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You can hear it all around – the sound of the collective glee of school kids everywhere as they get ready to be set free for the summertime. But as your kids skip down the road and toss their backpacks in the air, you stand there scratching your head. What are we going to do with all of this newfound free time?
Free time? What free time, you might ask. These days, summertime has become so structured with all manner of camps, activities, and playdates arranged a month in advance. Whatever it takes to keep kids active and limit their “screen time”. However, back when many of us were kids, summer really was all about free time. Days blended into each other with nary a schedule or care in the world.
With my son having completed his first year of preschool, he’s now ready to start the summer camp scene. It’s just for a few mornings a week for a short period of time, but we’ll be packing his lunch for the first time. Now I remember summer lunches as peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and bug juice (AKA Kool Aid). These days many kids' lunches need to be nut-free and the sugary juice has been replaced with good old water or drink boxes.
If your kids camp involves packing lunch, you can change it up from the normal school year routine with fun summer foods like tomato pie, “kebabs” of cubed ham, cheese & veggies, and s’mores bars or chocolate chip cookie pie for dessert. Try freezing cut up fruit like apples, grapes and bananas for a refreshing and good-for-them sweet treat that’s perfect on a sweltering day.
When you do find pockets of free time you need to fill, you can show your kids quaint customs such as toasting marshmallows over a campfire for s’mores, climbing a tree to pick a juicy peach, and a lazy afternoon spent fishing for trout in a local stream.
Or try hosting your own summer camp right in your kitchen. It could be a loosely arranged week of focusing on one or two ingredients and trying some great kid oriented recipes. Or you can combine the cooking with some simple science and math lessons. It’s a great way to review what they might have learned during the school year, but it won’t feel like work. There are great life lessons to be learned through projects like planting a garden too. And there’s a science project inside every tomato!
Before you let your kids loose on the kitchen this summer, make sure you have taken the appropriate safety precautions and have covered the ground rules that are appropriate to their age. When I was a kid, I used to spend quite a few hours in the kitchen, most of it unsupervised, whipping up my own creations or cooking out of my mom’s cookbooks. If they are old enough, your kids' creativity can flourish with that kind of freedom in the kitchen.
So this year, don’t forget to celebrate the simple stuff as you make your summer plans!
©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/pamela-chester/1158-kid-oriented-recipes/
School's Out For Summer. Now What?
You can hear it all around – the sound of the collective glee of school kids everywhere as they get ready to be set free for the summertime. But as your kids skip down the road and toss their backpacks in the air, you stand there scratching your head. What are we going to do with all of this newfound free time?
Free time? What free time, you might ask. These days, summertime has become so structured with all manner of camps, activities, and playdates arranged a month in advance. Whatever it takes to keep kids active and limit their “screen time”. However, back when many of us were kids, summer really was all about free time. Days blended into each other with nary a schedule or care in the world.
With my son having completed his first year of preschool, he’s now ready to start the summer camp scene. It’s just for a few mornings a week for a short period of time, but we’ll be packing his lunch for the first time. Now I remember summer lunches as peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and bug juice (AKA Kool Aid). These days many kids' lunches need to be nut-free and the sugary juice has been replaced with good old water or drink boxes.
If your kids camp involves packing lunch, you can change it up from the normal school year routine with fun summer foods like tomato pie, “kebabs” of cubed ham, cheese & veggies, and s’mores bars or chocolate chip cookie pie for dessert. Try freezing cut up fruit like apples, grapes and bananas for a refreshing and good-for-them sweet treat that’s perfect on a sweltering day.
When you do find pockets of free time you need to fill, you can show your kids quaint customs such as toasting marshmallows over a campfire for s’mores, climbing a tree to pick a juicy peach, and a lazy afternoon spent fishing for trout in a local stream.
Or try hosting your own summer camp right in your kitchen. It could be a loosely arranged week of focusing on one or two ingredients and trying some great kid oriented recipes. Or you can combine the cooking with some simple science and math lessons. It’s a great way to review what they might have learned during the school year, but it won’t feel like work. There are great life lessons to be learned through projects like planting a garden too. And there’s a science project inside every tomato!
Before you let your kids loose on the kitchen this summer, make sure you have taken the appropriate safety precautions and have covered the ground rules that are appropriate to their age. When I was a kid, I used to spend quite a few hours in the kitchen, most of it unsupervised, whipping up my own creations or cooking out of my mom’s cookbooks. If they are old enough, your kids' creativity can flourish with that kind of freedom in the kitchen.
So this year, don’t forget to celebrate the simple stuff as you make your summer plans!
Ripe Tomato Pie
Made with black pepper, garlic powder, mayonnaise, tomatoes, fresh basil, green onions, pie shell, Cheddar cheese, Gorgonzola cheese, ricotta cheese
Made with black pepper, garlic powder, mayonnaise, tomatoes, fresh basil, green onions, pie shell, Cheddar cheese, Gorgonzola cheese, ricotta cheese
Serves/Makes: 6
- 4 large ripe tomatoes, peeled and sliced
- 12 large fresh basil leaves, julienned
- 6 green onions, green and white parts sliced finely
- 1 pre-baked pie shell (9-inch size)
- 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
- 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- salt, to taste
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Sprinkle the tomato slices with salt and let stand for 20-30 minutes in a colander over a bowl or in the sink. Rinse the tomatoes well with cold water then let stand for 20 more minutes.
Place the tomatoes, cut sides down, on paper towels. Pat lightly with paper towels to dry off excess water.
Layer the tomatoes in the bottom of the baked pie shell. Sprinkle with the basil and green onions.
Combine the Cheddar, Gorgonzola, ricotta, and mayonnaise in a bowl. Stir in the garlic powder, black pepper, and salt.
Spread the cheese mixture evenly over the tomatoes to the edges of the pie shell.
Place the pie in the oven and bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes or until the cheese is lightly browned.
Remove the tomato pie from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes before cutting into wedges and serving warm.
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©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/pamela-chester/1158-kid-oriented-recipes/