5 Books to Read and Cook with Children

Posted by Tabitha on May 10, 2013 in Book Review, Fun, Toddler in the Kitchen | 0 comments

My friend Danielle inspired me with her cooking adventures with her daughter. In one of her blog posts, she shared about the story Madeline she read with her daughter, then they made a cake together inspired by the book. It sent me on a search for books I could read to my son and then “play” in the kitchen.

Since my little guy is two, he is at the age that he loves to help. It doesn’t matter if it’s making a mess or not he loves to help with anything.  I really love this character quality that he possesses at this young age!

In our trips to the library,  I have been looking for books that have to do with cooking or baking. That way after we’ve read a book, we can have fun mommy son time in the kitchen.

Today, I just wanted to share some of the favorite books we’ve read over the past few weeks. Some of these books have recipes in them or you can get creative in your kitchen by the inspiration of the book.

Here is our favorites: enjoy!

Curious George and the Pizza Party

This book is a fun read. George gets invited to a pizza party and he gets a little curious, but in the end he has a great time at the party. The back of the book has a recipe for making pizza with kids and hosting your own pizza party.

The Doorbell Rang

If you love cookies, then you will love this book! If you are working on math skills with your little one, such as counting or subtraction this book is great for teaching those concepts in a fun way. Once you finish the book, head to the kitchen and make up your grandma’s favorite cookies because grandma’s cookies are always the best!

Bunny Cakes

This sweet story about a two little bunnies making a cake for their grandmother, is an adorable book to read to toddler and preschoolers. After reading this story, create your own cake and take to a family member or friend for their birthday or just because. What a great way to get kids involved in cake making. I adore this book!

Strega Nona

This classic book by Tomie de Paola is a great read for preschool and above. Although, it was very fun to read with my little toddler the significant meaning behind the story will have to wait until he’s just a tad older. I appreciate well written books like this one that have a deep level of learning involved in them. The fun thing to make in this book is pasta. Which, for a toddler is a lot fun to eat and play with.

What Should I Make?

I really enjoy making any kind of dough: bread dough, pizza dough and cookie dough! When I’m in the kitchen cooking, Little Buddy loves to get up on the stool and take a piece of the dough and play with it. That is what I love about this story. The little boy in this story is given a piece of dough and he can make anything he wants out of it. At the end of this book is a recipe for making chapatis. A great read for all ages (even mama’s!)

Well this is my top five books to read and play in the kitchen with a toddler. What are some of your favorite books that involve cooking or being in the kitchen? I’d love to have more to add to our collection! Share in the comments. 

Sharing today at: Share and Show Saturday 

Our Menu for the Week of May 5, 2013

Posted by Tabitha on May 6, 2013 in Menu Planning, Our Menu | Comments Off

Happy Monday friends! I hope you all had a fantastic weekend! We had a great weekend. Saturday we enjoyed a taco bar dinner with friends, played golf on the Playstation and played soccer in the backyard with our little toddler. Sunday was a relaxing day of church, lunch out, and left over taco picnic at a nearby lake. It was a simple but a fantastic weekend!

Another great thing about this weekend was our neighbors gave us a huge bunch of basil. I knew that the basil had to be the inspiration for this weeks menu. I can’t wait to cook with it this week. I even have a dessert planned with it.

Have a great week! Here is our menu, enjoy!

Sharing today at Menu Plan Monday. 

Burlap Gift Wrap for Mother’s Day

Posted by Tabitha on May 2, 2013 in DIY, Easter/Spring, Hospitality, Projects | 2 comments

I love wrapping gifts in a unique fashion, whether it’s a treat from the kitchen or a birthday gift, I enjoy making it special. There are tons a great idea’s on Pinterest that I gather inspiration from. You can find some ideas here on my board if you’d like.

But before you head over to Pinterest, today I’m sharing a picture frame I wrapped a couple of weeks ago for my parents 30th wedding anniversary gift.

Since burlap is one of my favorite textured fabric (and I had it on hand), I thought it would be great to wrap a gift with it. To add an elegant element to the gift, satin was my ribbon of choice and adorned it with a white silk flower.

Since Mother’s Day is right around the corner, I hope this inspires you to wrap a gift in a fun way. Enjoy.

1. Gather supplies
2. Wrap gift in tissue paper. Since the burlap is slightly transparent and you might see the gift, therefore, I wrapped my gift in tissue paper first. This step is optional.
3. Wrap gift in burlap. Use pea size drops of hot glue to keep fabric together.
4. Wrap ribbon around gift in your own fashion. Fix together with a pea size drop of hot glue. Double sided tape might work well on satin ribbon as an option also.
5. Slip the flower underneath ribbon or fix flower ribbon with small amount of hot glue.

And there you go! A beautifully wrapped gift for Mother’s Day or any special occasion.

What fun creative ways do you like to wrap gifts? 

Sharing today at Chic and Crafty , Tips and Tutorials and the Better Mom.