Cheddar Cheese Turkey Meatloaf Bites

In my never-ending quest to try and sneak vegetables into my children, I recently tried these bite-sized, delicious, flavorful, cheesy, tiny meatloafs that are prepared in a mini muffin tin.  They are so good that we (Carson and I) ate half of them, and I froze the rest.  The 7 year-old shrugged and said, "yeah, they're ok" and the 19 month-old liked them (but she only eats if she's running in circles these days, forget about a chair!).  The 3 year-old is trying to send me to the looney bin, but that's a story for another day (someone remind me she won't be wearing diapers when she's 10).  Ok but honestly, these are so good and they are packed with vegetables that you pulse into teeny, tiny pieces (see below) so if you also have picky eaters, try them!  If they won't eat them, you will.

Recipe here.  

Tune into the Today Show tomorrow to watch me make something much, less, healthier :)

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BB8 Cake

Well, my son turned seven last week.  I don't know why this birthday seemed so significant to me... seven sounds so old!!  This means eight years ago, I was nearly pregnant with him (I'm good at math).  Which means I've been a mother for almost a decade.  WHICH MEANS I'M ALMOST 40!  Ok, it doesn't really mean that, but seven does sound old, right?  He had a Star Wars-themed party this weekend with some buddies (at one of those places where hundreds of kids bounce around together and share puke germs) so I made him a BB8 cake.  Which yes, I realize may have been better suited for his 8th birthday, but I never said I was good at math.  

I made two circle red velvet cakes (following this recipe), cut one cake into a smaller circle, and then in half.  I formed the robot's body and head, slathered everything in cream cheese frosting, and decorated it with candy melts similar to the Transformer and Power Rangers cakes below (click on those links for more info).  As you can see, I've had fun with cakes for my kiddos in the past!  

And by "fun" I mean lots of panic attacks and beers.     

Rainbow Cake

Brobee Cake

Transformer Cake

Frozen Cake

Minion Cake

Funfetti Cake

Polka Dot Cake

Power Ranger Cakes

Wubbzy Cake

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Green Mac & Cheese

I swear to God, my children once ate vegetables.  They ate fruit, and healthy grains, and fish and lean meats and foods that came in all different shapes, sizes, textures and COLORS.  Then, each of them hit 18 months, and they were all, "nah... OVER IT... I'll just eat chips and Skittles until I'm out of college and my palate returns to normal, thanks."  My son (who turns SEVEN today!) was always a little better (maybe because I had time to actually focus on one, single child?) but my girls are trying to turn me into a mental patient.  As a mom, I keep trying.  That's my job, to feed them healthy foods.  So I keep trying.  Like yesterday, I made this Green Mac & Cheese, assuming I could trick them into thinking a magical leprechaun turned it that color.  That's fun, right?!  

Me: Hahahahahahaha, look lasses and laddy, a wee little leprechaun has played a trick on us, ohhhhh, aren't we lucky little Irish children!?!

Them: (Blank, disgusted stares)

Cut to THREE different-sized meltdowns over dinner.  My middle kid ran from the table, the baby just screamed "all done, all done, all done, all done" and my seven-year-old took a bite, plugging his nose and choking back tears, like I was feeding him poison.  

My take on this creamy, cheesy pasta full of pureed spinach and broccoli (which I decided to throw into the blender with the spinach so there were NO VISIBLE SIGNS OF VEGETABLES)... it's delicious.  It's so, so good.  Carson loved it as well.  Which is good, because we will be eating it for lunch every day this week.  You should make it too, because your kids are probably better than mine.

Recipe!

*Look, I even melted cut-up string cheese on the top because I ran out of cheddar and I wanted it to be EXTREMELY GOOEY AND CHEESY.  

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