This week we’re cooking pasta. Do you have pasta night at your house? What’s your favorite pasta shape? Something long, like spaghetti? Short and tubular, like ziti? A fun shape, like wagon wheels or bowties? The main recipe this week is a salad made from orzo, a small rice-shaped pasta that’s fun to eat. The skills you’ll practice will help you cook up any kind of pasta.

This week we’re making Pineapple Frozen Yogurt (we call it fro-yo for short). Even if you can’t go out for ice cream right now, you can make this recipe—or some of our other frozen treats—right in your kitchen. They’re all very easy, so they’re perfect for when you want to chill out.

This week we’re celebrating the Fourth of July by making a Zesty Potato Salad. We think it’s the perfect dish for this holiday, and we’ve also linked to some other festive dishes you and your family can make together. Independence Day is a great time to practice your cooking skills, which help make you independent!

This week we’re making Smashed Cucumber Salad (and yes, you get to do the smashing). How else do you like to eat cucumbers? Do you add them to your sandwiches or your salads?
What about your drinks? (Cucumber Lemonade is one of our favorite drinks for summer!) If you think you don’t love cucumbers, we hope one of our recipes will change your mind.

We’re celebrating both the official start of summer and Father’s Day, which is this Sunday, June 21. We know not every family has a father, and that’s okay! You can make our burger recipe with or for any father figures or other special people in your life. However you celebrate, we hope you can use some of our ideas to make it a fun day for your family.

This week we’re making applesauce. Sure, you can buy applesauce from the store, but it’s easy (and so much more fun) to mash it yourself. Plus, you can customize your applesauce by adding other ingredients you may have on hand, such as cranberries, nuts, spices, or even vanilla extract. Give it a try.

We think you’ll apple-solutely love it!

This week we’re focusing on chickpeas. “Chickpeas” and “garbanzo beans” are two different names for the same thing, so don’t get confused if you see both on the label of a can. Chickpeas are a member of the legume family, which includes peanuts, lentils, peas, and beans such as black, white, kidney, and pinto. They’re full of protein and nutrients, so they give you lots of energy.

This week we’re making sweet potato fries. We love sweet potatoes! Why? They’re delicious and versatile, for one thing: You can roast, steam, or mash them, or cut them up and add them to soups or stews, where they turn creamy and luscious. Plus, they’re full of vitamins and nutrients, and that’s pretty sweet.