Fun with Food

There is this "B" word sometimes associated with being a stay at home mom.  A word related to dull, uninteresting... you get the point.  I wouldn't ever use the "B" word to describe staying home with my kids, I love it!  BUT, it is easy to get stuck in a rut.  Sometimes it's like being on a hamster wheel, doing the same things over and over again each day.  Wake up, feed the baby, change the baby, brush teeth, start coffee, start laundry, unload dishes, make breakfast, feed baby, change baby, read to toddler, change laundry... etc etc.  I would be lying if I said there aren't days where I feel slightly unmotivated and "blah", especially days when Tate's traveling and I don't have one single adult conversation or reason to get dressed all day. 

Whenever I start to feel that way I just have to find new ways to mix up the days... new crafts for Jace to try, new books for us to read, new music for me to listen to while I clean, new food to make for lunch, etc.  New ways to have FUN together.

One of my favorite lunches to do with Jace are muffin tin meals.  I started doing these once in a while back when he was a picky eater to help encourage him to try new foods... and they've become something different to do at lunch time once in a while these days. 

I love muffin tin meals because:

1) They are great for encouraging picky eaters to try a variety of foods.
2) Great for kids who don't like their food to touch.
3) Good use for leftovers.
4) Offers a healthy variety of foods

and most importantly...

5) It's a HUGE time waster!  Jace will sit and pick at the food for over an hour sometimes while I get other things done. 

We've done a couple muffin tin meals this week.  This one had:  rye crackers, swiss and cheddar cheese, turkey and salami deli meat, trail mix, blueberries, fresh green beans, pickles, bananas, carrots, dinosaur shaped peanut butter sandwich, leftover minestrone soup, and fig flavored greek yogurt.

The second one had:  tortilla crisps, carrots, celery w/ peanut butter, oranges, cottage cheese, apples, and sandwich making supplies including cut up bread, lettuce, two cheeses and deli meat.

As you can see Jace really enjoys muffin tin meals as well.  :)