Toddler Straw Valentines

Nothing like a last minute craft project!  I'm not a procrastinator at all, but when daycare told us on Monday night that Connor's class was having a Valentine's Day party, I only had a few days to prepare.  Connor had tubes surgery on Tuesday morning (second set) so we had some extra time in the afternoon to do some crafting.  

I decided on a simple Valentine's note with a non-food gift for each child since daycare is nut-free and it's hard to find snacks that all the kids can eat.  I printed out sheets of Valentines and then had Connor color on them with pink, red and purple crayons.

 Each circle is 2.5 inches and I used a hole punch to make hole on the top and bottom of each one.  It looked really complicated to get the paper on the straw without ripping it, but it ended up being pretty easy to do.

I ended up grabbing a little box of sticker for each child, so I just tied those on with a ribbon.


Happy Valentine's Day!

Sweet Sugar Cookies

I can't decide if it's a bad thing or a good thing that I try to keep all the common baking ingredients in the house at all times. It definitely comes in handy when I have a random craving for something baked. Over the weekend, Hubby and I really wanted some cookies, so I was able to come up with something using stuff we had in the house. The verdict: 2 thumbs up from Hubby and all the cookies were gone by the next day!

Adapted from here
Ingredients:
• 2 3/4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Add in egg and vanilla.

Add the dry ingredients and mix well.

Using your hands, make small balls of dough and place them onto a cookie sheet.

Bake 7-10 minutes or until the bottoms are golden brown.

Dip in milk & pig out!

Baked Healthy Cauliflower Cheddar Muffins

Another successful hidden veggie recipe!  I may or may not have eaten these as my dinner for a couple nights because I love them so much!

Adapted from Cupcakes & Kale Chips

Ingredients:

• 1 head cauliflower (about 4-5 cups)

• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (I used low fat)

• 1 egg

• 1/4 cup cornmeal

• pinch of salt & pepper

• 1/4 teaspoon ground mustard

1. Preheat the over to 400 degrees.

2. Chop cauliflower into small pieces and puree in the food processor.

3. Combine cauliflower puree and other ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.

4. Lightly grease muffin tins or muffin liners and spoon mixture into cups.

5. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown on top.

They came out amazing and my son thought they were cupcakes!

What I've Been Up To...

I'm pregnant! 

It's been a pretty crazy few months which is why I've been a little slow on the blog.  My life has been turned upside down with a crazy toddler and having very bad morning sickness.  It's been a struggle to even get through the normal day-to-day when I'm so sick.  But now that I'm in second trimester, things are starting to calm down.  The other big change is that I've been in transition to a new job!  I'm still at the same company and still doing graphic design, but I've switched to product design and product management.  The last few months have been a big blur to me, but I hope to have my life back to normal very soon.

As always, feel free to read my baby blog where I post way too many photos of my son and my pregnancy-related stories as things progress.

I wish all of you and your families a wonderful holiday!

Lisa