Recipe Files: Cooking up fun in the kitchen

MANILA, Philippines - Surprise kids with breakfast food that they can eat for lunch or dinner by replacing bread crumbs and egg with crushed cereal and yogurt to coat breaded fish. Or if they constantly reach for a handful of chocolate chip cookies, add a healthy twist to your recipe by replacing a portion of the flour with some nutritious cereal mix.Baking is also a good nobding activity with your children. Schedule baking or cooking day on a weekend for a more relaxed vibe, so work and homework don’t get in the way.

Always include your kids in animated discussion when deciding what to cook or bake because when they know a project is part of their idea, they would definitely see it through. Be ready with simple, unbreakable equipment such as measuring spoons and cups for dry ingredients, liquid measuring cups, mixing bowls, wire whisk, rubber spatula and wooden spoons. Have ready their aprons and oven mitts so they don’t touch anything hot. Divide the tasks by assigning the measuring, dipping, coating and mixing to the kids while you take care of handling sharp objects, hot ovens and cooking procedures.

Here are some dishes you can try.

Crunchy fish fingers

Ingredients:

500g cream dory fillet

1 8g sachet Maggi Sarap

1 cup all-purpose flour, for coating fish

1 125g Nestle Creamy Yogurt

3 cups Nestle Fitness Whole Grain Cereal Flakes, crushed semi-fine

Oil for frying

Procedure:

Pat-dry fish fillet using paper napkins to prevent them from getting soggy; slice into finger-size strips. Sprinkle Maggi Magic Sarap over fish and toss to coat well. Dip each fish finger in flour, dust off excess and arrange on a tray.

Using a small pastry brush, coat fish all over with Nestle Creamy Yogurt, making sure entire surface is lightly brushed. One by one, dip yogurt-coated fish in crushed Nestle Fitness cereal, pat lightly to ensure cereal crumbs stick to the fish.

Pour oil one-inch high in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium fire and when hot, fry fish fingers until coating is crispy. Drain on paper napkins and serve right away.

Preparation time: 45 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Chocolatey chip cookies

Ingredients: 

3 packets Nesvita Cereal Milk Drink, original flavor

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1 egg

2 regular size (60grams) Nestle Buttefinger bars, chopped into coarse pieces

1 cup Nestle Toll House semisweet chocolate chips

Procedure: 

In a medium bowl, combine Nesvita Cereal Milk Drink, flour, baking soda and salt using a wire whisk. Set aside.

With an electric mixer on medium speed, cream butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until light in color. Add the egg and continue beating until fluffy. Turn off mixer, and with a rubber spatula, scrape down batter from sides of bowl. Add flour mixture, Nestle Butterfinger and Nestle Toll House chocolate chips. Mix on low speed for a few seconds just until dry ingredients are evenly mixed in the batter. Do not overbeat. Press plastic wrap over the cookie dough and freeze for 30 minutes or chill for an hour in the refrigerator.

In the last 10 minutes of chilling time, preheat oven to 350°F.  Line three cookie sheets with baking paper. Set aside.

When chilled, scoop teaspoonfuls of cookie dough, with your hands, roll them into balls and place on lined cookie sheets. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until cookie edges turn light golden. Remove from oven and leave on cookie sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

Preparation time: 15 minutes plus 1 hour chilling time

Baking time:  12 to 15 minutes

Yield: 24 to 30 pieces