Frozen Birthday Lunch (muffin tin meal)

My little Ellie had a birthday and like many little girls, is loving everything "Frozen" right now.  I love how a muffin tin pan can make something extra special and they are so easy!  I knew it would be the perfect thing for a special lunch on her birthday.

Here's what was in her Frozen-themed Birthday Lunch:

Pretzels and carrots for Olaf, yogurt for snow, hot chocolate because Olaf wanted some, marshmallows for snow balls, heart-cut bread with cream cheese because love conquers all.

She loved it!

It really is the "little" things, isn't it? :)

Dr. Seuss Day: Edible Scrabble Game

A day to celebrate reading?  We're in!     Dr. Seuss Day (March 2nd) is one of our favorite holidays and it's always a "treat" to decide how we will celebrate.   I love being able to sneak some learning into snack time.  And this year we made a game of it!  

Playing scrabble with cookie tiles was quite the {little} treat for my kids.  Jay is old enough to manage the point system.  But Jay and Kay had fun making their own crossword puzzles.

 I think Dr. Seuss would agree that eating words is a lot of fun!

 

 

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Be sure to check out our other Dr. Seuss Day Food fun!

-Dr. Seuss Muffin Tin Meal

-Cat in the Hat Drinks

-ABC Pancakes

 

 

Dr. Seuss Day: Muffin Tin Meal

One of our favorite ways to celebrate holidays is with a Muffin Tin Meal.  

My kids think it is the perfect {little} touch.

Our Dr. Seuss muffin tin meal was a hit!

 

From top left to right: string cheese (hat) with red pepper stripes, letter pretzels, green eggs and ham,

red fish-blue fish, oobleck (pistachio pudding), letter cookies

Although we have celebrated Dr. Seuss Day (March 2nd) for many years, I've never made green eggs and ham!  I thought they would gobble it right up....but they were are afraid to at first!

It took some prodding, but they finally tried it and were surprised that it tasted the same!

The fun thing about a muffin tin meal is that there is just a {little} bit of each kind of food.  

Kids love the variety and the novelty of not having it every day means something so simple can turn the day into something just a {little} bit more special.

Be sure to check out our other Dr. Seuss food fun!

Cat in the Hat Drinks! 

Dr. Seuss {Edible Scrabble} Game

-ABC Pancakes

Dr. Seuss Day: Cat in the Hat Drinks!

Dr. Seuss Day (March 2nd) is one of our favorite holidays to celebrate!

My kids loved our Cat in the Hat drinks and they are so easy to do!

 The trick to {this little project} is using Dry Erase Washable Markers.

Simple fun.  We're good at that around here.

I love how the milk turns the cat white.  But if you don't want to risk a glass cup, my {little} kids were equally content with a face drawn on our favorite IKEA cups instead--as long as I put a straw in, lol.

 

 
Be sure to check out  more of our Dr. Seuss Food fun!

-Dr. Seuss Muffin Tin Meal

-Edible Scrabble Game

-ABC Pancakes

 

* Affiliate Links included.  Opinions are always 100% my own.

Updated! The Best Granola (yum!!)

Making granola is a weekly {little} project at our house.  I have tried quite a few granola recipes and my husband LOVES this one the best.

Today was the day to make a new batch, and oh how I love the smell of baking granola!

I've shared this {little} granola project before with the details of how I store it and such.

 If you decide to try out the best granola ever, be sure to check that one out.

But I have updated my recipe and wanted to repost it with the changes I've tried.

 

One thing that I love about granola is that it lasts in your belly.  When I feed my kids cold cereal they are hungry again in about an hour.  But when they eat granola, it lasts until lunch time. 

In the winter, we add some dried fruits (it's very yummy on it's own too!)
But in the summer cutting fresh strawberries, peaches, or blueberries into this granola is divine!  Sometimes we eat it with yogurt, sometimes with milk.  It's yummy to snack on dry too!

 One of the main revisions to my recipe is the number of cups of old-fashioned oats.  I have increased them 3 cups since the last time I shared it.  And we can't tell.  There is still plenty of sweet and lots of taste.   Of course, adding more oats makes it go further, reducing the fat content too, a nice bonus :)
 You can use sweetened or unsweetened coconut, depending on your taste. 

Granola is one of my favorite "go-to meals" to share.  It's perfect for a new mom, a thank you gift, birthday treat, etc.  It isn't a hot meal so it can be enjoyed anytime.

Once again, I have put two on a page because I promise that once you try it and share it with anyone, they will want it too!

Jedda’s Granola  It's yummy!  Enjoy!  

A {little} playhouse--YUM!

If you come over to visit, you might be invited to have a treat here:

 

Last summer I took an extra/odd space (a little bigger than a closet) and hung a sheet across the front of it.  I cut windows and a door made a "playhouse" there.  It's been a favorite {little project} ever since.

 

But it needed a name.  And the "yum yum house" is what it became.  Sometimes it's a restaurant and sometimes it's a {little} playhouse with a kid kitchen.  But there's always food involved!

 

The kids love having their own {little} space.  It's a hideout.  It's a kids-only place.

But it was messy.  

I needed a {little} cabinet that wouldn't overwhelm the size of the space.

And I found it on the side of the road.

We've lived in this city for 2 years and I still think it's weird to be driving down the street and see what people just leave out: couches, tv's, doors, windows, you name it.

  In our town you don't have to dispose of anything yourself, you just put it out for the city to pick up.  And often it finds a new home first.  Weird.  And kinda fun too, I guess.

It's always nice to get the perfect {little} thing for free!

 

This cabinet is totally kid-sized perfection--the perfect height and size!  My daughter, Kay loves to organize.  She was so excited to finally get this {little} space settled, that she was practically glowing!

Cups, pans, spoons, and aprons all found their places: 

I've had making felt food on my to-do list for 2 years.  And it just isn't going to happen any time soon.  So I broke down and bought fake plastic food.  We organized it by food types: fruits, veggies, bread/breakfast, and junk.  We may as well got those down while playing, right?

These "candy bins" from Hobby Lobby (last summer) were perfect for the food because they are clear.




To give you an idea for the size of the space, you can see the edge of the wall on the right, that's where the curtain hangs down to define the space.  Sometimes they move the table inside, sometimes it's out :)

 




The window is a favorite feature, and they deliver food right through it to the table!

 This {little} project turned out just right: very yummy and lots of fun!

Spring Marshmallow Pops

My {little} ones like to be in the kitchen "helping" me.  

So {this little project} is fun for me because I can easily include them too.  

Yay!

I love all the different shapes of marshmallows in the spring.  

We just found some flower ones at the dollar store--of all places--that I'm using for another learning {little project} with Kay.  

Shown here are bunnies and ducks.  

To make {this little project}

Prepare your marshmallows with sucker sticks in them

Then simply melt some chocolate and put it in a shallow dish.  

Dip one side of the marshmallow in the chocolate and then sprinkle it (or let the kids!)

Then rest them on a tray to cool.

Every treat is just a {little} more fun to eat on a stick, right?

And my kiddos have no problem reusing their sticks to put another marshmallow on!

 'Tis the season for a yummy {little} project!

Mr. Potato Head Turkey

Jay came home from his art class with this potato-head styled turkey. It was so cute I had to share.

He's so proud of himself for making it (toothpicks and feathers-including one in the back to help him stand) but doesn't think it's funny when we talk about cooking him up for Thanksgiving!

My Favorite Pie Recipe

Whenever I get the chance to make pie I go for this one:

Sour Cream Apple Pie.

The recipe comes from an old friend of my mother's. Every time I serve it people ask for the recipe. So here we go!

(I'll give you an easy pie crust recipe to go with it too-down at the end.)

You need 3 cups of apples-peeled and cored. {Little Project Tip:} If you don't have one of those handy little things the slicing and coring for you just cut around as you go-see photo. It's faster than cutting into 4's and slicing the seeds out. Plus you end up with nice small pieces.

{Little Project Tip:} I think it's easier to peel the apple in one long peel going around and around. But that's just me. I love adding such a cheery bit of color to the compost pile-but that's just me too!

Sour Cream Apple Pie Recipe:

2 eggs beaten

1 cup sour cream

1 cup sugar

2 T flour

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

3 cups apples (peeled/cored and sliced)

Crumble for top of pie:

3 T. butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup flour

Directions: Combine eggs and sour cream. Add sugar. Then add flour, vanilla, and salt. Apples go in last.

Pour into an unbaked pie crust (see recipe below) and bake for 15 minutes at 375 degrees. Then sprinkle with the brown sugar crumble and finish baking 20-25 minutes

So many people are afraid of making pie crust. I love this recipe because it always turns out and it's so EASY!

Pie Crust Recipe:

2 1/2 cups flour

1 cup shortening

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1 T white vinegar

1/4 cup water

Just throw all the ingredients in your Kitchen Aid or Bosch and it turns out great.

(makes three 9 inch crusts or four 8 inch)

To roll it out, start with a ball of dough and sandwich it between two layers of wax paper. Roll and then release each side of the paper and roll again as needed. If it sticks too much to the wax paper sprinkle a tiny bit of flour. It gets easier each time you do it.

One other {Little Project Tip}: I use enough wax paper that I have some extra hanging over the edge of the table or counter so that I can lean against it to keep it from moving around as I roll.

Enjoy This YUMMY Little Project! It's best served warm, but it's great the next day too :)
Trust me, it's the best!