The Chaos and the Clutter

Muffin Tin Lunches

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When the kids were younger, I found that the most effective way to get them to eat more variety was to serve lunch in muffin tin trays. I used to make them at least 5 days a week for the kids for lunch and they would ask me every morning, “what’s in our tins today?”

muffin-tin-meals-collageI’ve often been asked for ideas for what to put in the trays, so I’ve compiled a bit of a list here of some of our past muffin tin lunches. As you can see from the photos below, the muffin tin trays can be extremely simple, comprised of what I found in the fridge and pantry or the leftovers we had or they can be something that is quite planned out and follows a theme. Either way, your kids will really enjoy them and they are more likely to try new foods when presented in a fun way. This also eliminates those cries of “ewww, my corn touched my potatoes”!

  • carrots
  • grapes
  • Kraft Dinner crackers
  • Mexi fries (tater tots)
  • salsa
  • mini taco pies

  • cooked, cut up smokies
  • broccoli
  • Chocolate Cheerios
  • mangos
  • Ranch dressing for dipping
  • baby tomatoes

FISHING TRAY:

  • celery
  • bananas
  • orange slices
  • goldfish crackers
  • peanut butter
  • pretzels

The idea behind the fishing muffin tin tray is that the kids can take the pretzel stick, dip it in peanut butter, and “fish” the goldfish crackers up. My kids thought it was awesome and had competitions to see how many fish they could catch at a time (4 was the record). Peanut butter also goes well with celery and bananas. I had planned for raisins to go in instead of oranges, so that the kids could make ants-on-a-log, but I forgot to buy the raisins.

  • whole wheat bun
  • ham
  • lettuce
  • cheese slices
  • mustard
  • applesauce

My intention was that the kids would make bunwiches out of everything but the applesauce, but most of them chose to add some dressing to their lettuce and eat it as a salad instead of putting it in the bun.  It’s fine with me as long as they are eating it!  This lunch was a great way to use up ham leftovers.

  • muffin tin lunchfish crackers
  • pepperoni sticks
  • ravioli
  • hard boiled egg
  • applesauce
  • peas

Letter themed muffin tin trays:

I sometimes make muffin tins where all the foods in it start with the same letter. This is great for littles who are learning letter sounds. Here is a list of foods that could potentially go in a muffin tin tray for the letter “A”:

arrowroot cookies, apples, avocados, asparagus (my kids prefer pickled asparagus), animal crackers, animal crackers, applesauce, almonds, artichokes or artichoke dip, alfredo sauce on angel hair pasta, apricots, alphabits, alphaghetti, antipasto, alfalfa sprouts, ants on a log (raisins on peanut butter on celery), asiago cheese, albacore tuna, All Bran cereal, After Eights, angel food cake, anchovies (good luck on getting your kids to eat those though!), apple juice

letter F lunch

  • fettucini alfredo
  • foot shaped cheese
  • fish crackers
  • f shaped bread
  • fruit gummies
  • fruit cocktail

Themed muffin tin trays:

I’ve also made some really fun themed muffin tin trays such as this Dr. Seuss one. Choosing a theme makes it easy and fun to fill.

Dr. Seuss LunchCamping Muffin Tin Lunch

camping theme muffin tin lunchValentine’s Muffin Tin Lunch

Valentine's Muffin Tin Tray

Zoo themed muffin tin tray

zoo muffin tin lunchPicnic Muffin Tin Lunch

Picnic Muffin Tin Lunch

Titanic Party

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Titanic Party

Einstein is obsessed with Titanic (obsession takes on a whole new meaning when you have a child with Asperger’s!). I have long learned that it is best to just go with his current obsession of choice rather than fight it. April 14 is the anniversary of the day the Titanic sank and he wrote it on the calendar and wanted to know how we were going to commemorate that day.

I told him that we would do something, but as it got closer, I realized that that day I had a hair appointment and that night was The Husband and my date night, so I sat Einstein down and let him know that we would have to do something on Friday instead. In a very serious voice, he told me that Friday would work because the 15th is the anniversary of the day that Titanic first touched down on the ocean floor!!!

On the night the Titanic sank, they were serving a 7 course dinner in the first class dining room, so I decided to do the same for our Titanic party.  It may have been a bit on the ambitious side as I forgot to calculate that a 7 course plate service meal for 11 people would mean 77 dishes, so we were mixing and matching plastic plates with our fancy ones!

Here is the menu I made and cooked up for the evening:

The Husband made a playlist that included string quartet music (including the song the orchestra was playing while the ship sank) and songs from the Titanic movie, which we listened to during dinner and danced to.  I taught the kids which fork to use for which course and they sipped ginger ale out of wine glasses and loved that their napkins were folded into fans!  It was a very fun night!!!

Einstein, Snuggle Puppy, M., and Miss Optimism

Snuggle Puppy and Dancing Queen take a break from dancing in “the ballroom”!

(sorry M. about the eyes closed thing, but this is the only dinner picture I have of the “grown-ups table”!)

Dancing Queen, Granola Girl, and Einstein finish their salad course and sip ginger ale.  Note the crayons and Titanic colouring sheets for when boredom set in between courses!

Fireman Theme Party

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Einstein wants to be a fireman when he grows up, so a fireman theme party seemed like the perfect way to go for his birthday this year.

Cake.  For the cake, I used the Firetruck cake pan by Wilton. I wrote Einstein’s name and age underneath in icing. I was also able to find fireman themed candles such as fire hat and boots that I added on top of the cake.

Food.  For our party, I served chilli because we had learnt on a field trip that firemen tend to make a lot of chilli and spaghetti in the firehall. I also served things like raw veggies and chips.

Decorations. I bought firetruck plates, napkins and cups and used a red plastic fire hat and toy firetrucks as decorations on the table.

Activities.  The kids played “stick the badge on the fire dog” and made a fire truck foam craft that I bought as a kit. We also had little fire house drills. One game we thought of but didn’t have time to do was to pretend that a house (made from a cardboard refrigerator box) was burning (flames made with orange, red, and yellow tissue paper) and have them pretend to put the fire out.

Extras.  I was able to find fireman themed treat bags and filled them with fire chief badges that I found at the Dollar store, candy, and toy fire engines for the party favors.  I was also able to find a fire chief shirt for Einstein to wear at the party.

Red Carpet Premiere Family Fun

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For our most recent Family Fun Night, we did a theatre theme.  Some of the kids even dressed up and pretended to be stars going to a Hollywood Premiere!  Anyway, I don’t have the best pictures, but you’ll get the general idea.  The theme idea came from a friend, who also does Family Fun Nights with her family.  (thanks Karen!)

I decorated with movie themed tablecloth, cups, napkins, and skewers and used the extra paper popcorn boxes as more decorations.  We had a make-your-own nachos bar for supper with blue and white tortilla chips, cheeses, peppers, tomatoes, onions, and jalapenos.  The kids all assembled their own and then I cooked them.

Einstein and Snuggle Puppy having fun

Dancing Queen and Granola Girl enjoying their nachos

Miss Optimism

After a nutritious supper of nachos (!), the kids were each given a ticket that they could redeem at the “concession”.

The concession was a hit of course!  Even at a real movie theatre, there is no way the kids would be allowed that much junk to eat!

Fred gets creative with the licorice!

I had closed all the blinds and curtains in the house, trying to make it as dark as possible to make it like a theatre.  As a family, we watched “The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry” which was perfect as it was appropriate for all the ages.  Later, when the younger five kids had gone to bed, The Husband, The Ferrari, Fred, and I watched “The Blind Side”.  It was a great Family Fun Night and the kids all had a blast!

Cool Crafts for Kids – African Masks

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This art project is one that my kids loved doing and the finished products were fantastic.  It was inexpensive to do and easy to adapt for kids of different ages.

Cut pieces of different shapes and sizes in cardboard.  This is something that older children can do themselves, but for younger children, you will want to have the pieces cut ahead of time.  You can use cardboard in a variety of thicknesses.

Provide glue (hot glue sticks work best but to use these, they will need to be supervised) and paint.

Have the kids layer pieces of cardboard to create the look they want.  It’s a good idea to show them pictures of actual African masks to give them ideas.

When the pieces are layered and glued on the way things want them to be, provide the kids with paint and have them use their imaginations to create the masks the way they want them.

This craft is also great to tie in to a homeschool lesson about Africa.  There are many books and Internet sites that can aid you in this lesson and the craft can be a fun way to finish off and to add a hands-on aspect.

Princess and the Frog Birthday Party

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Dancing Queen asked for a Princess and the Frog themed party this year. Ever since she saw Disney’s Princess and the Frog movie, she has been talking about Princess Tiana and I was excited to plan this party for her. Princess and the Frog PartyI had a bit of a hard time finding decorations and ideas since the movie had just recently come out, so I’ve made a little list of what I did in case anyone else is looking for ideas for planning their own Princess and the Frog party.

Princess and the Frog cake.

For the Princess and the Frog theme, you could make a castle cake using Wilton’s castle shaped cake pan. For Dancing Queen’s birthday party, I made frog cupcakes.

I have provided step-by-step instructions for making the frog cupcakes here. I also was able to find frog shaped candles. As we were having adults and children at her party and I wasn’t sure if the adults wanted to eat green cupcakes, I also made my delicious chocolate cherry cake for the adults.  Adorable frog cupcakes - easy to make

Decorations.

I was able to find the Princess and the Frog themed napkins, Princess Tiana crowns, cups, plates, and tablecloth. I ordered them online as none of the local stores had them. As the Princess and the Frog movie takes place in New Orleans, I also used Mardi Gras necklaces and masks.

As a centrepiece, I put a small crown on a stuffed frog. I also used purple ribbon here and there and decorated a box to hold the treat bags using balloons.

Food.

As the movie took place in New Orleans, Louisiana style food such as Gumbo, Po Boy Sandwiches, and Jambalaya are good choices. I also put green candy, included candy frogs, in decorative bowls that added to the decor of the party.

Activities.

An easy game to play is musical lily pads. The lily pads can be made easily by cutting pieces of green paper or foam sheets.

The Princess and the Frog colouring sheets can be printed for the kids to colour.

The party guests can decorate foam tiaras or wands using craft jewels, ribbons, feathers, and stickers. I was able to find Princess and the Frog stickers for the kids to use to decorate their wands with.

Extras.

I was able to find frog hats for the boys who came to the party to wear instead of the crowns that the girls wore.

For party favors, I included princess notebooks, Mardi Gras necklaces, frog candies, frog pencils, and prisms.

At the end of the party, you can have the guests watch The Princess and the Frog movie while they wait for their parents to pick them up. To tie in the colour purple that was the accent colour for the party, I also put purple and opal beads in Dancing Girl’s hair.