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December 2, 2015 by Karen Jensen, MLS

Food TPiB: Mug It Edition

December 2, 2015 by Karen Jensen, MLS   3 comments

Yesterday I talked about cooking with a waffle iron, today were using a mug and a microwave. My source of inspiration: Mug It by Pam McElroy from Zest Books. I can also do this kind of cooking, and it’s a great teen activity. If I can do it, a teen can. And The Teen, The Bestie and I tested it out for you.

mugit3All you need to make this work is a mug (and in some cases a mason jar), ingredients and a microwave. It’s quick and easy. Some of the recipes are even healthy. In fact, Mug It! have a lot of salads in a jar. I liked this because I want to balance healthy eating habits with fun things like waffle cooking. The pictures from inside the book below come directly from the Zest Books website.

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mugit4 mugit6

We tried out a variety of the recipes. We began with a cake in a mug, because of course that’s where you would begin. Cake!

mugit

This was yummy. In fact, I lost my cake to Thing 2 who was only going to take a bite and then she ate the entire thing.

We next tried macaroni and cheese in a mug. The Teen and I are very fond of mac & cheese and I was excited to learn you could cook it in a mug.

mugit2

For our version we used gluten free pasta and once we figured out how to cook the noodles correctly it worked really well.

Cooking in a mug is actually really popular. I frequently see posts on Buzzfeed and in my FB feed. Having a recipe book was nice. And I liked this one because it has color pictures, which is a must in my cookbook requirements. If you don’t have pictures of the recipes and they aren’t in full color that is a deal breaker for me.

In addition to doing a fun Iron Chef/Chopped type program with mug cooking, adapting the post from yesterday, this book would also make a great gift. Let’s be real, a lot of teens spend some time in the home alone and they have to cook for themselves. And I would have loved to have had this when I was a college student living in the dorms. If you are going to do a series of food programs, I would do something like this:

  • Day 1: Waffle Cooking
  • Dday 2: Mug It!
  • Day 3: Creative Ramen Noodles (see:Ramen Hacks: 30+ Easy Ways to Upgrade Your Instant)
  • Day 4: Spam (there are recipe books)
  • Day 5: Cooking with an iron (see:How to Cook with an Iron | MUNCHIES)

What days would you add? A post-apocalyptic survival cooking camp would also be fun. Remember, it can be a long running series or it could be a weeklong event – which would be fun for Spring Break. Teens come every day, learn about nutrition and cooking, and they get to eat! I may not be a fan of cooking, but I do love to eat!

Additional Resources

  • 18 Microwave Snacks You Can Cook In A Mug – BuzzFeed
  • 9 Mug Cakes You Can Bake in Just Minutes | Real Simple
  • 22 Quick and Tasty Snacks You Can Cook In A Mug – Style

Cooking Programs for Teens

  • Sprinkle, Mold, Blend, Create: Cooking Programs for Teens
  • Teen Cooking: Microwaves and Mugs | So like YA know
  • Cooking Up Library Programs Teens and ‘Tweens Will Love
  • Building a Teen Nutrition Program | Urban Libraries Council

Food Based TPiBs

  • Food Fight (based on The Sweetest Thing by Christina Mandelski, food activities)
  • Marshmallow Madness
  • Tiny Food Party
  • On a Stick
  • Sprinkles!
  • Waffle It!

Filed under: Cookbooks, Cooking, Teen Program in a Box, Teen Programming, Teen Programming in a Box, Teen Programs in a Box, TPIB

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About Karen Jensen, MLS

Karen Jensen has been a Teen Services Librarian for almost 30 years. She created TLT in 2011 and is the co-editor of The Whole Library Handbook: Teen Services with Heather Booth (ALA Editions, 2014).

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sarah says

    December 3, 2015 at 4:33 pm

    So what’s the tip for getting the gluten free pasta to cook right? I’m always hesitant to try these because I need all the gluten free substitutions, but I really want to try the mug cooking-my kind of easy cooking!

  2. Elizabeth W says

    December 3, 2015 at 5:12 pm

    For older teens, I’d do some College Dorm Cooking Hacks as a lead-up to the start of a semester (maybe with some sophomores and older advising new freshmen about to leave?)
    Smoothie day?

    Also- stick/immersion blenders are awesome & smaller than an actual blender for smoothies, soups, etc

Trackbacks

  1. Folded Blog says:
    November 5, 2016 at 5:31 pm

    Besties You Me Everyday Photo Mug

    […] n we used gluten free pasta and once we figured out how to cook the noodles corr […]

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