Painting with toddlers can be a challenge.  Our youngest wants desperately to participate with her older siblings during craft times, and yet, she still has a tendency to put things in her mouth. Time for edible paints! French’s sent us some honey mustard (yummy!) and Quirky kid A has had fun playing with “paint” while eating her veggies! This was a great time to train her to “paint” only on the paper and not on the table. We’ll work on not putting “paint” in her mouth …

My daughter just turned four! Her birthday request was for rainbow cupcakes. I was imagining rainbow icing till she explained she wanted the entire cupcake to be a rainbow. How on earth would I make that?  Then I remembered the blog post I read from Shannon, at Milk and Cuddles, there was hope! We could make rainbow cupcakes after all! Thanks Shannon for some great instructions. We had a blast making our own colorful cupcakes. Check out our collection of kid-friendly snack recipes …

My kids love granola bars and I love having them eat healthy breakfasts and snacks! These are great for those “on-the-run” mornings!  The oatmeal makes them feel full, the dried fruit makes my fruit-loving little man happy and the flaxseed adds brain-friendly fats.  These granola bars will keep for a week or so, but for longer shelf-life, freeze them!
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Ingredients:
2 cups rolled oats (grind 1 c up in the blender or food processor for more consistent texture)
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup …

These are so yummy and easy to make! I love, LOVE, chocolate covered espresso beans – but the few times I’ve made them in the past I’ve just made a massive mess.  Lets just say my lumps of beans were not very appetizing.  Thanks to Mandy from The Trenches of Motherhood, I found a really easy way to make chocolate covered coffee beans!
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In Mandy’s own words (reprinted with her permission):

I used to drink coffee in my late teens when it was the “cool” thing to do. But not anymore. …

Whenever  someone has a baby, families from our church provide several nights of meals  This is a tremendous help to the families adjusting to a new family member. I have a special meal I always take to a family in need.  My husband loves shepherd’s pie, and it is easy to make.  It freezes well too.  The recipe is so simple, it is easy to multiply to share easily, or prepare ahead for your own family.  The measurements aren’t a science, but that’s part of the fun of making …

I’ve had a problem lately cooking proteins in the morning, due to morning sickness, yet,  proteins last longer in my nauseous tummy. She said she would cook her breakfast stuff in the afternoon when she was feeling good, assemble breakfast burritos or english muffin sandwiches and freeze them individually. Then she could just pop them in the microwave and eat them.  I love it!
It also works great for mornings with early appointments or husbands who don’t take time to eat breakfast at home, but can eat on the go–an cheaper …

We created this morning’s snack into a matching game and a brief activity about patterns.  We had a variety of snacks and my kids loved getting to eat their “school” activity!
What you need:

egg carton
mini-muffin liners
a variety of snacks (at least 5-6)

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We filled the various sections with grapes, cheese, cheerios, goldfish, pepperoni, chocolate, dried fruit and cereal.  I made sure that there were matches of all but two sections.  Then when one child would pick a section to eat the other child would have to find the “matching” section and eat …

These are incredibly yummy and freeze well.  I make a massive batch and put them in the freezer for us to grab for lunches as needed.  My favorite variations are Ham and Cheddar (pictured), Bacon, Mushroom and Swiss, Spinach and Feta, we’ve even made it with leftover pizza toppings!  Be creative – it’ll taste great!
Using the bread recipe here, roll out the dough about half an inch thick.
Layer first with the veggie if you are adding one (we love onions!), add the meat and top with the cheese.  You will …