Yes, you can easily buy play dough from a toy store, but why bother when you probably already have all the ingredients for a homemade natural version in your kitchen?

I love shopping. Wandering around stores, maybe finding that perfect sweater, looking at adorable kids clothing and simply enjoying the experience of being out and about. Whatever happened to my shopping days? Oh right, two kids, school, work and the general demands of being a mom.

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Lucky for us, The Mini Social is offering one weelicious mom a $200 gift certificate to go on a shopping spree on their website. In addition, they’re offering all weelicious moms $10 off a $50 purchase when they enter promo code wee10 at checkout.*

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*Offer valid 9/29 – 10/9

When it comes to convenience and making sure your kids have a wholesome snack, cheese sticks can truly be a mom’s best friend. They have major kid appeal and when your little ones are on the go, cheese sticks are an easy to hold, protein-rich food (that won’t make a total mess!). Whenever my kids are hungry in between meals, they know where to go: straight to the drawer in our fridge which I always keep stocked with a healthy supply of cheddar and mozzarella sticks.

My kids will also eat pizza pretty much any time of day, but it’s not exactly a food I want them running around the house with. I don’t know why, but one day I thought about marrying the convenience of cheese sticks with pizza — kind of a mess-free meal for active kids. The results were pretty popular with Kenya and Chloe. All I have to say these days is, “who wants a Cheesy Bread Stick,” and before I can even offer one to my kids it’s been grabbed out of my hand.

I wouldn’t say this is the healthiest recipe on weelicious, but I sure as heck don’t have to twist anyone’s arm to take a bite of the crusty pizza dough filled with oozing cheese. Sometimes that’s reason alone to make them!

Cheesy Bread Sticks (Makes 6 Sticks)

1 lb. White or Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
1 Pkg. Mozzarella Cheese Sticks
Pizza Sauce

1. Preheat oven to 450 F.
2. Shape dough into a rectangle, about 10 x 6 inches wide, and cut into 6 rectangular pieces just big enough to wrap around the cheese stick.
3. Take one cheese stick and place in the middle of the rectangle of dough. Fold the ends over the cheese, then fold over the sides, pinching as you go so the dough sticks together. Roll the dough to evenly shape into a cylinder.
4. Place sticks onto a parchment or greased foil lined baking sheet and bake 14-15 minutes.*
5. Serve with pizza sauce for dipping.

* To spice this recipe up for parents, drizzle some olive oil on top of the cheese sticks followed by a sprinkling of some garlic powder, sesame seeds and/or salt before you bake.

At my kids’ school, the parents are in charge of making the snacks for their child’s class for an entire week, several times a year. With two kids, that means I need to prepare food for over 40 kids five to six weeks a year! This is an easy task for some moms but for others it’s a much bigger challenge that they absolutely dread. The snacks generally run the gamut from cheese cubes, crackers, fresh fruit, steamed veggies, little sandwiches and so on to more elaborate creations that are always put together with love.

Earlier this year, a mother in Kenya’s class made the most incredible muffins that the kids completely devoured. They were unbelievably delicious and packed with a mix of bright, juicy berries. I asked her for the recipe, but she couldn’t find it. Nonetheless, I was determined to figure out how to recreate her delectable creation. As we head into the fall and winter months, fresh berries will be a big challenge to find (and will cost an arm and a leg when you do), so instead I’m using an entire bag of frozen mixed berries to fulfill my craving for these treats.

I’m not kidding, I love these muffins so much, the next time I make them for snack they may not all make it to the classroom!

Very Berry Muffins (Makes 12 Regular Muffins)

1/2 Cup All Purpose Flour
3/4 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
3/4 Cup Old Fashioned Oats
2 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/3 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Large Egg, whisked
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
3/4 Cup Milk
1/3 Cup Canola or Vegetable Oil
2 Cups Frozen Berries

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. Place the first 6 ingredients in a bowl and combine.
3. Combine the egg, vanilla extract, milk and oil in a separate bowl.
4. Slowly combine the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
5. Gently mix the frozen berries into the batter, do not over mix or the berries will bleed.
6. Pour batter into greased or muffin lined regular sized tins.
7. Bake for 20-22 minutes.
8. Allow muffins to cool for 5 minutes then remove to a cooling rack.
9. Serve.

When I was a kid and went out to dinner with my family, few things made me feel as grown up as getting to order a Shirley Temple. Made from ginger ale, grenadine syrup, a bit of OJ and topped off with a maraschino cherry, this drink was the most special of special treats to me.

When we went on vacation this summer, I would occasionally make my kids (and me and hubby) special cocktails to cap off a long day of play. Using just a bit of juice, some cut up fresh fruit and sparking water — and a fun straw or umbrella — it was something the kids looked forward to every day and it was so cute to watch them sit there each evening holding their pretty drinks and feeling grown up.

This virgin sangria is my take on the beloved Shirley Temple of my youth, but without all the sugar and high fructose corn syrup from the soda and grenadine. And when you get into the fall and winter months and you want to pretend you’re on vacation even though you can’t get away, just substitute any of your favorite seasonal fruits to make a yer round refreshing cocktail that everyone in the family can enjoy.

Kiddie Sangria (Serves 4)

1 Peach, pitted and sliced
1/2 Cup Strawberries, stems removed and quartered
1 Lemon, halved & sliced
2 Cups Cranberry and/or Orange Juice
2 Cups Sparkling Water or Club Soda

1. Place the first 4 ingredients in a pitcher and chill in the fridge for one hour.
2. When ready to serve, stir in 2 cups of sparkling water.
3. Serve.

Frozen fish sticks out of a box? Yucky! Homemade Fish Sticks with a Creamy Dip on the side? Yummy!

Congratulations to the winners of the Emily Press Label giveaway: Amanda Jankowski, Jodi Robertson, Heidi Jones, Stéphanie Terry and Courtney Northcutt.

Check out weelicious again next week for another great giveaway!

From the moment my kids discovered ham — particularly prosciutto — there has been no looking back. Whenever we’re in the grocery now, my son asks for it the second he sees it. Recently we were making ham sammies together and I let him decide what toppings would go on his. I offered up a bunch of different options, but I was shocked at what a great idea he thought spinach was. He was so right, it resulted in today’s recipe. Spinach turned out to be the perfect addition, adding a sweet taste, vibrant color and a bit of extra nutrition to a brown bag sandwich that’s easy to love.

Ham, Cheese & Spinach Sammies

4 English Muffins, split (I use whole wheat english muffins, but you can use any kind of bread you want)
1/2 Cup Cheese, shredded (I prefer swiss, mozzarella, havarti, cheddar or gruyere)
4 Slices Ham or Prosciutto
1/3 Cup Spinach Leaves

1. Place half of each English muffin on a plate and top with some cheese, a piece of ham, a few leaves of spinach another sprinkle of cheese and the other english muffin half.
2. Place in a sauté pan over medium heat and cook for 3 minutes on each side or until cheese is melted (feel free to use a bit of butter or oil in the pan, but it’s not necessary).
3. Serve.

My parents were around in full force this summer. It was a huge help to me but it also meant my kids were exposed to a whole host of foods that mommy does not want them eating. Let’s see, there was the day that Kenya
innocently told me that my father bought him “some” gum at the car wash (sugar free Trident with Aspartame to be exact). We later found Chloe playing unusually quietly and chewing something. Next to her were 15 empty gum wrappers. When we asked her where everything went that was in the wrappers she said, “in my tummy”. Then there were the times my dad let Kenya order “a drink in a red can that was really sweet with bubbles in it,” but of course Kenya was told to not say anything to me. Are you starting to see a pattern here with my dad and his knowledge
of what is and is not ok to feed kids?

Or how about the day that I made these Blueberry Cheesecake Bites and Kenya said, “Grandpa took me to the Cheesecake Factory. I love cheesecake.” Now, I have nothing against cheesecake — it was one of my favorite desserts as a kid — but I get cavities just thinking about the mounds of sugar that most recipes call for. This version is different and has become one of my kids’ new favorite sweet treats. Since they are bite-sized, contain no refined sugar, have tons of fresh blueberries and even a whole wheat and oat crust, I feel a lot better offering these to my kids for dessert than a lot of the alternatives.

Blueberry Cheesecake Bites (makes 20-25 bites)

Oat Crust:

1 Cup Old Fashioned Oats
1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 Cup Light Brown Sugar
6 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, chilled

Filling:

4 oz Cream Cheese, room temperature
1 Large Egg, at room temperature
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1/4 Cup Sour Cream
1/3 Cup Light Brown Sugar
1 Cup Fresh Blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 300 F.
2. To make the crust, place the first 3 ingredients in a food processor and pulse to chop oats.
3. Add the butter and pulse to combine.
4. Press the crust on the bottom of a parchment-lined 8 x 8 baking dish and flatten evenly with your hands. Bake for 10 minutes to set, then allow to cool.
5. Lower the oven temperature to 250 F.
6. To make the filling, place the first 5 ingredients in a bowl and beat to combine.
7. Fold in the blueberries.
8. Pour the batter on top of the crust and bake for 1 hour.
9. Cool and then chill until ready to serve.
10. Cut into squares and serve.*

*To get clean squares, wipe your knife between each slice.

As many of you know, we’re big on dips in our house. I find that if you put out a big platter of veggies next to a yummy dip for plunging into, the variety of vegetables you can get into kids’ little bodies increases by….well, a lot! Case in point was the day that I made this Avocado Honey Dip. Chloe had just woken up from her nap and was sitting with me at the kitchen counter while I was concocting this creamy spread. She asked if she could try some, so I made her a little plate with baby carrots, sugar snap peas and pretzels. Chloe dipped a few times and then, in the time that it took me to turn around to grab something and turn back, she had her little arm wrapped around the mixing bowl and the spatula I had used to stir it in her mouth. Eventually I surrendered and let her finish it all.

There’s nothing worse than sending your child to school with a lunch box packed full of fresh veggies only to have them come back home exactly the way you sent them: uneaten. My advice? Add some of this dip and see if it adds to your kid’s fun of wanting to munch and crunch on the good stuff that goes with it!

Avocado Honey Dip (makes 1 cup)

1 Avocado, peeled and pitted
1/4 Cup Whipped Cream Cheese
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1 Tbsp Honey

1. Place all of the ingredients in a bowl and mash together.
2. Serve with cut up veggies, crackers, pretzels or even as a spread on toast.