B's for lunch

R is learning the letter "B" at school this week, so I made her a special "B" lunch at home.  She loved it!  I used her Barbie plate and bear muffin cups to hold bear toast (toast cut with bear cookie cutter and then covered with peanut butter, chocolate chip eyes, and a candy mouth), frozen blueberries (this was R's favorite part of the lunch; she loves frozen blueberries even more than she loves fresh berries!), bunny snacks, and bumblebee bananas (banana slices held together with chocolate hazelnut spread).  While she ate, we took turns naming "B" words.

Muffin Tin Monday - Apples

The theme for Muffin Tin Monday this week is apples. I was not very creative this week, but I was very pleased with the results. C told me he was not eating any apples, but once he saw the muffin pan, he happily ate every bite and asked for more!

Our muffin pans had three varieties of apples (Macoun, Golden Delicious, and Gala) and three sauces for dipping (peanut butter, caramel, and chocolate).



The Flat Stanley siblings were happy to be invited to Muffin Tin Monday.


I thought it would be fun to incorporate an art project into MTM this week. Apple prints sounded fun and simple. Well......

Look at his face. C pressed the apple into paint and got a little on his hand. Well, that was the end of that. He was not going to do this and there was nothing I could say to change his mind.

While I was busy with C, R started eating her apple half. Then she pressed it into the paint and we got this:

I felt the need to actually have some apple prints, so I made these:

After everyone cleaned up, we read I Am an Apple by Jean Marzollo.


Finally, C and R helped me make Apple Pecan muffins using this Ellie Krieger recipe. This is one of my favorite muffin recipes and it is relatively healthy, as far as muffins go anyway.



To see more muffin tins, visit Her Cup Overfloweth.

Muffin Tin Monday - Pirates and Princesses

There is no theme for Muffin Tin Monday this week, so I gave C a pirate themed lunch and R a princess themed lunch.

Here is C's lunch:
Our muffin pan was transformed into a pirate ship this week. On the top left there is a pirate walking the plank (fruit leather), there are wooden legs (pretzels) in the top middle, and crackers for Polly in the top right. On the bottom left there is a Jolly Roger grilled cheese sandwich (I cut it freehand so it's not perfect), the bottom middle cup is filled with emeralds (peas), and the bottom right cup has rubies (strawberries) and sapphires (blueberries). Before beginning his journey to Alaska, Flat Stanley donned a pirate hat and joined us for lunch. Stanley had to leave a few days ago so Muffin Tin Monday happened last Wednesday!

C was very happy with his pirate lunch.

I found this heart shaped muffin pan at Target and knew it would be perfect for R's princess lunch.

In the top left heart she had princess raisins (no creativity there), the middle heart is filled with peas because the true test of a princess is whether she can feel a pea under her mattress, and the top right heart has magic wands (pretzels). There is a grilled cheese sandwich that I intended to be a crown, but I think it looks more like a castle. It works either way, so use your imagination! The final heart is filled with rubies (strawberries) and sapphires (blueberries).

R was happy to eat every princess bite!

Visit Michelle at Her Cup Overfloweth to see more muffin tins and learn more about Muffin Tin Monday.

Muffin Tin Monday - Circus

We are back for another Muffin Tin Monday and this time everything in our tin is edible. The theme this week is the circus, so I decided to focus on clowns and serve sundaes. I was going to decorate the sundaes to look like clowns, but figured it would be more fun for C and R to decorate their own sundaes. They definitely enjoyed the decorating as much as they enjoyed the eating!

I filled the muffin tin with pretzel peanut butter sandwiches, licorice bites, M&Ms, animal crackers, and cone hats. All of these items were specifically requested by C and R.

This is R's clown sundae. She did a great job. You can see the M&M eyes, the licorice mouth, and the pretzels for hair.

This is C's clown sundae. His idea was to just put as much as possible on the ice cream before Mom changes her mind and takes the candy away!After enjoying the clown sundaes, we snuggled on the couch and read two circus books.


Circus Adventures was written and illustrated by a nine year old girl, Lindsey Wolter. The book is very well written and the illustrations are fantastic. The main character, Molly, goes to the circus and becomes one of the performers. Molly finds herself performing with the clowns, toppling the acrobats, and being shot out of a cannon. This is a fun, action packed read and it is perfect for young children because the illustrations tell the whole story.

Olivia Saves the Circus by Ian Falconer features our favorite little pig describing her summer adventures to her class. Olivia tells her classmates about a visit to the circus where all of the performers were suffering from ear infections, but luckily Olivia was willing and able to juggle, walk the tightrope, clown around, tame lions and more to save the circus. We think Olivia is adorable!

Visit Michelle at Her Cup Overfloweth to see more muffin tins!

Muffin Tin Monday - People and Faces

The theme for Muffin Tin Monday this week is People and Faces, and I think I may be breaking all the rules here because there is absolutely nothing edible in our muffin pan this week. My original plan was to make pancakes and fill the muffin cups with foods that could turn the pancakes into faces, but then I found a recipe for homemade face paint and I just had to try it.

Directions:

1. In each muffin cup put: 1 tsp cornstarch, 1/2 teaspoon water (I used a little more), 1/2 teaspoon baby lotion or whatever you use on your children (something mild), and 2 drops food coloring
2. Stir gently using separate stirrers in each cup so that you don't mix colors
3. Paint your face, hand, belly, or entire body! We had a lot of fun with this. The paint spreads easily and washes off with soap and water.

*This recipe can be found in the cookbook, Fun with Kids in the Kitchen by Judi Rogers. To see how other people filled their muffin tins, visit Her Cup Overfloweth.

Muffin Tin Monday

I am showing off our very first muffin tin meal today. We had a mermaid theme day, and the muffin cups were perfect for our lunch. The four muffin cups on the side of the pan hold shells and cheese, of course. The top row of the pan is filled with goldfish crackers, and the bottom row has ocean blue jello!

After lunch, C and R painted seashells. I'm thinking of a project that will feature those seashells another day.

Our music of the day was the soundtrack from The Little Mermaid. C and R love the music, but I often find myself explaining why they both talk about "body language" on occasion. If you recall, Ursula the evil octopus tells Ariel that she does not need her voice to get the attention of Prince Eric. This is the line: "You'll have your looks, your pretty face. And don't underestimate the importance of body language, ha!" My children love that line and recite it with great regularity.


Finally, we snuggled on the couch and read The Tiniest Mermaid by Laura Garnham.Another successful theme day topped off with our very first muffin tin Monday! To learn more about Muffin Tin Monday and see more Muffin Tin Meals, visit Her Cup Overfloweth.