Eat your peas, please! Ring in the spring with these fresh and tasty recipes from our friends at Cooking Light. These recipes utilize fresh springtime bounty and are sure to please every palate. 

Spring Pasta with Fava Beans and Peas

The vibrant colors of spring shine in this elegant, seasonal pasta dish. Choose firm, bright fava bean pods free of black marks—avoid pods on which the outline of the beans inside is pronounced, indicating older favas.

Click here for the recipe!

Strawberry-Avocado Salsa with Cinnamon Tortilla Chips

Make the chips in advance, cool completely, and store in an airtight container until ready to serve.

Click here for the recipe!

Grilled Chicken with Spicy Rhubarb-BQ Sauce

When you think rhubarb, you may only think pie, but that’s selling it short: The rosy stalk packs enough bright tanginess to transform a variety of dishes. Here, paired with smoky heat and sweet tomato, it makes homemade BBQ sauce sing.

Click here for the recipe!

The Creative Kitchen™, LLC, teaches children about food and how to cook in a fun, safe, and educational manner.  Targeting families with children ages two to teen, the company focuses on teaching, writing creative content and curriculum, special events, recipe development, spokesperson work, webisode production and consulting to present educational and entertaining content through food-related activities. The founder, Cricket Azima, is an expert in cooking for and with children.  She inspires kids to express themselves creatively through food and cooking, while complementing lessons with traditional educational material such as social studies, math, arts, science, and more. Visit www.thecreativekitchen.com for more information.

Let’s face it kids looooove everything sweet! So why not give them a special treat of the things they crave with the added nutrients moms love! Our friends from Surf Sweets have deliciously sweet gummy candies that are made with organic sweeteners, organic fruit juice, natural colors and flavors, free of corn syrup and GMOs, made in a Nut Free Facility, are gluten free, AND have 100% of your Daily Vitamin C! 

Ladybug Cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes

• 1 package Bob’s Red Mill Brownie Mix
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1/2 stick butter, melted
• 1 organic egg
• 3/4 cup warm water

Frosting

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon gluten free vanilla extract
• 4 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 package frozen strawberries
• Surf Sweets Jelly Beans and Gummy Swirls

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Prepare Bob’s Red Mill Brownie Mix according to directions, substituting 1/2 cup of applesauce in place of 1 stick of butter.
• Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners.
• Spoon batter into each cup, filling 3/4 way full.
• Bake for 18-20 minutes, cupcakes are done when a toothpick tests clean form center.
• Let cupcakes completely cool.
• For the frosting, beat the butter together with the vanilla.
• Slowly add in confectioner’s sugar, frosting will seem dry. Then add in milk until frosting is smooth and creamy.
• Strain frozen strawberries, mixing in 2-3 tablespoons of juice in to the frosting to dye it pink.
• To assemble the cupcakes, slice off the top of the cupcake, then cut in half to open for the wings. Place Surf Sweets Gummy Swirls or Jelly Beans at front for the head. Completely frost the wings and head.
• Decorate wings with Surf Sweets candies
• Place candy on top of head for antennas.
• Enjoy!

Spring is finally here! The sun is shining bright and the flowers are blooming, and what better way to celebrate spring then to stir up a batch of colorful and tasty cookies with the kids?! Watch this video from Cricket Azima and our friends at Howdini on how you and your little chef can make your very own Springtime Lollipop Sugar Cookies. AND kids get a kick out of eating this cookie on a stick, which is an easy and almost clean way for kids to eat a frosted cookie!

Lollipop Sugar Cookies

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 tablespoons Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1 egg
12 wooden sticks with rounded ends
1 container (1 lb) Betty Crocker® Rich & Creamy frosting (any white variety)
Food colors in desired colors
Assorted candy decorations

1.Heat oven to 375°F. In medium bowl, stir cookie mix, butter, flour and egg until dough forms. Roll dough on floured surface until about 1/4 inch thick. Cut with 3-inch round cookie cutter. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Carefully insert a wooden stick into side of each cookie.

2.Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 1 minute before removing from cookie sheet. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

3. For cookie decorating, divide frosting among 4 small bowls. Tint frosting in 3 of the bowls with different color of food color. Reserve some of the tinted frostings for piping on designs. Frost cookies with remaining white and tinted frostings. For piping, place each tinted frosting in small resealable food-storage plastic bag; snip off tiny corner of bag. Pipe frostings on cookies in desired designs. Decorate with candy decorations.

Makes 1 dozen lollipop cookies

The Creative Kitchen™, LLC, teaches children about food and how to cook in a fun, safe, and educational manner.  Targeting families with children ages two to teen, the company focuses on teaching, writing creative content and curriculum, special events, recipe development, spokesperson work, webisode production and consulting to present educational and entertaining content through food-related activities. The founder, Cricket Azima, is an expert in cooking for and with children.  She inspires kids to express themselves creatively through food and cooking, while complementing lessons with traditional educational material such as social studies, math, arts, science, and more. Visit www.thecreativekitchen.com for more information.