home decor and garden are very famous in the world

So as of recently 'Muffin Tin Monday' is what we've been doing for lunch around here each Monday afternoon.  Have you heard of this?  Well, just Google 'Muffin Tin Monday' and you will find a million and one pictures of this idea. 

Basically you just use a muffin tin, load it up with a variety of different foods and serve the muffin tin as your child's plate for lunch (or dinner).  Pretty easy, right?

Here's what was in our muffin tin this past week:


Starting from the top left, moving to the right:

1. Woven Wheat Crackers
2. Peas
3. Sliced Banana
4. Tortilla Chips
5. Carrots
6. Shredded Cheese
7. Ham
8. Cherrios
9. Marshmallows
10. Turkey
11. Raisins
12. Clementines

This might look like a lot of food, but would you believe my four year old ate almost every single thing out of her muffin tin?  Yep, my girls have serious appetites......kind of like their mama.  You could certainly do this with a 6-cup muffin tin or use a mini-muffin tin as well.


The girls thought it was so fun to try all of these different foods, though most of them are ones they have had before.  Luckily my kids have pretty diverse tastes, but Matilda can be a little picky at times.  This offers kids a fun way to try some new things without the added pressure of it being a large portion of their meal.  Not to mention the fact that it's a good way for parents to incorporate lots of different food groups in their kids diets.  And really, who wouldn't want to eat their lunch out of a muffin tin?

For the most part I post pretty pictures of my children here on the blog, but my girls are so darn silly when I pull out the camera, so I thought I would share some 'out-takes' during this last Muffin Tin Monday.  Here are the girls (and no, I did not tell them to make any of these faces):

I really like snacks.  I definitely prefer to graze throughout the day rather than having three large meals.  I'm always on the look-out of a snack that is great tasting, but also is somewhat healthy.  I don't know about you, but one of my favorite types of snacks is those of the savory, crunchy kind.

Spice Roasted Crunchy Chickpeas are an easy, inexpensive, delicious, protein packed snack that you and your family will love.  If you've ever had corn nuts and you like those, then you will certainly like these!

My oldest daughter, Savannah Rose, is 2.5 years old and she loves feeling like a "big girl".  Being that she is still pretty little, we have only cooked and baked together a handful of times, but I plan on making this a regular activity for the two of us (and eventually the three of us when Matilda gets a little older).

Today for lunch I decided to make something I know Savannah loves - Pizza!  This recipe (if you can call it that) was super-simple and Miss S. was able to be involved the whole time.  I want to foster the love of cooking in all my children and I hope some of these early times in the kitchen will develop a life-long passion for the culinary arts.

Savannah put on her apron and Mama put on hers and off we went........