Curbing the Christmas Sugar Craze

'Tis the season for holiday treats and quite often those come with a hefty dose of sugar. In

effort to be a "yes mommy" this time of year (rather than uttering countless "nos") I wanted to share how I've tackled giving the littles their special requests, while avoiding the unwanted side effects of sugar.

1. Portion Control

Last night for a festive dessert I served up peppermint gelato in shot glasses. While hot cocoa in espresso cups lets them enjoy cocoa on a daily basis. Kids are visual and a cup brimming with whipped cream and warm chocolate goodness is delightful no matter the size. 

2. Festive Presentation

Last year YiaYia gifted me three Christmas tree canapé plates as a hostess gift. Their whimsical shape helps make one sole cookie or candy extra special. And when paired with an espresso cup of cocoa that is about all the plate can accommodate. 

3. Details

Flavored marshmallows, a dollop of whip cream, and spritz of sprinkles are all things that make ordinary treats extraordinary.  These special details help focus on the "quality" of the treat rather than the quantity. My kiddies will gladly take a mini cup of "Christmas Hot Chocolate" {dark hot cocoa, peppermint creamer, marshmallows, whip cream and sprinkles} over a mug of swiss miss any day.  

And for picture perfect hot cocoa,  cover the top of your cocoa with marshmallows first and then whip cream. The marshmallows will keep the whip cream and sprinkles from melting into your cocoa. 

Now go forth and spread some sweet Christmas cheer!

Fudge Oreo Football Cookies

These have to be one of the simplest favors out there. Oh and they are addictively delicious to boot.

Here is all you need:
Package(s) of Oreo fudge cream cookies
1 tub of white frosting
Plastic baggie

The Process:

1. Fill your plastic baggie with frosting.
2. Cut a very small hole at the tip of your bag.
3. Take an Oreo and pipe a line horizontally across the cookie.
4. Pipe three vertical lines over the horizontal line to mimic the look of football laces (anyone else thinking of Ace Ventura right now?)
5. Allow the frosting to set and harden. I left mine out overnight before packaging.

These would be perfect for a team snack, tailgating or super bowl party too. Enjoy & remember I told you they were addictive should you happen to nibble your way through a couple of "taste tests".

Click Here to see Peanut's Football Party.

Doctored Up Chocolate Cake

 

For Peanut's first birthday party, I baked from scratch the most scrumptious organic, dairy & soy free vanilla bean cupcakes. I spent days working on them, along with vanilla bean cookies iced with all natural food coloring. Ahhhh, the good old days. Fast forward three years and an extra kiddo later & I'm in the baking aisle at the grocery store crossing over to the dark side making nice with new BFF Betty Crocker.

To ease my guilt (the "really? you're not making this from scratch" guilt…..the "look at all the additives in this" guilt is still going strong), I doctored the box mix with three simple additions:

1. I swapped out the water for milk. In my opinion, this step gives a little more density to the cake.
2. Add 3 heaping teaspoons of cocoa powder. The cocoa adds depth and richness while cutting the overly, sweetness common in box cake mixes.
3. Add 1 tablespoon vanilla extract, since vanilla just makes everything yummier.

I baked according to the box directions, only shortening the cooking time on account of my convection oven.  These dreamy desserts baked up looking like mini-lava cakes…it took all my restraint not to eat one or five of these right out of the oven.

I will be using this same "recipe" again for Peanut's chocolate birthday cake. I can't believe today is his last day as a three year old! I'm going to soak every moment in…..tomorrow a new chapter begins!

3 Step Valentine Heart Cupcakes

This post is light on words, but heavy in calories. These beauties graced our table Friday night and were a cinch to pull together; just what this busy mommy of 3 needs. All it takes a box of white cake mix, a can of white frosting & a carton of strawberries to make these for your cupid.

 First bake & frost the cupcakes. Then cut strawberries into the shape of hearts (a v into the hull of the strawberry). And finally adorn aforementioned cupcakes with your "hearts". Tada instant Valentine's dessert. 

One of these lil gems will be making an appearance in Belle's lunch box on Valentine's day. I'm even contemplating scratching my initial teacher gift and sending one of these sweeties instead. I'll be sure to post whatever I decide on. And just in case this dessert requires a little more time than you can afford, I'll be back tomorrow with an even easier, no bake Valentine's dessert that is just as yummy and can be put together in a jiffy!

Peanut Butter Cookies

Earlier this week Peanut helped me prepare these delectable peanut butter cookies. We will be carting a tray full of these bad boys with us when we head to Hubby's aunt's house for Super Bowl Sunday.

The recipe is a slight adeptation of Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. YiaYia Terry & Hubby's aunt don't eat chocolate so I leave it out. I also add extra vanilla & peanut butter.

I promise you the tray will be gone in seconds and these cookies will become a prerequisite for all future gatherings. Enjoy & don't say I didn't warn you.

Star of the Week

Last week Belle had the honor of being "Star of the Week". To a first grader, this is the end all be all. So I took the extra minute (ok many, many minutes) to sprinkle her lunch with stars all week long. I only needed to prepare 4 lunches instead of 5 due to the holiday break on Monday.

Day1: A large star badge graced the top of her lunch.

Day 2: Star cut outs on the top of her PBJ sandwich. 

Day 3: Today we took it up a notch with star shaped strawberries & a star burst sandwich (or flower depending upon your interpretation).

Day 4: The grand finale featured mini star sandwiches, star shaped apples & peppermint dipped star pretzels (I stumbled upon these at the grocery store…Christmas clearance).

I hope when Belle opened her lunch & saw these little tokens of love, she knew that we were just as excited for "Star of the Week" as she was. 

Easy Peasy Pancake Mix Donuts

Since we weren't in a rush to get out the door Monday morning, it was the perfect time for an early morning treat. The kiddos presented Hubby with this mini donut maker for his birthday last summer (thoughtful or self-serving…I'll let you decide). 

As I was compiling the ingredients needed to make one of our favorite donut batters, I got the idea to use pancake mix instead. And to my surprise the results were quite tasty. (Note: The donut texture is more cake than a yeast donut.)

After we indulged in two apiece, we promptly packaged the remaining goodies. The tray on the left went to Theo N, still recovering from appendicitis, while the tray on the right we sent next door.  Our 3rd grade neighbor B is nursing a broken nose he got playing football during recess.

Gifting mini donuts was a nice change of pace and they looked scrumptious wrapped in cello and tied with a bow. Seriously folks, using the pancake mix made whipping these together a cinch. They would be a lovely way to surprise your sweetie on Valentine's Day too.

Christmas Tree Pizza & Wreath Salad: Family Night Christmas Edition 2012

Every Friday night is Family night in the B house. We make pizza from scratch and play kinect.
This past Friday we had Family night Christmas style.

Green pepper strips, sliced black olives, turkey pepperoni & dough star decorate our tree.

For the first time I attempted Christmas tree pizza and I was pretty pleased with the results.

I rolled out the homemade dough as usual and then used the pizza cutter to cut out the shape of a tree. The dough stretched a little when placing it onto the pan (note: I bake it on parchment paper for easy tansfer), but otherwise it was a simple process.

While we waited for the pizza to cook, we enjoyed our Christmas wreath salads. The bow is made from shaved carrot strips.

See what I mean by easy transfer…just lifted the whole pizza right off the pan.

I know I'm partial, but seriously who would have a great time with these two as your dinner companions.

Bear was there too, but poor little guy was coming down with an ear infection.

For dessert, we kept on with the Christmas color theme and had fresh strawberries & cream.

After dinner, we changed into pajamas, got some popcorn and snuggled up to watch Santa Paws2.

Yep--Peanut got the wise owl bowl for some stellar writing worksheets. To learn more about the
owl bowl click here)

I love this picture of all three of my babies watching a movie together. 

Over all, it was a great way to put a festive spin on a family tradition. I'd love to hear your family traditions, holiday or everyday.


Linking up at Savy Southern Style

Grinch Cookies and Cocoa

Ever since I was a little girl I've loved How the Grinch Stole Christmas. So naturally, I'm all about sharing the Christmas classic with the kiddos. This year I decided to pull together a surprise for Belle & Peanut while they were at  Annie with YiaYia & Bopi: Grinch Cookies & Hot Cocoa.

I took refrigerated sugar cookie dough and added green food coloring, peppermint extract, dark chocolate chips & green mint chips. 

They were delish,..,,the combo of mint & dark chocolate was yummy.

When the kids returned home we read the book and enjoyed the cookies.

Poor Peanut spiked a fever shortly after the story.
That is the only reason there isn't a big grin on his cookie-loving face.

Listening to Mommy read

Bear hearing The Grinch for the 1st time. Despite his best efforts,
Bear' didn't have a cookie, but rather Rice Krispie cereal

The kiddos were exhausted from a fun-filled Christmas themed weekend, but the Grinch surprise was a success.