Monday, December 19, 2011

Winter Break

Diva is officially on winter break from school starting today, which means Munchie Mom is on break too.  I have Mondays off, so today, by Diva's request, we painted cookies.  We started doing this either last year or the year before, and she really enjoys it.

I saw the idea from the Pioneer Woman, and we use her recipe, except I've had to double the amount of milk because my dough always ends up coming out too dry.  For the painting part I also substitute egg beaters to egg yolks, mostly for the ease of just measuring the egg beaters (I use about 2 tbls per color), the pasteurization thing, and they also seem to color with the food coloring a little truer than the straight egg yolk.

The cookie cutters were passed down to me by my sister-in-law.  They are classic, but also a little tricky to get to cut and get out of the cutter too.  This year I used a cooking spray / flour combo that helped for the most part.  I really want these (hint, hint anyone that needs to still get me a gift!).

Here's Diva, ready to paint!




and here's her bear before and after.  She likes to paint carefully and lightly, but the more you pile on the egg wash, the better.




and I had to get in on the action too- my Kermit before and after




We haven't added icing yet... I'm not sure if I will.  They are pretty tasty without really.

If you haven't tried cookie painting- do it!  It's really fun for kids!

With the holiday break I won't be back to posting until Tuesday, January 3.  I hope that you all have Happy Holidays!  Thanks for reading my little blog, and supporting me in my crazy snacks too!  It really is your encouragement that keeps me going.

Munchie Mom (Kristen)

Friday, December 16, 2011

Day 67

Gingerbread boy


cantaloupe body cut with cookie cutter, sprinkle features, candy cane bonus

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Day 66

Wreath

cucumber wreath cut with a crinkle cutter, dried cranberry berries, pretzel twist and rod bow

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Day 65

string of Christmas lights
(my sketch and vision was better than the actual result)


grape light bulbs with oyster cracker bases, string cheese string, marshmallow additions to make it look festive

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Day 64

Angel

mini bagel with cream cheese body, fruit by the foot wings and halo, marshmallow head with edible marker features, heart sprinkle mouth

Monday, December 12, 2011

Day 63

Nativity


pretzel nativity, saltine cracker manger with pretzel base, pineapple Christmas star, star goldfish crackers (from the space adventures bag)

Friday, December 9, 2011

Day 62

Reindeer


cinnamon sugar toast head, pretzel antlers, chocolate chip eyes, sixlet nose, Christmas marshmallow decoration

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Day 59

I forgot to post yesterday that it was a no snack day.  Diva had Daisies after school, and then we joined the ballet moms and girls for dinner and gingerbread house making at Young Chef's Academy.  It was so much fun!  It was great to decorate, but not have to do any of the prep or clean up.


Today... well... it was bound to happen.  My plan for today was to make stockings.  Easy enough right?  String cheese top, apple bottom.  I could not get that darn apple shaped correctly.  So, here's what I have, 5 minutes before the bus arrives...


Luckily I had sketched some other ideas last week that I didn't use.  Diva is learning about Hanukkah in school, but she called it "Monica".  Well, I thought I would do a themed snack.  However, I got nervous.  I'm not Jewish, and I didn't want to mess it up.  So, I hope the following is correct, and doesn't offend anyone!

Dreidel



Apple base, string cheese top and gimel inscription (according to Wikipedia, which I hope is correct!)

Friday, December 2, 2011

Day 58

Ornament


clementine bulb, fruit snack and cheerio hanger, Christmas marshmallows around the plate




Thursday, December 1, 2011

Day 57

Swimmer


Fruit by the foot water, gingersnap cookie head, heart sprinkle mouth, mini chocolate chip eye, fruit by the foot cap, goggles drawn with edible marker, broken animal cracker arm

**  Lesson learned by Munchie Mom-- fruit roll ups when applied directly to the plate will stick.  Case in point, Ferb from a few weeks ago adhered to the plate tremendously, in that Diva couldn't eat it, and I had trouble washing it off.  Wax paper is highly recommended **

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Day 56

Goofy was the secret reader at Diva's school today, and he read a book with the following character:

Scaredy Squirrel



mini bagel head, ears and chin, cream cheese top of head and mouth colored with edible marker, M&M eyes, and holiday star marshmallow trimmed for the nose



Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Day 55

To prove I am not a country girl (I struggled with this one!)

Barn

red pear barn, baby swiss Cheese-It for the silo door

Monday, November 28, 2011

Day 54

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!  We are back to snack making, and Diva's feeling the Christmas spirit already with today's request.

O Tannenbaum

broccoli tree, ranch dip star, garland, and trunk, cheese-it gifts with fruit by the foot ribbon

Monday, November 21, 2011

Turkey Coma

Well folks, Goofy, Diva and I are traveling for Thanksgiving, so we have a week off of Munchie Mom snacks.  If I happen to whip something up while away I'll post it, but otherwise see you back here on Nov. 28!  Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Friday, November 18, 2011

Day 53

Kite


grape and kiwi kite, pretzel stick string with kiwi bows, orange sun, marshmallow clouds

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Day 52

Playground



Pretzel swing set with grape swings, pretzel ladder with cheese-it slide

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Day 51

Keeping with the Thanksgiving theme... Football!


pretzel stick goal post and stitching on football, cheese football and flags, pea pod turf

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Day 50

Diva is having a friend over from school this afternoon, so this is my first double snack attack!  Since they have their 'feast' at school tomorrow, we have 2 turkeys.


cheese quesdilla, red and green apple feathers, green apple beak, red apple do-hickey, carrot feathers and feat, edible marker eyes

Monday, November 14, 2011

Day 49- and Diva's 6th birthday!

Today is Diva's 6th Birthday!  Happy Birthday!
cupcake


banana cupcake wrapper, grape cupcake, #6 and candle are letter and number cookies (Kroger brand), flame is fruit snacks

Friday, November 11, 2011

Day 48

Pilgrim

Vanilla wafer head, hands, and feet, edible marker eyes, heart sprinkle mouth, cheese-it hat with apple buckle, apple body and hair

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Day 47

Indian
Diva is learning about the first Thanksgiving at school this week and next.  This little Indian girl did not come out quite like I expected, but it works well enough.


vanilla wafer head, hands, feet, apple body, apple headband, fruit snack feather, heart sprinkle mouth, edible marker eyes, chocolate frosting hair

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Day 45

Cornucopia
Diva will probably have no idea what this one is...


pretzel stick cornucopia, raspberry, pineapple, grape and frozen pea bounty

Monday, November 7, 2011

Day 44

Artist's Palette


flour tortilla palette, raspberry red, pineapple yellow, cucumber green, blue fruit snacks, pretzel stick and tortilla paint brush

Friday, November 4, 2011

Day 43

Pear-y
Ok, Perry the Platypus.  If you don't know the past three snack days, they are from the show Phineas & Ferb.


pear body, mouth, and tail, marshmallow and mini chocolate chip eyes, fruit snack feet.

It was hard to get his turquoise body with this one with no blue food.  Any suggestions on blue food I could have used for the body?

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Day 42

Ferb
(you saw this coming, right?)

green apple head and hair, marshmallow eyes and feet, chocolate chip pupils, fruit roll up body with apple accents

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Day 41

Ferb, I know what snack we're gonna make today!

Phineas



Laughing Cow Light Creamy Swiss Cheese Spread head, apple hair, mouth, shirt, pretzel arms and legs, fruit snack shorts and shoes, marshmallow and mini chocolate chip eyes

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Day 40

Lion

cheese tortilla lion and mane cut with kitchen sheers, grape eyes and nose, edible marker mouth and freckles

Monday, October 31, 2011

Bringin' It on Beggar's Night

As if I didn't already know that the "ballet moms" (we all met via our girls' ballet class) was a great group of women, they were bringin' it Munchie Mom style for Beggar's night!  Apparently I've rubbed off on them some!  Check out the fun eats we feasted on before hitting the trick-or-treat trail:



I brought the Mummy Dogs- add your own ketchup or mustard eyes.  Nothing too original for me this Halloween, but easy, delicious, and a hit with the kiddos.


Jill brought this awesome and delicious fruit pizza.  I managed to weasel myself a slice with blueberry, orange and pineapple. Mmmm.



Kelly, our gracious host, had cheese slices to go on the sloppy joes in all of these Halloween shapes.  Adorable!  I chose the skeleton one for my sandwich.




Ami brought the crowd pleasing (I know I was pleased) taco dip, with the adorable ghost tortillas to decorate the top, and chocolate chip spider web cookies.

Yea Munchie Moms!  I can't wait for our next get together.

Friday, October 28, 2011

Long Weekend

Today is Diva's Halloween party at school and I'm headed in to help out with all of the festivities- so no snack today.

Monday is trick-or-treat night, plus Diva has a Daisy Halloween party after school, so we'll be snack free Monday too.  I am making mummy dogs for our trick-or-treat group.  The expectations I've set up for myself!  :-)

Have a great weekend and be back Tuesday, November 1 with more fun snacks!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Day 39

Candy Corn


Banana bottom, mandarin orange middle, yogurt covered raisin top.  Figured it would be cruel if I didn't include the real deal too.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Day 38

Witch and Cauldron
(I like how the cauldron came out, but the witch-meh)



kiwi face and nose, sprinkle eyes and teeth colored with black edible marker, orange and plum hat and surrounding cape, plum cauldron with marshmallow bubbles

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Photography Help

Diva is becoming the social butterfly and has another play date after school today.  It ends up working out well, because I am battling a cold today and am wiped out.  I have 2 more Halloween snacks planned for this week- so stay tuned!

I could use help from one of you though--I'm having trouble getting the top down pictures of my snacks not have too much glare.  Any recommendations on camera settings?  I try and use the natural light from the window as much as possible, and the ISO high sensitivity setting seems to be the best option.

I take decent pictures, but am by no means a photographer and don't have a fancy camera.  I can manipulate some settings.  Any suggestions?  Better angle?  Customized settings?  Food photographer that can swing by at 2:20pm each day?

Monday, October 24, 2011

Day 37

Scarecrow


apple overalls, hat, nose and mouth, ritz cracker face, mini chocolate chip eyes, fruit roll up shirt, sprinkle buttons, string cheese straw

Friday, October 21, 2011

Free Friday

Diva is off to a friend's house after school today, so I have a few precious Friday hours free! 

If you have a snack suggestion, feel free to comment.  I'm always looking for ideas!

Have a great weekend!

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Day 36

Pigeon
The inspiration comes from the "Don't Let the Pigeon" series of books, which Diva got from the book order at school this week!


mini bagel head filled with cream cheese, chocolate chip eyeball, apple neck, body and beak, pretzel stick legs and feet

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Day 35

Rubber Ducky


pineapple duck (this one I traced from a clip art template), marshmallow and mini chocolate chip eye

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Day 34

Jack-O-Lantern

carrot circle cut with crinkle cutter, cucumber eyes, nose, mouth and stem, candy corn garnish around the plate

Monday, October 17, 2011

Day 33

Today Diva starts her first Daisy Girl Scout meeting right after school.  She's super excited about it.  I volunteered to take the first shift on preparing snacks, so today my snack is for the 9 girls and 2 leaders.  I found this idea in Family Fun magazine.


cheese and grape butterflies- simple place the snack in snack size zip lock bags and use a pipe cleaner to tie the middle like a butterfly

*Please excuse the poor picture.  I almost forgot to take one and there is condensation from the snack being in the fridge.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Yo Momma

Diva has Thursday and Friday off from school, so I also have a break from snack making.  I need to regroup and do some brainstorming.  Leave a comment if you have an idea or suggestion!

It’s interesting some of the replies I’ve gotten on the snack ideas.  Don’t get me wrong, I think the general consensus is that of “cool!”.  (Did that make me sound like I went to college in the 90’s.  Well, I did, so there.  College in the 90’s was cool).  What’s struck me is how my snacks, which I would say are far from the average bear, are not a typical child’s snack.  It’s a way for me to be creative.  It’s by no means a reflection of bad parenting on your part, or better parenting on mine.
Let me say that again, because I make crazy snacks and you don’t does not mean you are a bad mom.
It’s the mom guilt.  Why does it have to be ever present in our lives?  Your child will suffer no harm from not having a snack shaped like a frog.  Promise.  
We beat ourselves up.  We see something someone has done and we either want to do it, or don’t have time to do it, or for some reason it makes us feel that we aren’t doing our best as a mom.  I don’t think most of us on any given day feel like Super Mom.  BUT WE SHOULD.
We are all different.  We are all parents.  We all have our talents.  We are all parenting the best way we can and know how.   Tell yourself that every day.  And be the best you can every day.
Hmmm… wonder if I can make a Super Woman snack…

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Day 32

Bicycle



Ritz cracker wheels, pretzel and grape parts, string cheese sliced in circle plate decoration