12-10-11 Kid Chef Eliana demonstrates 2X2 Chicken Fajita Soup from her cookbook

Hey Young Chefs!

This past Saturday, I had a cooking demonstration and book signing at Barnes & Noble in Metairie, Louisiana. I demonstrated by 2X2 Chicken Fajita Soup from my cookbook, Eliana Cooks! Recipes for Creative Kids.

12-10-11 Kid Chef Eliana pours cumin into her soup

When I served my soup, everyone said it tasted “delicioso!” Some people even lined up for seconds and thirds! Even kids who are normally picky, loved it! I met a sweet 15 year old girl named Savannah. She bought my cookbook and said that she is going to try several of my recipes. Yay, Savannah!

12-10-11 Kid Chef Eliana takes a picture with fan, Savannah

This recipe is called 2X2 Chicken Fajita Soup because the amounts of each ingredient equals 2. For example, 2 cups, 2 tablespoons, 2 cans, etc. It’s a super simple recipe that takes 20 minutes to cook. It’s great for kids and college kids, and perfect as a weeknight meal for busy moms. Here is the recipe:

2X2 Chicken Fajita Soup

Ingredients
2 qts. water
2 pkts. taco seasoning
2 cans corn, drained
2 cans sliced new potatoes, drained
2 c. Fajita, Southwest or Mesquite chicken strips
2 tbsp. cumin
2 tbsp. garlic salt
2 cups fresh salsa (I like to use my “Fresh from the Garden Salsa” recipe)

Directions
Combine all ingredients in a large sauce pot over medium heat. Cook for 20 minutes. Optional: Top with cheese and serve with tortilla chips. Serves 8 to 12.

Cool kids Cook and Get Creative in the Kitchen!
Bon Appetit, Kid Chef Eliana

6-29-11 Kid Chef Eliana prepares for her cooking class at Camp Girl Power

Hey Young Chefs!

Yesterday, I taught 3 cooking classes at Camp Girl Power in Destrehan, Louisiana.

In this picture I prepared my food for the cooking class at the camp. Then I was asked to appear on stage to answer questions from the girls. I also sang my song, “Cool Kids Cook”.

6-29-11 Kid Chef Eliana performs and answers questions at Camp Girl Power

Next, we went to the kitchen to make “Fresh from the Garden Salsa” from my cookbook, Eliana Cooks! Recipes for Creative Kids. Here, the girls are sweeping their cilantro that they chopped, into the blender.

6-29-11 Girls sweep cilantro into the blender for their salsa

After we blended all of our ingredients, it was time to taste the salsa. The girls were in LOVE with it. I tried everyone’s salsa. They did a great job and all of their salsas were delicious.

6-29-11 Girls eat their tasty salsa creation

Tons of fun!

Cool Kids Cook and Eat Salsa!

Bon Appetit, Kid Chef Eliana

6-19-11 (L-R) Ashlynn, Camrynn, Jasmynn, Me, and Josie

Hey Young Chefs!

On Father’s Day, I had my Cupcake Cutie Birthday Bash! It was so fun! First, we made cupcake tacos. Cupcake tacos are made with a small tortilla inside a ramekin baked at 400 degrees for 7 minutes. When cooled, you add the lettuce, cheese, and ground meat. On top, you pipe sour cream to make it look frosting. Sprinkle cheese. Add a grape tomato as a cherry. Isn’t it cute?!

6-19-11 A cupcake taco

After we ate our cupcake tacos, we made Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes with a Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting. I used fresh strawberries. Yum!

6-19-11 We made Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes with a Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

Then, it was present time. My best gift was my new cupcake cutie room!!! Everything is cupcakes!

6-19-11 My new cupcake room!!!

Another one of my presents was a Susan Spicer cookbook from my mom and dad!!!

6-19-11 A Susan Spicer cookbook!!!

Next, we had a cupcake collage contest. We had to tear pieces of construction paper up to make the cupcake. We only had 20 minutes to finish. It sounds like a lot of time, but it’s not. It was hard.

6-19-11 Everyone holding up their cute cupcake collage

We all voted who won 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. I got every vote except mine. Can’t vote for yourself. I won 1st place, Camrynn won 2nd place, and Josie won 3rd place! We got some pretty cool prizes.

6-19-11 Me, 1st Place, Camrynn, 2nd Place, Josie, 3rd Place

Then, we all created chef hats! ( If you want to know how to make them, I blogged it in an earlier post.)

6-19-11 We all created chef hats

Finally, we decorated plain canvas bags with fabric paint. We all designed our own cupcake on our bags. Here are the different bags.

6-19-11 Look at our creative cupcake bags

After that, we all went to bed. But, whoever was the first to fall asleep was going to get creamed. I creamed Ashlynn. She didn’t even notice. I forgot to take a picture. Sorry.

I had a blast at my party. And so did everyone else.

Cool Kids Cook and Eat Cupcakes!

Bon Appetit, Kid Chef Eliana

6-17-11 The SOFAB Summer Camp young chefs

Hey Young Chefs!

On Friday, I demonstrated my Fresh from the Garden Salsa for a group of summer campers. Here I am talking to them about what will go into the salsa and what these ingredients are.

6-17-11 Kid Chef Eliana demonstrates Fresh from the Garden Salsa at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum in New Orleans

After I finished making my regular salsa, I made a pineapple salsa, inspired by my recent trip to Hawaii, that everyone raved about. It was so good.

6-17-11 Kid Chef Eliana demonstrates puts lime juice into her blender

When I finished, I signed autographs for the campers. They were so amazed that I had my own cookbook.

6-17-11 Kid Chef Eliana signs autographs at SOFAB

The campers said that they never would have thought to put pineapple in salsa. Did you know that tomato is a fruit? It grows like a fruit, but people treat it like a veggie. I had such a great time talking to the campers.

Here is a cool picture of me with some mardi gras bead art done by elementary school students at a local school. Wow!

6-17-11 Kid Chef Eliana with a giant king cake made out of mardi gras beads!

Cool Kids Cook and Make Salsa!

Bon Appetit, Kid Chef Eliana

6-15-11 Happy Birthday, Eliana at Hapuna Beach, Big Island Hawaii

Hey Young Chefs!

When I woke up on Day 10 of our Hawaiian vacation, it was my birthday! I turned 11 years old in Hawaii! How cool is that?! We spent our last few hours at Hapuna Beach, just a short drive from our hotel in Waikoloa.

6-15-11 Explorer Eliana at Hapuna Beach

My sister, Soleil, and I played in the sand and swam in the clear waters. The sand was white and was sugary fine.

6-15-11 Eliana and Soleil have fun in the sun at Hapuna Beach

We discovered some cool sand art. Check out this shark and sea turtle!

6-15-11 Will Honu be eaten by shark on Hapuna Beach?

Soleil buried me in the sand right when it was time to leave and I was stuck. My mom kept fussing at me to hurry but I couldn’t wriggle free! LOL Thanks, Soleil!

6-15-11 Eliana is stuck in the Hapuna Beach sand

After Hapuna Beach, it was time to leave the island paradise of Hawaii. It was so sad to leave but I had an amazing birthday vacation! Aloha!

Cool Kids Cook and Go to the Beach!

Bon Appetit, Kid Chef Eliana

6-14-11 French Toast made out of their homemade luau bread

Hey Young Chefs!

The day before we leave to go home, I ate homemade French Toast made out of luau bread from The Coffee Shack. It was really good. At The Coffee Shack, I saw two Madagascar geckos eating guava jelly next to our table. It was so funny!

6-14-11 Two Madagascar geckos eating guava jelly at The Coffee Shack

After we ate, we drove to Punalu’u Black Sand Beach where the water is crystal clear. The wet black sand and dry black sands’ colors are totally different.

6-14-11 Wet black sand and dry black sand

Soleil found a rainbow rock that is so pretty.

6-14-11 A cool rainbow rock

Punalu’u is so pretty and so different from any other beach I’ve been to.

6-14-11 Me at Black Sand Beach

After we changed, we headed to Volcano National Park. We saw the steam vents, that feel like a sauna. It was cold and hot at Volcano National Park.

6-14-11 The hot steam vents

Then, we drove to the crater. The crater was huge. There was hardened black and brown lava everywhere! This is a panorama of the rainbow and the crater. My camera didn’t stitch it well. LOL At least it looks like a double rainbow.

6-14-11 A panorama of a rainbow and the crater

Next, we walked through a rain forest in Volcano National Park.

6-14-11 Eliana and Soleil walk through the rainforest at Volcano National Park

After walking through the rainforest, we finally reach inside the Thurston Lava Tube!

6-14-11 Inside the Thurston Lava Tube at Volcano National Park

When we were finished walking through the lava tube, we left Volcano National Park and drove around the rest of the island, eating dinner in Hilo. Finally, we went back to our hotel. What a day!

Cool Kids Cook and Visit Black Sand Beaches and the Volcano National Park!

Bon Appetit, Kid Chef Eliana

6-13-11 A sea turtle from the glass bottom boat ride

Hey Young Chefs!

On the second day of the Big Island, we went on a glass bottom boat ride. We saw many honu (sea turtles) like this one above. We saw yellow tang and lots of other fish too!

After the glass bottom boat ride, we went to the Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory. They grow and process their own chocolate. This is the inside of a cacao pod.

6-13-11 The inside of a cacao pod

There are many steps to processing cacao. This is one of the steps called tempering. It looks delicious!

6-13-11 The delicious chocolate swirling in a pot

When the tour was over, we bought chocolate and then left to go to Kona Joe’s Coffee Factory.

When we got there, we saw coffee cherries. This is what coffee looks like on a tree.

6-13-11 These are coffee cherries

This is what the medium roast, dark roast, and espresso coffee beans look like after they are dried and roasted. Wow!

6-13-11 Medium, Dark, and Espresso Coffee Beans

When we finished touring, we went to Magic Sands Beach.At the time we went in the late afternoon, the sand was disappearing.

6-13-11 Mommy and I frolic at the Magic Sands Beach

At least it was still pretty. In the morning, where we were standing, it would have had a lot of sand there.

6-13-11 The water is so pretty and the sand is so white at Magic Sands Beach

We had such an adventure that day. It was spectacular!

Cool Kids Cook and Explore!

Bon Appetit, Kid Chef Eliana

6-12-11 I say I love you to my family on the beach!

Hey Young Chefs!

Before leaving to go to The Big Island, we went to the Waikiki beach. one last time. On the airplane, I take a picture of Diamondhead. How beautiful!

6-12-11 Beautiful Diamondhead from the airplane

When we landed, the ground was all lava rock. As we drove along Ka’ahumanu Highway, we saw all this lava rock graffiti. We pulled over to take pictures. Here is an example of this Hawaiian graffiti.

6-12-11 An example of lava rock graffiti

I found a bunch of coral on the ground… so I made my own lava rock graffiti! It’s so cool!

6-12-11 I made my own lava rock graffiti

When we got to the hotel, we went to the beach and had a sunset dip in Anaeho’omalu Bay. Then, we swam in the infinity pool. It was awesome! The first day on The Big Island was fun!

6-12-11 A night dip in the pretty pool at Waikoloa

Cool Kids Cook and Go to The Big Island of Hawaii!

Bon Appetit, Kid Chef Eliana

6-8-11 An awesome family photo

Hey Young Chefs!

On Wednesday, June 8, 2011, we went to The Polynesian Cultural Center on the Northshore. First, we visited Aotearoa where the Maori people sang, used poi balls, and played a stick game.

6-8-11 Playing a stick game in Aotearoa

After Aotearoa, we went to dinner at the Ali’i luau. We arrived at the PCC late so we didn’t have time do do a lot. At the luau, we watched kids perform with uli ulis (feather-topped gourd shakers) on stage. They were so talented!

6-8-11 Kids performing uli ulis at the luau

At the luau, I ate kalua pork, rice, baked potato, tarro roll, chicken long rice, pineapple, and poi. I liked everything on my plate. I couldn’t believe I liked poi!

6-8-11 My dinner at the luau

After the luau, we saw a show called Ha-Breath of Life. It was full of dancing and singing from different Polynesian cultures. We weren’t allowed to take pictures. Sorry. The show was amazing. Wish you could have seen it.

Cool Kids Cook and Go to Luaus!

Bon Appetit, Kid Chef Eliana

6-1-11 Kid Chef Eliana performs her song, Cool Kids Cook!

Hey Young Chefs!

Less than a week ago, my mom, Author & Storyteller Dianne de Las Casas, and I did a summer reading program in Leesville, LA. After she told her stories, I sang my new song, “Cool Kids Cook!” with the kids’ help. When I finished with my song, the kids clapped and cheered for me.

I sold and signed cookbooks and took a picture with this little girl, named Victoria. Her mom bought my cookbook. Little Victoria was tired so that’s she looks sad.

6-1-11 Kid Chef Eliana takes a picture with little Victoria, who looks only slightly amused. LOL

This is me, my mom, and Ms. Flo, the Leesville librarian. We had a great time. It was a lot of fun!

6-1-11 Kid Chef Eliana and Dianne de Las Casas with Flo the chilrens libdrarian in Leesville

Cool Kids Cook and Get Creative in the Kitchen!

Bon Appetit, Kid Chef Eliana