Countdown to Christmas- Reindeer on Rye

 Several years ago, my son had a cooking series on my blog called Cooking with Kyle. He was very interested in cooking, and developing his own recipes.  While he only did it for a few years, he has lots of good recipes on this blog.  (which you can see below)  

One of those recipes was this fun Christmas appetizer Reindeer on Rye. (you can seen the original post here.)

I'm thinking this might have been one of his last cooking posts.  He was 15 in this photo. Its so nice to see his face without a lot of facial hair. He has had a beard for several years now, so I have not seen his clean shaven face in a long time. 

Kyle was hungry, and since it was just a few days before Christmas he decided to make something Christmas themed. 

The first thing he did was sandwiches on rye bread. The size of the loaf is much smaller than regular bread, and perfect for an appetizer.   He chose to use turkey, swiss, miracle whip and Dijon mustard.  

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He cut out circles from mozzerella slices with the center part of an apple slicer - corer.  The noses are cherry tomatoes sliced in half. 

He has some trouble figuring out the what to use for the pupil.  He originally thought pepperoni, but it did not work right.  Even though he was not a fan of black olives, we both agreed they looked the best.

The last step was to add the antlers.  We only had mini pretzels on hand so the antlers were a little small, but they still were cute. 

Would you like to see some of Kyle's other Cooking with Kyle posts. He has some great family recipes, that you can make with your kids.   You can see the posts below. 

Chicken Salad Surprise

Breakfast Burrito

Grilled Turkey with Cheese

Burritos

Ham and Cheese Bundles

Cheesy Chicken Legs

Marinated Pork Chops

Shredded Pork Tacos/Burritos

Cheese Fries

Chicken Marsala

Pizza Bites

Chocolate Strawberry Muffins

Cheese BBQ Sliders

Homemade Egg Potato Salad

Homemade Pizza with a Twist

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Recipes for Kids (Cooking with Kyle)

Long time readers may remember a series I did a few years back called Cooking with Kyle.  My son was interested in cooking and came up with several kid friendly recipes and shared them on the blog.  Well Kyle is all grown up now, and in college.  He still likes to cook, and helps out making meals occasionally  on days I am working.  While we are sheltering in place, making lots of meals and trying to find things for our kids to do, I thought it would be the perfect time to share a roundup of our Cooking with Kyle recipes.  If you have a kid that wants to give cooking a try, here they are. 

Chicken Salad Surprise

This was his first recipe all the way back in early 2012. He came up with his own Chicken Salad recipe and added a healthy surprise.  He was so proud of himself, and I remember it tasting really good. 

Breakfast Burritos

His second recipe was also a big success.  His burritos had mushrooms, sausage, and cheese, but you can make them with whatever ingredients you have on hand. 

Grilled Turkey and Cheese Sandwiches

Kyle still loves turkey and cheese sandwiches, he just does not always take the time to grill them. 

Bean and Cheese Burritos

What can I say?  Kyle really likes Burritos.  In this recipe he made some for dinner.  

Ham and Cheese Bundles and Deviled Eggs

In this post you get two recipes in one, and some silly pictures. 

Cheesy Chicken Legs

This recipe was quick and easy and tasted really good. I am not sure if they still make Fresh Takes, but I am sure there is some there are similar breading kits out there. 

Marinated Pork Chops

Look at that face! LOL!  He was smiling at the beginning of the recipe. We really liked these marinated pork chops, and it looks like it is about time to make them again.  

Cheese Fries

This time it was not a full meal, but a warm yummy snack. 

Chicken Marsala

A quick and easy healthy meal.  

Pizza Bites

Don't have pizza rolls in the house? This recipe shows you how to make your own and they are DELICIOUS! 

Chocolate Strawberry Muffins

Another delicious recipe that we will need to make again soon. They really disappeared fast during the photo shoot. 

Homemade Egg Potato Salad

A great side dish for the Cheesy BBQ Sliders below 

Cheesy BBQ Sliders

These are really good, and kid size. 

Homemade Pizza

This recipe was not your usual pizza.  Kyle put a twist on it, so there was something for everyone. 

I hope you enjoyed this round up of Cooking with Kyle recipes.  Some of them we forgot about, so we need to try them again.   In the next few days I will also be doing a round up for Crafting with Kara posts for those kid crafters out there.  

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Cooking with Kyle- Homemade Pizza

Kyle made us another meal  for dinner tonight. He decided to make a homemade pizza. Technically what he made was semi homemade, but for a teenage boy it is about as homemade as we are going to get.  

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Cooking with Kyle - Homemade Egg Potato Salad

As promised, I am going to share the other half of Kyle's family meal. He decided he wanted to try and make his own version of egg potato salad.    While at the store he picked out petite yellow potatoes.  

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Cooking with Kyle - Pizza Bites

Pizza Bites

He's back!  Did you miss him?  Kyle is back with a new Cooking with Kyle recipe.  In this post he is going to share how to make pizza bites.

You will need:
refrigerated biscuits.. your choice on size
pepperoni
your favorite cheese.. we used tomato and basil string cheese
1 egg
Italian seasoning
Marinara or Spaghetti sauce for dipping
Parmesan if desired

Pizza Bites

He started by preparing his ingredients.  He flattened out the biscuits (we used jr size) and opened the pepperoni

Kraft just came out with a new tomato and basil flavored string cheese, that was perfect for this recipe.

Since he made 2 small cans of 10 biscuits, he cut 5 of the individual cheeses into 4 pieces about 1 inch long.

Inside each biscuit he layered a piece of pepperoni, the string cheese cut in half lengthwise so it laid flat and then another piece of pepperoni.

Pizza Bites

He then wrapped the biscuit around the filling and sealed it.

Pizza Bites

After laying the biscuits seal side down, he brushed on a little bit of egg on each one.

Pizza Bites

He sprinkled on some Italian seasoning on each biscuit.  He could have added some Parmesan at this step too, but we forgot to get it out.

Pizza Bites

If making small size Pizza Bites cook in a 425 degree over for about 10-12 minutes.  A few minutes more if you use a bigger size biscuit.

Pizza Bites 

These pizza bites were DELICIOUS!!  They are a perfect after school snack, party food, are even for a light dinner.

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Cooking with Kyle-Chicken Marsala

Guess who is back!  He just finished up his quarter in Basic Foods at school.  It was his favorite class, and he is disappointed it is  over.   Now that he is not cooking at school anymore, he is willing to cook at home again.

On Monday after his dentist appointment, I took him to the grocery store with me.  I had a couple of coupons for Campbell's Skillet Sauces, and it was on sale.  He looked them over the different flavors of sauces, and decided he wanted to try the Marsala sauce.

Using the picture on the front of the package on the package, he decided to make a chicken and pasta dish.   He cooked the chicken in a little bit of oil, and boiled some whole wheat linguine.

Once the chicken was cooked through, he added the package of sauce and simmered.

He placed the chicken on top of the pasta and covered it with sauce. He also served some steamed broccoli on the side.

Most of the family really liked Kyle's  Chicken Marsala.  One sister did not like the taste of the  sauce.   This meal would be a quick go to meal on nights when you don't have a lot of time.  The Marsala has mushrooms in it, so it might not be the best choice for picky eaters.  Kyle really liked it, so I am sure he will want to make it again.

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Cooking with Kyle-Cheese Fries

Last night Kyle wanted to make us a special treat... homemade cheese fries. We recently bought a bag of potatoes on sale and he picked out a block of cheese. 

He carefully selected what seasonings he wanted to add. He chose salt, pepper, garlic salt, Italian herb, and just a dash of Paprika. 

I had to take this picture.  It is just such a rare site to see him standing by the sink. Gasp!  He chose 5 potatoes, and then washed each one.

He cut one potato with our Pampered Chef slicer, and announced that cutting potatoes was too hard.  I offered to help him cut the rest of them. 

He sprinkled the seasoning on the freshly cut fries. 

This is where we made a slight mistake, but it turned out okay in the end..  He applied the shredded cheese a bit too early.  We should have cooked the potatoes a bit before had added the cheese. He cooked the fries about 30 minutes in a 450 degree oven.  I checked on them every 10 minutes or so.  

He added a lot of cheese. Yum! 

I realized about 15 minutes  in that they cheese had cooked a bit too long.  We decided to cook the fries for awhile longer, and then added more cheese.  

What they looked like coming out of the oven. 

This is all  that was leftover.  They were really good!  It was then when I realized mistake #2. I should have told him to spray the pan BEFORE adding the the fries.  Oh well, lesson learned.  

As an experiment I tried something else while Kyle was making his cheese fries. .  I had a package of Cheddar Jack & Bacon Fresh Take that needed to be used.  I didn't really feel like making a big meal, and wondered what it would taste like on some zucchini, I recently bought.  (mine didn't grow this year)   We were all pleasantly surprised with the taste.  It  is kind of hard to explain, but worth using on vegetables instead of meat again.  

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