Kid-Friendly Recipes

The back-to-school season is filled with anticipation, excitement and stress—for kids and parents. There are new clothes and school supplies to buy, lunches and snacks to plan, and classes to prepare for (no easy task after summer slump). If you're worried that you'll never get it all done, stop, take a deep breath and check out our Back-to-School Guide, which is packed with simple tips and advice to help take the edge off. If your kid is going to school for the first time, we've got a list of books that help with the transition to kindergarten. Need name tags? We know about some super-cool ones. We also have plenty of meal posts, like our favorite meal planning apps, healthy lunch ideas and sensory savvy snacks so kids can make it through the school day. We hope our Back-to-School Guide helps your family make it through the madness, sanity intact.

Father’s Day is just around the corner.  Now is the time to start thinking about a creative and useful gift that the kids can make for dad so you don’t have to scramble the day before.  This year, let the kids have some fun in the kitchen by creating a finger lickin’ good barbecue sauce and matching spice rub for a homemade gift set that Dad is sure to love.  

If your kid can play in a sandbox – they can make a spice rub. It is beyond easy just dump everything into a bowl, mix it up and Bam! You are done. The sauce is also quick and easy to put together with most ingredients coming right out of the pantry, but , it does require minimal chopping and a little sautéing.  Something an older child can easily do.  Both items take about 30 minutes in total to complete.

My son and I make this exact gift set for my father every Father’s Day and it is delicious. The sweet and tangy sauce is most definitely a tasty alternative to store-bought bottled sauces and the freshly made rub totally complements it. The set is especially a nice idea if you have two children,  let the younger child mix up the rub and the older one prepare the sauce.

If the man in your child’s life is a city guy aka grill deprived, store this gift idea away for future use, the set also makes a thoughtful, well received not to mention effortless hostess gift for barbecues and other summer invites.