fun! ok, i am attempting to recreate a recipe here for you, which is not technically a "recipe" as my mother just made it up one night and i don't think it's ever really been written down. there are no measurements, either--everything is just however much will fill the rolls, but it was my and my brother's fave when we were kids. we even gave it its incredibly sophisticated name:
Hot Hats
one tube (Pillsbury, whatever) ready-to-bake rolls, ground meat, browned in one packet of "taco seasoning" mix, shredded cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, zucchini or any vegetables you think would be good.
flatten the rolls out so that they get a little larger and are big flat circles. place all of the fillings you want in the center and then gather the rolls up around the sides and pinch together at the top to make them into "hats." make sure there aren't any holes in the dough or the fillings will leak out.
bake according to the directions on the tube for the rolls.
kids love to be involved with making these and they're super easy! it will keep them busy for a little while also, and will trick them into eating vegetables.
I'm not sure if oyster sauce is too exotic for the kids, but my BF's mom made up this recipe when BF and his younger bro were still young. They used to gobble it up like insane (well...my BF still does). MY BF later taught me how to make it and now he says I do it better than he (or his mom) ever did. There aren't really any exact measurements to this but here goes with my attempts at recreation...if your kids like takeout chinese, then they'll probably like this.
8-10 oz of pasta (I've used macaroni, small shells, rotelle, farfalle. Anything similar works just as well)
1 package ground beef or turkey (should be anywhere from 10-16 oz)
1 11 oz can whole kernel corn
5 oz oyster sauce (basically 1/2 of a 10 oz bottle, which you can find at the Asian section of most supermarkets or at Asian food places...I'd recommend Lee Kum Kee brand if you can find it, it's the least offensive and most common brand in US supermarkets)
garlic powder, to taste
Directions
Cook the pasta and drain. Set aside.
Drain the can of whole kernel corn if there's any liquid in there. Set aside
In a frying pan, heat oil and cook the ground beef seasoned with garlic powder until it's brown.
Then add the drained pasta and the drained corn.
Add oyster sauce on top of all of this.
Combine and cook until mixture has been coated in oyster sauce and the corn is warm.
my favorite thing to make for breakfast with children is bird nests. those are the toasts with the egg in the middle of the bread. you basically cut out a hole in a slice of bread and then drop an egg in it. since it's holiday time, you can use a festive cookie cutter to cut a shape... like a snowman or a star or tree.
we are in a hotel right now outside of NYC and I could go for some individual pizzas --- yummy! I think we are going to order pizza, drink champagne and watch a movie.
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