Sneaky Cook

A good friend of mine told me about a cookbook that I just had to buy. She was having problems getting her kids to eat their veggies until she stumbled upon this amazing cookbook called "Deceptively Delicious". It is full of sneaky ways to mix veggies into normal meals that kids love. They don't even know they are eating healthy. I decided this is going to be a new way of cooking in our house. Addison is still so little she eats anything I give her but my loving husband is not so willing. Wait till he comes home tonight and tries the brownies I made. Little does he know they are packed full of spinach and carrots!

Birthday Cake

I'm experimenting with how to make Addison's birthday cake. I want to make a ladybug cake so I practiced making a cake today. I have never made black or red frosting so I was worried it wouldn't turn out tasting very good. I made the black frosting from homemade chocolate frosting by adding black food coloring and letting it sit for a few hours in the refrigerator. I make the red frosting from homemade vanilla frosting and adding red food coloring. I also let the red sit for a few hours. It seemed to help darken up the colors by sitting. When I put the black in the frig it was a dark gray and a few hours later it was really black. I was surprised. The red however turned more of a dark pink. I'm going to have to try again on the red. I may use strawberries to start and then add red food coloring. I was worried the cake wouldn't taste very good but I was pleasantly surprised. It was so good!!! I made a small version of my idea of her cake today. The actual cake I am planning on making for her birthday will be much larger. I also think I am going to make the ladybug have a head instead of just a big circle that looks like a ladybug. I have some more experimenting to do. Joe is very excited about all the cakes I will be making. Looks like I will be sending cake to work with him!

Pee Wee Pillow Pet

Joe, Addison and I went to Frys today to look at TV's and all the fun gadgets we needed to get for our road trip to Alaska coming up. I came across a Pee Wee Pillow Pet in one of the big baskets in between the isles. I picked up a ladybug one because I thought it was so cute and handed it to Addison. She seemed very excited about it and placed it next to her in the cart. It was official! We were taking it home to add to her stuffed animal collection. We continued our shopping then headed home for lunch and Addison's afternoon nap. After her nap I took her in the living room and handed her the Pee Wee Pillow Pet. She immediately threw it as far away as she could and started crying. What had come over her? It was so strange. She wanted nothing to do with it. I picked it up and handed it to her again. Just like before she threw it and started crying. I took the poor little pillow pet and hugged it and kissed it to show her it was nice. Still she had no interest and kept trying to push it away. I have no idea what has come over her. Maybe she will love it tomorrow. Silly girl.