Mom~A'~Cafe'

We've been having a lot of rain lately and for quite a long time. And do you know what that means? It means my kids are stuck in the house and bored, because of the wet & muddy mess outside. This got me to thinking....


One summer a few years back my kids and I were at home with nothing to do. It had been this way for several days and I could tell by just looking at them they were extremely bored. I hated this for them, because I knew they didn't have the same options for summer entertainment that I did as a child. You know the ones I'm talking about, when you could hop on your bike and head on over to your friend's house and let the fun begin. We would stay out most of the day, just riding around laughing and finding all kinds of things to do and adventures to set out on. Once I remember stumbling upon a secret basketball court that was located in our back alley way. What a find! There was also the creek in town that had a great pond for swimming in when we were little and a dam that we enjoyed as we grew bigger and became better swimmers. None of these things are choices that my girls have. Granted, I'm sure if they used their imaginations they could have come up with something on their own, but I decided they needed a jump start. That's when I came up with Mom-A'-Cafe'.


First thing I did was go into the kitchen to take an inventory of the food we had on hand and see what kind of fun recipe I could come up with. It had to be something that they had never eaten, so that it would be special. I started putting it all together and when I finished I decided that the food needed presentation. You know it had to be fancied up in some way, so I added a little "something-something" to make it more fun. Then I found the cute/fancy little plates and cups we never use and put the food on them. I also spritzed up their drinks as well. It was just sprite, but when I added a couple of sliced strawberries, and it became a beverage to get excited about.


Well after all of this I called the girls and told them I needed them to go and sit outside at the patio table. I donned my apron and went out to tell them in a very silly voice "Welcome to Mom~A'~Cafe'", and proceeded to inform them about the special of the day. I'll admit that at first they gave me a couple of strange looks, but then they decided to join in on the fun. Well of course they all wanted the special so I served them and continued to go back and forth to refill their drinks, check on them and then bring them the special dessert of the day.


I don't think they'll ever forget this and I know they look forward to the days that I surprise them with another Mom~A'~Cafe' day. They have even requested it several times since then. Another neat thing to come out of all of this is that they have also done one for me!


So now I'm always on the look out for unique kid recipes and I save them up for those times when I think my girls could use a Mom~A'~Cafe' kind of day.


I would love to know about any recipes you have that would be great for our Mom~A'~Cafe'. Here are some of the cute little recipes I've used before.


To view a picture for this recipe you can go to familyfun.go.com It is super cute and a perfect kid food! They have a lot of great recipes here.

Arctic Oranges

RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
4 oranges
4 cups orange juice
4 cherries
1. Cut the tops off the oranges in a zigzag pattern. Hollow out the insides, remove the seeds and combine in a blender with the juice. 2. Set the rinds in a muffin tin and fill with the mixture. Drop a cherry inside each orange. Freeze for 2 to 3 hours. Soften the treats for 5 minutes, then serve. Makes 4.




Ham and Cream Cheese Spirals

1 package ham
1 container cream cheese, softened
flour tortillas


Spread desired amount of cream cheese onto the flour tortillas. Layer slices of ham according to how much you want. (I do more ham than cream cheese for my kids.) Roll tortilla, then slice.

There are many variations for this recipe that you can find on the internet, but for my kids I just keep it simple.




You can also view a picture for this next recipe at familyfun.go.com. It's another very cute recipe that the kiddos will love!


Grapefruit Gals


RECIPE INGREDIENTS
Grapefruit
Grapes (for hair and eyes)
Maraschino cherry (for nose)
Raisins or banana (for mouth)
1. Arrange red or green grape clusters around the top for hair. 2. Add red grape eyes, a maraschino cherry nose and a big grin made of raisins or bananas.



Fruity Peanut Butter Pitas



1/4 cup of peanut butter
1/8 teaspoon each; ground cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg
1 whole wheat pita bread cut in half
1/2 medium apple, thinly sliced
1/2 medium firm banana sliced

In a small bowl, blend the peanut butter, all spice, cinnamon and nutmeg. Spread inside pita halves; fill with apple and banana slices.
Yields 2 servings.