Muffin Tin Monday: The Letter M

Awhile back, I won a blog giveaway for ABC Twiggles preschool curriculum. This curriculum can also be used for kindergarten; it's great for Dash and Sissy to work on together. They suggest starting with the letter M so that's what we did. The kids ate their meal before heading off to Veggie Tales Live! Thursday night.

Our Muffin Tin theme, therefore, was the letter m:

muffins, frozen mango cubes, and macaroni

For the macaroni, I used a gluten/dairy free box mix from Road's End Organics and also added garbanzo beans.

We baked the muffins right in the silicone butterfly cups so that was easy! The muffin at top is Banana Walnut Oat, and the one on the bottom is Pumpkin Carrot. I can't find the recipe for the pumpkin/carrot ones, but there were lots of veggies hiding inside. It also used whole wheat flour and applesauce instead of oil.

Banana Walnut Oat Muffins

2 1/2 small bananas

1 1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour (but I just used regular ww flour)

3/4 cup turbinado sugar (I only used 1/2 cup.)

1 Tbs. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

2 TBS. olive oil

3/4 cup oats

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/3 cup water

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350. Mash bananas in a bowl. Add oil, vanilla, and water. In a separate bowl (I actually didn't use a separate bowl.), mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture, stirring well. Stir in walnuts and oats. Spoon into muffin tins 3/4 full. Bake 350 for 20-30 minutes until lightly browned. (I think I actually baked them for slightly less than 20 minutes. I always bake for less minutes than it calls for because I think it tastes better that way. Or maybe my oven is just hotter.)

3 Happy Muffin Tin Meal participants

To see other happy muffin tin kids, visit Michelle, the Muffin Tin Mom.

Muffin Tin Monday: I Saw Red

Did anyone just start singing Warrant?

Our Muffin Tin theme this week: RED.

We've been doing a casual color unit this summer to help Sissy solidify her colors knowledge. She knows her colors for the most part, but she still gets some of them mixed up occasionally.

Red-skinned apples, R is for Red shaped peanut butter and strawberry jelly bread, strawberries, rice pasta with marinara sauce, Jelto (Dash's name for our gelatin-free gel cups we get at Whole Foods) with a cherry on top, and watermelon.

They also drank apple juice from red boxes.

The only problem with an all-red meal - it's a little red-messy.

We're so happy that Winnie, Rush, and Cary could join us for Muffin Tin Monday!

And we all wore red! Of course, Cary's red outfit is cute, and I only own red t-shirts. She said that was where I made the mistake; she would have planned the meal around the outfit.

Little Rush WAS wearing red, too, originally...

but there were some issues during the meal.

And at least I had fancy red shoes to wear.

We planned on doing a red activity with our little visitors, but we ran out of time. I set these red craft supplies out for my 3 a few days later and told them to CREATE.

This is what they came up with.

A few of our "red" books we read.

And I leave you with this - just because looking at it makes me happy.

How about another one?

Linkin' up with Muffin Tin Mom and Gang.

Muffin Tin Monday: ABC's and 123's

I linked this up a few weeks ago when I didn't realize there were upcoming ABC and 123 themes. I thought I would go ahead and link up again to get everything all in the right spot. Sorry if you already saw this!

As I was getting ready to post this, I noticed that the upcoming Muffin Tin themes in August are ABC's one week and 123's the next...oops. I started to wait on posting this until then, but I had already decided to take a bit of a blogging break at the end of August. So...here's our combination ABC-123 Muffin Tin Meals a few weeks early.

I told them I was going to use their blog names, which didn't really matter to them because they are their nicknames, anyway. Tornado really wanted me to also write "Twister" and "Hurricane." (I told them we'd better stick to one extra word. Momma's got to eat sometime, too!) They had:

applesauce cups with their age spelled out with chocolate chips.

a number cut out of bread - Tornado got a "4" because that is the grade he is going into.

another random number cut out of squash

letter fries (Ian's Alphatots) with mustard and ketchup

Amy's brand alphabet soup

Road's End Organics 123z & Chreese

guacamole with a letter shaped tortilla

Dash wanted his to say, "Dash loves Momma." I don't know about that ornery kid sometimes.

Sissy wanted her extra word to be "Princess."

I used soy cheese and apples & pears for the miniature letters.

More Muffin Tin meals over here!

Muffin Tin Monday Swap

We recently participated in the Muffin Tin Monday Swap. Michelle, the Muffin Tin Mom herself, generously devoted her time to matching up partners and sending out emails. My partner was Heather from Blog, She Wrote.

It's obviously so much fun to receive a package in the mail. The kids came running inside with the box. This is what Heather and her family sent us:

1) a cute pack of baking cups - these are always fun to use

2) 4th of July themed favor bags with matching flag twist ties - she must have known how theme-y I am!

3) a silicone flower muffin tin - I didn't have a single silicone muffin "tin," and I have even eyed this particular one at the store before.

4) 2 sets of mini cookie cutters - yay! so fun!

5) star shaped cutters - love all of the different sizes

6) crazy straws - the kids dove for these immediately

7) set of flag, U.S., and star cookie cutters - squeals! The flag and United States cutters might be my favorite things in the whole box.

Heather and her family did a great job picking out gifts for us.

Thank you, guys! We loved our box full of goodies, and we can't wait to put them all to use!

To check out the other participants' packages, visit Muffin Tin Mom.

Muffin Tin Monday: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls & Baked Tofu

Muffin Tin Monday: linkin' up with Michelle at Muffin Tin Mom

First of all, THANK YOU to everyone who entered my giveaway last week!

(I'm still in the process of visiting everyone's blogs, which is really fun.)

The winner was KBraden at Adventures of a Domesticated Mama.

I can't get my picture to keep from posting sideways, but here ya go, anyway.

The kids had carrot sticks, strawberries, baked tofu,

and Raw Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls.

And I got to use baking cups (folded inside-out so the color is visible) I received from my super swap partner!

Baked tofu:

I froze tofu (the kind in water usually found in the refrigerated section of the produce dept.), then let it thaw. This helps it become more dense and chewier. I cut it into strips, rolled them in olive oil followed by corn meal and salt. I baked them for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees. I know I just lost 3/4 of you at the word "tofu," but they're a hit in my house. :)

I got the recipe for Raw Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls from Averie at Love Veggies and Yoga. First, you pulverize cashews and oats. Add agave nectar (or maple syrup...or honey, if that's what you use) and vanilla. This makes the dough, then add chocolate chips.

Roll them into balls, and they're ready to eat. The kids ate the whole batch. (This made about 15 balls. When I make it again, I'll double or triple the recipe for our family of 5.)

The kids finished all of their food, and my 10 year old came back for refills on everything.

And now I'm off for an afternoon of playing games with the kids...it looks like it's going to be Kerplunk, Diego 1,2,3, and the Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? game.

Muffin Tin Monday: Giveaway

Since we will be out of town this weekend,

we won't have a chance to participate in Muffin Tin Monday.

I had so much fun buying stuff for the Muffin Tin Meal Swap, I ended up getting a few too many things. Instead of taking it back, I thought I would just have a giveaway.

So in celebration of our Muffin Tin Swap...I have Butterfly Party Straws from Pier 1, two packs (orange and yellow) of butterfly silicone baking cups (total of 16!), and a pack of polka-dotted baking cups.

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment, like Enter me.

You don't have to be a follower to enter, but if you are already a follower or want to become one, I will give you two extra entries. (Click on my Follow button on the bottom right.)

Just leave a separate comment, please.

I will draw a name at 9:00 p.m. on Friday, July 9, 2010. Probably mail it out the next day.

Thanks!

Muffin Tin Monday: Patriotic Theme

There continues to be no theme this summer for Muffin Tin Mondays.

I chose patriotic theme because we won't be able to do it at home next week.

I made red, white, and blue kabobs.

RED: grape tomatoes, apples, and frozen strawberries

WHITE: lightly stir-fried tofu cubes and cauliflower

BLUE: blueberries

I asked Sissy why we were having a red, white, and blue meal; she had no clue.

So, apparently, it was a learning experience.

I cut the star out of a Ozery Bakery Breakfast Pitas (They had the Breakfast Muesli flavor.). The kids really like these a lot. They usually eat one warmed with Earth Balance stuck inside when we need a quick breakfast on-the-go.

I got the wooden party picks from Pier 1. A bag of 24 were only a couple of dollars.

The pinwheels really work.

Have a Happy 4th of July, if I miss getting to say that next weekend!

Muffin Tin Monday & Remote Control Boat

For this Muffin Tin Meal, the kids ate lightly steamed purple cauliflower, chocolate chip cashew cookies, and veggie ravioli to dip into marinara sauce.

We love getting the purple, orange, and green cauliflower because it's so pretty. I started worrying that it was genetically modified or something so I tried to figure it out online. It's my understanding that it's just a natural variant.

They got to eat cookies for dinner because...of the 2 cups of flour, I replaced 1/2 cup with protein powder (I used hemp protein powder.) and 1/4 cup with ground flaxseeds. They're also full of cashews, and I cut the amount of sugar.

We buy Rising Moon Organics ravioli, and we all love it. There are many different varities; we choose the ones filled with vegetables, such as butternut squash or artichokes.

IN OTHER NEWS:
The remote control boat we bought Tornado for his birthday is lots of fun!

We took it to the lake and played around with it. There was also a lot of throwing rocks and fun on the playground.
I don't know who had more fun - the kids or Ryan.

To see more muffin tin meals and also lots of other fun craft and holiday ideas, visit
Muffin Tin Mom.

Preschool Corner: Princess Unit

All month we had been going through our Princess Unit. I picked a theme suited for Sissy because I considered this the "official" jumpstart to her "preschool" at home. I wanted to do something that would get her excited about homeschooling. And it's funny that not once did the boys ever say, "Ugh! We're doing a princess unit!" They never even questioned it and asked each day when we were going to do our princess activities. (They did, however, do Prince activities.)

I got the idea of a Theme Box from Kristi at Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice (update: my dear, precious friend who sadly passed away). I liked the idea of having everything together in one spot, and she always made it look so fun. I purchased this box at The Container Store. I filled it with everything-princess. I gathered all of the supplies we would need for all of the projects I had planned. I included all of the books I'd purchased and checked out from the library. (She hadn't seen them yet.)

I liked having everything organized in one box. Having all of the supplies ready in one spot helped me follow through with the activities I had planned. The shoes were just a little bonus for Sissy. I got them because one of her old dress-up shoes broke. Instead of not wearing shoes, she had been clomping around in one high heel for weeks. I felt bad for her!

This was the look she had on her face when she pulled out every single item. Complete with gasps. Even with the things she knew she already owned, like her princess dresses. (I had warned her ahead of time that some of her princess "things" including her dress were going to be in the box.) It just seemed more exciting when it was in a box mixed with other princess stuff.

Activities:

Of course, we made crowns because every proper Princess and Prince needs a crown.

(drawn onto and cut out from posterboard, stapled, decorated with markers and glued on jewels)

And since my royal court also needed lots of jewelry, we made some.

First, Dash and Sissy filled four different bags with two different shapes of pasta.

They added the drops of food coloring, and I poured in the rubbing alcohol or vinegar, just enough to entirely cover the pasta. (I tried both to see which worked better - didn't notice a difference.). I sealed the bags, and they squished it around with their hands to make sure all of the pasta was covered. I drained the bags and let the pasta dry overnight on layers of paper towels.

We used the neon colored food coloring, which made really pretty colors.

They've been busy making jewelry for two weeks. I just left it out for them to work on whenever they felt like it. Here are a few of their creations.

This was the coolest jewelry we made. I wrote about it here for stART.

another stART project we did after reading The Paper Princess

I printed off the P is for Princess and P is for Prince pages from MakingLearningFun.

Another page from MakingLearningFun. The boys used it to practice counting by 5's, but Sissy just counted out loud as she dotted the circles. It was the perfect size for these particular scrapbooking dot markers I have; they're smaller than regular dot markers.

more of our worksheets from crayola.com

Tornado also watercolored this castle and is going to make a suncatcher; we just haven't finished it yet. I got the idea from Raising Happy Children and thought it looked pretty.

her princess lapbook

I printed off the Manners, Gem's from God's Word, Kindness, and Petal book elements from Homeschool Helper and Homeschool Share.

She glued the princess characteristics onto the petals and the bible verse onto the heart.

A book we used a lot during this unit was A Little Princess in the Making. (We also bought Gigi, God's Little Princess Treasury.) After we read parts of them, I asked the kids to give me ideas of good manners, and I wrote down what they said. Under each flap, they gave an example of when we can use each good manner. Sissy, very seriously, said, "You say, 'Excuse me' when you fart."

Dash said he should say, "Yes, ma'am," when I tell him to: "Get down off the window sill." Yes, this really happens daily.

For the Gem's from God's Word, we brainstormed commandments from the Bible which would be good for a princess to remember, like do not lie and have a grateful heart.

alphabet page from Lapbook Lessons

I printed off the Pp Princess princess sheet from HandwritingWorksheets.com (that I found out about from Ticia at Adventures in Mommydom) where you can create your own handwriting worksheets.

She's not really ready for this yet. She's still in the pre-writing stage, but she did try really hard. And she carried this paper around all that day and would work on lightly tracing (like starting in the middle of a letter, not in the correct way) over a letter everytime she sat down. She'd say, "Where's my paper?!" if she misplaced it.

I bought this princess crown wooden jewelry box at Hobby Lobby for just a few dollars. (I think it was $5.99, and I got it for 30% off.) She painted it while Dash painted some wooden frames we had.

Her fingers weren't strong enough to work the scrapbook punches so big brother punched out little shapes for her to glue onto her box.

I spread Modge Podge over her final creation. She loves her little box because it stays shut with a magnet. She carries it around with her random daily assortment of treasures inside.

We had a Princess-themed muffin tin meal one day.

I saved some boxes and paper towel rolls, etc. and asked Ryan if he would make a castle for us. I can always count on him. Marrying an elementary ed. major sure comes in handy. The kids helped him. They're always very eager to use tape any chance they get.

The kids went to work painting the castle. I did have to give them clear instructions to keep the paint colors separate. Otherwise, it would have ended up all being that mixed brown color that results when left to their own devices.

the end result

They play with these chipboard Disney princesses I had bought at Hobby Lobby. They make great sturdy paper dolls. (You can see Sissy with the package at the top of this post.) Little dinosaur figures and Matchbox cars also call this castle home.

I included a picture of all the princess books we read in this post. Here are two of them. They were different versions of the "Princess and the Pea" story. They're both silly, but we enjoyed them.

For dinner: split pea soup (The mice in the pig book made pea soup with the "pea.") and pizza!

Update: Check out Sissy's Princess Birthday Party!

Kids Get Crafty