Making meals special for your Children

If you want to show your kids a little extra love during meal times, then here are a few ways to do that.


Using Cookie Cutters-
Cookie cutter shapes are always a kid pleaser for sugar cookies, so why not use those cookie cutters to cut out shapes in their sandwiches for lunch too. Just one little extra step that will bring a smile to their face. They are also great for breakfast meals, like using your cookie cutter shapes to make cute pancake shapes or our family favorite, Egg in a basket. Take a buttered piece of bread on both sides, cut out the center with your cookie cutter shape and then fry a egg in the center of the hole shape. Don't forget to fry the cut out piece as well or toast it and put some jam on it. Just a cute way to jazz up your eggs and toast in the morning. I do this for my husband with a hart shape cookie cutter and it always makes him feel special.

Using food-
My mom loved making us bugs and critter shapes out of vegetables/ fruits and sticking them together with cream cheese or peanut butter. Great way to get creative and also get your children to eat their fruits and veggies. Here is a cute one I saw the other day in a magazine. The recipie is also on AllRecipies. com http://digg.com/d14Gu4 My favorite cook book as a kid had some cute ways to make your kids meals come alive with faces on little burgers and tacos using the toppings or condiments. A meal was never dull when it had a smily face looking at you! Costco has Mickey Mouse or Dinosaur chicken nugget shapes and don't forget fish crackers or animal cookies to jazz up a snack or meal for you kids. Go to the library and check out the Parent/Child Magazines for ideas and they usually do something fun with food for kids in every issue. Check out the jello cup recipes I posted earlier for fun snack ideas too. If your kids don't like cream cheese or can't have peanut butter then make them some dips for their veggies and fruit. Cooks.com have some great fruit and vegetable dip recipes.


Using Silicone Muffin Cups-
There are some amazing silicon bake ware on the market now and the best thing is that they are easy to clean and you no longer have to buy paper/tin muffin liners either. If you use your silicon muffin cups, they are not only cute in color but also the perfect portioned for a child size meal. Here is a cute cookbook I saw the other day that uses these silicon muffin cups to prepare an entire meal for your children. http://www.chroniclebooks.com/index/main,book-info/store,books/products_id,7176/title,Cook-It-in-a-Cup/ They have a few recipes you can try if you look inside the book on the web page. They were featured on View From The Bay so go watch their cooking session for ideas or visit their own web page at cookitinacup.com for a recipe and cooking classes this summer if you live in the SF bay area. You can find silicon cups at Michael's craft store, Walmart and Bed Bath and Beyond. I've even seen some cute ones with little feet!

So take a little extra time to decorate your kids food, add a little extra snack or leave them a cute note on a napkin in their lunch bag to let them know they are special.