I’m sure that I have mentioned it before, but I love gingerbread. It is one of my absolute favorite things about this time of year. I look forward to baking it, smelling it, eating it and my daughter and I have fun doing arts and crafts projects inspired by it. Here are some wonderful gingerbread inspired ideas to welcome in the holiday season.
Every Wednesday, my daughter and I have a wonderful routine of going to the library together. We will spend an hour or sometimes two exploring the books and looking for new favorites. 
Welcome to Week 73 of Mother 2 Mother’s Sunday’s Best Linkup. This is the last week of our Memorial Day Celebration. We are remembering those who fought for our freedom and especially those who have helped afford all of the luxuries that we have in our country by paying with their life. We want to say thank you and we will never forget you. We’re looking for crafts, recipes, party ideas, decorating inspiration, gift ideas, and anything else you would like to post to celebrate mom.
Each week your hosts will select their favorite post and it will be featured the following week. An image from your post will be used on my blog the following week with a link back to your blog. Be sure to check back to see if you’re a Sunday’s Best featured blogger. All Featured Bloggers will have their posts Pinned to the Sunday’s Best Pinterest Board.
The Reader’s Choice post(s) will be determined by the post(s) with the most clicks. We will be adding the winner to our Sunday’s Best featured bloggers.
All posts linking to Sunday’s Best will be promoted on Twitter.
In addition to the reader’s and hosts selections, a post for our monthly themes will be selected and featured each week as well.
Here’s the rules, please connect with us on social media before you leave or subscribe to/follow our blogs:
Mother 2 Mother: Please subscribe to my blog on the right, like my Facebook Page, follow me on Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, BlogLovin or before you leave.
The Pinterested Parent: Please like Kim’s Facebook Page, follow her on Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Bloglovin before you leave.
Life In A House of Testosterone: Please like Kim’s Facebook Page, follow her on Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Bloglovin, or Instagram before you leave.
Kim U. selected Carrot Pancakes from The Kittchen
and
Kim M. selected Upcycle Painted Thrift Store Globe from Simply Darrling
and
Easy No Bake Coffee Cheesecakes from Home Cooking Memories
The Favorite Theme Posts
Red White Blue Parfait Sparkler from Ramblings of a Bad Domestic Goddess
Congratulations to our featured bloggers! All of the posts were great, and I appreciate each of you linking up. We have so many great posts that it gets difficult to choose a featured blogger. I would like to invite all of you back to linkup your post(s) again, it could be selected next week. While you’re here take a minute to visit these great blogs. It’s a great way to meet and connect with new bloggers. Be sure to PIN or share any posts that you like, we all appreciate a little love. Be sure to connect on social media.
My daughter is a sweet girl most of the time, but mealtimes in our house are & have been a battle for quite some time. She is a very picky eater & mealtimes in our house are often very stressful. Over the years, I have found fun & creative ways to try to get her to eat. I have tried it all from reading to her while she eats to bite sized meals to fun food art.
Welcome to Week 63 of Mother 2 Mother’s Sunday’s Best Linkup. We’re continuing our Bunny Trail theme this week. This week we’re looking for crafts, recipes, party ideas, decorating inspiration, gift ideas, love stories and anything else you would like to post relating to Easter.
Each week your hosts will select their favorite post and it will be featured the following week. An image from your post will be used on my blog the following week with a link back to your blog. Be sure to check back to see if you’re a Sunday’s Best featured blogger. All Featured Bloggers will have their posts Pinned to the Sunday’s Best Pinterest Board.
The Reader’s Choice post(s) will be determined by the post(s) with the most clicks. We will be adding the winner to our Sunday’s Best featured bloggers.
All posts linking to Sunday’s Best will be promoted on Twitter.
In addition to the reader’s and hosts selections, a post for our monthly themes will be selected and featured each week as well.
Here’s the rules, please connect with us on social media before you leave or subscribe to/follow our blogs:
Mother 2 Mother: Please subscribe to my blog on the right, like my Facebook Page, follow me on Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, BlogLovin or before you leave.
The Pinterested Parent: Please like Kim’s Facebook Page, follow her on Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Bloglovin before you leave.
Life In A House of Testosterone: Please like Kim’s Facebook Page, follow her on Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Bloglovin, or Instagram before you leave.
Kim M. selected Crock Pot Corned Beef and Cabbage from Marilyn’s Treats
Stained Glass Butterfly Pancakes from The Pinterested Parent
The Favorite Theme Posts
Roly Poly Fabric Easter Bunnies from Flamingo Toes
Congratulations to our featured bloggers! All of the posts were great, and I appreciate each of you linking up. We have so many great posts that it gets difficult to choose a featured blogger. I would like to invite all of you back to linkup your post(s) again, it could be selected next week. While you’re here take a minute to visit these great blogs. It’s a great way to meet and connect with new bloggers. Be sure to PIN or share any posts that you like, we all appreciate a little love. Be sure to connect on social media.
They say “Money can’t buy you happiness.” This may be true, but it sure can buy you a lot of things that make you happy. People love money. Even at an early age the love of money begins. My daughter may not comprehend the value of money, but she sure does know that she likes it. Whenever there is spare change lying around, her face lights up & she hoards it for her piggy bank.
Mai is in her “I want that” phase. We can barely leave the house without it. At the grocery store I hear it echoing down every aisle. “I want the Goldfish crackers.” “I want the funny juice box.” Alright, but you’re buying today. It is funny, she never does.
Children’s brands are clever. They advertise everywhere. Luckily, we do not watch much television that contains commercials, but those marketers find a way to sneak in a ad anywhere. While reading to Mai ‘If You Give A Mouse A Cookie’, she noticed the back book jacket with the author’s other books on it.
“Mama, I want the pig with the pancake.”
“I’m sorry honey. We don’t have that book.”
“Mama, you go to the store & get the pig with the pancake?”
Siiiiiiiigh! Thank goodness for the library.
I can remember at a young age my mother telling me “Money doesn’t grow on trees.” My smart ass remark back was always “Yes it does. Money is made out of paper & paper grows on trees.” Oh how, I wish I could go back in time & smack the crap out of myself.
We want Mai to grow up understanding the value of money and how to spend responsibly, but for now we will just start with her being able to differentiate between those coins that she loves to hoard. Here is an easy coin sorting activity.
What you will need:
2 paper plates
A couple of markers
Glue
Scissors
Assorted change
Directions: Money is dirty, so be sure to clean your change first. On one plate, slice 4 slits on the back just long enough to fit each coin. Use a marker & write the value of each coin to the side of the slit. On the other side of the slit, attach the coin with glue or with tape. Write the coin name underneath. Place the other plate down normally. Staple or glue the paper plate with the coins to the other one so that the coins are on top. It will form a little container to insert & catch the coins in.
“Mama, now we put them in the piggy bank?” The kid is no dummy.
Thank you as always for stopping by. If you like us here, please follow us on Facebook.
There are some things in parenthood that do not make sense to me. The most recent in a long line of things that puzzle me is this, you have all heard me cry & whine over what a difficult eater our daughter is, then how do you explain this…
If the daily battle with my daughter at mealtime wasn’t frustrating enough, I now find out that she is capable of eating at each meal, just not for us. Siiiiggh! There are a few foods that I can count on that she will eat, pancakes, French toast & spaghetti. As you can see she likes her carbs. When possible we try to sneak in meat and our fruits & veggies, but it does not always work. Today’s menu had a couple of wins and a definite loss.
Breakfast: Banana & Nutella Pancakes
I had a couple of over-ripened bananas that needed to be used, so pancakes were a great place to use them.
Smash the bananas with a fork in a small mixing bowl. Add the egg & beat together & set aside. In a medium sized mixing bowl add 1 cup of all purpose flour, 1 tbsp of brown sugar, 2 tsp of baking powder, 1 tsp of cinnamon, 1/4 tsp salt, 3/4 cup of milk & 2 tbsp vegetable oil & stir. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture & stir well. Stir in 1/3 cup of Nutella. Pour about 1/8 of a cup of batter into a griddle or in a frying pan set on medium heat. Cook until the pancake is bubbly & the edges are cooked. Flip the pancake & cook on the other side until cooked all the way through.
Breakfast was a success. She ate 4 pancakes of her own & a few bites of mine too. Score one for mommy.
Lunch: Monte Cristo Roll Ups:
Preheat the oven to 375. Cut the crusts off of 6 slices of bread. With a rolling pin, roll out each slice off bread. Beat an egg in a medium sized bowl. Brush one side of each slice with the egg. Cut a slice of ham so that it fits inside the slice. Cut a slice of Swiss cheese so that it only covers half of the slice. Roll the bread started at the cheese end. Dip the whole roll into the egg mixture covering the entire roll-up. Place on a greased cookie sheet & dust with confectioner’s sugar. Bake for about 7-8 minutes until golden brown.
While this was a big hit with mommy & daddy, Mai refused to try it. I tried bribery & pleading. “Just take one little bite.” Negative. This was a lunch time fail. The score now is 1-1.
Mexican Chicken Rice Bake
Ingredients:
1 cup of uncooked white rice
1 pound of chicken cut into strips
1 cup of water
1 cup of milk
1 can of regular tomato soup (10.75 oz)
1 can of corn drained (8.75 oz)
1/4 cup of diced red peppers
1/4 cup of diced orange peppers
1/4 cup of diced yellow peppers
1 packet of taco seasoning
1 cup of shredded Mexican cheese
Ingredients:
Preheat oven to 375. Dice your vegetables & cut your chicken into strips & set aside in a casserole dish (I used a 9×12) add the rice, water & taco seasoning, stir well until seasoning is broken up & evenly distributed. Stir in the tomato soup & milk. Pour the corn & peppers over the top. Place the chicken strips over the top. Cover with foil & bake for about 45 minutes (cook times may vary). Remove foil, add the cheese & bake for 5 more minutes. Remove & let sit for a few minutes to cool. The top may appear slightly watery. The sauce will thicken upon standing. Scoop & serve.
It was a pretty good eating day other than lunch, but you win some & you lose some.
As you all well know, my daughter is a picky eater. There are very few things that I put in front of her that she will eat. We have our old standbys that usually work. For breakfast french toast balls or nanna’s pancakes are a sure fire hit. For lunch a basic cheese sandwich with ranch dressing will usually do the trick and for supper meatballs or meatloaf are a safe bet. As of the past month our daughter has begun commenting that her food is “too spicy”. This is a strange comment as mommy never makes spicy food. She has developed a fear of her old favorite the meatball over the “too spicy” concern, Mommy thought she would squash this fear by making her some sweet meatballs & since one of her favorite things to eat is maple syrup it was the perfect combination.
Maple and Swiss Meatballs
Ingredients:
20oz of ground turkey
1 egg
1/2 cup of wheat bread crumbs
1/3 cup of real maple syrup
1 cup of shredded swiss cheese
1/4 tsp pepper
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400. Combine all the ingredients except the cheese in a large mixing bowl. Add the cheese and mix in with your hands evenly distributing the cheese throughout. Shape mixture into small balls about 1″ round. Place on a cookie sheet lined with foil & spray with cooking spray. Bake for 20 minutes or until cooked fully through. Cook times may vary.
In a stroke of pure genius from my husband, he made cocktail meatballs by sticking pretzel sticks in the middle of them. What a great idea instead of a toothpick. I will be trying this at our next party.
Mai has been practicing with her chopsticks and getting pretty good at it. She gobbled up her meatballs and they were not too spicy.
Related Topics:
http://trialanderrorkitchen.wordpress.com/2014/05/04/turkey-meatballs/
http://ktoonkooks.wordpress.com/2014/05/04/succulent-spaghetti-meatballs/
http://meggoesnomnom.com/2014/05/01/gingery-pork-meatballs-with-noodles/
I am often amazed when I see an idea either on Pinterest or by a fellow blogger that is so simple & genius that I think, “Wow, why didn’t I think of that?” Yesterday, my amazement was directed at my brother-in-law.
My brother-in-law, Pete was babysitting for his favorite niece yesterday. When I came home they were playing in the living room on the coffee table.
For Christmas, I received a 101 piece box of cookie cutters from my mama-in-law. I can not even begin to tell you how excited I was. The box had cutters for every holiday, shapes, numbers & letters, etc.. Our coffee table was covered in my new cutters. Mai saw the box & wanted to play with them, so Uncle Pete obliged & together they played.
Mai has recently discovered her love for Play Doh. I noticed on the table there were shapes formed out of the Play Doh using my cookie cutters. I was shocked that I never thought of doing this. It is such a simple idea. I am quite certain many of you mommy’s out there have already done this, but it never donned on me. My little baker enjoyed this. We used her small toy rolling pin to roll out the dough. She helped press out the shapes herself.
Cookie Cutter Play Doh
Mai & I wanted to continue our fun with our new toys. Here are some other fun ideas.
Cookie Cutter Art
Tracing shapes
Paint Stamping
Cookies aren’t the only food that should have all the fun. Cutters can be used on French toast, pancakes, sandwiches & fruit. Have fun with it. Your kiddos will thank you for it.
Related Topics:
*Featured image has been updated*
Happy Christmas Eve Eve. We are only two days away & it has been a busy & exciting holiday so far. I am thrilled that we have the next few days off together as a family because it is so rare. Yesterday, there was a party for the kids at a Polish club from my husband’s home town. Mai saw Santa for the third time this season. She was still not impressed.
With all of the excitement from yesterday, Mai hardly ate a thing. As you all already know if you tune in with me often, she is not the best eater. This morning I wanted to ensure that she had a good breakfast before we headed out for some last minute Christmas shopping. There is one thing that I know about my toddler, she loves to eat anything bite sized. She is a snacker. It is not the same if I cut in to small pieces. It has to be a bite sized morsel on it’s own. She knows the difference.
One of my favorite breakfast foods is French toast. My daughter likes it too…sometimes. It depends on her mood. This morning we had an idea to form our French toast into little balls. Our hopes were that it would make her breakfast more appetizing. Will it work?
French Toast Balls
4 slices of wheat bread
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 cup Powdered sugar
2 tbsp Brown Sugar
1 tbsp apple juice
One egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
Preheat oven to 350.
Beat egg slightly. Mix in the vanilla & juice.
Cut bread into quarters. You may remove crusts for better shape or choose to keep them on.
Roll into a bite sized ball with your fingers.
Place balls into beaten egg. Let sit for a couple of minutes to absorb the egg. Scoop the balls out.
Dip into the mixture of cinnamon, brown sugar & powdered sugar.
Place on a greased cooking tray & bake until golden brown & slightly crispy on the outside. This usually only takes a few minutes & cook time varies, so watch them carefully.
Watch your munchkin enjoy.
She loved helping mommy make them & she loved eating them too. I even got a “Mmmmmmm” out of her this morning. Try our quick and easy trick for your finicky toddler.
Try it with cinnamon raisin bread too.
Thank you as always for stopping by. Please follow us on Facebook as well.
Related Topics:
http://gwwministry.wordpress.com/2013/12/23/cream-cheese-cinnamon-rolls/
http://beingmrspierce.wordpress.com/2013/12/23/pumpkin-streusel-coffee-cake-new-recipe-103/
http://zosedesigns.wordpress.com/2013/12/23/christmas-pancakes/