JuBella.com – Get Your Creative Dose

Good morning everybody. Hope you all had a sunny filled weekend!

Here is a sweet idea that would surprise any kid on any given morning. Colorful pancakes! I fixed these this past Sunday and our son was so thrilled at the sight of them. These are perfect for sunny spring and summer mornings. Just separate your pancake batter into bowls and stir in any color you like. I used a neon green, pink, and blue! I don’t like to use food coloring often, but when I do, I must say that it’s tons of fun! Yay for pretty colors!

I have been meaning to share this little tip for quite some time now. If any of you moms are like me, then you may have kids who thinks that a happy meal or any kids meal at a fast food restaurant is super exciting. The problem on our end is that we do not eat that much fast food that would include cute boxes and trade marked toys. So, to make a long story short, I decided to make my own happy meal for the little one not too long ago. I fixed him chicken nuggets and fries and packaged it up in a brown paper bag that I glued coloring sheet and activity cut-outs to (the front is a free Phineas & Pherb coloring sheet that I trimmed, and the back is a cut-out of a free activity worksheet). He LOVED it! You can find all sorts of activity sheets for free on the web. Simply scale them down a bit to fit your bag or box. I also included a few of his crayons so that he can “play” as he ate. I also used some card stock paper and made a little box to put the chicken nuggets in and made a pouch for the fries and lined the box with tin foil.

I plan to make more of these for him with different foods and I will gather up some inexpensive toys to include in them. I loved this idea because for all of you who prefer not to give your kids fast food, who are vegans and vegetarians, or if your child has to follow a special diet, then this is a fun way to make their meal happy without the side effects of processed food from the local fast food joint! So, when you have a moment, definitely give this idea a try, your kids are sure to love it!

So our little one has been begging me day after day to make some popsicles for him. Although they are probably the easiest dessert to make, I just kept putting it off. Anyhow last night we made what we call mini pops. They are quite yummy and a perfect size for a little treat or snack.

For the strawberry pops we used fresh strawberries, added some sugar. The sugar helps your pops freeze better, otherwise you will end up with ice pops..LOL, but be careful not to add too much sugar as it will make your pops too soft and will not mold properly. I would say we added about a Tbsp. We also added just a little bit of lemonade to it..just a little and blended it into a puree. For the pineapple-lemonade we blended fresh pineapple, and lemonade together, added a bit of sugar and poured them into the ice tray.

Once you have poured your puree and juice into the molds, place a piece of foil on top. Gently press your palm along the ice tray ridges so that you will be able to tell where the center of each mold is. Using a sharp kitchen knife, gently poke hole/lines in the center of each ice mold. Place your popsicles in the holes and carefully place your tray in the freezer. Straighten any sticks that may have moved while moving.

I very much hope to have the opportunity to make my own baby food for baby girl when she arrives, even if it is not for every meal. It would be nice to know that I am taking out a bit of time to concoct some gourmet mash for her liking..LOL.

We had these for breakfast this morning and they came out pretty good in my opinion(I was experimenting with my pancake recipes), so I thought I would share the recipe here! After the first bite our son goes: “What did you put in these…they taste healthy”…LOL, he says this anytime I use wheat flour, anyhow, he ate every bit of it and said that it tasted good! Ok, here is the recipe:

Strawberry & Banana Pancakes:

Ingredients
1 C. Unbleached Flour
1/2 C. Whole Wheat Flour
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1/4 tsp. Salt
2/4 C. Sugar
2/4 C. Nonfat Plain Yogurt
1 Egg
2/4 C. Almond Milk: Vanilla (I use Blue Diamond unsweetened vanilla)
2 tsp. Olive Oil

Directions: using your mixer, mix together all of your dry ingredients. Add your egg, yogurt, and milk & mix. Fold in your olive oil.

Pour batter into a non-stick skillet(i use canola non-sticking spray) on low heat. Using a 1/4 measuring cup pour batter into your skillet and spread batter a bit to create a larger circle. Place the top on your skillet and let cook/steam on one side until the edges are firm enough to turn. Do the same on the other side & continue this process until your batter is gone.

Serve pancakes warm and top with sliced bananas and strawberries. Here i used a sprinkle of powdered sugar, but that is totally optional.

Suggestion: Blend some strawberries with your syrup or honey to make a great strawberry flavored syrup!

This particular recipe is fantastic for making with your children. Our little one LOVED it. You can get really creative with the recipe. We made both chocolate(pictured above) and vanilla and it was so good. Making this outside makes this treat even better for the little ones! However I will be investing in an ice cream maker soon, but like I said, it is fun to do this one with your kids!

Homemade Ice Cream

½ cup sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

3 beaten egg yolks

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cups chilled whipping cream

Bag of Ice

Rock / Ice Cream Salt

ziplock bags: sandwich and gallon size

1. Put the sugar, salt, and milk into the top pan of a double boiler (you can use two pots to do this should you not have a double boiler. Just add about 3 cups of water to your bottom pot and plate your other pot on top). Stir the 3 beaten egg yolks into the milk and sugar. Cook the mixture over boiling water for about 2-3 minutes or until you see bubbles forming around the edges. Let mixture cool to room temperature. Remove top pot and stir in the vanilla extract and the heavy whipping cream and stir together.

2. Pour the ice cream mixture into a plastic zip-lock sandwich bag and seal tightly. Fill a gallon size food storage zip-lock bag about one third full of ice cubes. Add a cup of rock salt. Zip the large bag closed, and wrap it in a towel to keep fingers from getting too cold.

3. Now squish and shake your bag, making sure that the ice and salt contacts the little bag as much as possible, and that the little bag gets lots of friction, this keep the ice crystals tiny, making it very smooth. Shake for about 10 to 15minutes. Voila! You’ve got some delicious homemade ice cream. Yummy!

Note: Ice cream will be soft, we preferred ours to be a bit firmer, so let your little bag sit in the freezer for about 20 minutes to an hour to get your ice cream much firmer to scoop up with an ice cream scoop!

Chocolate Ice Cream: Just add about ¼ cup of unsweetened cocoa to your mixture before putting it in your little bag. Proceed with directions.

Strawberry Ice Cream: Mash 2 cups of strawberries with 1/4 cup of sugar and add to your mixture before putting it in your little bag. Proceed with directions.