Minnie Mouse Birthday Party

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Sweet Minnie Mouse

Eleanor's 2nd Birthday Party

Pink, red, polka-dots and doilies!

This post is also a bit of a throw back, but way too good to miss!

I made the cupcakes and frosting at home and ordered the Minnie Mouse fondant toppers from a shop on Etsy.  I also made a special cake just for Ellie using 2 6" spring form pans.

 

Okay, I'll admit it.  My favorite guilty pleasure dessert is Rice Crispy Treats.  I made them as anyone normally would and used a Mickey Mouse cookie cutter directly in the pan.  Then I inserted a polka dot paper straw, slipped it in a cellophane bag and tied it with a pretty ribbon.

In keeping with the theme and wanting to add some healthy snacks to the mix I made some fruit and cheese skewers and watermelon hearts.  The watermelon was as simple as slicing the melon and using a heart shaped cookie cutter.  Then I used the "scraps" of the watermelon and some mild Jack cheese, and strawberries alternated on a bamboo skewer.  I also served a big bowl of "bow-tie" pasta mac-n-cheese style.  Gotta add some more bow action in keeping with the theme, right?

A kid friendly drink station was made from a large red bucket bought from the bargain section at Target and filled with organic milk boxes in strawberry, white and chocolate milk; along with pitchers of lemonade and iced tea.  Paper cups in pink and white with paper polka dot straws in pink/white/red finish off the look perfectly.  The paper straws were ordered from an Etsy store- there are many options out there, and inexpensive too!

Other decorations were also simple and very inexpensive! Pink paper lanterns were bought for around $1 each in the bargain section at Target, again.  Red pom-pom yarn was bought on clearance at Michael's craft store for $2. Pink plastic tablecloths and doilies finished the tables. We picked up a few balloons from the party store and splurged around $8 for the big Minnie Mouse face balloon.  Also from the party store we bought a few favors- Minnie ears and party blowers.  My favorite decoration addition was recycled from a previous party we had thrown see the Ladybug Party here!
Little red buckets ($1 bin at Target again- gotta love it!), filled with sugar (for weight), with pink polka dot pinwheels, pink and white lolipops and a paper Minnie Mouse cut out.

All in all the party was a smashing success!  

I hope some of my ideas have inspired you.

Homemade! 3 flavors, Lara Bar-style

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As we are updating our kitchen, one of everyone's favorite additions is the pantry.  We've never had a real pantry before!  The kids (at ages 2 and 4) feel so independent when they can open the door and help themselves to a snack.  Knowing this, I have stocked the shelves at toddler level with snacks that I don't mind them helping themselves to- even when I am not looking.  Their shelves hold things like sunflower seeds and nuts, raisins, banana chips, fruit leather, and "baby food" packets of fruit/vegetable smoothie types.  I love that even when given a choice, my kids will usually prefer snacks a Lara bar, Cliff bar or Z bar over a candy bar!

I am a firm believer in making as much of the food we eat from scratch as I possibly can, and every day I get a little closer to eliminating our dependence on processed foods.  To clarify my view of processed food, I heard once in a documentary "processed foods are any food that goes through a building before it gets to you".  This statement really hit home for me, and a light bulb went off over my head! Such a simple truth that had never occurred to me.  So here we go, one more step in reducing the amount of buildings between my family and our food...

Instructions:
This style of snack bars really couldn't be easier to make!  I wish I had known this years ago- I will never pay $$ for the store-bought ones again!

• Combine ingredients in food processor beginning with nuts/seeds, then fruit, then lemon juice (driest or hardest to softest).
• Press firmly in a glass baking dish (metal would probably work just as well, but I don't have one so I can't attest to how easily the bars would remove).
• Chill and cut out. I only chilled them because I was afraid that they wouldn't hold the "bar" shape.  I am not entirely sure this step is necessary, but we were happy with the results!
• That's it!

      

      Ingredients:

• 1 cup almonds
• 1 cup dried blueberries
• 1/2 cup banana chips
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

      

      Ingredients:

• 1 cup almonds
• 1/2 cup coconut flakes
• 1 1/2 cup dates
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

    

      Ingredients:

•  1/2 cup pistachios
• 1 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 1 cup coconut
• 1 1/2 cup dates
• 1/2 dried cranberries
• 1/2 dried goji berries
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice