Kids and a Mom in the Kitchen #36: Strawberry Pretzel Salad

Time for Kids and a Mom in the Kitchen

(A weekly linky where you can share your special time in the kitchen, such a great place for learning. You can also link up Kid-Friendly Recipes)

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The linky is at the bottom.

In these week's leading up to St.Patrick's Day we are again focusing on one color of the rainbow at a time. Last week we focused on Red and Orange. We had two muffin tins last week, a red one and an orange one. We have also made two different color desserts. For red we made Strawberry Pretzel Salad and for Orange we made Orange Creamsicle Cake. We will be making something special for Yellow this week. Don't forget to stop by to see the Orange Creamsicle Cake post and to find out what we do for Yellow.

Have you ever had Strawberry Pretzel Salad? I have had it at Fellowship Meals before and have made it quite a while ago. A friend at co-op suggested it as a good idea for a red dessert and I obviously agreed with her. I found a great version on allrecipes.com (no surprise there, I love allrecipes). We only had 1 package of jello, so I cut the recipe down to half.

Strawberry Pretzel Salad

Ingredients (this is what we used, 1/2 the recipe found on allrecipes):

CRUST

3/4 cups crushed pretzels

2 1/4 TBS sugar

6 Tbs butter, melted

FILLING

1/2 cup sugar

1 (8oz) pkg cream cheese

1 (8oz) container whipped topping

TOPPING

1 (3oz) pkg strawberry jello 

1 Cup Boiling Water

1/2 (16 oz) pkg frozen strawberries

Hannah is really getting involved with our kitchen time these days. I have to say, it does make it a bit more stressful having 3 children fighting over stool/chair space, turns, etc. It is also harder to get pictures at every step.

First we crushed the pretzel sticks using my Magic Bullet. I wasn't really sure if we crushed them too fine, but it turned out well. Next time I think we will crush them by hand and see if we like it better. 

Next we added the 2 1/4 Tbs of sugar and the melted butter. 

We stirred it together and placed it in a pie plate (the original size recipe fits in a 9x13 pan) and pressed it down on the bottom. Then I baked it in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes (it is to be lightly toasted). 

The girls went out to play while it cooked and cooled. Finally, later in the evening, we were able to get the rest of it made.

We beat together the 1/2 sugar and the cream cheese.

Then we folded in the whipped topping.

And then we spread it over the cooled pretzel crust. 

Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

The jello is made with only boiling water and you add the frozen strawberries, stirring until they thaw. Our strawberries had already thawed, so I just added them the way they were, it worked out fine. 

Pour it over the top of the cream cheese filling and place it in the refrigerator for 1 hour more or until completely set.

As you can tell, this is a simple recipe, except there is a lot of wait time in between each step. We ended up finishing it right before bed. 

Yes, I still let them have a little piece.

Do you have your children help you in the kitchen?  What lessons do they learn? Do you have any kid friendly recipes to share?

I'd love to see your posts, whether you have done something this week or some time in the past. Just link up below. This is a weekly linky.

I am linking up to:

 

Melt in Your Mouth Monday
Try a New Recipe Tuesday at Home to Four Kiddos
The Gathering Spot at Mamal Diane
Tempt My Tummy at Blessed with Grace
Friday Food Frenzy at Close to Home
Fantastic Thursday at Five Little Chefs

And here is my Kids and a Mom in the Kitchen linky