Banana Bites

This oh so yummy breakfast is a favorite at our house right now, Banana Bites!

1-2 Bananas, depending who and many many you are serving.

1 Cup Pancake Batter (Your favorite boxed brand)

**You can use maple syrup, yogurt or even honey to drunks theses bites in. Be creative and have fun. Not only will the kids think it's great...so will you!


First take your Bananas(1-2) and cut them at a bias. So that their a little easier for the kids to pick up...and they look prettier too. :)






Then you dunk your bananas in your pancake mixture. It would be wonderful with a whole wheat pancake mixture if you had it. Then shaking off the excess batter into the bowl and place on a buttered griddle or skillet over medium heat. Letting them golden brown ob both sides.

Crazy Dogs "Spaghetti Dogs"

Isn't this the craziest thing you have ever seen with hotdogs? I got this idea from Plum Pudding. She has some really neat ideas.

I did these for my son's 3rd birthday party. Since he was turning "3" I only used three spaghetti noodles. But of course, you can you as many as you or your kids can stick through the hotdogs. Not only is this a fun and interesteing way to eat your hotdog and spaghetti, it's also fun for the kids to help with. My kids love helping me in the kitchen. And the messier, the better is for them. Not so much for mom, but at least their having fun! ;)


First, cut hot dogs into 1" pieces





Seconed, Carefully thread the spaghetti into and through the hotdog. This is fun for the kids to do. Be creative & have fun!

Third, place in a pot of boiling water and cook according to your specific pasta cook time. This is like lunch and crafting rolled into one! So try it and let me know how yours turn out.

Plain & Simple School Lunches

Just wanted to share a simple way to serve your kids school lunches or any lunch. Mckayla loves this and the best part for Mom is that she eats it, so we can't beat that!

Rabbit Anyone?

Since we are getting closer and closer to Easter, I thought that I would start to spice up Mckayla's lunches to meet the Spring and Easter theme. Today Mckayla's having Rabbit! Well..not really rabbit but a sandwich shaped into a rabbit on a bed of spinach leafs that's eating julienne carrots, with a side of ranch for some good dipping! Awesome thing she likes all of it! She helped me arrange her rabbits "eating" the carrots. Cute!!

Gotta Make It Fun!

It's not just school lunches that I seem to have to make fun around the house sometimes in order for them to eat. he-he! When I know that there might be something that they or one of them might question it gets me thinking that I need to make it a little more pleasing to the eye and usually for the most part they eat it.


And, they sure did! Both of them had their plates licked clean by the time we were done. It's the key. Make it fun. Make it "pretty" looking. And make it yummy!

Dinner Time Fun

I have been really falling in love with Bento Boxes and their recipes lately There are so really cute kid friendly breakfast, lunch and snack ideas! Which has really helped cause the kids lately are both going through this stage were they aren't eating much and it takes a lot to get them to complete a whole meal. So, I went to Bento Boxes and started to make even snacks a fun treat for them. It's wonderful!
This is just a little taste of what dinner looks like for the kids. It might not look tasty..but hey, the kids LOVED it and that's what matters. LOL

Kid Friendly Wraps with a Little Dancing on the side

Check out how much the kids like their snack the other day. It was too cute for words that I just had to take some pictures. We were enjoying snack, can you tell!? Been doing "kid friendly" snacks for the kids and trying to make their food a little bit for pleasing to the eye. Sometimes they go for it and sometimes they don't. Their kids...life's a dance and sometimes you just have to drop everything and just dance! :)

Connor was enjoying his veggie wrap so much he couldn't even really stop eating to take the picture. Mckayla on the other hand was showing me a little dance jig. Not sure if you can catch it, but she's dancing! :) We have so much fun sometimes it just makes me laugh. What a blessing kids are!

Fast Kid Friendly Fun Lunches

This is one of my fast fun kid friendly lunches that I did for Mckayla, Garrett and one Mckayla's friends that lives next door. They enjoyed it to say the least!

Mini Bears Faces

Aren't these just adorable!?! I have to give all the credit to my wonderful and dear friend Jen for these cute Bear Faces that she did for Connor's 1st birthday party. I just couldn't get over how cute they were so I had to take a picture and post them! Wonderful job Jen!!

It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's...

...A hot dog bird! It's this just the cutest thing you have ever seen?! Well I think so. I was looking around online and found this very interesting little bird online. So I thought that I would try it out. Does it look like a little bird?






Cut the hot dog into three slices at an angle. With two at the same size smaller than the third one. We used mustard for the eyes and a piece of cheese for it's beak. The wings are held together with toothpicks. but make sure they are removed before your kids take a bit!

It's Mckayla!!

...well not really. But have the kids make their own little person with food! They'll have a blast eating it too!








This is what Mckayla used to make her little "Mini Me"

- Body: banana
- Arms, Legs and Eyes: Hot Dog
- Mouth: piece of a Pretzel
- Nose: Mustard
- Hair: Cheddar Cheese

Tic-Tac-Toe ?

When growing up, didn't you Mom ever say, "Honey, stop playing with your food." lol...I don't think this helps. =) But never the less it was fun to put together! And no, it wasn't a real game...Mckayla wasn't into playing, but more into eating it!



You can use really whatever is around the house or whatever your kids will eat. Here is what we used:

- 1 cooked hot dog (sliced to make lines)
- 4 round slices of bannas
- 4 squares of sliced cheese

Try something different and post your favorite things your little ones enjoy! But have fun with your little one... and see who wins your Tic-Tac-Toe game.

Sugar Cookies

This after noon Mckayla and I made these delicious sugar cookies! They were so fun to do and so good to eat - Try them...you'll like it! =)



This is my Grandma Eick's recipe...and it's wonderful!

3 1/2 cups of flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 cup butter (room temp)
1 1/2 cups of sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract



1. Mix butter and sugar together well

2. Add/Mix together well eggs and vanilla

3. Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt together then add to the rest of the recipe.

4. Mix together very well and put in refrigerate for 30 minutes



Take out after 30 minutes and start cutting out your wonderful shapes!

Bake at *375 for 10-15 minutes and rest of a cooling rack before icing. Enjoy!!

Kai-lan's Fortune Cookies

Mckayla and I made these cookies that we saw on NickJr.com Makes up to 24 of these cookies.

2 Eggs Whites
3 Tbsp. Melted Butter
1/2 Cup Flour
1 Tsp. Corn Starch
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/4 Tsp. Almond Extract
Pinch of Salt
3 Tbsp. Water

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Spray several cookie sheets with vegetable cooking spray

2. Whisk the egg whites in a medium bowl. Add the remaining ingredients, whisking until smooth. Spoon a generous tablespoon of the mixture on a prepared cookie sheet. Spread the batter into a 3 1/2-inch circle. Place three circles on the sheet pan at a time about 2 inches apart.

3. Bake the cookies until golden brown, about 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer the cookie sheet to a wire rack. Working with one cookie at a time, fold it in half, bottom facing each other. Pull the ends downward over the rim of a glass to make the shape. Hold cookie in place for several seconds to keep the shape. Repeat with the other cookies. If they become too firm, place in the oven to reheat slightly. Repeat with the remaining batter.

4. Use Kai-lan's Fortune Slips printable to write some fortunes together with your child. Then, slip a fortune in each cookie. To get Kai-lan's Fortune Slips click here.








These are the messages that we wrote to put in the cookies. Mckayla and I had a blast doing and more fun eating them...so did Daddy!

A New Way to Eat Baloney and Cheese

The other day, I thought that I would make Mckayla's lunch a little fun yet again.

Here's what she had:
Baloney and Cheese sushi rice rolls with Baloney and Cheese fries.
Baloney and Cheese star cut outs and hard boiled egg slices.



As you can see, she enjoyed it very well. And I was happy that she ate it all...

Monkey Munch

This is the same receipe that Kate uses on their show, Jon & Kate plus 8. We have made this using organic ingredence and without doing organic. It's wonderful just the same either way you want.

...It's wonderful and we found out that Mckayla LOVES it!! =D It's a perfect snack food!!!

Ingredients:

9 cups Chex cereal (any variety) (We like to use the Wheat Chex
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

1) Put chex in a large bowl and put aside.

2) Place chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter into a quart-sized microwavable bowl.

3) Stir the ingredients together.

4) Microwave the mixture uncovered for a minute on "high." Stir the mix again and continue to zap in thirty second intervals until it mixes smoothly.

5) Add the vanilla and stir.

6) Pour over the chex cereal while stirring.

7) Put combination into a 2-gallon, Ziploc freezer bag.

8) Add powdered sugar, seal the bag and shake until distributed.

9) Spread Monkey Munch out on wax paper to cool and dry.

10) Keep refrigerated in an airtight container for storage.

Octopus Hot dog

This is one of Mckayla's favorite lunches! The first time I did one of these she thought that everyone does them. So she would ask everyone to make her an Octopus Hot dog. ha-ha Sometimes the simple things are great for little kids.

Ham & Turkey Wrap

This is a kid friendly Ham & Turkey Wrap that fits little hands.

1 slice of White Bread
1 slice of Ham
1 slice of Turkey

Roll and cut at an angle

Served with star shape cheese cutout, green pepper slices and ranch dressing for all the dipping fun. And with a cup of organic apple juice to wash it all down. Mmm-Mmmm good!!