Happy Easter!

You know your kid is spoiled (or a perfectionist just like you) when you whip these up without notice because you realize that it's the last school day before Easter and you haven't made a treat for the preschoolers yet and her response is, "They were yummy, but next time you should really get jelly beans instead of M&Ms because they look more like eggs."

I am not going to be able to post a lengthy recipe because I totally winged it on these. Here are the components:

1. 24 Funfetti cupcakes made from the box mix substituting unsweetened applesauce for the oil
2. Homemade buttercream tinted light green (totally improvised this by starting with 1 cup of butter whipped in the Kitchen-aid and then just started pouring in dream whip, vanilla extract, milk, and confectioner's sugar til I liked the way it tasted)
3. Easter M&Ms
4. White chocolate bunnies that I used candy melts and a super old bunny lollipop mold (didn't insert the sticks) to make

Anyway, Happy Easter to those that celebrate:-)

Friday Five: Non-candy Easter Baskets

When my bug was first born I was all about good nutrition. She was exclusively breast-fed for the first five months and then started on (mostly) organic purees. As her diet advanced I would bake bread for her, make homemade entrees like mac and cheese from scratch, and served a fruit and vegetable at every meal. She didn't drink juice until she was 2 and even then was only offered a few ounces a week. I was so proud of myself for following all the rules I preached each day at work. 

I can't pinpoint how and when it happened, but somehow the sweets started creeping into her life - some of it was my fault because I loved to bake and some of it was over-eager family wanting to shower her with treats. Before I knew it, my bug was addicted to sugar! If I didn't resort to hiding all the excess treats she was given she'd probably weigh twice as much. Without checking, I know there are a box of peeps, at least two chocolate lollipops, a bag of Hershey's kisses, more than three Pez dispensers, three large decorated sugar cookies from a cookie bouquet, a few dozen lollipops, and mini packets of holiday jelly beans in the treasure trove right now. I feel guilty to throw it away, but I can't let her eat it.

To avoid adding to the collection, I need to get creative this Easter and come up with non-candy treats for bug's basket (and fillers for the eggs for her Easter egg hunt!). Here are my top five non-candy basket and egg filler ideas!

Basket Gifts

1. Books are my favorite for every holiday! Easter books, books from a favorite series, or a completely new book are all great suggestions.
2. BPA-free water bottle. Spring is here and summer is coming, a stylish new water bottle with a promise of an outing in the great outdoors is a practical and fun idea.
3. Figurines to inspire make-believe play. Disney store online has tons of play sets. Bug just discovered My Little Pony and will be getting her favorite pony in her basket.
4. Swimming gear. A new swimsuit, sun hat, and/or sunscreen are an especially good idea if your family is traveling somewhere warm for Spring Break.
5. Something crafty/artsy. Go to your local Joann's/Michael's/Hobby Lobby and look around at the sets they offer to find something that suits your child's interests (paint sets, molding sets, model kits, jewelry making, etc).

Egg Fillers

1. Stamps. My bug loves to craft and I found multiple small Disney stamps in a dollar bin at Joann's crafts that will be perfect size for eggs. 
2. Money! My parents would put quarters and dollars in our eggs so we could buy ourselves a treat and I plan to carry on that tradition.
3. Stickers and tattoos. You can sometimes find sheets that perforate into small squares that would be perfect to fit into a plastic. Otherwise, you can buy any stickers you want and cut them up.
4. Bubbles. I don't know why, but kids LOVE bubbles.You know those tiny bottles of bubbles that people hand out at weddings ? They are the perfect size to fit in Easter eggs! You can find them at party stores and some dollar stores.
5. Small toys (like Squinkies) are popular right now and perfect size for kids over the age of 3.

I hope these ideas help someone else out there who is looking to decrease the Easter sugar overload.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We've been getting in the green spirit for a few weeks around here and we topped off the morning with an entirely green breakfast! Daddy made some disturbingly green eggs and ham for the bug for breakfast while I whipped up a batch of these semi-healthy donuts. The original recipe can be found here. I modified only by replacing 1 cup of regular white flour with whole wheat flour.

I wouldn't call these donuts fabulous, but they had a great texture/crumb and were tastier dipped in my cup of coffee. Also, the glaze looked pretty, but didn't have much flavor. Next time, I would add a tablespoon of melted butter to make it richer.

Friday Five: St. Patrick's Day Yummies!

Just in time for this St. Patty's Day this weekend I'm sharing some of the yummy things I've whipped up in the past week or so to celebrate at home, school, and work.

 

Start St. Patrick's Day off right with a well rounded breakfast. I used my favorite basic pancake recipe with whole wheat white flour and tinted with Wilton icing colors to get vibrant hues.

For the kiddos: "Rainbow" pancakes, banana "clouds", and a scrambled egg "pot of gold"

For the grown-ups: Rainbow silver dollars

If you're looking for a treat that is colorful and only requires a few ingredients (but a bit of time to assemble), try out these rainbow rice krispie treats. I was inspired by this blogger, but I think that her recipe made them too crisp and if I made them again I would add more marshmallows and perhaps a dash of heavy cream during the cooking phase to make them chewier.

The colors didn't come out nearly as vibrant in this photo as they were in person

The in production shot before I portioned them...

These St. Patty's cake pops are stunners, but require MANY hours of dedication to create. I got the idea for a rainbow cake pop from this blogger's beautiful picture tutorial, but wasn't confident I could handle the wrapping of layers of cake without just squishing it all up into a mess. Instead, I opted to roll each color out between sheets of wax paper and then layered them in rainbow order. After a 6 hour rest in the fridge, I cut the big block of cake into small rectangles. I realled wanted to make sure they stayed together when dipping in the chocolate, so I rested them in the freezer for another 30-60 minutes before inserting the sticks and dipping them.

Funky lighting because I snapped this as they were chillin' in the fridge while I dipped another batch 

Outside: Green chocolate and some festive sprinkles

Inside: Surprise! Rainbow cake!
The poor lighting in my kitchen at 11pm when I finished these does not do them justice:-(

This "adults only" Guiness/Jameson/Bailey's cupcake will leave you with a buzz as well as a sugar rush. I shared these a few years ago (see my old post here) and have been making them yearly ever since.

 

Once again, not a great photo because I finished them at night and then I snapped this in our lunchroom just now

For those of you who are trying to behave and follow a diet (like me!) here's a healthy St. Patty's Day treat - Green Fruit Salad!

Diced kiwi, honeydew melon, and green grapes

 

Christmas Countdown

Current Mood: Sleepy
What I accomplished today: Haven't finished yet, but will address all of my Christmas cards when Maddie goes to bed

I don't know about anyone else out there, but I don't just like the holiday season, I LOVE it! Lights, trees, wrapping paper, Christmas music - I love it all! This year is especially exciting for our family because it is my baby girl's very first Christmas. I'm hoping to carry on as many family traditions as we can as well as starting some new traditions of our very own.

Family traditions:
- Watching holiday movies together
- Advent calendars (although Maddie is too young this year!)
- Decorating the tree together
- Christmas eve gatherings

New traditions:
- Watching the first holiday movie of the year on Thanksgiving night
???

Please share some of your favorite holiday traditions in the comments!