Cooking Competitions

Thanks to my dear friend, Lori, for inspiring us to bring out our inner chef talent!!

We've been big fans of watching Chopped, Master Chef Jr, and Rachel vs. Guy Kids Cook Off for quite some time. Grant and I have some special times at night after Wyatt falls asleep, where we snuggle up on the couch and watch something on the Food Network. Lately, its been Master Chef Jr. Grant always talks about what he'd cook or ingredients he'd use- which is so funny since he eats NOTHING. But he loves the idea of cooking! So after my friend Lori told me about the Chopped Challenge she did with her kiddos, the boys said, "We HAVE to do that!"

So we started off with a Chopped Competition. I was cooking and the boys were the judges. Earlier that day, Wyatt and I had bought a box of Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuit mix, so I was going to be making those, and they were going to decide if I was chopped or not. They grabbed their Lego clocks to time me and once they said go, I got to work! I mixed all my ingredients, threw them in the oven, and got my butter mix ready. 

 Once I got the biscuits out of the over and brushed them with the butter glaze, they said, "Times up- hands in the air." Then I served them my plate and tell them about my creation. They both agreed that I mixed my ingredients well and it smelled delicious. Their only critique was I didn't use enough butter. I guess I couldn't compare to the other competition (????) because I did not win the $10k prize money, I only won $20. But it was a great experience to be on Chopped. (PS- the biscuits really did taste like the real things, and the judges were right- I should've used more butter!)

Once I finished my cooking competition, it was time for Master Chef Jr. to start! They boys had to make a dinner that filled all four spaces on their plate. (I did not take any pictures of this and I'm so so sad because while I did alot of the prep work for them (cutting strawberries, etc) they were so cute with their plating.) They each made a pizza lunchable, popcorn chips, strawberries, and a yogurt for Grant and carrots for Wyatt. They presented their plates to me, and as the judge, I just couldn't decide on who to send home, so they BOTH get to stay for another round!!

It was a fun evening of food festivities!! One of these days, hopefully these home competitions will actually allow Grant to try some new foods!!!

Stay tuned for our holiday cooking competition- Valentine Cake Wars!