Pinterest Projects: Muffin Tin Eggs

Since I have to avoid dairy while nursing Ladybug, my go-to breakfast of cereal has been nixed.  Yes, I use almond milk but it just isn't quite the same for a daily meal.  I've been searching for new quick breakfast ideas.  I saw this idea on Pinterest and thought it would be amazing.

Eggs...baked in single serve portions.  The best part is that they are freezer friendly and perfect for building a quick English muffin sandwich.  I will definitely bake eggs like this again.  After a trial way of packaging, Jon and I decided to freeze the eggs separate from the English muffins.  We don't mind spending the extra time building it fresh that morning.  Now I should fry up some sausage patties to freeze and have the ability to make a quick and easy Egg and Sausage Sandwich.

Easy Morning Glory Muffins

Yesterday, Sweetpea and I made these Easy Morning Glory Muffins from Money Saving Mom with a few adaptations for our family.  She woke up from naps first and loved that she was able to help by herself! 
I discovered these back in June and my kiddos love them!  Since Buddy and Sweetpea don't mind the orange color, I shred my carrots as finely as possible because otherwise they won't eat it if they "see" carrots.  Also, I omit the coconut and add in two apples and extra raisins. 
Although a bit labor intensive, the beauty of these muffins is that they freeze for a healthy quick breakfast (or snack).  Starting the day with hidden carrots is not too shabby!

French Toast Casserole

Last night I read a post from I Can Teach My Child about French Toast Casserole and it sounded amazing!  Instead of putting this in a file of recipes to try later, I immediately got up and made it to put it in the fridge for breakfast today.  I think her comments about not being a morning person were what convinced me since this fit my description of myself. Sometimes I feel semi-guilty that I am not the mom who cooks breakfast every morning before her family wakes up...I am often the last one out of bed!  I love special breakfasts that I can make the night before like this or the bread machine cinnamon rolls and just pop into the oven in the morning.  While it cooks, I am able to drink my cup of coffee and wake up!

Above was my plate today and I really enjoyed it...so this may be too good of a discovery.  Buddy and Sweetpea devoured their plates as well and asked for seconds.  It was a nice deviation from yogurt, cereal, or bananas for breakfast. 

If you love French Toast and hate to stand in the morning cooking over a griddle, try this recipe out!

Artisan Bread

I received Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day for Christmas and have really enjoyed reading it.  I finally ventured into the bread making this past week and was overall pleased with my first attempt.  I started with a Whole Wheat Sandwich bread since that is what my family eats most often and halved the recipe. 
Buddy and Sweetpea have enjoyed the bread but Jon and I think it turned out a little dense and chewy.  Pregnancy brain kicked in at the end and I floured the top of the loaf with white flour instead of wheat but Buddy thought it was powdered sugar.  Also, my pans were a little larger and therefore my loaves a little smaller.  Oh well, for a first attempt, it turned out well.

I hope to progressively get better and look forward to trying some of the more complex recipes in the future.  If you love bread, aren't a fan of bread machines, and want an easy quick way to bake bread more often, give this book a try! 

Amazing Black Bean Brownies

Yesterday, I made Black Bean Brownies by Melissa d'Arabian.  The recipe was passed on to me by a friend and I was a little leery to try it.  Black beans...in brownies?  But taking my friend's glowing recommendation, I went ahead and baked them. 
When I cut them last night to try them, Buddy and Sweetpea devoured the brownies!  Buddy finished his and was up before I could turn the camera on and this was the picture I got of Sweetpea, the last bite being crammed in her mouth. 

I've had a huge sweet tooth these last few weeks and I don't feel as guilty eating these brownies.  I highly recommend trying this easy recipe for homemade brownies!

Homemade Marshmallows

Yesterday Buddy, Sweetpea, and I made homemade marshmallows for the first time.  We had a great time making them though Buddy and Sweetpea primarily measured ingredients.  I laughed at the idea of homemade marshmallows at first but they really do taste so much better.  It takes time to set up but they enjoyed licking the marshmallow creme off the beaters while they were waiting.

We used the star cookie cutter to cut out our marshmallows and they were awesome in hot chocolate!  I think these marshmallows would be fun as a small gift for people or even just as a treat for your family to munch on.

Thanksgiving Cookies

Yesterday, Buddy and I made cookies for his turn to bring snacks to school.  After they cooled, I decorated them and was pleasantly surprised at how cute they turned out.  Best of all, they were simple and easy. 

I used our Sugar Cookie recipe to make the cookies with Buddy and he helped use our turkey and leaf cookie cutters for the shapes. 

During nap time I whipped up the icing and the cookies were completely decorated in twenty minutes.  The eyes were made using those tiny ball sprinkles which was the most difficult part because they were hard to hold onto and place in the icing. 

Overall, this was a simple Thanksgiving treat and a fun snack for Buddy's class.  If I were to make more, I'd add orange colored icing for the leaves and more colors on the turkey but these were nice and simple treats.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin Bread

I recently made pumpkin bread with the leftover pumpkin puree from the pumpkin scones.  I love how this bread tastes and so do Buddy and Sweetpea.  Since the pumpkin bread isn't covered in icing like the scones, I wasn't sure if they would enjoy it but they ate the slice I gave and promptly asked for more!

 I only made a half a batch of the recipe but it still made six mini loaves.  We brought some to my parents and I put the rest in the freezer to enjoy with Buddy and Sweetpea in the next few weeks. 

This recipe was given to me by a friend and I am so glad she shared it with us.  I hope you enjoy too!

Pumpkin Scones

Today Buddy, Sweetpea, and I made a new recipe of pumpkin scones.  I've eyed this recipe for a week and finally took the time to make them.  I mixed together the dough during naptime and, while the scones were baking, Buddy and Sweetpea helped me make the two icings.  Yes, you read correctly, two icings! 

I gave them both a plate and they began to "paint" the scones.  Buddy enjoyed this part even though the icing wasn't green, his favorite color.

Sweetpea had a blast working by herself and she sampled every bit that landed on her hands.

I helped them drizzle the spiced icing since I made it a little too runny and these are the finished products.

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Look at that happy face!

We each enjoyed a scone as dessert after supper.  I plan to make another batch and freeze the scones for easy breakfasts.  If you are looking for a yummy fall recipe, try out The Shoebox Kitchen's pumpkin scones!

4th of July Healthy Popsicles

Today, Buddy, Sweetpea, and I made Red White and Blue popsicles to help beat the heat this Fourth of July weekend.  The best part about these treats is not only are they yummy, they are also really healthy. 

Here is how we made them.

Red White and Blue Popsicles

What You'll Need:

Plain Yogurt

sliced Strawberries

Blueberries

sliced Bananas

Sugar

Popsicle molds

Food Processor

Blend yogurt and banana in the food processor and pour back into bowl.  Blend yogurt and strawberries in the food processor with a little bit of sugar to taste.  Blend yogurt and blueberries in food processor with a little bit of sugar to taste.  Pour in layers into popsicle molds. 

Freeze...it took ours about 5 hours to completely set up.

And enjoy!



Sopapillas

A friend, Janice, made sopapillas for Cinco de Mayo and they were super good.  I was, finally, able to try the recipe for our family celebration of Father's Day after begging her for the recipe back in May.  We celebrated Father's Day early since the kiddos and I will still be on vacation on Sunday.  The sopapillas turned out great!  My only complaint was completely my fault in that the oil would get to hot and fry them too fast to puff up or the oil would cool down and the dough would take forever to cook. 
We ate them all for dessert after supper so quickly and it was the perfect end to our meal of enchiladas.  I mixed up a little cinnamon and sugar to sprinkle on top and drizzled with honey.  Both Buddy and Sweetpea wanted more and, I have to admit, I did as well. 
If you are looking for a great dessert to try out with family or friends, these homemade sopapillas are a quick and easy way to impress.  Or you can try like Janice and make stuffed sopapillas with just about anything.  I am hoping to try taco stuffed sopapillas soon now that I know how easy it is to prepare. 

Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls

First of all, I want to apologize for being absent most of the week.  Sweetpea, Buddy, and I were going to drive to my parents house by ourselves for vacation but my mom surprised me by flying into our area to drive with us.  It was a huge surprise so thank you Mom, Dad, and Jon!  Needless to say, I was a little flustered and did not get my entire list, things like prepare auto-post on typed blogs, completed before we left.  Blogging took a backseat to family and traveling.  We are now at my parents' house and loving being on vacation.  Buddy and Sweetpea did so awesome on the long drive and packing for children in plastic ziploc bags worked very well.

Before I left, I tried out a new recipe for Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls and it was super easy and super yummy! 

I have several cinnamon roll recipes but this, by far, was the easiest.  As I made this batch, I learned several tricks to make it easier to make uniform cinnamon rolls the next time. 

Tip 1:  Use a serrated knife to cut through the dough

Tip 2:  Use a little less butter, otherwise is squeezes out the end.

Tip 3:  If making the cinnamon rolls the night before, space the rolls out more as they will continue to rise overnight.

These cinnamon rolls were a delicious special treat and I will be saving the recipe to use in the future.  I hope you enjoy these as much as we did!

Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

Today I tried the Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins from Gina's Skinny Recipes.  I love blueberry muffins but hate the guilty feeling of eating them when I know muffins are primarily disguised cake. 
This recipe uses whole wheat flour and applesauce to provide a moist muffin.
Buddy and Sweetpea really enjoyed these this morning and both ate two whole muffins.  I have to admit that Jon's reaction was "They taste healthy" and I had to add a little melted butter inside to really enjoy them.  But, I would have added butter to regular muffins as well so I don't necessarily feel bad about that.  My muffins did not look as pretty as Gina's since I used the frozen blueberries instead of fresh so they turned a little more purple in color.
All in all, this is a recipe I will be adding to our family collection.  It was super easy to whip up and took 30 minutes to make start to finish.  If you are looking for an easy and healthy breakfast, give this blueberry muffin recipe a try!

Yogurt Pie

I just wanted to share an easy and delicious recipe for pie for the summer months.  A friend shared this recipe with me and I have really enjoyed it ever since! 

Yogurt Pie
1 graham cracker pie crust
1 8 oz Cool Whip
3 individual size yogurts, any flavor

Mix Cool Whip and yogurt together.  Pour into pie crust and chill until semi-solid.  Serve.  (Optional:  top with slices of fresh fruit)

Recipes can not get much easier than this one!  My favorite kind of yogurt to use is the Mixed Berry flavor from Yoplait but Strawberry Banana yogurt topped with slices of strawberry and banana is really yummy too.  This pie is perfect for summer months as it is very cool and refreshing and a hot oven never has to be used.  I hope you enjoy!

Easter Recipes

Today Buddy and I made a Resurrection Cake, well Buddy helped me mix up the cake but I did a lot of the decorating since Buddy just wanted to lick the icing from the beaters.  Here is a photo of the final project. 

We just used a box cake mix and I cut out the cooled cake into the empty tomb shape.  It is a fairly simple design but Buddy started really talking about Jesus and the tomb.  My favorite quote from today was "Jesus was not buried.  That's just not cool."  I can understand his confusion as many of the books we've read have gone straight from the cross to the open tomb and Jesus' resurrection.  Jon and I kept explaining that Jesus was buried in a tomb and then resurrected but Buddy insisted that Jesus wasn't because "that's just not cool!".  This will be Sweetpea and Buddy's dessert with our nice Easter supper tomorrow night.

Another recipe that we will be trying out tomorrow is the Resurrection Rolls from DLTK's Growing Together.  It will be interesting to see Buddy's reaction to the disappearing marshmallow.  I am hoping that Sweetpea will want to try this easy recipe with us too even if she just plays with the crescent rolls.

Finally, a classic Easter treat is the Resurrection Cookie.  This is a great recipe for older children as it has a Bible verse to go along with each step of the recipe.  I've put this in my folder to try next year with Buddy and Sweetpea. 

I hope you have a blessed Easter tomorrow! 

"He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay."  Matthew 28:6

Homemade Pretzels

I apologize now for the really awful picture but believe it or not, this was the best shot I could get of these amazing pretzels today.  My nice camera failed me today but oh well. 

Tonight was our Associational Vacation Bible School meeting and I led the snack and recreation group.  Snacks are right up my alley but recreation that was a whole 'nother story.  One of the snacks featured this year in VBS is pretzels since the theme is "Big Apple Adventure".  Since I am a huge fan of soft pretzels, I really wanted to make this snack for display.  Unfortunately, or I guess fortunately, the store did not have the hot roll mix that the recipe called for so I started looking online for recipes.  I decided that even if I did not make the recipe for the meeting that it would be a fun thing to try.

I found this easy Soft Dough Pretzel recipe from Cooks.com and they are so yummy!  Since the recipe made 20 pretzels, Buddy, Sweetpea, Jon, and I were able to taste test them.  Buddy asked for seconds and I definitely wanted more too.  If you like soft pretzels, give this recipe a try! 

Banana Nut Bread

I recently discovered the wonderful substitution of applesauce for butter and have been wanting to try it out in different recipes.  Today, Sweetpea and I (yes, Sweetpea) made Banana Nut Bread.  I held her and talked her through each step as we made the bread together.  She was completely fascinated!  After dinner, we all tried a piece and I could not tell a difference between my normal banana bread and this recipe.  Sweetpea ate her entire piece and wanted some more.  Here is the awesome recipe:

Banana Nut Bread
2 eggs
1/2 cup applesauce
3 ripe bananas
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Lightly whisk eggs in bowl then add in the applesauce, bananas, and vanilla.  Blend together until bananas are mushed.  Combine flour, sugar, and baking soda in another bowl.  Fold in the dry ingredients until batter is completely mixed.  Do not over-mix.  Stir in nuts.  Pour batter into a greased and floured loaf pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool in pan for 10 minutes.  Loosen the edges with a knife and let completely cool on a wire rack.  (Bread may be frozen for up to 2 months)

I love banana bread and by using the applesauce instead of butter, the bread becomes just a little bit healthier to eat.  I hope y'all enjoy as much as our family has!

Garlic Cheddar Biscuits

Tonight I was a little adventurous with supper and tried the Garlic Cheddar Biscuits from Gina's Skinny Recipes and they were amazing!  Mine do not look as pretty but the biscuits were definitely tasty.  I think I got a little anxious and pulled them out of the oven too early. 
Either way, if you like biscuits then you will love these.  My favorite part of trying this recipe, besides the taste, was how easy it was to prepare.  I was a little iffy about preparing the garlic parsley butter but it came together without a worry.  My only critique was that the parsley flakes kept falling off but that is not a deal breaker for me.  Also, these biscuits are relatively healthy as far as biscuits go thanks to using ingredients like Heart Smart Bisquick. 
If you are looking for something new and relatively healthy to try as a side for dinner, give the Garlic Cheddar Biscuits a try.  I hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

Valentine S'More Bites

I saw this recipe online tonight and could not resist passing it along.  I'd love to make these with Buddy but we'll see how the next few days around our house go.  But in case you have a little more time and are looking for a Valentine dessert, check out Crazy Domestic's Valentine S'More Bites.  Don't they look delicious! 

Our family loves s'mores and I think this is a pretty awesome Valentine's twist...plus who can resist pink marshmallows?

Valentines Day Ideas

With Valentine's Day less than a week away, I wanted to share a few Valentine craft and treat ideas.  Some of these crafts I will be making with Buddy in the next few days.  Hope you enjoy!

Valentine Confetti

A Sweet treat!  This would be a perfect gift to give away or just something fun to make with your child. 

Valentine Spiral Craft

 This is a fun hanging reminder of Valentine's Day and the hearts are even 3D.  Buddy and I will be making this soon. 

Heart Lacing

This is a simple activity to practice fine motor skills as children weave the ribbon or yarn through the pattern.  Buddy has never tried a lacing pattern before but I think he is ready to try it out.  If it frustrates him then we'll try again another day.

Stained Glass

A cute heart project to make with tissue paper and contact paper.  This can be practice in scissor skills or fine motor skills by tearing the paper.

Angel

There are several choices of templates to make these angels.  I like the saying on them but you can also make them without it. 

Valentines Wreath

This is more for adults or older children but it is such a cute and simple idea!  I bought fabric the other day and can't wait to make mine soon. 

Heart Garland

Again, this craft is more for adults or older children but such a simple yet sweet decoration. 

If you have ideas of things to make or do for Valentine's Day, I'd love to hear about them!