Christmas Sandwiches

I showed you the reindeer sandwich, and now there is a Santa to go with him:

And there is a snowman to keep them both company:

both of these cute guys are from Little Food Junction.

Healthy Turkey Treats

I have been posting a lot of turkey treats, most of which will have you in a sugar coma before you even get to dinner, so I thought I would post something a little healthier.  We will leave the coma for the tryptophan!

My sister-in-law made this fruit and cheese kabob turkey for our Thanksgiving dinner last year:

If you want to go a little smaller scale, this turkey fruit arrangement make a cute and healthy side or starter for Thanksgiving dinner:

Meet the Dubiens made this cute turkey sandwich using bell pepper feathers and Susan came up with a great idea to use apple slices if your kids aren't fans of bell peppers:

Family Fun has a few feather varieties of their own:

This relish cornucopia is beautiful, but you could use a tortilla and some colorful veggies too:

I will be on the lookout for more healthy snacks to share before the big Turkey Day!

Turkey Treats

These cute turkey cookies from Thrive shot straight to the top of my must make list for Thanksgiving:

And even though we won't be in Arizona for Thanksgiving, I am going to be that as soon as my sister-in-laws see them they will be making them for their Thanksgiving dinner too.  They are too cute NOT to make!

I might have to go with a collection of turkey treats, because these turkey pops are too cute not to make too:

and so are these turkey pops:

And if you aren't a cookie person, you can make these rice krispie treat turkeys:

And if you just can't get enough of these cute gobble gobbles, you can see more turkey treats here and here.

Too many choices, not enough turkey themed holidays!

Candy Corn Frozen Yogurt Pops

What do you get when you combine this this:

with this:

A candy corn frozen yogurt pop from V&Co of course:

Or in my case a candy corn frozen pudding pop!

Acorn Treats

Before I moved to Texas I had never seen a real acorn that had fallen out of an actual tree.  At least one that wasn't sold in a craft store.  Now that we have a yard full of them I love them even more.  My mom must feel the same way, because she collected a bag full of them and took them back to Arizona with her.

Unless you are a squirrel, acorns are pretty much just decorative.  But acorn themed snacks on the other hand are not only cute, but edible!  

Family Fun not only made super cute leaf shaped napkins for fall, they transformed doughnut holes into perfectly cute acorns:

Lipstick and Laundry made these cute acorns with frosting, mini Vanilla wafers, and good old hershey kisses:

Little Nummies made an entire acorn sandwich.  I love the cereal top, but you could use sliced almonds too or raisins for the hat too:

Beth from The Stories of A to Z made peanut butter chocolate acorns and even has a tip for turning non-perils black if you aren't a sprinkle junkie like me.  (I have non perils in just about every color).

And this almond acorn idea actually comes from a diet blog:

Do you love acorns as much as I do, or does my obsession just come from being deprived of them for most of my life?  Do you have any acorn themed treats that you have made?  I would love for you to leave me a link if you do!

Healthy Halloween Snacks

Halloween is full of sugar, so it is always nice to have some festive snacks that are a little healthier than a cupcake on hand.

Kellie from Little Nummies posted some fun cracker eyeballs over at Snack Picks.  My favorite are the banana and peanut butter version:

Food Junction has a lot of fun ideas, my favorite being the olive and gooseberry skewers:

Fruit salad jack-o-lanterns from Family Fun are a great pre trick or treat snack or a fun addition to the dinner table:

Banana Ghosts rolled in coconut from junimond:

These meaty fingers from Super Healthy Kids are made from pretzels, ham and an almond, but I am going to replace the pretzel with a cheese stick and serve these for lunch on Halloween:

Do you have any healthy snacks or appetizers that you plan on serving on Halloween?

Tentacle Pot Pie

The boys in my house love pot pie.  I mean REALLY love it.  It has been a while since I have made it, but I might have to make some before Halloween so that I can make this creepy tentacle version from Not Martha:

You can get the recipe and see her many scary versions over on Babble.

Mac and Cheese Bites

With the spider these Mac and Cheese Bites I found on Holidash would make a fun Halloween appetizer, but without the spider they would be pretty yummy any time of the year!

You can find the recipe for these over at Celebrations.

Peanut Butter Caramel Dipped Apples

I love caramel apples.  And I love peanut butter.  I am not sure how peanut butter caramel apples would taste, but I am pretty sure it would be good.  And I am going to have to give them a try.  You can see the recipe for Peanut Butter Caramel Dipped Apples over at Cheeky Kitchen

Little Halloween Nummies

I love this sandwich from Little Nummies:

I think our grilled cheese sandwiches on Halloween are going to be a LOT cuter this year!  And I thought they were cute when I cut them out with my Halloween cookie cutters!

You can see even more cute Halloween snack ideas from Little Nummies HERE.

Monster Brownies

These decorated brownies from Amanda Cooks are a fun project for kids and a fun treat for a party:

If you aren't into monsters you could use cookie cutters to cut the brownies into different shapes like pumpkins and then the kiddos could decorate jack-0-lantern faces on them.

And then you would have a ton of brownie scraps left over.

And then you would have to eat all of the brownie scraps.

And then you would be happy.

Fun School Lunches

I am not a Bento maker, but I do love finding ways to make my kids lunches fun.  This idea from Just Bento works well for regular lunches as well:

A couple simple stickers and you can add a whole lot of fun to your kids sack lunches!

If you have a little more time you can try your hand at some of these amazing sandwich ideas from Funky Lunch:

And Little Nummies always has a ton of ideas that are fun:

Even if I only have time to just add a note, I always do something to make their lunches contain a little love from home.

What do you do to make your kids school lunches special?

Fruit Salad Ice Cream Cone

This perfect summer treat from Bakers Royale:

is definitely going to be on the menu for our Last Picnic celebration before school starts!

Which reminds me that I need to put a mellon baller on my shopping list!  How have I lived this long without a mellon baller?  Probably the same way I lived without a cheese grater for 12 years!

Painting Toast

Sunday Hotpants has the funnest tutorial involving toast I have ever seen:

Toast painting!  A little milk and some food coloring and you can have a lot of fun turning your breakfast into a work of art:

I have a feeling that Lou La would spend more time painting than eating her toast.  This  might be a fun way to write a message on the first day of school!

You can see her toast painting tutorial HERE.

Vacuum Sealer Freezer Pops

The Kitchn has a tutorial on how to use your vacuum sealer to make these:

Pretty clever!  And a great way to get something inside of them other than just sugar!  And no matter what you put in them, if the kids help you make them they will enjoy eating them 100 times more!!

You can check out the tutorial HERE.

And if you make your own freezer pops you will need to make your own freezer pop holders to go with it:

Hello Kitty Pizza

My girls aren't into Hello Kitty. I actually don't even know how or when little girls fall in love with Hello Kitty. Is there a show or a movie that I have missed? I only ever see stuff.

But if they do ever fall in love with Hello Kitty, I will want to remember these cute mini pizzas from Love Bones:

I especially love the pepperoni bow!  I am guessing that the eyes and whiskers are black olives and the nose is some unmelted mozzarella...  What do you think?

via Craft

Rice Krispy Treats on a Stick

Remember these rice krispie treats on a stick:

Well I found this version from Twig & Thistle on Gordon Gossip:

I love that she didn't even need patriotic sprinkles to dress them up for the Fourth.  Just a little bit of ribbon.  Like 50 cents worth of ribbon!  The patriotic sprinkles would have been cute too!  But I have to say I love that these stand up on their own.  Very cute!

If you are celebrating the 4th tomorrow you still have time to make these.  If you celebrated today like we did, then you can still make them for tomorrow!

Happy 4th!!

Flip Flop Snack Crackers

Kellie from Little Nummiesf created these cute flip flop snacks for Snack Picks:

I am not sure which I think are cuter, the flip flops or this whale that Kellie posted on her own blog:

If you have never checked out Little Nummies and you have little kids.  Even almost big little kids, she has a Ton of really cute ideas to spice up your summer vacation lunches without spending a small fortune to keep them interesting!

Hand Mixer Splatter Guard

One of the reasons I love my Kitchen Aid is because I can't seem to use a hand mixer without splattering things all over the kitchen.  Of course, when I get that turned up too high...WATCH OUT!

But a hand mixer is so much more fun for a kid!  Not to mention I am always scared to let them poor anything into my kitchen aid because I am sure they will get their wrists broken!

So this summer when the kids are in the kitchen with me all of the time I will be using this tip from See Jane in the Kitchen:

She uses a paper towel as a splatter guard.  I am trying to think of something else that the kids might be able to see through.  Any suggestions?  I don't think plastic wrap would work.  Too clingy!  Maybe a ziplock bag cut in half?  A paper towel is much more economical!

So with summer right around the corner (it starts at the end of next week for us!!!) what are you best kitchen tips for having the kids in the kitchen (or just a messy adult!)

Shot Glass Desserts

I have always loved shot glass desserts.  They are just so cute and little.  Which is more proof that being little magnifies the cuteness potential! Babies, puppies, shot glass desserts.

But I don't own any shot glasses.  And honestly, I don't want to.  I try to talk myself into them when I see cute things like these:

Rootbeer Float Cupcakes:

Raspberry Tiramisu:

Trifle:

For now, I am holding off.  Or I guess I should say I have filled the void with these:

My husband bought them for me for Mother's Day.  It may have something to do with the fact that I took  Lou La to the store with me, showed them to her, told her how many I wanted and to tell her Dad.  It might have something to do with that.  So now anytime I see a shot glass dessert, I will just picture this:

Or this:

Or even a s'mifle...a s'more trifle (although I think I would add some vanilla ice cream):

Hopefully these will keep me from needing to buy shot glasses.  At least for a while.