#nixtamalized corn my beloved

[chamerionwrites]

Made biscuits with masa and still haven’t decided how I feel about them. On the one hand they taste like tortillas and they are very soft. On the other hand they are (unsurprisingly) so soft as to be kinda structureless and they don’t brown as nicely as ones made entirely with wheat flour.

I think they’d be good in dessert. Strawberry shortcake etc

[notatreeblog]

Young Chefs’ Club is a monthly subscription box for children. Each themed package includes a mixture of both STEM activities and food related recipes and activities. This box comes from America’s Test Kitchen whose been educating adults on cooking and food science for 25 years and now they are bringing that same education to children. This box is perfect for kids aged 5+ and this is their inaugural box! Subscriptions are $24.99 monthly and ship free. Subscription to longer terms to get reduced subscription prices. NAT received this package at no cost for review purposes.

Subscription Box Unboxing

Subscription Box Review

Our first glimpse inside the Young Chefs’ Club package. It’s important to note that the recipes that are included in these boxes are tested by a group of more than 5000 kids and they have to have AT LEAST an 80% approval rating … making this great for those very particular little palettes!

Everything that came in our Taco Truck themed package. I have to say that we take Taco Tuesday in our house very seriously so I was super pumped to get this box!

  So what is all this stuff? 

Our box insert. This tells us about the subscription and the Taco Truck theme for the month.

Every package from Young Chefs’ Club comes with a little pin that kind of embodies the box for the monht. Love this Team Taco pin and guess what… Mom’s stealing it for herself!

  The first recipe in our box are DIY Corn Tortillas. Along with our recipe we also receive this cool plastic tortilla press… which if you’ve ever tried making your own tortillas can imagine how helpful this is. The circle on the bag allows kids to see visually the size expectation as well, which is nice.

I really love all the information that is included in the recipe cards. It doesn’t just explain the what… but it also explains the how. I know as an adult this is imperative for me to learn and think it must be for the kids as well!

  Our next recipe is Vegetable Tacos. This is a great vegetarian alternative to traditional tacos and includes black beans, lime juice, garlic, cumin, chili powder, zucchini, corn and your DIY tortillas. Check our IG stories on Tuesdays for some of these great creations.

While this is labeled an intermediate recipe if you have kids that are in the kitchen with you frequently they’ll probably have lots of fun creating this! The colors of the vegetables are beautiful and the recipe calls for mashing the beans (which keeps most of your taco filling inside, so clever) which I think most kids would find pretty darn fun!

  Our next recipe is Cabbage Slaw. This is a beginner activity and is great for younger kids who just want to mix things and experiment! The best part is it’s just a three ingredient recipe; green coleslaw mix, lime juice and salt!

Another thing I like about this subscription are the scientific facts they include about food! For instance this card explains that the salt in this recipe draws water out of the cabbage making it more crunchy and delicious!

  Each box from Young Chefs’ Club comes with a “Make it your way Challenge” These give kids options and allows them to be creative.

The back of the card gives kids ideas and also breaks the taco down into four different parts to make it a little less overwhelming. There’s the wrapper, filling, toppings and sauce. All looks yummy to me!

  Next up in our box is an Experiment. Here’s we’ll see how the acids in lemons keep avocados from turning brown!

I love that this card asks kids to make a prediction about the halves of avocado (one has lemon juice and the other doesn’t). The scientific method in real life, creating hypothesis!

The back explains the why of the experiment and encourages children to try with other acids like lime juice or vinegar. This is a quick experiment that is great beginners and older kids alike!

  Our next recipe is Pickled Red Onions. I have been on a pickling kick lately so I knew we had to try this one out. This is great for beginners and uses just five ingredients; red onion, white wine vinegar (I didn’t have that so I mixed red wine and white vinegar), lime juice, sugar and salt.

This is a simple recipe and while this can be used on tacos you can also use this on burgers, sandwiches and I think a great addition to salads as well!

First you’ll thinly slice the onion and set aside in a bowl.

Then in a small saucepan you’ll combine the vinegar, lime juice, salt and sugar.

You’ll bring this to a boil on high heat and then turn off your burner.

Finally, you’ll add the liquid to your bowl. Allow mixture to cool and then drain your onions and serve with your dish. I actually kept my liquid and jarred these onions! I think the longer they marinate in that vinegar the better they’ll get!

  Each package from Young Chefs’ Club comes with a Technique card as well. I like this as it gets kids a little more acclimated with different kitchen tasks. This first is how to shred meat and will be used in coordination with our Chicken Tinga Tacos recipe (coming up)

The back of this card tells us about braising meat and how that not only tenderizes meat but also creates a flavorful sauce.

  Our final recipe in this box are Chicken Tinga Tacos. This is a more advanced recipe but that doesn’t mean little ones can’t help and be a part!

So we’ll be using that braising technique in this recipe to get very tender chicken thighs made in a smoky tomato chipotle sauce. We’ll also be using our DIY Corn Tortillas, Cabbage Slaw and Pickled Red Onions for this recipe!

The back of our card explains what the tinga recipe means and how Chipotle peppers (which are actually smoked and dried jalapenos) relate to it. It’s all really interesting!

  And of course a Taco Truck themed box would NOT be complete without an actual Taco Truck.

First the kids color in their Taco Truck!

Even Penny who is 12 wanted to get in on this action!

I think this came our super cute but we aren’t done quite yet!

Next you fold the edges.

Next you’ll join each of the edges together and either tape them or glue them. I chose to tape them because I felt like it would last longer. Adding the money on top was my crazy kids’ idea.

I think this was so cute… it made me smile.

And my kids added this ad hoc window to the side which made me laugh!

  In each package from Young Chefs’ Club there is also a sheet of stickers that fits into the theme of this box. I love these. I know my kids want them but I can’t bring myself to share!

  There’s also this big fold out poster that is double sided. The first side encourages kids to build their own Taco Truck Menu. There’s space for a name, logo and menu including tacos, sides, drinks and desserts.

Belle named her Taco Truck, “Belle’s Beloved Tacos” and her logo along with her tacos will be in the shape of a B. I laughed out loud at that, so cute!

Our her menu for tacos are veggie tacos, carnivore tacos and hard shell tacos and a SUN TACO (still not sure what that is). For sides we have chips & dip, rainbow chips, spicy fries and potato chips. Drinks will be the Green Dragon, Unicorn, Lemonade and Chocolate Milk of course. Our desserts at Belle’s Beloved Tacos are Choco Tacos and Candy Roll Ups.

I think it’s a most excellent restaurant idea!

The other side of this post explains to children the secret science of corn tortillas, a process of nixtamalization for soaking and pickling corn kernels to get the desired consistency and flavor for Masa Harina.

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Belle had a lot of fun coloring this in!

  The final item in our Young Chefs’ Club package is this packet of Chipotle Morita Chile from The Spice House which will be used in our Chicken Tinga Tacos!

  So in summary

Presentation: Everything is package well and is clearly marked and simple to follow in this package and everything arrived to us perfectly.

Quality: I feel like the recipes are so well thought out and everything is made so that it’s easy for parents and children to follow and the recipes really are high quality!

Curation: I couldn’t be more thrilled with the curation of the boxes from Young Chefs’ Club. Not only are they brought together excellently but I love that this is a comprehensive package, that combines experimentation, creativity and science with a bonding activity like cooking! Can’t wait to see what Young Chefs’ Club has in store for the future!

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    Young Chefs’ Club Subscription Box Review + Unboxing | October 2019 Young Chefs' Club is a monthly subscription box for children. Each themed package includes a mixture of both STEM activities and food related recipes and activities.