I have always loved to cook! My style of cooking has changed a little bit since I’ve had children due to the amount of free time I have. Let’s face it, mothers are very busy people. I still love to make home-cooked meals for my family, but I prefer simple, quick and easy recipes instead of the gourmet recipes of my past. Every now and then, I will add an extra detail or a special touch to my children’s meals. These details only add a couple of extra minutes to the preparation time, but let me tell you, those extra minutes are worth the reaction from my children. I love saying “breakfast/lunch/dinner is ready” and watching the expression on my children’s faces after they take a seat at the table and see their plates. It’s magical. There are always lots of ooooooo’s and wows, giggles and smiles. Hearing these expressions are probably one of my most favorite mommy moments; my heart melts every single time.
I will show you a couple of ways that I have added a special touch or two to the meals that I have prepared.
If you make pancakes for breakfast, this is probably one of the easiest ways to make breakfast a lil’ extra special. There are so many fun things you can create with the pancake batter. I like to use my Martha Stewart Batter Dispenser. If you do not know what I am talking about, I introduced this nifty gadget in a previous blog post. You can read about it here. ← Once you place the pancake batter inside the dispenser, you will be able to create just about anything. I’ve created letters, teddy bears, caterpillars, smiley faces and so much more. Let’s take a look at a couple of pictures.
Alphabet Pancakes
The caterpillar was one of my children’s favorites. I used some smooth & melty mints for the eyes and cake decorating gel for the smile. I didn’t plan to create the caterpillars, so I was using things I already had in my pantry. Both worked perfectly.
So cute, don’t you think?
I found this 7 Piece Finger Sandwich Maker years ago at TJ Maxx for $2.99! Score!! I glanced at it for no more than half a second, and then it was in my shopping cart and I was happy dancing. You can obviously make the most adorable finger sandwiches, but it is also perfect for cutting out food shapes to add a special touch. If you don’t have a gadget like this, you could always use a cookie cutter.
I recently used the finger sandwich gadget to cut out heart pickles to place on top of cheeseburger pie. I use the Betty Crocker Cheeseburger Pie Recipe. My youngest isn’t a fan of onion, so I usually substitute onion powder for the chopped onion. To be honest, I just discovered the recipe this year. I subscribed to Betty’ Crocker’s Free Newsletter and I receive recipes (and $250.00 per year in coupon savings) via email once a week. This was one of recipes I received and it is a huge hit! My kids LOVE cheeseburger pie and it is so quick and simple to prepare.
I cut out pickle heart shapes with my nifty gadget. It kind of makes the cheeseburger pie look fancy, don’t you think?
Reindeer sandwiches are perfect for the holidays, but I think they are so adorable, I create them any time of the year. These little buggers make me smile, but not as much as my children. The giggling doesn’t stop! Ha!! I used my largest heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out the bread.
I used the crust scraps to create ears and antlers. Mini-marshmallows with a dot of brown cake icing for the eyes and a red m&m for the nose. Not sure food gets any cuter. 🙂 I’m cracking up!
That’s it for now, but I will be adding to this blog post as time goes on. I just recently started regularly photographing my food, so as more photos are placed in my archives, I will be sure to share them with you. 🙂
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Thanks for stopping by!!
Until next time, have fun with food!
Colette
