Snow Day!!

So today we are having a snow day. Well, I had a snow day, the kids and Chef Hubby actually had a half day. Last night we chatted and decided that the kids would have a snow day too! Yay! Gotta admit, the whole sleeping late thing was very exciting to me :o) Typically, I have to be up at 6am and then get things ready to get the kids up and ready by 6:55 so that we can be out the door and in the car by 7:38. (I don't know why it's 7:38... it just always seems that that's the time on the dashboard about 98% of the time, so that's my goal now... lol)

So anyway, I woke up at 8:45... hehe. The girls were playing in Payton's room, and very well, I must say. I wondered to the kitchen and grabbed some coffee that Hubby had already set up. Asked them if they wanted breakfast. Both said they didn't want to eat, but wanted to play their Leapsters. Hey, why not.

Since I had the time, I decided that I would make a muffin tin for breakfast. I love muffin tins! I haven't been making them as much as I used to; probably due to time, but today I threw it together... hehe

grapes, corn bran cereal, mini pancakes, hash brown potatoe, ketchup, bacon

Payton has been slightly obsessed with the whole mini pancake thing lately, so I've been going with it. I use my mini cookie scoop to drop the batter and it makes it a lot easier. I also discovered that I can make baked mini pancake muffins! These totally rock for weekend breakfasts. I throw some mini chocolate chips in the batter, use my medium cookie to drop the batter into my mini muffin pan, cook for about 18-20 mins at 350 degrees and serve with syrup for dipping! mmm mmm... they come out super light and fluffy if you make the batter ahead of time and let sit for at least 10-20 minutes before portioning into tin. The same goes for if you are making them on the stovetop.

Well, I have tons to fill you in on, but right now I think I should go play a game, or start cutting some butterfly bodies for the girls to decorate for Valentine's Day. PBS Kids is entertaining and all, but hey, I need to make the most of our snow day, right?!

Muffin Tin - Christmas Theme

I've been so stressed lately, trying to get everything done. Unfortunately, then I try to conquer it all at once and never actually make any head way. The other day I popped over to Her Cup Overfloweth and saw the Muffin Tin Challenge of the week... Christmas! We do muffin tins all of the time in our house, but haven't participated lately due to time or lack of creativity, but I was up for this one! I put the gate up to keep the kids on one side of the house and I told them I was making a special lunch. They didn't try bothering me once!! Gonna use that again... lol!

Anyway, this is what I came up with:

Ham cut into stars, grape "ornaments", carrots (reindeer food)

tree and star marshmallows, snowmen, cinnamon sugar gingerbread man waffles

Oh well, it was fun, they loved it and I actually settled down a little. Phew... for a minute anyway! Back to the run around today. Wish me luck!

Muffin Tin - Halloween Theme!

I know it's been a while since I've last posted a muffin tin, but we still love and use them ALL of the time!! My grandparents watch the kids a couple of afternoons a week and Nana uses a muffin tin for snack just about every time... lol!!

Anyway, as I mentioned Sycamore Stirrings was having a Halloween Challenge this week. So here is ours:

Chocolate Graham and Cheddar Goldfish, multicolor ghost marshmallows, PB&J sandwich shaped like a pumpkin American Cheese shaped like bats, Pumpkin and bat pretzels, cheddar cheese rice cakes

Isn't it spooky... hehe! I had fun finding some of the items. I also bought some little pumpkin muffins, but Payton had already eaten when I got home to make to this for the kids. She had some of the snacks, but nothing major. The kids actually really enjoyed the muffins for breakfast this morning!

Breakfast Muffin Tin

Can I once again profess my love for the muffin tin idea?!?! I love this thing! We do it all of the time actually. I think breakfast is actually the most popular just because I never know what I will be able to get the kids to eat. Today Payton had a banana before she ate breakfast because she got up a lot earlier than Phoebe and she only nibbled at the muffin tin, but man, Phoebe made up for that!!

I was going to make a blueberry coffee cake for breakfast, but I remembered that it was Breakfast Muffin Tin day, so I made some mini chocolate chip corn muffins instead. (They only took 10mins to cook instead of 45-50mins... don't think the kids would have waited) I still have to make the coffee cake now before the blueberries go bad, but I'm going to ship it out tonight with Chef Hubby when he goes to play cards with his buddies.

Anyway, here it is...

chocolate chip mini muffins, ham and egg scramble, bacon

Peanut butter english muffin, watermelon, waffle with cinnamon and sugar

They ate a LOT of it today too!! I'm very excited... hehe. Ever made a muffin tin, or even a meal that your kids just won't touch? I go through that just about everyday... it's so defeating after a while! Well, one meal down today. I actually bought the english muffins so the kids could make their own little individual pizzas for lunch or dinner. We have some cheeses and meats they can use. Hey, I should just make that into another muffin tin!! lol... I'm on a roll!

Hope you all have a great day - I get to start pre-season conditioning at the High School today. OK, well, I don't actually do the conditioning. I make sure that everyone has clearance, and there aren't any medical conditions, etc. I also get to take care of all of the athletes who decided they weren't going to prepare themselves over the summer for the fall sport. The first two weeks are AWFUL!!!

Muffin Tins!

Have I mentioned recently how much I LOVE the whole muffin tin thing?!? Thank you once again Katy!! I love it and I want to do it all the time... lol. The funniest thing is Phoebe loves it too! I asked her what she wanted to breakfast sunday and she said the muffin thing... lmao! So I couldn't let her down!

I was looking through our cabinets and actually found an awesome little muffin tin that has 8 spots instead of 6, or even 12. It's the perfect size! I used that for Phoebe and gave Payton her own. I usually use anything I can think of, but because it was Sunday brunch, I decided to limit myself to breakfood only...

Payton's Muffin Tin: (left to right)

Watermelon, waffles, apple jacks, scrambled egg, cinnamon french toast, cookie crisp cereal

Phoebe's Muffin Tin: (left to right)

Maple syrup, cinnamon french toast, cookie crisp cereal, watermelon, waffles, puffins, apple jacks, yogurt

This is the family enjoying our new little setup on the porch. Don't you just love the large pack-n-play feel I got when I used the railing guard I found on the One Step Ahead website! Now, I don't have to worry about the kids busting through a rail or throwing their toys over the side. I hope that you all enjoyed the weekend as much as we did!!

Better Late Than Never, Right?!?

So once again, going with Sycamore Stirrings' idea of Muffin Tin Monday. We actually do this a lot now... lol! The kids absolutely LOVE it! AND with the hot weather I don't really want to cook a meal so I get to wimp out a little - good for me and them!

From Left to Right:

bagel with cream cheese, cookie crisp cereal, cubed american cheese, cubed watermelon

edamame, cubed watermelon, diced chicken, parmesan cheese cheez its

bagel with cream cheese, cubed american cheese, grapes, granola bars chopped

So this week had a little less diversity because some of the stuff I knew was going to go fast, I doubled up on. It was really funny though when I was making it because Phoebe kept telling me I forgot the beans... apparently my kids are hooked on the edamame! Thanks Katy!!

I think that I am all caught up now - Sorry I've been slacking... I'm sort of hooked on Swap-bot!

OK - I've Got Pics!!

Ok - so this is one of the cookbooks I made for Swap-bot. I found this awesome tutorial about how to make a journal, but I can't for the life of me find the link again... sorry!!! I have been dying to try this and I finally got my chance. For this swap we were supposed to include 4-5 recipes for healthier kids recipes. I ended up using 19 recipes and then added a page of "easy swaps" that I have found to make recipes not "as bad". This is the book:

I found the picture in Parent's Magazine and feel in LOVE with it! Doesn't it just fit!

This is the front inside page:

This is an example of one of the pages... I tried to make it look professional!!! hehe

Now, I have been wanting to do the Muffin Tin Monday thing that Sycamore Stirrings did a few weeks ago, but never seemed to pull it together. Well, today was the day!! The kids were hungry. I didn't have a clue what to make... so here's what they got:

From left to right:

cookie crisp cereal, raisins, american cheese, watermelon,

raisin toast, strawberries, white cheddar cheez its, smartfood,

shelled edamame, waffles, hot dog, gummi worms.

It was a hit... they actually ate more of the stuff I thought they would avoid, like the edamame, and a lot less of the stuff I thought would be a sure thing, like the hot dogs.

Oh, well. As long as they ate!!!

Phew... so now, I think I'm all caught up on my promises!! Have a good one :o)

OMG - This is an awesome idea!!!

I was surfing some of my favorite blogs and came across Sycamore Stirrings blog. As usual, it was cute and fun, but today I was so impressed by a new concept... She calls is Muffin Tin Monday.


She takes out a muffin tin and in each of the compartments, she puts some finger foods for the kids to eat. Check it out. It is so cool!! I even called my hubby over to show him. This is definitely an idea that I will be borrowing!! Yay!