Guest Post: Cooking with Funky Mama Bird- Worms in Dirt Dessert!!

Kids and Cooking – Worms in Dirt Dessert

Funky Mama Bird

I'm a big believer in getting kids into the kitchen and involved at an early age. This can be as simple as measuring and stirring, or as complicated as sautéing for the older kids, but having your kids take part in the building of a meal or dessert does several things:

·         It teaches confidence in the kitchen
·         Promotes fine motor control in smaller children
·         Gets kids enthusiastic about the food their eating, because they've seen how it's prepared and helped with the preparation
·         Promotes some family bonding

I'm a big one for doing activities with my step-kids that forces encourages them to use their imaginations. I've also been known to hand things to the one year old and encourage him to feel, dump, scoop and taste. The following recipe is one that kids aged 1, 10 and 13 and everywhere in between can all participate in and have some fun with. 

Worms in Dirt Dessert

This recipe can be modified significantly in several ways:

·         Use instant pudding or soy pudding in place of homemade
·         Use non-dairy cream cheese and readymade soy whipped cream
·         Use any gluten free chocolate cookie – we like generic wheat free cookies here, since Gunne Bear can't have wheat, but for purposes of this post, I'm using Oreos in the recipe.

Pudding Ingredients

·         2 Cups Milk
·         1/2 Cup White Sugar
·         3 Tablespoons Cornstarch
·         1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
·         1 Tablespoon Butter

Remaining Ingredients

·         Pkg of Oreo Cookies
·         11 oz of Cream Cheese, Softened
·         1 Stick of Butter, Softened
·         1 Small Carton of Heavy Whipping Cream
·         1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
·         Pkg of gummy worms

Pudding Directions

1.       To make the pudding, combine the sugar and cornstarch in a bowl and set aside
2.       On the stovetop, heat the milk until bubbles begin to form at the edges
3.       Pour in the sugar mixture a little bit at a time, stirring to dissolve
4.       Continue stirring the pudding until it begins to thicken, and coats the back of the spoon
5.       Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla
6.       Set aside in fridge until needed

Remaining Directions

1.       Crush the cookies slightly so that they resemble large chunks – a good way to do this is by placing them in a plastic bag and having your kids pound them – if they are really into it, you can skip the next step
2.       Place the chunks in a food processor and pulse until the cookies are reduced to crumbs that resemble dirt, set aside
3.       In a large bowl whip the heavy cream until peaks form
4.       In a second bowl, combine the cream cheese and butter until smooth
5.       Fold the pudding into the cream cheese and stir gently until combined
6.       In the bottom of each bowl, place a layer of Oreo cookie dirt
7.       Add a layer of pudding mixture, followed by a layer of whipped cream, and another layer of pudding
8.       Top with another layer of Oreo dirt
9.       Garnish with gummy worms

Tips: Have your kids to the measuring, cookie crushing and layering if they are younger, and the actual mixing if they are older.

Enjoy!

**Betsy is the author of Funky Mama Bird.  She is a writer, artist and funky wife.  She loves to explore her own unique perspective on life.  Be sure to bop on over and thank Betsy for contributing to Milk N' Honey for me!