Toddler Cuisine 3: Monster Man

This was my third attempt at an appealing "theme" lunch for my picky girl, Sage. I am super happy to report it was wildly successful again! Hopefully I am on to something here...

Monster Man!

To make Sage's Monster Man, here's what I used...

One slice bread

One apple slice

Two pepperonis

One baby carrot

Shredded cheddar cheese

One tsp ranch dressing

Half of one celery stick

 First, I cut the crusts off of two sides of the bread. Then, I spread the ranch dressing over the top half of the bread (for taste and to help things stick). Next, I placed the pepperonis for eyes, topped with two slices of carrot. I then cut a wedge out of the apple and cut that in half for eyebrows. I placed the other half of the apple for the mouth. Finally,I placed the two pieces of celery for ears and the shredded cheese for hair.... She loved it! 

"Mommy! It's a Monster Man!!"

Yummy-good...until the very last bite was gone!
 

Toddler Cuisine

My second creation!

Yummy Flower Lunch

1. One slice cheese placed on plate.

2. Use a glass (or cookie cutter) to cut a slice of bread into a circle, spread small amount of Ranch dressing on top and place on top of cheese.

3. Cut up 2-3 raw baby carrots into small, flat slices and line top of bread.

4. Slice 2-3 strawberries and place around bread for "petals".

5. Place one celery stalk for "stem".

6. Place 2-3 spinach leaves along stem.

And..... Wha--lah! 

Again...every last bite gone!  (Even the spinach leaves!) 
 

Toddler Cuisine

Toddler Cuisine: 

Pink Piggy Breakfast!

For months I have been trying different ways to get my rambunctious 2 1/2 year old daughter to eat her food! I have found that she actually (to my surprise!) loves healthy food! The problem is, she doesn't want to sit still long enough to eat it! Sooooo, I've been seeing all these cutesy, themed food ideas for toddlers... I'm sure you've seen them: trucks, flowers and everything in between... And I'm sure you thought the same thing I did: Ain't nobody got time for that! BUT I WAS DESPERATE!!! Sooooo.... I decided to try it and see what happened. This is what I found...

1. It didn't take as long as I thought! (About 5-10 mins!) Just a few minutes more than usual!

2. I can make a variety of things out of things I already had on hand.

And...best of all...

3. My picky daughter Ate. Every. Last. Bite. ! (And LOVED it!)

SUCCESS!!!!

Here is my first "creation", and how I did it...

Pink Piggy Breakfast
 1. Spread out the contents of one yogurt cup in the shape of a circle (mine was pink: strawberry banana).

2. Slice one strawberry into 4 pieces, place for ears and two together for nose.

3. Slice one grape in half lengthwise and place for eyes.

5. 4 chocolate chips, one on each eye and two for nostrils.

6. One cup of mandarin oranges. Place one or two for mouth, and line the plate edge with the rest!

Enjoy!

Deep Breaths...

We all have them... Those "take a deep breath" moments. If you are a Momma, I know you understand. If you are, or have ever been, the Momma of a, shall we say "spirited" toddler... Then you REALLY understand! 

This was one of those days for me. My daughter, Sage, was taking her nap. I was super busy having a yard sale, friends at my house helping, random shoppers and my 9 month old son was sick... I got so busy that a few hours went by before a lightbulb went off in my head... "This has been an awfully long nap."

Then the internal Mommy alarm bells started going off. You know the ones... She's stopped breathing! She's climbed out the window! She's eaten something in her room and choked! But... As I started up the chairs I could hear her chattering away to get babies and I sighed a deep breath... Shes ok. Thank Goodness... And then I walked into this:

My sweet, sassy Sage had dumped out an ENTIRE large bottle of baby powder! All over her nightstand... Her carpet and rug... All over her! Not to mention, it looked like the room was on fire from all the "smoke" it had created! 

I took a deep breath...and coughed! (Because of all the "smoke").

"Oh my word!" Was my reaction, outwardly. Inwardly, I was mad! Thinking about the mess... The time it would take to clean this all up...Ugh! 

Deeeep breath!

Then I thought again: I chose to laugh. Yep, just laugh. I took her picture, had her "help" clean up and told her not to do it again... She giggled. She was so proud of her creation. She said "Look Mom! I drew you a picture!" As she pointed to her little finger marks in the powder. And I was proud too, in a way. Of her, and of myself. She is 2 1/2 and I chose to just let her be little.

 
 

 

Pizza Balls!

*Yummy Recipe Alert*

Pizza Balls!! 

Get your taste-buds ready for one of the easiest & yummiest recipes you'll ever try! I recently made these for Football Sunday... And they were a HUGE hit!

Ingredients:

One jar Pizza sauce (any kind)

One pkg. Pepperoni

One pkg Mozzerella String Cheese (cut into three pieces)

Two rolls of biscuits (I used buttermilk)

One egg

Oregano, Parmesan cheese, Olive oil, Garlic powder, Salt & Pepper

Directions:

1. Flatten out one biscuit

2. Place one pepperoni, one tsp. sauce, one piece of cheese & one more pepperoni on top.

3. Start folding up the sides of the biscuit around, press in the tops to stick them together.

4. Place in greased, glass baking dish upside down!

5. Repeat until you are out of supplies... Or your pan is full!

6. Mix in small dish: Egg, Olive oil and rest of ingredients to taste! Use as much or as little as you want!

7. Use brush to brush mixture over top of balls!
 

8. Place in oven at 350F and bake until the tops are golden! (Mine took about 20 minutes!)

9. Serve immediately!! I served the extra sauce on the side and also some Ranch dressing! 

YUMMMMM!!