Funnel Cakes

A few weeks ago, my husband saw a small bag of mix for funnel cakes and brought it home for a treat. On Saturday morning, while the children were enthralled by cartoons, we got to work with the messy deep-frying.  We surprised our children by having this ready on their plates when we called them to breakfast.

You can make them at home!

Yes, I know you should have a healthier start to the day, but really funnel cakes aren't very different from doughnuts. Besides, never mind the cheese and bacon, you do see that green spinach in those scrambled eggs, right?

This was meant to be a treat, one I'm not sure we've ever even indulged in at the fair for the kids. If we have, I'm certain they've never enjoyed a whole funnel cake all too themselves.

It was a treat the children were delighted to see, and they loved tearing into the powdery sweets.  And they were filling, too, I might add. I am not sure that any of them finished off an entire one. We had LOTS left over.

What was intended as a treat also served as a lesson. Funnel cakes really pick up lots of grease in the frying process, and our tummies were not appreciative. These fun fair foods aren't all that healthy (surprise, surprise!). Those of us old enough to express it felt icky and sluggish all day. Two of my children are swearing off funnel cakes for life.

Now, I still like funnel cakes, but I don't think I'll ever attempt to eat an entire one by myself again. I think the fun of funnel cakes exists just as much in the atmosphere of a fair or festival and in the sharing of it. Being able to walk it off afterwards probably helps, too.

Was it worth making them? Definitely. My husband and I had fun making them, and seeing the surprise on the kids' faces was satisfying. BUT a little bit goes a long, long way, and I'm not sure we'll ever make them again.

On a healthier note, tonight we had kale with kielbasa. While we've certainly cooked kale before, for some reason the kids gobbled it up tonight. Even my committed carnivore gobbled up the veggie, and he rarely eats veggies of any kind happily. Tonight he went back for seconds of not only the meat; in fact, he fished out a bit of meat and then loaded up on the kale. My husband and I were left with our jaws hanging down in amazement.

So. Even if you've tried cooking kale with bacon and your family hated it, try it with kielbasa. I just sliced up the kielbasa and some onion, fried it up a little in the bottom of a pot, and then loaded on the kale, adding more once it cooked down enough to make more room in the pot.