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.

All 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.

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!

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.

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!