
 the skillet for individual pancakes, as you would normally do, except top each
 pancake with a few chocolate chips scattered across the top. Add another layer
 of pancake mix on top of the chocolate chips. When the pancakes appear to be
 browning on the bottom side, gently flip the pancakes over and brown on the other
 side. Pancake mix will appear to have bubble holes all across
 the top when they are ready to flip over. Remove the pancakes from the
 skillet when they are ready and serve with butter, syrup or whipped topping.

Chocolate-Covered Pretzels

Pretzel rings
Wax paper
1 (16 ounce) bag semisweet chocolate chips

An adult should help with this project. Melt the chocolate chips in the bowl,
 stopping every 15 seconds to stir the chocolate. Dip each pretzel, one at a
 time, into the melted chocolate, using a fork to hold each pretzel. Lay the
 pretzels on wax paper and let cool. You can also drizzle your finished
 pretzels with white chocolate to make zebra stripes. You can also
 dip strawberries, graham crackers, Gumi bears and marshmallows.

Caramel Popcorn

8 large or 80 small marshmallows
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup uncooked popcorn, popped

Melt butter and brown sugar in the microwave on HIGH. Add marshmallows
 and cook on HIGH until melted together, stirring after each minute. Cool
 only until just melted for sticky popcorn; cool approximately 3 minutes
 for crunchy. Pour over popcorn and mix well.

Variations
Chocolate: Use 1/2 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa instead of brown sugar.

Cinnamon: Use a 12 ounce bag of red hots and 4 tablespoons
 cornstarch. Do not use any other ingredients. Cook as above.

Cinnamon Sticks

1 (11 ounce) can refrigerated soft breadsticks
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Unroll dough; separate into strips. Cut strips in half crosswise.
Bake dough according to package directions. Combine butter
and honey; brush on breadsticks while still warm. Combine sugar
and cinnamon in a zip-top plastic bag; add 3 breadsticks, and
shake vigorously to coat. Repeat procedure with remaining breadsticks; serve immediately.
Yields 16 Cinnamon Sticks. For smaller Cinnamon Sticks, cut strips crosswise into 3 pieces.

Critter Crunch

1/4 cup butter or margarine
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups Crispix
1 1/2 cups Cheerios
1 1/2 cups animal crackers
1 1/2 cups bear-shaped honey graham snacks
1 cup bite-size Shredded Wheat
1 cup miniature pretzels

In a saucepan or microwave-safe bowl, heat butter, brown sugar and
 cinnamon until butter is melted; mix well. In a large bowl, combine
 the remaining ingredients. Add butter mixture and toss to coat.
 Place in a greased 15 x 10-inch baking pan. Bake, uncovered, at 300 degrees F for 30
 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Store in an airtight container. Yields about 8 cups.

Graphics by AMR ORIGINALS