Getting toddlers involved in the holidays

Toddlers are such a handful at times, but when things are good, it's pure magic with them. This year the spirit of Christmas is making a big impact on my 2 1/2 year old, Penny, and I have been going through a list of holiday activities with her. Here's a few ideas to help you get going on how to get your toddler involved during the holidays:

1. Picking out the tree together
2. Creating ornaments (we bought a couple ceramic ones from our local craft store and I let her paint them)
4. Cookies! Check out our experience below
5. More Christmas candy, like dipping chocolate covered pretzels and decorating with sprinkles
5. Make garlands using pom poms, popcorn, cheerios, macaroni noodles, cotton balls, beads
6. Hand print crafts
7. Felt board stories
8. Read Christmas books together
9. Make scented playdoh
10. Create Christmas cards
11. More craft ideas: make candy canes with beads and pipe cleaners, Popsicle stick ornaments, salt dough hand and foot prints, pom pom wreaths

I'm a baker at heart and it's been a long time dream of mine for the day when my daughters can help create goodies for our family. So last Christmas Adam made a kitchen step stool station for the girls that will safely bring them to counter level. While Ruby rode along for the ride, Penny and I got started with decorating our first cookies together.

Because fun and being mindful of the time (for both the toddler's and infant's attention span!) was of the utmost importance, I used Toll House Rolled & Ready Cookie Dough. Toll House has 4 different flavors of pre-rolled cookie dough to choose from, and I chose sugar cookie because that's a family favorite! The dough was already rolled out the the appropriate thickness so from Penny's standpoint the fun was ready to begin!

I showed her how to gently press the cutter into the cookie dough (just like how we practice with playdoh) and I moved the cut shapes to a cookie sheet for her. Following the instructions on the package, we let them bake and fully cool before moving on to the decorating portion of our activity. Meanwhile, we played with the playdoh from item #9 above because she wasn't done using the cookie cutters!

For the decorating portion I made a simple frosting using solid coconut oil.
4 cups of powdered sugar
1/2 cup solid coconut oil
5 T milk
1 t vanilla extract
food coloring
Cream together the coconut oil and powdered sugar until smooth. Gradually mix in milk and vanilla until it is smooth and stiff. Add a couple drops of food coloring until you get the color you desire. 

And then I was reminded of the valuable lesson about toddlers. Even when your plans are laid out perfectly, things hardly ever go as planned. 

Once the cookies were done baking and had cooled, I showed Penny the frosting that I had made and laid out all the sprinkles for her to choose from. SUPER excited. I slathered on the frosting onto each cookie and laid them out onto a piece of butcher paper for her.

And then things took a 180° turn. Suddenly, according to the toddler, all sprinkles MUST be put away and the frosting MUST be removed from the cookies. NOW. Like "mama give me a wipe, no no no no frosting on these cookies pleaaaaaaaaaaaase!"

Friends, life's greatest mysteries are not about Nessie, the Bermuda Triangle or Stonehenge. It's toddlers. No one will ever understand why.

And there you have it. Mothers dream about the day when we get to bake cookies with our sweets for the first time and how magical it will be. In my case, I was spared the flour dust parties (thanks to the pre-made cookie dough!), and I even thought it was smooth sailing until the end...and then true to form, my daughter makes it interesting at the very end!

Find out more about Rolled & Ready Cookie Dough Sheets 

Share your favorite toddler friendly holiday activity (or toddler friend holiday activity fail!)

Disclosure: Thank you to Nestle Toll House for sponsoring today’s post and inspiring me to create and decorate delicious cookies with Nestlé Toll House Rolled & Ready Cookie Dough Sheets!

Copycat Crispy Chicken Caesar Wrap

This didn't take a secret lab with multiple testings to uncover the perfect copycat recipe, but hey, when you got it you got it. And let's just say that from the time that I made these for dinner on Thursday, in the 5 nights that have passed since...we've had them for dinner or lunch 3 more times. So log this one away for an easy, short ingredient, 20 minute dinner or lunch recipe. You'll be happy that you did!

You will need:
Tortilla
Breaded chicken strips Strips (Zaycon Fresh has the yummiest!)
Your favorite cheese shredded - hubby likes Pepperjack, I like Asiago
Romaine lettuce
Creamy Caesar dressing (sometimes I mix it up and use Wishbone Spicy Caesar!)

You'll do:
1.Prepare the breaded chicken strips according to package instructions
2. Cut your tortilla in half and smear a good amount of dressing onto it.
3. Layer the lettuce, a crispy strip (or two!) and a sprinkle of cheese.
4. Roll it!

And that's all it takes. Wrap them up as to-gos for the car or for a lazy night in.

Zaycon Fresh is my #1 source for purchasing our meats, and we've ordered the breaded chicken fritters every time they've come available. They come pre-cooked, so all you need to do is crisp them up in the oven. For a limited time, pay $2.56 per pound with promo code FRITTERS2018 at check out.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. 

Lemon-Pepper Tuna BLT (a rendition of a Starbucks copycat!)

Any time I'm going for a longish drive, I battle with myself...should I stop at Starbucks and get a caramel frappicino and one of those amazing chicken salad BLTs? And more often than not, unless I am in the serious mood for a treat, I convince myself that nigh on $10 for a coffee and a sandwich is just not worth it. Instead, I silently vow that I will make this at home and pack one for myself the next time I go out.

Friends, this day has finally come. Except I've adapted this recipe to use Bumble Bee® Premium Light Tuna (you can use a pouch or can), because tuna contains high levels of omega -3's which are important for brain function along with a myriad of other benefits. I chose light tuna over albacore because I'm a nursing mom and albacore has been shown to contain higher levels of mercury than chunk tuna. I also prefer the flavor of chunk tuna to albacore. 

You'll need:

• Bumble Bee® Premium Light Tuna in a water pouch or can
• 3 T Mayonnaise
• 1/2 T Lemon Pepper Seasoning (adjust to your taste, some seasoning already includes salt in the mixture)
• 2 Oven roasted tomatoes
• 4 strips cooked bacon
• lettuce
• thinly chopped scallions
• salt and pepper
• a squirt of lemon juice (I've fallen in love with the flavor from lemon essential oil, so I added 1 drop instead)
• sliced creamy havarti
• your favorite sandwich bread

This makes 2 sandwiches. 

You'll do:
1. Prepare your oven roasted tomatoes and bacon ahead of time.

2. Mix together the tuna, mayonnaise, lemon pepper seasoning, tomatoes, scallions, lemon juice or essential oil, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

3. Assemble your sandwich with the bread, a couple slices of bacon, havarti and a leaf of lettuce. Add a good dill pickle too.

Oooooh lawdy. I think I may have gone to heaven.

This is a delicious sandwich to pack for anyone's lunch - it's a twist on the the good old standby tuna sandwich that we all grew up with. It's also one of my go-to dinners on hot or busy nights because everything can be pre-made ahead of time. Pack this in your, your husband's or kid's lunch and they'll be asking for more, I promise!

Find more delicious tuna recipes from Bumble Bee Tuna!

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Sbarro Baked Ziti Copycat Recipe

In the last month Penny and I have taken a couple mama-daughter dates and headed out to the mall. Not to do Christmas shopping, mind you. I *hate* shopping at the mall. Our business was needed at the jeweler for my semi-annual check up and a watch battery replacement. So I took that opportunity of a "trip into town" and also hit up the fabric store and timed our visit to the mall with lunch and a much needed trip to the indoor playground so that Miss Penny can get some energy out!

After about 45 minutes of running, giggling, climbing, crawling and sliding, the both of us were really ready for lunch. Sbarros is one of the very few 'fast food' joints I'll eat at and thankfully our mall has one. Their combo meal isn't a bad deal, but as a single income family I'm always on the look out for cutting down our expenses but coming up with ways of still getting those 'treats' we were accustomed to when we were DINKYs (dual-income no kids).

So while I've been trying for 2 years to get my pizza dough recipe down and still not getting the thumbs up from the hubs, I knew that I could do something about that baked ziti I always get as a side when we go to Sbarros.

You will need:
1 box of ziti pasta
1 15 oz can of organic tomato sauce
1/4 teaspoon of freshly grated pepper
salt to taste
2 cups of ricotta cheese
2 cups of shredded fresh mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

You will do:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cook the ziti to al dente. Drain the water, but do not rinse the noodles!
3. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a non-reactive bowl, save about 1/4c of the tomato sauce.
4. Add in the ziti and mix well.
5. Dump into a 13x9" baking dish and pour the remaining sauce on top.
6. Bake for about 13-15 minutes, until the cheese is melted.

A reader's tip: If you are preparing this for a freezer meal, line the pan with tinfoil first. Freeze, and once solid remove the frozen ziti with tinfoil liner and wrap / fit into a freezer bag. That way you don't have to keep your baking dish frozen, and it will fit perfectly into it when you are ready!

buon appetito!