Re-Decorating Colored Eggs {or plain ol' hard boiled eggs}

It's probably too late to do this with your colored Easter eggs {how long do hard boiled eggs last anyway? We still have some from the Friday before Easter!} but you can do this when you make regular ol' hard boiled eggs.

Grab some Wilton decorating markers and have the kiddos draw on the peeled egg. Bug loved doing this and make some faces on her eggs. It was a fun way to get her to eat them since we were all pretty sick of eggs that week! :)

Have any recipes using hard boiled eggs? I'd love to know what to do with them besides egg salad!

Ladybug Strawberry Cupcakes {a guest post from Pamela}

Today we have a guest post from Pamela on some yummy Ladybug Strawberry Cupcakes. Any recipe for a cupcake that has real fruit in it is an A+ in my book!

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Hello there let me introduce myself, my name is Pamela from Pamela's Heavenly Treats, where I make healthy desserts, mostly cupcakes and cookies.  I am a wife, mother of 6, homeschool teacher and I have a small Healthy Cupcakes & Cookie business. Everything that I make is made with 100% Whole Wheat Flour and my secret ingredients. You will not know that you are eating healthy when you taste these treats.

Since SPRING is almost in the air, I wanted to bring out one of my Spring cupcakes.  I made these cupcakes last year for my baby girl's 1st birthday, they were a hit, and they were DELICIOUS. 

LADYBUG STRAWBERRY CUPCAKES

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 cup light brown sugar

1 cup canola oil

1 cup buttermilk *I make my own

2 eggs * I use fresh brown eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp vinegar

2 cups of fresh strawberries (pureed in the blender)

Mix all your wet ingredients together, then mix in your dry ingredients.  Fill your cups 1/2 full, and bake for 20 minutes, let cool on wire rack.

While you are waiting for your cupcakes to cool make your frosting-

Buttercream Frosting

1 package powdered sugar (16 oz package) 

1/2 cup butter, softened

3 tablespoons  fat free milk

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 cup strawberry puree

Red food coloring

peppermint patties

black gel

white gel

     red gel

 Mix butter, milk, vanilla and powdered sugar together until nice and smooth, then add strawberry puree and fold in, add a few drops of red food coloring. Now you are ready to frost. 

-Frost your cupcakes with a spatula

-Add little black dots on the back of the cupcake

-For the face, put a peppermint patty in the front and put eyes, nose and mouth

There you have it LADYBUG STRAWBERRY CUPCAKES!

I want to thank Lauren from Tutus and Tea Parties, for allowing me to guest post on this wonderful blog, what an honor this has been.  

Please come over to Pamela's Heavenly Treats for some Healthy Cupcakes and Cookies recipes, giveaways and fun.  I also have a website PH Treats if you want to order cupcakes or cookies, I am on the Eastern Shore, Maryland.

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Thank you for posting such a wonderful recipe Pamela! I love these little ladybugs and hope to make some soon!

Squid Dogs!

While on Pinterest one day I came across these Sqid Dogs from Mommy Made and just knew Bug would LOVE them. Well, she did. Now I can't serve her regular hot dogs whithout her asking me to turn them into squid dogs.

The only thing I did differently from Mommy Made's instructions was I did not put the noodles all the way through. I just pushed them to the top of the inside just before they would poke through.  

Get the kids involved! Bug loved sticking the noodles in hers!

 

 For Bug I cut the dog into smaller pieces and broke the noodles small too so it was easier for her to eat.

 I used an old medicine thingy to make eyes and a mouth with ketchup. :)

 Mmm, mmm, good!

{I swear this kid owns clothes!}

Hidden Veggie Pizza

Bug is a pretty good eater. She loves her veggies and fruit but sometimes she goes through a stage where she doesn't eat much of anything and it's a struggle to make sure she is getting her veggies. While shopping at my favorite store, Target, I saw these frozen pizzas that had veggies made in the crust. My imediate thought was, yeah, I can do that! So I went home and did! 

Grab your fave pizza dough recipe {here's mine if you want to use it} and all the ingredients.

Take about a cup of veggies {I used broccoli and cauliflower mix} 

Cook your veggies, then puree them.

Mix them into the dough and follow the rest of the instructions.

 

 I made Bug some mini pizzas.

That's all there is to it. Easy peasy and your kiddo never has to know! I ate a piece too and didn't even tase the difference. :)

Frozen Hot Cocoa Ice Pops

When I saw this recipe for frozen hot cocoa on Pinterest I knew I had to turn these into ice pops for the munchkin. Glad I did! They are delish. {and there was enough left over for me to have a cup full}

What you will need:

• milk
• ice
• hot cocoa mix
• ice pop molds

Follow this recipe from Gluestiks and pour into your ice pop molds. Stick 'em in the freezer and eat them by the fire side {or just in the kitchen if your apartment is extremely hot all year round and can not be controlled!}

Get the kiddos involved! Bug loves helping in the kitchen. :)

{don't mind the pant-less kid...it's very warm in our apartment}

 "One minute mom!"

You may find me at some of these lovely link parties.

Red Beet Heart Pancakes

Have I told you how much I love the site Weelicious? Well, I do! 

Catherine posts amazing child friendly recipes for the whole family! It is my go to site to find food to make for Bug. There is not one recipe we have made that Bug didn't gobble up...plus there are lots of recipes good for the whole family to eat. Most are even freezable and include instructions on freezing and re-heating.

We love to prep meals to throw in the freezer for the week/month and these Red Beet Pancakes seemed to be the perfect breakfast to make ahead for Valentine's Day! We followed the recipe from Weelicious to make the batter.

We poured it into a squeeze bottle we bought at Walmart in the kitchen utensil section. {we got some beet clumps in it and it was hard to squeeze when they got stuck so you might want to watch when you pour and make sure there are no clumps}

We used the squeeze bottle to make hearts and letters to say I <3 U.

Yup, she shoved the whole heart in her mouth! That's how yummy she thought these were.

Bug and I ate about half the batch as we were cooking. They were delicious! I never even thought I would like them too...but I did! We still had some extra to freeze for Valentine's Day week! Horray for easy morning breakfast!

Enjoy!

You may find me at some of these lovely link parties.

Banana-Butter

This is the easiest "recipe" ever {if you even want to call it that}. Bug just loves Peanut Butter. When I first introduced her to peanut butter she wouldn't even try it. Every couple weeks I would put some on a cracker or toast for her to try. Eventually she did! It was a little weird for her at first and she only took a bite, but after introducing it a couple more times it became one of her favorites!

All you need is a ripe banana or two and peaunt butter {more or less}. Anything goes. I used one banana and one cup of peanut butter.

Mash up the banana, Add in the peanut butter and combine. Easy peasy!

Spread it on some toast, make a sandwich, spread it on crackers, top pancakes with it...whatever your little one would like! Mine loves sandwiches because she sees me eat them a lot and thinks it's a big girl lunch. Apparently peanut butter makes her silly since that is the only face she kept making when I held up the camera.

Enjoy!

PS- Have you linked up to  A Pinteresting Link Party?
Even if you don't link up, check out the recipes, decor & tutorials others have linked. They are great! Feel free to do some pinning.

{Mmm, Mmm, Monday} Nutella Muffins with Filling

I am obsessed with Nutella! Are you? 

I have made these Breakfast Cupcakes before from Weelicious.com. It's made with Peanut Butter but today I decided make it with Nutella instead and they came out awesome! 

I got this new cupcake pan too for making stuffed cupcakes and thought it would be cool to try it with these and fill them with jelly or some other filling like banana or cream cheese maybe.

I love that Bug wants to help me in the kitchen now. She has her own little kitchen stool so she can help pour and mix. I love having a little helper...although it does get a little messier. 

We loved the Nutella Breakfast Cupcakes! Bug especially liked having the filling in the middle. She couldn't decide how to eat it.

{Mmm, Mmm, Mondays} Taco Bowls

Don't these just look deliciously fun?! They are super easy to make and are not only great for toddlers who like to switch it up a little...but these would be great for a party food! They are quick and super easy too!

Ingredients:

1 lb. lean ground beef

taco seasoning packet

water {measurement on your taco packet}

large round soft taco shells

muffin tin

toppings {anything you prefer, we use cheese only here}

Here's what I did:

I cut one round soft taco shell into quarters {in half, then each half in half}

I centered them over the muffin tin and gave them a gentle push

You can do this for as many as you'd like

I cooked my meat as directed on the taco packet.

Once my meat had cooked, I popped the muffin tin of taco shells into the oven on 350 degrees F for about 5-10 minutes. While they were baking, I added in the taco seasoning to the meat. The shells are done when you are able to lift them out of the tin and they are stiff. The edges should look a little browned.

Remove them from the oven and fill them about half way with taco meat. Add on your cheese if using and pop into the oven for a minute or two to melt. Take them back out of the oven and add on your other toppings.

Dig in!

Don't mind the photo. We had a lazy jammie day and apparently a crazy hair day too!