Tummy Yummies

Go Bananas for Peanut Butter!

My kids love bananas or nanas as my 16 month old son Grayson calls them. Bananas are one of kids favorite fruits so why not go bananas with them! Everyday my daughter asks for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch, most days I give in and pair it with some fruits and veggies and she's happy. But the other day I decided to try something new.

"Grilled Peanut Butter and Banana" sandwich, I saw this somewhere and I can't remember where but I thought why not. It was a good idea too, the kids loved it and I even have to say I kind of liked it! So easy to do too!

What you will need:

• Peanut Butter
• Banana (Thinly sliced)
• Bread (I used white

Put Peanut Butter on both sides of bread. Then lay banana slices on one side of the bread, put the two slices together. Then heat pan (spray with Pam or use butter) grill just until golden on both sides! Your done and now you have a YUMMY sandwich!  This is a perfect meal to have your kids help. (You may want to do the grilling part.) Your kids with love it!

My daughter is always wanting me to make trail mixes for her and I always start by looking around for half empty containers of cereal, dried fruit and other small treats. That's how we came up with "Monkey Mix". My daughter came up with the name! It's dried bananas, Peanut Butter Cheerios, marshmallows and chocolate chips (or I think next time Chocolate Cheerios would be better and less messy!) Mmm...mm a fun mix that's a little sweet and so good! It's fun to try out new mixes. If you don't have everything make up your own mix using whatever you have on hand and have the kids help they'll have fun deciding what to put in their mix.

Now last but not least Banana Ice Cream! Yah!

You will Need:

• Bananas- Freeze sliced bananas for 1 to 2 hours
• Put Bananas in a food prosessor, blend until smooth. 
• Optional: Add peanute butter, honey, or chocolate!

You are going to love this and the kids are going to have fun helping you! Our family loves ice cream and this is a great healthier alternative to buying ice cream. The best part is you can use up those old bananas you have sitting on the counter.


Hope you like my Tummy Yummies!

~Tracy~

Tummy Yummies

Everyone’s Berry Best Friend Returns in Two Fun-Filled Adventures Arriving on DVD March 6

If you just got done reading my Strawberry Shortcake Berry Brick Road and Bloomin' Berry Garden review then you will be excited for these Berry Treats! These aren't your traditional strawberry delights these are better! So go out and pick up your copy of Strawberry Shortcake Berry Brick Road and Bloomin' Berry Garden and while your at it pick up a few ingredients for your favorite berry desserts. Your little girl will love making them with you!

Berry S’Mores

This take on a classic summer treat is sure to please the kids without giving them an insane sugar high! All you need are graham crackers, softened cream cheese and sliced berries (adding in chocolate is optional as these are delicious without it). Just break the graham cracker in half, spread about a table spoon of cream cheese on one side, add some berries on top, and put the other half of the graham cracker on top. Now you have an easy, delicious, healthy s’more to enjoy!

 

Blueberry Muffins

 

These delicious blueberry muffins are an easy six-ingredient fix for your berry cravings! All you need is a cup and a half of flour, 1 egg, a half cup of milk, one fourth cup of oil, a half cup of sugar, and one cup of fresh or frozen berries. First, preheat your oven to 400 degrees and grease a muffin pan. Next, beat the egg, and stir in the milk and oil, then add your dry ingredients (the batter should be lumpy). Gently stir in the blueberries and fill your muffin tins, then bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the muffins are a nice golden brown.

 

Strawberry Trifle

 

A yummy strawberry trifle is the perfect treat to eat while enjoying the new Strawberry Shortcake DVDs! To make it you need four tablespoons of sugar, two pints of fresh strawberries (chopped), four ounces of softened cream cheese, two cups of whipping cream, one pre-made pound cake, and one half cup of melted, seedless raspberry jelly. First, stir two tablespoons of sugar into the sliced strawberries. Next, beat the remaining two tablespoons of sugar into the cream cheese. Whip the cream until stiff peaks form, and then gently fold the cream into the cream cheese/sugar mixture. Then, cut the pound cake into slices that are about 1/3 inch thick. Arrange a layer of those slices at the bottom of a glass bowl (or a festive clear glass container of your choosing), then drizzle with the melted jelly. Next, add a layer of strawberries and a layer of the cream cheese mixture. Continue layering, making sure that the last layer is the cream cheese mixture. Garnish with strawberries.

 

Raspberry Tart

This raspberry tart is both yummy and simple to make (with a little help from mom and dad)! To start, gather a cup of flour, a stick of butter, two tablespoons of confectioner’s sugar, four cups of fresh raspberries, and eight ounces of raspberry jam. Blend together the flour, butter and sugar, and chill for one hour. Then, pat the chilled crust into a tart pan, and bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool the crust, and then arrange the raspberries on top of it. Last, microwave your raspberry jam until it begin to boil, then pour the jam over the fruit. Cover and refrigerate for an hour, then enjoy!

 

Blackberry Cobbler

Blackberry cobbler is an cinch with this easy, delectable recipe! All you need is four cups of fresh blackberries, one tablespoon of lemon juice, one egg, one cup of sugar, one cup of flour, and six tablespoons of melted butter. Start by preheating your oven to 375 degrees. Next, place blackberries in a lightly greased square baking dish, and sprinkle with lemon juice. Stir together the egg, sugar, and flour, and sprinkle over fruit. Next, drizzle melted butter across the topping, and bake for 35 minutes, or until the cobbler is lightly browned and bubbly. Enjoy!

 

"Our favorite was the Berry S'Mores what's yours?"

*Don't forget to enter my Strawberry Shortcake Berry Brick Road and Bloomin' Garden Giveaway

~Tracy~

TUMMY YUMMIES

It's nice to make something easy on week nights after a long day at work. The kids can even help with these ones. All you will need is some crescent rolls, pizza sauce and pizza toppings.

Roll out the crescent rolls pinching the seams together. Make the pizza pies the size you want. Take pizza sauce and spread on the crescent roll. Add cheese and your pizza toppings.

Add another crescent roll on top and pinch the sides together. I also added two little slits at the top. Then follow instruction on the crescent roll package. Make sure that you watch them so that you don't over cook them. Ours got a little golden but they were still yummy!

Also try and make it with leftover stew, macaroni and hot dogs, or try stuffing them with pie filling.

Your kids will love making them and have even more fun eating them.

If you want more fun ideas of things to make with crescent rolls go to http://www.pillsbury.com/ They have some fun easy ideas of things to make with your family.

~Tracy~

TUMMY YUMMIES

With family all gathering together this is a great time to get the kids in the kitchen. Sometimes during the holidays the kids get pushed aside and told to go play but this is a great time to get them in the kitchen and teach them it's fun to cook! I know that growing up I learned a lot from the women in my family and our family traditions that I am now doing with my family. This is all because the woman in my family included me in the cooking. For Thanksgiving my Grandmother would always let me help with the pies. Pumpkin pie was my favorite to make and eat! I also was the official potatoes tester. Nobody else could enjoy them until I gave my seal of approval. I loved how special and important this made me feel and now I make my Grandma's potatoes and my daughter is my little potato tester. Traditions can be as simple as this and make such a big impact.

A few ideas for the little ones to help with.

1.  If your making pie let them put the dough in the pan and make the decorative edge. They can use a fork or their fingers to pinch down the sides. 

2. Letting them make the rolls, sometimes it's as easy as putting them on the baking pan before they go in the oven or if your making crescent rolls let them roll them up!

3. Give the kids little jobs like setting the table or folding napkins.

4. Here is an easy appetizer that the kids can make. And they will have fun doing it!

Cranberry Turkey Crescent Pinwheels

*This is also a great recipe for leftover turkey and cranberry sauce from your holiday meals.*

You will need:
1 package Pillsbury Refrigerated Crescent Rolls
Leftover Turkey
Leftover Cranberry Sauce
3 oz. Cream Cheese

Unroll the crescent rolls and separate into rectangles (two triangles together). Press the seams together to make a uniform rectangle. You'll have four rectangles. Spread about 2 tbsp. of cream cheese on each rectangle. Cover cream cheese with some thinly sliced turkey and then spread some cranberry sauce on top of the turkey. (The original recipe called for dried cranberries, so if you don't have leftover fresh cranberry sauce, you could use those.) Roll up the rectangle from a short side and press the seam to seal. Cut each roll into 5 or 6 slices and place cut side down on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 14 to 16 minutes or until light golden brown. Serve Warm.

A fun craft for the kids on Thanksgiving is for them to create name place cards. Make it fun for them and easy on your pocket. Gather a bunch of rocks and let the kids paint them in fun colors. Then if they are old enough to spell you can let them paint or use letter stickers to put the names on the rocks. If not you can help them. The kids will love this craft and it will give you a little more color on your Thanksgiving table.

Lets help make the Holidays more fun for the kids!

Happy Turkey Day Everyone!

~Tracy~

TUMMY YUMMIES

~Cinnamon Toast Rolls Ups~

I have found another Tummy Yummies surprise and this one is a great one to make with your kids! I wish I was the one to come up with Cinnamon Toast Roll Ups myself but I found them on Circle B Kitchen. What a great idea though!

My daughter McKenzie and I decided to try and make this one night for an after dinner treat! They were pretty easy to make and McKenzie had fun helping me. The recipe is on Circle B Kitchen website. But the basic idea is that you take fresh white bread and flatten it, cover it in butter, sprinkle cinnamon and sugar mix on it and fold, roll and bake. Its that easy! McKenzie liked putting the butter on the bread and sprinkling the cinnamon and sugar!  My favorate part was putting the frosting on the top. Just some powered sugar and milk.

I almost forgot to take a picture of the treats. This was all that was left when I got out the camera and these were snatched up right after this was taken. We're going to have to make these the next time it's our turn to bring treat to play group! Try making these with the kids they'll have fun and enjoy the end result!

Enjoy making and eating these treats!

~Tracy~


TUMMY YUMMIES

My 3 year old daughter is always asking me for a snack. She wants crackers, gummies or yogurt.  First of all, I can't always take the time out to get her something.  I'm either cleaning, changing a diaper or busy doing something at the time.  Secondly, she always seems to want something that isn't healthy and I get tired of telling her no.  So I decided that if she had her own snack box that she could choose from, she would still feel like she was the one making the decision but she would be picking from the choices I left her.

 My first snack box that I did was apples, carrots, blueberries and peanut butter.  It worked pretty well but I found that she was eating the peanut butter with a spoon and not using it as a dip.  Over the next two days though, she ate everything and she even shared it with her friend when she came over.  It was wonderful and I didn't have her complaining that she was hungry all the time.

It's good to give kids choices, but it's even better if we can give them choices that we approve of.

~Tracy~