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MTM-Food on a Stick

It is State Fair time!  I love going to the Minnesota State Fair.  One of my favorite things about the Fair is the food.  I recall one trip to the Fair years ago in which a friend and I needed to visit the first aid station to beg for antacids after consuming a particularly lethal combination of food on a stick...

So, tonight I did a Food on a Stick theme, since we are planning on hitting up the Fair this coming Friday(provided I can get the day off from work...ugh).  

1.  Pickle on a stick

2.  Roma on a stick

3.  Zucchini muffin on a stick

4.  Chicken on a stick

5.  Apple on a stick

6.  Fruit Snack on a stick

The girls loved all the little sticks and were trying everything out.  Of course the fruit snacks went first.  

I love that I don't really have to do a ton of cooking on Muffin Tin Monday.  

I am going to be switching our Muffin Tin meal to Sunday nights, because Big Sis is starting Dance and her class is on Monday evenings.  

Don't forget to swing over to Muffin Tin Mom for some fun meal ideas.

 

MTM-Ladies Choice

Right when I was getting home from work tonight, I heard the little musical tinkling of the local Ice Cream Truck. We have been waiting all summer for a chance to get ice cream treats from the truck, so even though it was right before supper, we flagged him down and got a treat for the girls.  They were just delighted!  

I didn't really have a plan for our muffin tin tonight, so I thought we would do "Ladies' Choice", and I let the girls guide the process tonight.  

We went to a parade over the weekend, so they each chose one piece of candy to put in their muffin tin.  Here is Big Sis's MTM.

Vanilla Yogurt with sprinkles, buttered noodles, crackers, skittles and turkey pepperoni.  Little Dude was a little more artful with her arrangement of the same food.

Buttered "noonoos", sprinkles, crackers, vanilla yogurt with a piece of pepperoni and a sucker in it, and some scraps... :)

My girls just crack me up with their love of noodles.  They totally take after their Daddy that way.  

Even though Dudie had a spoon, she thought using the sucker to scoop up her yogurt was a great idea.  

After we got done eating, Big Sis told me that "we had a really desserty supper tonight, Mama".  

I linked up with Muffin Tin Mom.  Take a minute and click over to her site and check it out.  

MTM-Things in the Sky

Our theme for Muffin Tin Monday today is "Things in the Sky".  

As I was working on putting it together, the girls were playing in the living room.  Then Little Dude wanders into the kitchen with a tube of diaper cream in her hand, looking like this:

We had to take a little break and clean up.  I think she thought it was sunscreen.  She did a good job of even getting it on her ears and making sure to tell me she did so.  

1.  Airplane (wheat bread with freshly made spiced peach jam)

2.  The Sun (orange slice)

3.  Clouds (Puffcorn)

4.  Birds (Muenster cheese)

5.  Thunder sounds (drop the grapes in the muffin tin and listen)

6.  Hot Air Balloon (Kiwi/dry spaghetti noodles/cheese)

OK, I know the "thunder sound" was a stretch, but the girls had fun with that one.  Little Dude really got into asking what each item was.  I was also really pleased that the girls enjoyed the peach jam, I wasn't sure they would like it.  

It was fun to talk about all the different things we might see in the sky.  We also talked about what else might be in the sky and Big Sis came up with a few more things--Lightning, Rain, and Bugs.

 

I linked up with Muffin Tin Mom.  Click on the button to go see what other families are eating in a muffin tin!

MTM-Soupy Doupy Supper

If I make up a silly name for things, it instantly becomes 100% more interesting for the kids, hence the "Soupy Doupy Supper" tonight.

1.  Cheesy crackerwich

2.  Go Go Squeez

3.  Half a banana chip muffin

4.  Tiny Heart grilled cheeses

5.  Tomato Bisque

6.  Cucumbers from our garden

I was amazed that everthing was gobbled up, they must have been super hungry!  I LOVE seeing clean plates :)

I am linking up with Muffin Tin Mom.  Head over to her site for some fun ideas.  

I also was very proud of myself earlier this week, because I had my first canning experience.  

Go Me!!  I have been afraid to try it, but I got a bunch of raspberries at my parents house and I didn't want them to go bad.  It turned out great!

MTM-Quick foods

Tonight I just did a muffin tin meal with quick foods I knew the girls would eat.  We didn't get going with supper till a little later because the girls' nanny is off this week.  The girls have been having a fun time with their Nanna and Boppa, but because I have to go pick them up after work, dinner was a bit later.  

1.  Mandarin Oranges

2.  Chicken in a Biscuit crackers

3.  English muffin with muenster cheese

4.  Turkey pepperoni

5.  Blueberry yogurt with sprinkles

6.  Red grapes

The girls ate everything.  As usual, the yogurt went first.

Muffin tin meals are great for me because they are kind of a free pass dinner.  I don't have to stand over the stove, trying to somehow  **quickly** make dinner for two hungry girls hanging on my legs.  More often than not, the girls help me put together their muffin tin meal, which they really enjoy.   It is an all around good thing in our eyes!  

Click the above button to go check out muffin tin meals that other Moms made this week.

MTM-Breakfast

Big Sis had a her three year old check up this morning, and because I was going into work late today, I did a muffin tin breakfast for something different.  

1.  Blueberries

2.  French Toast

3.  Syrup

4.  Chunky Peach Applesauce

5.  Grapes

6.  Hashbrowns

Dudie ate all her grapes right away, and Big Sis ate all her hashbrowns right away.  They both like french toast, but I think the presentation wasn't all that appetizing to them.  I think in hindsight, I should have used a cookie cutter shape instead.  

Big Sis and I also stopped by her future preschool to pick up some paperwork today.  She is going to start going two days a week in the fall. She met her teacher and saw her classroom.  I can't believe she is old enough for this, but I think she is really going to like it.  It makes momma a little sad, though...

Check out Muffin Tin Mom for some really creative meal ideas!

 

MTM-Back on Track

We took a two week break from Muffin Tin Monday, because we were on vacation.  But here we are, back on track.  

We had a great vacation, doing a lot of fun activities around our area.  It was really relaxing and so nice to spend so much time all together.  

We had to run to Wal-Mart after I picked up the girls to pick up sandwich stuff for Daddy-o.

So I didn't have a theme this week.  The girls were both really excited when I told them we were going to have a muffin tin for supper.  

1.  Ham flower

2.  Colby flower

3.  Cool Ranch Doritos

4.  Veggies with ranch

5.  Blueberry yogurt with a blueberry smile

6.  Apple slices

The girls haven't been eating real well the last couple weeks, but they cleaned their plates tonight!

Both girls devoured their yogurt and asked for more. I let them finish watching a Veggie Tales movie while they ate (hence the intense focus on big sis's part).  

I am linking up with Muffin Tin Mom.  Check it out to see some really fun ways to serve up your kids' meals.

MTM-Camping

Everybody around here is getting pretty excited about our upcoming vacation next week.  We intend to spend part of our vacation attempting to do a little camping. 

Last year our week off in the summer was spent with three out of the 4 family members having the stomach flu, so I honestly think whatever happens this year cannot possibly be worse! 

So in anticipation of our much needed (at least for Andy and I) break, I did a camping themed muffin tin for dinner tonight.

1.  Campfire (mini lemon cupcake)

2.  Roasting marshmallows over the fire (marshmallow on a pretzel stick)

3.  Water with an Inner Tube floating (blueberries with a pear on top)

4.  A tent on a grassy campsite (crackers with spray cheese to hold together, on a bed of broccoli slaw

5.  Sunshine--hope we have some on our adventure (colby cheese)

6.  Fishing (pocky fishing rod, spaghetti noodle line, graham goldfish)

I haven't done a real theme in a while, so this was a real fun one for me :)

The girls really enjoyed it too.  I was shocked that both of them ate a whole bunch of the broccoli slaw.  I didn't put any dressing on it because I didn't think they would like it, but I think it was the shape of the pieces that appealed to them.  Big Sis wanted to know what it was called, so I told her "slaw" and then she made a funny face and stopped eating it.  We talked about some of the things we will do when we go camping, like swimming in the lake, fishing, and roasting marshmallows.  I think they are getting excited for our trip!

Muffin Tin Mom has lots of fun ideas over on her site.  Click the link to head over and see more MTM's!

 

 

MTM- Mama's too tired

I learned something about myself today.  

I learned that I should NOT take two benadryl at once.  I have been dealing with this viral rash (non-contagious- and please don't think I am groty because I have a rash) for over a month.  It is supposed to last 6-8 weeks and I am going on week 6.  But I am sooooo itchy, so I have been taking a benadryl here and there to deal with it, as the doctor said there isn't really treatment for it, and it will just go away on its own.  So this morning I took two benadryl, and then for the rest of the day I was a lousy piece of crap and could barely keep my eyes open.  It made me SO tired.  I finally started feeling better about 4pm.  

Andy and I both had today off, so by the time I started feeling better, he was going to bed so he could go to work tonight.  Ugh.  I feel bad because I kind of ruined our day off.  But I guess now I know I shouldn't do that again.  

I didn't make a MTM today, but last Friday the girls and I did a muffin tin meal on Friday. Both the girls love helping with cooking and they often request to help.  This MTM was put together entirely by my girls, they chose what they wanted to put in.  This was pretty fun.

There was a lot of eating as they go...

They chose Peas, Cheetos, Bananas, and Plain yogurt with honey and sprinkles. 

Even the peas got some sprinkles!

The ate really well.  They were so proud of themselves.  Whenever we have MTMs, Big Sis always wants me to tell me about their supper, so this time, she got to tell ME about their supper.  It was pretty cute.

We had a really nice weekend.  We attended a baby shower for the girls' new baby cousin who we expect to meet late August, when she arrives.  Then we spent the evening visiting with family that we don't get to see much.  Sunday we dropped off Big Sis's old crib for baby Loretta, and crossed a bunch of things off our to-do list.  

So fast forward to tonight, since I was not doing our MTM tonight, I made a little special treat for the girls--Bananas on a stick dipped in nutella, and then frozen.  

As you can see, Dudie was pretty excited.  I had one too and it was pretty tasty.  

I am linking up with Muffin Tin Mom.  Head over to her site an check out some really creative mamas!

MTM-Garden

I gave up on my "colors of the rainbow" series.  Blue and Purple are too hard for me to do, give my current life circumstances.  (life circumstances=work is too crazy)

Since we recently planted our garden and have been fielding a lot of toddler questions about gardens and plants growing, etc, I decided to do a garden muffin tin. 

Starting from bottom right:

1.  Seeds (yellow raisins)  get planted in

2.  Soil (chocolate pudding with sprinkles)  and then the

3.  Flowers grow  (english muffin with jelly).

4.  Flower petals (orange slices)

5.  A rose (mini cinnamon roll)

6.  Flowers (apples with a dab of peanut butter and a candy)

I know this isn't the most healthy dinner, but it was a super hot day yesterday and I never feel like eating any kind of hot food when it is so hot outside, so I just did mostly fruit.  The girls did end up having a cheese stick snack after their bath. 

Little dude didn't quite understand  what the liners were in the muffin cups.  The first thing she did was pull them out and dump the food directly into the tin. 

Big sis, inspecting the "rose".

  
After supper and bath, the girls got to climb into Mommy and Daddy's bed and cuddle up to watch a little bit of America's Funniest Home Videos, which is one of their favorite shows. 

I am linking up with Muffin Tin Mom.

Click the button to see fun lunch and dinner ideas for the kiddos!