KitchenKlutz

To help your Preschooler or young student get excited for school, this is a fun food activity for them to make!!

Graham Cracker School Bus

Ingredients:

• Rectangle Graham Cracker
• White icing with yellow food coloring*
• Chex cereal
• mini Oreos

Directions:
1. Carefully spread the icing that has been colored with yellow food coloring onto the rectangle graham cracker with a plastic knife. I’ve found that having the child use a plastic knife helps them not break the graham cracker as easily.
2. Place four cereal pieces as bus “windows” on the upper portion of the graham cracker.
3. Twist the mini Oreos and place as the bus “wheels.” This is a great fine motor skill to work with your preschooler on!

*If you are worried about the sugar content, you can also substitute the icing for cream cheese and tint it with yellow food coloring.

Since I started making recipes with strawberries and fresh basil, I’ve been on the hunt for more recipes to use these two delicious ingredients together! Once again, I found yet another recipe on Pinterest for Strawberry Basil Muffins and they are amazing!! The recipe is from somethingswanky.com and I’ll definitely be checking out more of her recipes!

Strawberry Basil Muffins

Ingredients:

• 3/4 Cup + 2 Tbsp milk
• 1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil
• 1 Large Egg
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 2 Cups Flour
• 2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 Cup Chopped Strawberries
• 1 Tbsp Chopped Fresh Basil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.

2. Whisk together the milk, vegetable oil, egg, sugar and vanilla.

3. Use a spatula or wooden spoon to mix in the flour, baking powder and salt just until the batter is formed.  Fold in the strawberries and basil. Batter will be thick and lumpy so do not over mix the batter.

4. Using a 12 cup muffin tin, either grease and flour or put muffin papers in to help the muffins come out more easily.

5. Divide the batter in the muffin tins.

6.  Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown on top and toothpick inserted into the muffin comes out clean.

7.  Cool and enjoy!

Look how amazing the inside looks when split open!!

To go with the Strawberry Lime Moscato Punch for Girl’s Night, I found this recipe over at CookinCanuck.com and it is amazing!!!!  (Links will be added later-having issues. argh) This will be a recipe we will make many more times!

Strawberry, Brie Cheese, Honey & Basil Crostini

Ingredients:

• French Baguette
• 4 oz. Brie cheese
• 6 Medium Strawberries
• 1 to 2 Tbsp honey or agave nectar
• 4 fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Slice the French baguette into 12 thin slices on a diagonal angle.

3. Slice the strawberries.

4. On a baking sheet, lay the baguette slices so they do not touch.

5. Top each piece of baguette with a thin slice of Brie cheese.

6.  Bake in oven until the cheese is melted and the bread has a slight toasted feel to it – be careful to not cook too long.

7. On each baguette slice, place 2 slices of strawberries on top of the melted cheese.  Carefully top it with 1/2 teaspoon of honey and a few slices of basil.

Helpful Tips!

Most bakeries in the grocery stores will slice the French baguette for you!!  Save some time and ask them if they are able to do this for you!

I was hosting a Girl’s Night at my house and wanted to make something different instead of just having wine out for people to drink.  I searched Pinterest for different Sangria recipes but I couldn’t quite find one that I like – my love is sweet wines!!  I started doing a search for something made with Moscato and found this AMAZING recipe that everyone loved! This is now a “must” on the list to make for any time we have guests over! Thanks to realhousemoms.com – I have a Moscato punch that I love! The recipe on her page suggests that you top of the glass with 7Up but we added it into the punch container so it was an easier self serve for everyone! You can try it both ways and see which you like best!

Strawberry Lime Moscato Punch

Ingredients:

• 1.5 liter of Moscato wine
• 1 can frozen limeade concentrate, defrosted
• 2 Cups of Strawberries
• 1 Lime
• 2 Liter of 7-Up

Directions:

1. Carefully dice one cup of strawberries and put to the side.

2. Slice one cup of strawberries and one lime then store to the side.

3. Place the diced strawberries and 1/4 cup of limeade concentrate into a blender and turn on high/puree.

4.  Once strawberry and limeade mixture is ready, pour it through a strainer to help remove a majority of the seeds.

5. Pour the strawberry and limeade blend into a big pitcher.

6. Add remaining limeade and Moscato wine into the picture.

7. Slowly pour the 7-Up into the pitcher and stir.  It may foam up so do this slowly. (see above for other version to do.)

8. Garnish the punch with the strawberry and lime slices.

9. Chill in refrigerator.

10. Serve in wine glass and use lime and strawberry pieces as garnish.

11. Enjoy!

This recipe is a favorite of mine that I have made for years! It’s easy, quick and simple!!

Fruit Dip

Ingredients:

• Half of a Container of Cool Whip
• Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme
• 8 oz. Cream Cheese, softened
• Vanilla Extract
• Fruit

Directions:

1. In a big mixer, cream the first three ingredients together until smooth.

2. Add a teaspoon of vanilla extract into the mixer.

3. Serve with fruit and enjoy!