I Heart You!

I sometimes feel that I love my girls more than any mother has ever loved their baby in the entire history of the world (I am sure we have all felt like that, right?) With Valentine`s Day coming up there is no better time to let them feel the love that we have for them. 

V-day was always made special by my mother when I was growing up. She decorated the rarely used dining room with so many flowers, hearts, twinkly lights, and candies that you might have thought cupid threw up in there. It was beautiful! And we always had fondue for dinner that night. We each had our own color skewer and we would all clamor around the communal pot cooking our food. It was a fun way to bring us all together!  It is a tradition I will begin with my children when I can trust them around a boiling pot of oil! For now, I will decorate my own dining room in as much red and pink as possible and provide them with tasty treats, some love tokens and a few crafts. 

These `I heart you` treats, better known as palmiers, are full of yummy goodness. My oldest daughter ate 5 at once and wanted more (unfortunately for her I ate the rest!!!) Puff pastry is another wonderfully easy dough that you will find at your supermarket. Also, cardamon may not be a spice that you have stocked up in your pantry but I guarantee you that it is worth the purchase.

What You Need:

Puff Pastry Dough

2 TBS Butter, melted

1/4 cup Brown Sugar

1 TSP Cardamon

2 TBS Cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven at 450 degrees.

Defrost your store bought, pre-made puff pastry dough. Once defrosted, unroll the dough and spread on the butter.

In a small mixing bowl, mix together the brown sugar, cardamon and cinnamon. And then sprinkle it evenly on top of the buttered dough.

Now for the "tricky" part. In order to get the wonderful heart shape you will need to roll the dough in a particular way. Fold the sides of the square towards the center so that they go halfway to the middle. Then fold them again so that the two folds meet exactly in the middle. Then fold one half over the other half. Place in refrigerator for 20-30 minutes to harden up a bit.

Slice the dough into 1/4-inch slices and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place in the over for 5-6 minutes. Then using a spatula flip each cookie over and bake for another 4-5 minutes. Remove from oven and let them cool.

I served my treats with some red and pink and a little love note (she cannot read yet but she could feel the love for sure!)

FOOD PLAY:      

"I Heart You" Stamp

What you need:

• Toilet Paper Roll
• 2 small rubber bands
• red paint
• pink paint
• whatever color paint

Directions:

Fold in the toiler paper roll to make a heart shape (see picture.) Use the rubber bands to hold your heart in place. Squeeze paint onto a plate to begin the stamping fun!

It is so easy an 18 month old can do it!

My love bugs 

 (and yes, that is paint on my wall!)

Bags of Gold

Sometimes thinking out of the box means thinking outside of that mac and cheese box. It is so easy to boil some water, toss in some hard pasta and then mix in some cheesy goodness. It is no wonder that it is a childhood staple! If you take a few more minutes you can create something beyond a bowl of mac and cheese. This is where these Bags of Gold come in. Please do not be freaked out by the phyllo dough. I repeat, DO NOT FREAK OUT! In your freezer section they have the premade dough which makes it is so simple and yet so fancy. It is fool proof! 

What you Need:

• Box of Macaroni and Cheese
• Thawed Phyllo Dough,4 sheets
• 4 TBS Butter, melted
• Cooking String

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Bring a pot of water to boil and add in the uncooked macaroni. Cook according to the box's instructions. Drain and add in the cheese sauce and set aside.

Melt the butter. And get out a pastry brush (or a paper towel to dip in the butter.)

Open up the phyllo dough package. Take the first sheet out and place on counter and cover the rest of the dough with a damp cloth (it tends to dry out easily.) Brush the entire phyllo sheet with butter. Take the second phyllo sheet and place directly on top of the first. Brush that entire sheet with butter. Repeat with the next 2 sheets.

Cut the stack of sheets into 6 squares (ok, they are more rectangular shaped but you get the picture!)

 Now take about 2 TBS of the mac and cheese and lump it into the center of the squares.

Then gently fold up the sides of each square to cover the mac and cheese. Using the cooking string tie the tops together into a bag. It is so easy an 18 month old can do it!! Line them up on a baking sheet and pop them into the over for 10 minutes (or just until the tops get nice and brown.)

FOOD PLAY:

I know I should be have a craft idea here with lots of pictures of my little ones enjoying getting their hands a bit messy while they create their masterpiece. I keep delaying in posting this in order to have a craft idea orchestrated. Let's face it, its easy to get distracted as a mother. Heck, why organize a craft when I can be watching the next episode of Dexter on Netflix, right?! 

Don't worry, I am not going to leave you hanging here. I was going to do some sort of piggy bank craft (bags of gold = money bags = saving money.)  First I was thinking of getting a used plastic bottle and having the kiddos paint it like a piggy and put a slit on the side so they can start saving their pennies for college. Then I though that might be too much planning and work. So maybe just have the kiddos decorate a paper bag and then tie the top with a string leaving enough room to insert coins or that random $20.

Candy, candy canes, candy corns and syrup : Part 1

This is Lollipop the Elf. I am the Elf on the Shelf in this house. I have so much fun here!! I try to be as silly as possible just to see the smiling faces on those little girls each morning.

 

As you can see I can be a rather mischievous elf.   Here are some of my past antics...

All my effort has been worth it. Yet, tonight the joke is on Momma! I have been watching this Funny Mom lady and I secretly learned all her passwords (I have since changed them all!!)

Now I have taken over this blog.

It is time to start including the 4 main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns and syrup. So, I am devoting this entire post, and several to follow, to all things sugary and magical.

 

I am going to start with the all-time favorite of Santa and all the elves at the North Pole: Cookies! Those gingerbread man cookies are fine and all, but you HAVE to top them with candy, candy canes and candy corn. I challenge you to push those gingerbread men aside and bring in the Elf cookies.

This Elf cookie looks good enough to eat (just make sure you are biting into the cookie and not me.)

 

With all this sugary goodness I would happily eat all these cookies... gingerbread men and all!!

 



Merry Christmas!

Spaghetti-locks

You haven't heard of this long lost princess?! She was been locked away in a leaning tower in Italy for many years before a prince rescued her. All she had to eat were bowls and bowls of spaghetti. She ate so much of it that her hair turned into spaghetti! She was the most delicious princess to ever live. The story goes something like that... I still cannot believe Disney has not made a movie about her.

Seriously though, if you cannot have fun with spaghetti then there is no hope for humanity.

What you need:

For Meatballs:
- 1/2 onion diced fine
- 2 gloves garlic crushed and minced
- 2 tbs butter
- 1lb ground beef

- 2 large eggs

- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper

- 1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs

- 1/4 c parmesan cheese

Box of angel hair pasta
1 Jar of Spaghetti sauce
Frozen peas and carrots
Cherry tomatoes

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sauté onion and garlic in butter for 3- 4 minutes. Let cool.

Meanwhile, mix together meat, eggs, salt, pepper, bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. Add in onion mixture.

• Once everything is mixed together start to make your meatballs. These meatballs are going to be on the bigger side so that there is space to create your face and hairdo. I made 4 large meatballs (but feel free to make how many you want.) Cook for 30-35 minutes.

• While the meatballs are cooking bring a pot of water to boil and cook pasta per the package.
• Throw in a handful of frozen peas and carrots into the boiling water to cook them up.
• Once pasta is ready mix it in the pasta sauce. Be sure to reserve some sauce to cover the 'body.'

Time to create Spaghetti-locks:

• Cut a meatball in half and display on a plate.
• Use various veggies and sauce to create the face, body, jewelery and clothes
• Scoop out some spaghetti and place on either side of the meatball. Using a fork twirl the ends of the spaghetti into curls.
• Presto...Spaghetti-locks lives!

Trick or Treat: Eye Balls

"I'm Watching You" Meatballs

Halloween themed food is everywhere right now. As an FYI, it is this themed food concept that originally gave me the idea for this blog. This food idea is so much fun that I don't understand why it isn't such a big deal all year, not just Halloween (I'll get started on my Christmas ideas right away!)

I recently came by this meatball recipe from a friend and it is dee-lish! All it needed was some spooky thinking and, boo, here are my eyeballs. Add in a bit of ketchup for that nice, bloody touch. I made these over the weekend and all of them were devoured.

What you need:

- 1/2 onion diced fine
- 2 gloves garlic crushed and minced
- 2 tbs butter
- 1lb ground beef

- 2 large eggs

- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper

- 1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs

- 1/4 c parmesan cheese

- string cheese, cut in thirds
- black olives, sliced- Ketchup

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Sauté onion and garlic in butter for 3- 4 minutes. Let cool.
• Meanwhile, mix together meat, eggs, salt, pepper, bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. Add in onion mixture.

 Once all ingredients are mixed together begin to roll out your meatballs. I made 16 meatballs.

•  Once rolled out poke a hole with your finger into each ball. And place your string cheese part inside.

• Cook in oven for 20-25 minutes. Once cooked place an olive slice in teh middle of the cheese and drizzle with ketchup.

FOOD PLAY: GHOST BOWLING

There are so many art projects I could add to this post. Spooky handprint spiders, or footprint ghosts. Turning toilet paper holders into Frankenstein's monster. I decided on a fun game that is toddler friendly.

What you need:

• 6 paper towel rolls (you could use more but this is all I had!)
• black construction paper
• scissors
• small pumpkin

Cut out various shapes to create your ghost faces and tape them to the paper towel roll. Stack them up. Then using a small pumpkin have your kiddo roll the pumpkin to knock over the tower.

Trick or Treat: Bones

I love Halloween!  I didnt think much about how absolutely frightening it all is though until I brought my 3 year old into a Halloween superstore. She FREAKED out! After a bit of explaining about how she gets to dress as a princess and get candy she decided it is the greatest holiday ever!  She has been in a princess costume ever since. 

Halloween needs some toddler friendly treats.  So bones are on the menu tonight! They are fresh and warm and covered in blood!! Well, not really.

What you need:

breadstick dough (in the refrigeration section at the market)

one egg

parmesean cheese

marinara sauce

Directions:

Pull the breadsticks apart and, one by one, roll them into long skinny sticks. Then carefully tie a knot in the end of each stick.

 Once all the bones are prepared line them up on a baking sheet and brush each one with the egg wash and sprinkle with the cheese.

Bake as directed on the packaging (probably 350 degrees for about 15 minutes.) Pour some marinara sauce into a bowl for dipping. Enjoy!

Alphabet Pies

It is Fall and I feel compelled, no, pressured, to make whatever I can with pumpkin. I cannot get away from pumpkin. They are displayed all over the market both in can form and in the standard $7.99 gourd. Pinterest is even overwhelmed by that magical orange gift of the gods.There is even that compulsary Fall event of taking the kiddos to the pumpkin patch. This year we didnt even venture out in the Arizona sun to the actual patch to go picking; it is hot and dirty and generally a miserable experience. But there were pony rides and a jumpy thingy and playground. Unfortunately it did not feel like Fall as we walked around in our tank tops eating frozen icees. 
 

The pumpkin hype is overrated (and yes, as I type this I have some pumpkin bread baking in the oven. Don`t judge me!)  Persoanlly I think the hysteria stems from the proliferation of the Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks (which is yummy if it were only cold enough to drink a hot beverage.) So in order to maintain a bit of sanity I have diverged from the pumpkin bandwagon and have rediscovered the sweet potato. Enjoy your new favorite Fall treat!

 



 What you need:

 

• 2 cup of canned sweet potato
• 1 cup of white sugar
• 1/2 stick of butter, room temperature
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cinammon
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 1 cup milk
• 3 premade pie crust doughs

 

Directions:

 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Combine potatos, sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla, salt , cinnamon and ginger and mix. Once combined add milk.
• The mixture will be runny.Set aside to make the mini pie crusts.
• Be sure to have defrosted the pie crust!
• Unroll 2 pie crusts and using a 2 1/2 inch round cutter create your 24 mini pie crusts.

• Fill the pis crusts with the sweet potato filling (I used a mini ice cream scooper to ensure each were the same. )
• Bake for 20-25 minutes (until a toothpick comes out clean.)

 

• While the pies are baking unroll another pie dough and use alphabet cut outs to create your letters (I understand that many of you might not have these in your kitchen arsenal and all I can tell you is GET SOME! They are great with play doh and cookies and stamping. Until then you could always use your steady hand and cut out letters.)
• Bake the dough according to instructions. Probably something like 350 degrees for 10ish minutes.

 



Once pies are done and letters are done put them together.

 

Please note: What I really wanted to do was smother the pies in whipped cream and place the letters on top but I didn`t have any on hand and I was too darn tired to go to the market.