3 Kid Friendly Thanksgiving Recipes

My children like to help me cook. I don't always appreciate my kids cooking help but I'm making an effort this fall to include them more in preparing our meals. So I plan to let my kids help me prepare these kid friendly recipes (Tater Tot or Hashbrown Casserole, Carrot Casserole and Apple Pie) for our Thanksgiving dinner.


Tater Tot or Hashbrown Casserole

• 2 lb. box of hashbrowns or equivalent bag of tater tots
• 3/4 cup melted margarine, divided
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 12 oz. sour cream
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 cups crushed cornflakes

Have your child place defrosted tater tots or hashbrowns in a 9"x 13" pan. Let child measure margarine and melt in microwave. Then pour 1/2 cup margarine over tater tots/hashbrowns. In separate bowl, let your child stir together remaining ingredients, except for margarine and cornflakes. Place cornflakes in a sealed ZipLoc bag and let your child crush them. Pour soup mixture over hashbrowns. Allow your child to top with cornflakes and margarine.

Bake at 350* for 45 minutes.


Carrot Casserole

• 2 lb of baby carrots (or peeled & chopped carrots)
• 3 oz cream cheese
• 1/2 can french fried onions
• 1/4 lb butter (1 stick or 1/2 a cup)
• 1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• dried parsley flakes

Let your child rinse the carrots and place in a pot of water. Boil until soft enough to mash. Strain carrots and place in large bowl. Add cream cheese and butter to the carrots and let your child mash carrots into bite-sized pieces. Now stir in remaining ingredients except parsley flakes. Place in a 2 quart casserole dish and sprinkle top with parsley flakes.

Bake at 350* for 25 minutes.


Apple Crumb Pie

• 1 or 2 (9 inch) pie shell
• 6 cups thinly sliced apples
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 Tbsp. butter (or margarine)

Kids can use an apple peeler/corer/slicer to prepare apples. Let children practice measuring and stirring this kid friendly recipe.

Preheat oven to 375*. Place sliced apples in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine white sugar, 2 Tbsp. flour, and cinnamon. Sprinkle over apples. Toss until apples are evenly coated. Spoon mixture into pie shell.

In small bowl combine 1/2 cup flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter or margarine until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle mixture over apple filling.

Choice: At this point you can cover top loosely with aluminum foil and bake in oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 25-30 minutes, until top is golden brown. This will give you a crumb topping, almost like an apple crisp.

I prefer to put another pie crust on top of the crumb topping. I just gives it an extra yumminess (and calories, but we won't speak of that.) If using the pie crust, cut 4 slits in the center. Then cover edges with aluminum foil or pie shield to keep the edges from burning. Bake according to above instructions.

How do you include your children in holiday meal preparations?

Be sure to like Stephanie's Mommy Brain on Facebook where I'm sharing more Thanksgiving tips and links throughout November.

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