3rd Birthday Cake

Okay, okay, okay. So, I only seem to get to posting in this blog every once and a while. I really mean to... but it just doesn't happen. Anyways.... on to the main event; My little man's birthday cake! The first year was the beloved banana cake with mario theme, complete with chocolate mushroom.

The second year cake didn't even make it to the blog because I just made a small round cake, iced it and stuck a big Lightning McQueen candle on it. (It was a small birthday and wasn't really calling for a big cake)

This year was different. I themed the whole party around his favorite colour, yellow. (at least right now it is yellow) So much yellow I had to sneak some colour in somewhere... so why not the cake itself? That is right. I present to you: "Yellow birthday cake in the shape of a number three that is rainbow angel food cake underneath"

This is two angel food cake bunt cakes, rainbow tinted and carved together into a 3, then iced with lemon whipped icing.

Yellow sprinkles too.

The picture I really should have taken but didn't would be of the angel food cake cooling inverted on a beer bottle.
Okay, to save time (and a million eggs) I used boxed angel food cake mix. I used neon food colours and gently folded it in for the colours in the cake, layering them in the pan. The icing was all me (and my pretty mixer) but mostly me.
I kludged together different recipes, made a new addition of my own, and completely forget where I even got the original unaltered recipe for this icing, so forgive me for not linking anyone else to this post.

Lemon Fluffy Icing: (Kinda like butter-cream)

1 cup vegetable shortening (like cristco)
1/2 cup butter (if you use salted butter, omit the salt in the recipe)
2 1/2 tbs lemon extract (you could use any extract here really)
3 tbs water
1/8 tsp salt
2 pounds confectioner's sugar (icing sugar)
2 tsp meringue powder (I used the wilton's stuff that has been sitting in my cupboard forever...)

Directions:
(I only recommend this if you have a stand mixer. Sure you can try, but the end of the recipe might show you why I think that might be a bad idea.)
Cream the shortening and butter till it starts to fluff nice. Ruin said fluffing by adding the liquids and salt.
Slowly add all the sugar,possibly needing a towel over your mixer to keep the dust in the bowl and not in your lungs and on your counters.
once combined, mix on high speed for 15 minutes. (see why you won't want to hand mix?) If needed a little more water or extract can be added, and you can fluff a further 5 minutes if you please, but depending on the mixer, you may have it done sooner or later than that time.
Okay, now that I have given that recipe, I am going to suggest you use it on normal cakes and not angel food cakes. It was good, but angel food cake lends itself more to cool whip or meringue toppings than icing, and this icing when the cake was cut started to come off in whole chunks. It doesn't adhere well to that kind of cake. Good frosting though.
Okay, here are a few random pictures from the birthday party and then I promise to leave you alone.

WW Applesauce Pancakes

 

 There is my little guy trying to cut his own pancakes.  They grow so fast. At least no one grows out of pancakes... unlike monster pajamas. 

Whole Wheat Applesauce Pancakes With Caramel Sauce

Yeah, I went there, and I added blue stripes.  For the pancake recipe I used the one in the Nick Jr. recipe page.  For that recipe go here: Whole Wheat Applesauce Pancakes

The next step I took was to separate a small amount of pancake batter, dye it blue with food colouring, and stick it in a squeeze bottle. (A small bag with the corner snipped would work too)

I add 1/4 to 1/2 a cup of frozen chopped apples to the batter for added fruit.  Blueberries and chocolate chips always work too, or anything really goes.  In fact, I do not have apple pie spice, so I used pumpkin pie spice instead.  I am a rebel like that.

Put the batter on the hot, buttery frying pan (butter or margarine always make better pancakes then oil. Use lots and have a crispy outer crust with fluffy insides), then squeeze out your coloured lines on the pancake before it cooks. (you can try patterns if you are brave, but my flowers didn't turn out, so I suggest zig-zags just for the colour splash)

Top the pancakes with caramel sauce.  I just used the smucker's caramel sauce I had in the fridge from when I made that caramel buttercream icing for my son's banana birthday cake.

Enjoy!

(I am pretty sure he did)

Star-filled Egg in a Basket lunch

My little dude loves stars.  So one lunch I raced over and made him this lunch, and it didn't even take that long.  I took my star cookie cutters out, then took the larger one and cut a hole in the bread.

 The little guy ate the bread star while I cooked.  Then I sprayed the pan with some cooking spray, preheated it, placed the bread on the pan, and cracked an egg in the middle.  I sprinkled some roasted red pepper spice on it because my guy likes spiced up food, but it would look better plain.

Cook until star looks opaque and flip if desired (I did to make sure the egg was cooked through, no runny egg stains in my kid's clothes) or cook sunny side up, but keep an eye on the bread if you do so it doesn't burn.  

Et voila! I cut another bread star for the plate, along with some small stars out of cheese slices, and placed the cheese on a dollop of marinara sauce I had left over from a pizza dipping sauce.

Spooky lunch... i.e what we ate for Halloween

Macaroni and Ghosts

I made some of that Amy's white cheddar and shells pasta, then took a hard boiled egg that had been peeled and nicked the bottom off with a knife.  Next I put the egg in the pasta cut side down, and used a toothpick to paint on a ghost face with some black food colouring gel (I used Wilton's)   I have seen various colouring on food with toothpicks in the past, and this seemed like a good way to add something special to Halloween lunch.  As a plus, the black gel started to leak a little green colour around the edges and looked extra cool.  

In case you are wondering, the black flecks are pepper... I got enthused and almost ate my portion of lunch before taking the picture.  As a side note, you may want to give the egg a minute to dry before handing it to a starving toddler who thinks it is also cute, as my son had 'eye' prints on his fingers, haha.

Glow*in*the*dark Drinks

I couldn't resist the simplicity, yet over-all effect of this idea, so I hope you enjoy this too.  This may make our Halloween zombies even more awesome than before.  (Zombies the alcoholic drink, if you were wondering how drinking cups went with that...)  Also great for the kids, with non-alcoholic beverages... I wonder how many people will be clicking this just wondering how it could be tagged as both boozed up and kiddie stuff...

Gummie Bear Ghosts

Halloween is by far my favorite holiday of all, and that is why even though I have been too busy to update here as often as I would like to, I could not resist posting a link to this cute little recipe item for your enjoyment.

Not only are they chocolate covered gummie bears, but they can also be on a stick :) I love food on a stick.  I actually have the cookbook entitled 'on a stick', ... well enough about me, if I can not manage to post something before Monday then I wish you a happy Halloween.

IMMD : Sky Parfaits

Sky Parfaits

This completely made my day... I mean night.... I mean really early in the morning when it is still dark outside and I am still up for some reason on the computer... but you understand what I mean.  This recipe is really simple:  blue jello plus whipped cream.
Here is the original post:
http://pinterest.com/pin/128251097/
You will find that the post says pretty much the same thing, but with an awesome idea like this, words are really over-rated.  I can't wait to make this for my little man.

DIY Homemade Pedialyte Recipe

With the summer heat approaching for many of us, and illness a constant possibility for us people with children, I thought it was a great idea to re post this information from the website CraftGossip :) Here you will find a recipe to Homemade pedialyte with simple ingredients you may have lying around the house.

Coffee*Love : Playtime coffee for tots

I found this amazingly cute post from Sew Homegrown for how to make a felt Starbucks play-set for your child's play kitchen!  You could have your children play-barista-ing away in a nice corner of your house while you enjoy the real thing!  However, I still think my son will continue to try and steal the real stuff... but this is still cute.

For the love of coffee...

Having children teaches you things you never even thought about before having them.  I learned something new all the time now.  Like just a while ago I discovered that fruit flies do not just enjoy fruit.  They also enjoy that carefully prepared cup of coffee you got yourself for when the baby naps. 

In fact, they love it so much they swim in it.  Fruit flies are poor swimmers too. 

They also love that glass of wine you and your husband sneak in after the baby falls asleep and you want a little quality time together while you can get the chance.

I have also discovered that I hate fruit flies. 

Sanity savers for people with lil peoples

Someone commented to me a while back about the more clever of my baby solutions, and I thought since it is food related enough, I may as well share it here.

I am not the kind of person who really worries that much about a messy baby.  They are meant to have fun with food, so they will enjoy it more as they get older, and maybe not be such a picky eater along the way.  However, to keep that mind set, sometimes I use a few measures to help make the mess less.

My top tip is shelf liner.  Yea, that vinyl crud we stick on the bottom of cupboards and forget about, it is cheap and usually hidden somewhere in your house, I got mine for free when my boss was cleaning out a storage area, and asked if I wanted it.

We just happen to have the kind of table that splits apart in the middle, and the booster seat sits at the middle point where the crack is... and food was getting crammed between.  The little man likes to try and eat everything, so placemats are out of the question, and plates fly and smash when he gets hold of them, so the solution for me was to put a chunk of shelf liner right on the table, covering the crack and wrapped down to cover the edge.

I place all his food directly on it, and wipe it clean.  No dishes to clean, not cracks to de-gunk, and if it gets stained or starts to pull up I replace it with a new sheet.  Easy.

Next tip?  Dollar store table cloths or old picnic table cloths, or vinyl shower curtains.  Why?  You use it like a painter's drop cloth under high chairs or booster seats to catch the mess.  Afterwards, you just shake it off, and if messy the dollar store ones are easily replaced, and picnic table cloths wipe clean, and shower curtains can be wiped or even gently washed in the washing machine (hang dry of course)

Now, high chairs and booster seats can be taken outside in nice weather and hose sprayed, then sun dried for a nice, quick clean with the added bonus that the sun kills germs.  In winter or bad weather, just lug them in the shower and let them drip dry, then set on the table cloth a fore mentioned to catch any hidden water as it finishes drying.  This way you don't have to spend enormous amounts of time wiping down every nook and cranny, and get a better clean usually.

If you are worried about clothes, then feed baby naked.  Diapers are changable and babies hose down pretty good too ;)  Hope this helps.

Chow for the Chubster: using up infant cereal

Although I have not had any infant cereal in the house for quite a while, I thought I would look into recipes that use it up, as it tends to get wasted and well, babies don't really like it.  There are many ways to get iron into your baby, but infant cereal is an easy way, so why not have some fun with it if you have it.

 Always supervise children when eating any finger foods

BABY OATMEAL CEREAL COOKIES
2 c. flour
1 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 1/2-3 c. baby oatmeal cereal
2 eggs
1 c. white sugar
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. oil
1 tsp. vanilla
Mix eggs, sugars, oil and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Bake at 350 degrees about 15 minutes.

 You can use the infant cereal to thicken your smoothies, for you or the baby.  Added vitamins never hurt a smoothie.

The plainer varieties can be used in meatloaf and meatballs instead of bread crumbs.  It's best to buy plain anyways, because a few spoons of baby food or applesauce tastes much better for baby anyways, and adds real fruit in the mix, instead of fake powdered fruit.  On the same note, you could use it to top macaroni and cheese casseroles, and you could use the fruity ones with a bit of butter and brown sugar to top your muffin recipes.

Dip chicken strips in plain yogurt and then roll or shake in plain cereal and bake them.  Makes a good chicken finger for toddlers.

Teething Biscuit Recipes - Egg-less Baby Cereal Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 cup dry infant rice cereal with bananas (or other flavored or
unflavored infant cereal)
3 tablespoons cooking oil
ice water

Directions:
Preheat oven 425F
Mix flour and cereal.
Gradually stir in oil. Mix a little ice water at a time (start with 1/4 cup) until dough begins to form a ball and pull away from the bowl.
Roll out to the thickness of a cracker on a floured surface and cut into desired shapes.
Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet 10-12 min. or until lightly brown. Cool completely.

Store in an airtight container. (you may want to try 1/2 plain and 1/2 flavored baby cereal as the taste when using full flavored baby cereal is very strong.)

Orange and date muffins

250 ml pure orange juice
1/2 cup of finely chopped dates
1 egg(you can us 2 egg yolk only if there are egg allergies in family)
3tbs canola oil
3tbs honey(you can use sugar instead)
1 cup flour
2 cups fortified baby cereal(I found rice made the dough tougher, so I prefered oatmeal)
2tsp baking powder
2ml of salt

-mix wet ingredients together
-mix all dry in a seperate bowl, then pour wet mixture with dry until just blended.
-in greased muffin tins, add then bake at 200C(400F) for about 15 mins.
should make about 24 muffins. They can be kept for 4 days in the fridge or up to 3months in the freezer.

If you find the mixture to dry, you can add a bit more liquid.

Cereal Pancakes

1 egg
1 cup milk
2 Tbsp oil
3/4 cup dry infant cereal
1/4 cup flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda.

In a med bowl, beat egg; add rest of ingredients and mix. Pour 1/2 cup batter onto hot, greased skillet for each pancake. Turn pancakes as soon as they are puffed and full of bubbles. Cook other side until golden brown. Makes 6-9 pancakes.

Baby Cereal Cookies

1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 cups infant cereal
3 TBsp whole milk.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a cookie sheet or spray with nonstick spray. Lightly cream molasses and butter. Mix in egg and vanilla. In a seperate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and cereal. Add to the butter mixture. Blend. Add milk. Drop on the cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Bake 10-12 minutes.

 There.  No more waste.  The recipes I found mostly on the internet in various forums, and there are plenty more if you 'Google' or 'Swagbucks' them.

Chow for the Chubster: baked fruit

Baked fruit

I found this post here and thought it sounded like a great way to get extra fruit into my little man.  It can be hard to find good kiddie chow sometimes, and these recipes are great because you can chop the fruit up for finger food, puree it if you are into that whole 'mushed baby food' thing or serve it with a variety of things for adults and older kids too.  The site suggests serving it with frozen yogurt, oat meal or even cake, but they are all good on their own too.

BAKED PEACHES, NECTARINES and PLUMS

• Turn on the oven to 400(F),
• Halve the fruit if using peaches, pears, or nectarines and plums
• Do not peel
• Add 1-2 inches of water to a baking pan,
• Place fruits "face down" and bake at 400F for approx. 40 minutes or until skin puckers. 
• If you use this method for pears, bake for 20 minutes or until skin puckers
• Once baked, slip off the skins if you desire and enjoy warm

BAKED APPLES

• Core a few apples (leave peel on),
• Wipe center inside with butter if desired or add a wee bit of water to the inside
• Sprinkle some cinnamon if desired
• Add raisins and a wee dash of brown sugar if desired too. 
• Place apples upright in a baking pan filled with 2-3 inches of water (more water than with peaches as peaches are more shallow) -
• Bake at 400 for approx. 40 minutes or until skin puckers and/or fruit begins to bubble.

BAKED BANANAS and PEARS

• peel and cut bananas or pears in half length-wise
• then place on baking sheet lightly spread with olive oil -
• You choose the temp and keep a watch.  We use 400 for approx 10 minutes. 
• Pears are generally more soft so keep a watch as they may bake up faster than you realize.
• Sprinkle bananas and/or pears with some cinnamon, ginger or nutmeg if desired

Bananas are also yummy when fried in a dash of butter on the stove top - sprinkle with cinnamon and drizzle with honey if age appropriate.   Pears are very yummy when lightly fried with a touch of vanilla.