Fruit Wigglers

There are a lot of fun jello ideas out there. This one is by far my favorite. It looks like fruit but it is all Jello.

Hollow out a lemon, orange, melon or even strawberries!

Make your Jello as directed on the box.  I used the lemon flavor to correspond with the lemons. 

Pour your Jello into the hollowed out fruit.

Allow the Jello to set up in the refrigerator for several hours.

Once the Jello is set up use a serrated knife and slice your Fruit Wigglers.

Served with a smile!

Brownie Pizza

Brownies are just about the perfect food. Right there next to pizza which IS the perfect food. Am I right or am I right? Here is a great idea that combines both. Moreover this Brownie Pizza is almost healthy for you. You will be asking your kiddo if they want another slice before their done with the first one! Here`s my little secret...

What you Need:

Box o`Brownie Mix
Apple Sauce (amount will vary depending on oil needed)
1/2 cup Frozen Spinach, thawed and pureed
Whipped Cream (maybe use whipping cream and make the whipped cream yourself!)
Strawberries, sliced
Blueberries

Directions:

Preheat oven as directed by the Box o`Brownie Mix.

In a large bowl stir together the brownie mix with all ingredients as listed on the Box o`Brownie Mix (substitute the apple sauce for the oil in the recipe) plus the pureed spinach. Seriously, they wont even know the spinach is there!

I then poured half the mix into a spring form pan to create a thin pizza and popped it into the oven. 

You might already be thinking ahead that you can make 2 of these Brownie Pizzas! 

That means an entire one for yourself!

 Once the 'pizza' is completely cooled spread a layer of whipped cream on top. 

Note: I took whipping cream and put it in the mixer to create the whipped cream. There is no added sugar this way which means it is just a little bit better for you. There is enough sweetness in the brownie and fruit to compensate. Just pour the cream in your mixer and mix for several minutes. Once it starts to fluff up keep a close eye on it so you do not over mix it as it will make the whipped cream "stiff."

 Add on the toppings of strawberries and blueberries. 

Even better have your kiddo do the toppings!

For added effect I took last night's pizza box and revamped it for this dessert. Clever, right? 

You might even do this but have your kiddo decorate the pizza box with paints, glitter, jewels, whatever. 

Cut yourself up a nice slice of pie and enjoy!

Little French Men

My life Before Kids (BK) included living in Europe for awhile. It was an exciting and inspiring time for me. It is a distant memory though (kids do that to you!)  But I am looking forward to bringing my girls to all the places in Europe that will excite and inspire them. We are a few years away from this but it hasn`t stopped me from teaching my girls about different countries.

Yesterday we were watching videos of singing gondoliers on the Venice canals. I loved watching Caroline`s eyes dazzle as she imagined a city with no streets or cars, just waterways and boats. She listened to the Italian songs and asked what the songs were about. It was a rare occasion where my Italian language skills came in useful (I knew those months of living and studying in Italy would come in handy one day!!)

And last week we were looking at pictures of the Eiffel Tower because Daddy was in Paris for `work.` Caroline loves the Fancy Nancy book series so she is familiar with Paris and the Eiffel Tower (if you don`t know FN she is a little girl that loves all things French.)  Now, she cannot wait to go to Paris like Daddy and take her picture in front of the Eiffel Tower too. I showed her what the French flag looked like and even got out my souvenir from a past Paris visit.

I decided to use this inspiration to make a new creation. So, to celebrate daddy`s return we made Little French Men.

WHAT YOU NEED:

GINGERBREAD MAN COOKIE CUTTER
BREAD
2 EGGS
2 TBS MILK
1/8 TSP VANILLA EXTRACT
1/2 TSP CINNAMON SUGAR
2 TBS BUTTER
CANDY EYES 
RAISINS

DIRECTIONS:

Using a cookie cutter cut out your little men. I used regular wheat bread, nothing fancy. 

Mix the eggs, milk, vanilla, and cinnamon sugar together in a bowl. Give your little men a yolky bath by letting them soak in the mixture for one or two minutes.

Add your butter to a skillet on medium heat. Once melted put your men into the hot pan. Cook for about 2 minutes on each side.

Add on the eyes and cut a raisin to make a smile and voila! Très facile!

Summer Hot Dog Series: The Corn Dog, Kinda

 Since the moment my children have been able to eat real people food I have been a fanatic about cutting everything up into itty bitty pieces. This includes the foods that are wildly popular but, perfectly sized to be lodged in any child's windpipe, like grapes and hot dogs. I have also been like this for the less scary foods, like watermelon and scrambled eggs. I have video of my oldest eating watermelon when she was about 9 months old. The pieces were so small she couldn't even pick them up. She had to slurp them off the table! 

 Moreover, I hate grapes at playdates! If grapes are brought to a playdate I am constantly watching to ensure that my children do not eat a whole one while wondering why the other moms seem so relaxed. I am certain that my kids will be full grown adults and I will still be cutting up their grapes! 

This all holds true for the hot dog too. I cut that dog up into so many pieces that one wouldn't even know that it started its life out as a hot dog. Moreover, it looks rather pathetic there on the plate next to the ketchup and the ever important apple sauce (which has been accompanying every meal lately.) 

My solution to my neurotic mommy behavior, but more importantly, to the boring plate problem is the creation of the toddler friendly corn dog. Here the little doggie pieces are baked into a tasty cornbread muffin. Add in a stick and you are good to go!

What You Need:

• 3 Hot Dogs
• Corn Muffin Mix (you could be an overachiever and make your mix from scratch but Jiffy makes it too easy!)
• Can of Creamed Corn
• 1/4 cup of Sour Cream
• One Egg

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Dice up your hot dog into little pieces.

Next, crack one egg into a large bowl. Mix in the can of creamed corn and the sour cream. Beat together.

 Next, add in the box of Jiffy Cornbread Mix and the hot dog pieces. Mix completely.

After spraying your large muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray fill your tins about 2/3 of the way full. Pop them into your oven for about 20 minutes. 

Once they've cooled a bit take them out of the pan and pop in a cake pop stick. Let them cool completely.

Now, you have the Corn Dog, Kinda without the worry about cutting up the hot dog. 

yummy!

Perfect for little hands

I also tried it with a mini muffin tin and stacked a few corn dogs onto the stick. If you go this route they only need to be baked for 10- 12  minutes.

Summer Hot Dog Series: Slinky Dog

For some people the hot dog is all about keeping the hot dog in its "true" form. They don't want it cut up or made to look cute or baked into something. They want their hot dog in a hot dog bun with ketchup and mustard and relish and whatever. These are the traditionalist and their needs are important too.

With these people in mind I am offering you the Slinky Dog. It looks like a slinky it even acts like a slinky but it is all dog. The spiral cut adds a funny dimension to the hot dog that provides nooks and crannies to catch all your yummy toppings.

What you Need:

Hot Dog
Skewer

Directions:

Bring a pot of water to a boil. (I have not tried this on the bbq yet...)

First, carefully skewer your hot dog right down the middle. If the skewer goes off to the side just bring it back in and line it back up again. The skewer will allow you to cut the hot dog without slicing all the way through.

Start at one end of the hot dog and press the knife down at an angle onto the skewer.

Now for the tricky part:
With the knife pressed down at an angle onto the skewer begin to roll the dog along the cutting board. The knife will begin to make a spiral cut around the dog.

Cut all the way to the other end of the hot dog.

Carefully place the dog into the water and boil for 8- 10 minutes. When it is cooked it will have a slinky shape to it. I did try to make it "walk" down the stairs but, surprisingly, it didn't work.

When I showed my daughter the Slinky Dog she looked right into my eyes and said "You're weird." And then walked away. She has no idea!!

Summer Hot Dog Series: Bug Builder

When you have children you know that you have to feed them every. day. It becomes more breakfasts, lunches and dinners than I care to count! When the last thing that I want to do is make lunch or dinner I end up making a simple sandwich or I microwave some chicken nuggets Very uninspiring, like my mood!

What is even more uninspiring is a bunch of cut up hot dog. Wouldn't you agree? An easy way to add inspiration to a quick and easy meal is by turning a pile of meat into a bunch of bugs.

INSPIRING!

Uninspiring

What you need:
Hot Dogs
Ketchup
Candy Eyes (I got these in the baking section at Safeway)

Directions:

Boil your hot dog for about 8 minutes. Then cut your hot dog in half lengthwise and then into small pieces.

Using only half the hot dog arrange the pieces on the plate as desired. There can be super long bugs or short bugs.

Then put the ketchup into a bag and add on a small hole icing tip (is that what you call them?) and pipe on the legs, etc. I did try just squirting it out of the ketchup bottle, no bueno.

Seriously, this is easy. In this picture is my first attempt. And I did it with 2 toddlers hovering over me wanting to touch it.

This is how close I let her get to my creation. She was pretty excited about it. Actually, she was excited about eating the candy eyes. It's the little things!

Little sister was excited for real! She loves bugs and poked at these guys for a few minutes before eating every last bug part.

You can get pretty creative with your bug building. 

Post some pics of your own bugs!

Summer Hot Dog Series: The Noodle Dog

In this installment of my week long Summer Hot Dog Series I present the Noodle Dog. 

This recipe is so playful and creative that I had to include it here. It is one of those recipes that seems impossible but I can tell you without a doubt that it works. I affectionately call it the Noodle Dog.

I could have been more creative then that. But I didn't want to limit myself here. These tasty bites can look like spiders, jelly fish, or even a baby version of spaghetti locks.  I leave it up to you on how you want to present it. Whatever way you choose though you are sure to get some smiles from kiddos and grown ups alike. 

What you Need:

• Dry spaghetti noodles 
• Hot Dog

How to Construct the Noodle Dog:

First, place a pot of water on the stove to bring to a boil.

Slice up your hot dogs.

Next,  insert the noodles into the hot dog slices. The easiest way to do this quickly is to lay the sliced hot dog on a plate and to stick the dry noodles into it. It is up to you how many noodles you want to push through. I used about 8 for each slice.

Then pickup your spiky hot dog and carefully push the noodles through the dog.

















Finally, gently place your Noodle Dogs into boiling water. Boil for as long as your noodles require.


Once they are done cooking gently scoop your Noodle Dogs out of the water.








You can decide what sauce to use. Marinara is a good one as it adds some much needed vegetable to this tasty and funny dish.

-------------------Food. Play. Create.----------------

Pool Noodle Fun

What you need:

Pool Noodle and String

There are many creative ways to use the pool noodle. In this activity the grown up must cut the noodle into many pieces. You will end up with lots of rings (which are fun for stacking too!)

With a hole down the middle they are perfect for having those little hands string up the noodle. It is not about what they make but rather how they make it. Learning to thread the string through the hole takes some coordinated effort and concentration.

I tied a string to one noodle piece so that the other noodles don't fall right off. On the other end I tied a small spoon that could fit through the noodle hole to help with the stringing process (my 4 year old didn't need it but the 2 year old sure did!)

 Have your kiddo string up those rings and show off their creation with pride!