By Jodie Fitz
The holidays are here, which often equates to covered counters and a dishwasher that runs non-stop! I love getting ready for it all and through the years I try to involve my kids as much as possible. The bread for our Thanksgiving Feast is always something they can help to make ahead of time. We often turn them into muffins with festive muffin wrappers that fashion a festive turkey or pilgrims that we find at the store.
And, as you know…there are also a lot of steps in making Thanksgiving Dinner that the kids can’t help to complete. In this case, I try to put them to task in other ways. If you make your Thanksgiving Bread in to muffins, the kids can then wrap them & label them with names to serve as name plates for the dinner table while you’re busy with other things. You can keep it simple! Last year, we used brown paper bags & tooth picks from Price Chopper to create Mayflower’s with each person’s name. And, one of my favorite’s….add a Thanksgiving fact on the back of you Mayflower tag for everyone to share at the table.
½ cup Price Chopper sugar
½ cup Price Chopper applesauce
¼ cup Price Chopper butter, softened
2 Price Chopper eggs
1 teaspoon Price Chopper vanilla extract
1 ½ cups zucchini, shredded
¼ cup carrots, shredded
¼ cup Price Chopper orange juice
2 cups Price Chopper flour
½ teaspoon Price Chopper baking soda
¼ teaspoon Price Chopper salt
½ teaspoon Price Chopper cinnamon
½ teaspoon Price Chopper baking powder
¾ cups Price Chopper raisins
Cupcake Liners
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla together. Add in apple sauce, orange juice, carrots and zucchini. Add in all dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly. Stir in the raisins. Place the cupcake liners in the cupcake/muffin tin. Fill each tin at least half full and bake until golden brown; approximately 25 minutes.
This recipe is a great way to teach children how to make sure that baked goods are fully cooked by using a cake tester (or knife with an adult present). Insert the cake tester into the middle of the muffin; if it’s clean when you remove it then the muffins are fully cooked & if it’s not, it needs more time in the oven.
Note: Making Rain Forest Bread is a great way to include vegetables in a fun flavor; its way more fun to eat Rain Forest bread rather than zucchini bread and this recipe has just an added twist in the mixture with ingredients kids love. You can make these the day ahead and while you are busy finishing up Thanksgiving dinner, kids can make name cards and tape them to tooth picks to add to the festivities of the table.
Healthy tip: Use low fat and/or organic products whenever possible.
Enjoy –
Jodie
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