Muffin Tin Monday

We participated in Muffin Tin Monday for the first time today! Since there was no "theme" today, I just did what we had on hand and what my daughter was asking for (i.e., banana bread). I wish I'd thought ahead though, because how cute would it have been to have a Dr. Seuss themed meal?! Green eggs (scrambled eggs with a little food coloring), ham, and Goldfish crackers ("One Fish, Two Fish") are all I came up with so far. Maybe later in the month! :)

The whole reason for muffin tin meals (to me, anyway) is pretty much the same reason why you use cookie cutters to make fun shapes in your child's sandwich or pancakes, or why you make "ants on a log" instead of just plopping some celery and raisins on their plate next to a spoonful of peanut butter. It's just going that little extra mile to do something fun and special for your child... and, of course, the hope is that they might also eat something they wouldn't have eaten otherwise. :)


Lunch today consisted of (top, clockwise):

• grapes
• carrot and red pepper sticks
• ranch dressing for dipping
• chicken noodle soup (of the Dora variety :)
• cheese
• banana bread

The only item in her meal today that she doesn't commonly eat is the red pepper sticks. I often give her a baby carrot or two at lunch with some "dip" (Ranch) and have done this for months... and she's started to actually eat the carrot! Because the carrots I have right now are massive and hardly qualify for "baby carrots," and also to keep with the theme of everything being little and cute, I cut one enormous baby carrot up into matchsticks. I decided to throw a little red pepper in there, too.

The veggies were the only thing left on her plate. *sigh* BUT, she did eat a few of them! This mom-of-a-picky-eater counts that as a success. :)

I stumbled across these adorable silicone muffin cups in the Target dollar section this weekend. If you're wanting to participate in Muffin Tin Monday, but are like me in that you only have one, fairly cruddy looking muffin tin, check your local Target! They had packs of six for $1, so I grabbed one. I really wanted the butterfly-shaped ones (they were oh-so-cute!), but the only remaining package had been opened, and the contents strewn about in the bin. I could have pieced them all back together, but a couple cups had little tears in them... so we went for just the plain round cups. Coincidentally, my girl LOVED the round muffin cups and kept telling me they were circles. A fun meal and a shapes lesson all in one!