easy cooking ideas needed

[ProudGrandma]

I am a librarian and I meet with 3 different groups of special needs students every month.  Each group is a different age and ability.  When we meet, I usually like doing a craft and some sort of food related thing.  I want try to stay away from too many sweets  (although it seems sort of difficult) and currently there are no food allergies to deal with. 

What I have found that works the best is recipes where they can each make their own snack....rather than one big something (in a 9 x 13 pan sort of thing). 

So far we have made things like homemade pop tarts, apple bombs (apple pie filling inside a grands biscuit), flour tortilla shells cut like snowflakes, with butter, sugar and cinnamon on top, baked in oven.  air fryer donuts, grilled cheese roll ups, garlic bread snowmen, fruit and mini pancake kabobs...those types of things. 

I have access to a full kitchen.   

I can do different things with different groups.  The ability of the groups is:  1) grades 1-6 (ability 3rd grade and under) 2) bio age of students is 12-21 (ability is 7-8 year olds) and 3) same bio age as group 2, but ability is more like 9-10 year olds....maybe a bit older).  So one tricky thing is finding things that are easy, but don't appear babyish for that last group for sure. 

If you guys have any ideas for me, that would be great.  I do have a budget to work with too....but I am fairly open to exploring all options. 

 

 

[Drama Llama]

Make your own pizza on whole wheat naan crust, quesadilla, and grilled cheese have gone over well. 
 

One thing that has also gone over well for me has been to bring lunch stuff, and then have kids write down or fill out a checklist of what they want, and then make each other’s sack lunches.  So we have a chance to work on all those communication skills too. 

Edited March 12, 2023 by BandH
because I can't spell

[wendyroo]

English muffin pizzas
Egg "Muffins" - Eggs, a bit of milk, Toppings, and Cheese mixed up in muffin tins and baked
Fruit and yogurt popsicles made in dixie cups
Strawberry Banana Yogurt parfait with granola to practice (dull) knife skills on soft fruit
Pancakes to practice flipping skills - I make some pancakes ahead of time for my kids to practice flipping in a cool skillet
At those ages, my kids can make things like Jiffy corn muffins from a box - the little boxes make 6 muffins, so kids could work in pairs
Canned crescent roll dough wrapped around hot dogs
Baked Oatmeal in muffin tins

[AmandaVT]

We have a small group in my school that does this! We have made solar ovens and made s'mores inside. Soup - kids have been learning chopping skills and have made pots of veggie soup. Popcorn on the stove top. Sugar on snow (Vermont thing). Pancakes, grilled cheese. I think we've done a few other things, but they're not popping into my brain right now. 

[KungFuPanda]

My son likes pizzas made on tortillas. He likes them so much he meal preps them (and he has  limited mobility.) The naan crust idea sounds better to me, but he’s making it himself so I don’t interfere. Also, they cook really fast. 

[Bootsie]

scrambled eggs, individual quiches, yogurt-based dip and sliced apples, pizza buns (individual pizzas using a hamburger bun for crust)

[Clemsondana]

Pigs in a blanket (with either hot dogs or minis with cocktail-sized sausages),  Veggie pinwheels - flavored cream cheese with chopped veggies rolled in a tortilla, or veggie 'pizza' with ranch/mayo/cream cheese spread over a crescent roll crust and topped with veggies.  My mom makes something with a crushed pretzel crust, some sort of white fluff (sugar and cream cheese?  cool whip?  I have no idea) and then fruit pieces.  I can get the recipe if you want - I need to get it anyway.  I don't know if you could easily scale the crusts into small individual pans, but maybe?

They might like a puff pancake - mostly eggs, a bit of flour, and it's cool to see it puff up.   Yummy topped with honey, syrup, or sugared fruit.  It's just a big popover, so you could do those instead if it would be easier to make individual ones.  

The middle schoolers at church were intrigued when I made popcorn old-school, in a pot with oil.  It had a clear glass lid, upping the cool factor (most of them had only done it in the microwave). If there's something popcorn based - a trail mix or something - this might be a fun part to actually cook before letting them customize their bags of trail mix with dried fruit, nuts, chocolate chips, etc.    

I'm thinking of trying chocolate fondue with the middle schoolers in a few weeks - there is the chocolate, but also a lot of fruit or pretzels or whatever you want to dip.  I'm thinking of handing it out with the chocolate in little dixie cups - nobody wants that many people to be dipping!  

Egg bites in muffin tins or small dishes - they can choose meat, veggies, cheese, etc to customize. 

Would muffins, where you make a generic batter and then people can customize (blueberries, dried apples and cinnamon, chocolate chips) work?  

[popmom]

Assemble their own quesadillas maybe?

Or assemble mini sub sandwiches?

 

 

[alisoncooks]

Chex mix-type baked snack mix?  Or ranch seasoned pretzels and crackers (baked).  This can be seasoned according to preference and baked in individual mini trays. 

Nachos? The dollar store has aluminum take out trays that make for good individual nachos. We just do chips, blobs of canned refried beans and cheese -then bake. They can then be personalized with salsa, sour cream, etc. My teens recently did this for a hangout/party, and it was a big hit. 

Pinwheel roll up things? Idk what they’re called. Cream cheese on a tortilla, plus other things (salsa and turkey or pepperoni and olives). Roll them up and slice. 

Edited March 12, 2023 by alisoncooks

[saraha]

4 hours ago, KungFuPanda said:

My son likes pizzas made on tortillas. He likes them so much he meal preps them (and he has  limited mobility.) The naan crust idea sounds better to me, but he’s making it himself so I don’t interfere. Also, they cook really fast. 

Ooh, we do this like a quesadilla. tortilla, toppings, tortilla cook on a an electric flat griddle. Dd12 calls them pizzadillas. He loves to make these ahead and pack them since they are not messy

Edited March 12, 2023 by saraha

[kbutton]

Seconding something like chex mix--could be granola or muesli too.

Cinnamon rolls are fun--if you found a savory recipe, other things could be assembled the same way instead of dessert. We use frozen bread dough because I don't have a recipe for bread that tastes the same as frozen dough, and we like the tanginess in the end product. 

What about using mini waffle makers/sandwich makers for hash browns and other savory dishes? 

[Bootsie]

I don't know how much time you have; bread projects are often to lengthy.  But, I have found that kids enjoy seeing yeast start and taking it home in a container and then having a project with bread rolls (hot cross buns, rolls filled with pepperoni and cheese, bread sticks, etc.) that have already risen.

Ants on a log--celery strips stuffed with peanut butter and raisins on top. 

Stuff celery or tomatoes with chicken salad or tuna salad.

Homemade dressing and salad.

My kids did a project in pre-school in which cream in a ziplock bag that they shook to make butter that they really enjoyed. 

[ProudGrandma]

thank you guys!  I knew you would come up with some great ideas for me.  My list is long enough to take us into next fall.  (we don't meet during the summer).  THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!