donut round up!

May 11, 2015 by mama lola

i feel it is my responsibility to add this warning above. you may want to get a cloth or tissue for wiping the drool off of your chin.

just sayin”!

donut are making a kind of come back. they can be as easy or as complicated to make as you wish; there are countless recipes out there for them! i have included recipes that make my mouth water!

donuts are a treat and certainly not anything we eat regularly at our house. but, as a treat they are fun to make, kids love ’em and you can get creative with them! a friend of mine made a birthday donut cake by building a pyramid of donuts and topping it off with candles! it was awesome and easy, and you bethca her son LOVED it!

so let’s let the donut fun begin!

baked chocolate hazelnut crunch donuts by the little epicurean

quick and easy baked came mix mini donuts from it’s always autumn

gluten free pumpkin spiced donuts from flippin’ delicious

oreo over load donuts from the first year

baked funfetti donuts from sally’s baking addiction

how about something just as yummy, but perhaps a little healthier? here’s one of our fave recipes, my boys love these blueberry oatmeal muffin donuts. perfect for school lunches, after school, whatevs!

blueberry oatmeal muffin donuts by bear & lion

how are you holding up?

craving some round, delectable treats yet! haha!

happy monday peeps!

uuni riisipuuro/ oven baked rice pudding

December 23, 2014 by mama lola

my family adores rice pudding. during the christmas holidays it’s a treat that we gobble up a lot of. it’s easy to make and for me always reminds of my childhood christmases back home in finland.

i got this recipe from a finnish blogger, hellapoliisi. it’s super easy, simple and delicious!

since the recipe and blog are in finnish i will translate… you need sticky rice, milk, salt and a titch of butter. preheat your oven to 350F. butter your oven safe dish, add 2 cups rice, 1 cup milk and a pinch of salt. let it bake for about 1.5 hrs. serve while hot with sugar and cinnamon sprinkled on top and a splash of milk. YUM!

i’ve also made yummy rice pudding in my crock pot. you can find that recipe HERE.

happy puddin’ eatin’!

reindeer cookies!

December 18, 2014 by mama lola

we made these super cute. super yummy, super easy reindeer cookies after school one day. it was great way to get some christmas cheer into dull monday afternoon, as we also had our CHFI holiday music cranked!

the recipe is from pillsbury, CLICK HERE for deatils. there’s no mess, it’s fast, easy and the kids LOVE the whole process so much!

just a few tips :

remember to buy the small pretzels as the cookies expand A LOT as they bake, so you need to be generous with the spacing or the “antlers” can fall off when you’re removing from the cookie sheet.
get your christmas helpers to decorate fast, because at the cookies set the candy eyes and noses just wont stick!
we used swedish berries and M&M’s for the eyes and noses. more colourful!
this is the only time i buy cookie dough in a tube, and i just let it go! haha! you should too!

we actually baked these gems a few christmas’ ago when bear and lion were three years younger than they are today… man, have those kids grown up a lot in that time! so amazing! check out the adorable pictures HERE!

ENJOY!

mouth watering cranberry recipes!

December 15, 2014 by mama lola

i love cranberries!

they are such a wonderful tart flavour and can be used in so many different kinds of foods. during the holiday season cranberries are especially popular in all sorts of goodies. here is a wonderful round-up of cranberry recipe ideas, ranging from butters to bars to salads!

cranberry butter

the view from great island

this cake looks so scrumptious and like the perfect breakfast treat to kick off christmas day!

cranberry buttermilk breakfast cake

alexandra’s kitchen

i love bark! this chocolate bark looks beautiful, but i bet is tastes way better than it looks!

cranberry and pistachio chocolate bark

love and lemons

salsa from cranberry’s? AWESOME! gotta give this recipe a try this holiday season! great for a party!

cranberry salsa

kate’s healthy cupboard

cranberry salads are pften paired with walnuts, which is a no-no in our family as DH has a walnut allergy. this salad recipe is intense, but i bet so worth it. don’t those candied almonds sound lovely?!

cranberry and avocado salad with candied spiced almonds and sweet white balsamic vinegrette

honest cooking

i want to share my bar recipe. these cranberry blueberry bars are perfect as hostess or teacher gifts!

cranberry blueberry bars

bear & lion

let me know if you have a favourite cranberry recipe and share it in the comments section!

dinosaur cake! ROAR!

February 26, 2014 by mama lola

for bear’s 6th birthday he had requested a dinosaur cake. we went on the internet and looked at ideas, but everything looked super complicated and out of our cake-making league. so, DH and i decided to make a scenery cake, instead of an actual dinosaur. we used carrot cake for the land and volcano, everything was heavily slathered with icing from a container and we added weird rock looking candies, raisins and cinnamon sticks all over for interest. for lava, we used strawberry jam and we made a dino’s nest with cadbury’s mini eggs! the dinosaurs themselves are plastic toys.

the kids were amazed and i have heard back from many parents about this awesome cake! haha!

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. bake 2 cakes of your choice. any type of cake is fine, as it’ll be covered with icing anyway. our fave is carrot cake and the kids all loved it! find the recipe HERE! we baked one 9″ X 13″ for the land, and one 9″ X 9″ for the volcano.

2. cut up the smaller cake into triangular pieces and build your volcano. it doesn’t have to perfect, as it’ll be covered with icing, jam and dinosaurs!

3. slather a thick layer of icing all over the volcano and land. i left it very imperfect, hoping it looked more realistic!

4. we added candy, raisins and cinnamon sticks for various landscape features. we also made a nest with dino eggs!

5. add the strawberry jam last. i just spooned it on top of the icing trying to make it look like spewing lava. kids thought it was pretty cool!

6. i made a simple tree out of two pipe cleaners; one green one and one brown one. i couldn’t find and plastic trees, so my pipe cleaner had to do!

here’s the birthday boy blowing out his candles! so cute!

check-out the adorable name tags i made for this birthday party HERE.

and, coming soon are details on the other dinosaur crafts we got to for the party!

how to make fruit sushi!

February 20, 2014 by mama lola

my kids LOVE sushi! their favourite is the raw salmon. but, a lot of kids don’t share their enthusiasm for this japanese cuisine, so that’s why for bear’s 6th birthday i decided to make his class at school some yummy fruit sushi! i prefer these treats to cupcakes and cookies, as there are less concerns with allergens, these sushi bites are healthier and hey, they’re totally memorable too!!!

INGREDIENTS!

sticky rice (read instructions on package as they vary depending on brand)

mango, kiwi or any desired fruit

seaweed sheets

a bowl of water

* plus you will need a rolling mat

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. cook sticky rice as directed on package. let it completely cool down before using. cut fruit into strips, about the same thickness as an average adult finger.

2. place your rolling mat down on a flat surface, put a seaweed sheet on top, and then place your sticky rice on. try to ensure it is spread out fairly evenly.

3. place desired fruit onto the rice and using your mat, roll the ingredients making sure they are held together tightly. i found i had some excess seaweed at the end, so i cut it off and “glued” the edge of the seaweed sheet to the roll, by dabbing them in some water.

4. cut the roll into bite sized pieces. if they are lose and fall a part (this happened a couple of times for me) i just used more water to re-seal the seaweed ends. and, voila!

5. i served these to the kids in bear’s class as is, and some of them devoured lots. other’s were a little apprehensive about the seaweed, but i would say majority of the adorable kindergartner’s tried at least one!

HOW YUMMY DO THESE LOOK???

valentine’s day treats!

January 21, 2014 by mama lola

valentine’s day is all about sweets and treats! to get inspired for valentine’s day i looked for fun baking and treat making ideas i could get the kids to help with. some of these goodies are more time intensive than others, and some will definitely require adult super vision. i can’t wait to show my after school girls these delights and they too will love making these treats with us!

valentine’s day also happens to be my bear’s birthday, so i think i’ll make some of these for his party. i especially like the arrows! which one is making your mouth water?

heart shaped rice krispy treat from the magazine

cupids arrows from organize your stuff now

marshmallow valentine’s day treats from the sweet life

valentine’s day donuts from love from the oven

valentine’s day cookie from haniela’s

hugs n’ kisses treats from delish.com

chocolate dipped wafers from flour on my face

chocolate cake mix cookies from sally’s baking addiction

so, which valentine’s day yummy-goody-treat will you make for your loved ones?

or maybe you’ll make all of them! haha! either way, ENJOY!

almond cranberry biscotti recipe.

December 21, 2013 by mama lola

this is a fantastic recipe from the joy of cooking. my dear hubby is the one who bakes this holiday goodie at our house! the word biscotti is italian and means twice baked biscuits. the name perfectly describes how you ultimately bake these yummy treats, TWICE (or so)! biscotti is a wonderful holiday gift, as it is easy to make and lasts a long time. it is a bit time consuming, but well worth it in the end, in my opinion. so, let’s get to it.

INGREDIENTS:

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup canola oil

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 large eggs

2 large egg whites

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

1/2 teaspoon finely grated orange zest

1 teaspoon anise or almond extract

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup finely chopped almonds

1 cup dried cranberries

(* although we typically bake and cook without eggs, this recipe was made with eggs. at our house biscotti is more of an adult treat, so our egg sensitive bear will not be nibbling on these)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. combine oil, sugar, eggs, zest and extracts together. then stir in flour, baking powder and salt.

2. add chopped almonds and dried cranberries. mix well.

3. shape two loaves out of the dough on parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake at 375F for 25 minutes. allow loaves to cool then cut on a diagonal into 1/2 inch slices. then, bake slices on sides for 10 minutes and turn over and bake for another 10 minutes.

4.cool on a rack. serve with a cuppa tea or coffee and dip biscotti in the drink.

enjoy!

cranberry blueberry bars.

December 18, 2013 by mama lola

i found this delicious recipe from smitten kitchen, but tweaked it to fit the flavours i had in my cupboards.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cold unsalted butter
1 egg or egg substitute
1/4 teaspoon salt
orange zest
4 cups cranberries and blueberries combined
1/2 cup white sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch

INSTRUCTION:

1. preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and grease a 9×13 inch pan.

2. in a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder. mix in salt and orange zest using a fork to blend in the butter and egg or egg substitute. the dough will be crumbly, but that’s what we want! pat half of dough into the greased pan.

3. in another bowl, stir together the sugar and cornstarch. with a potato masher, crush the cranberries in a bowl, mix in the blueberries. then, pour the cranberry blueberry mixture evenly over the crust and spread remaining dough over the berry layer.

4. bake in oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

this is an easy recipe to complete. the cranberries are tart, so some may prefer more sugar in the recipe, but i decided not to add sugar. instead, i will add a scoop of ice cream or make a big mug of hot chocolate to go with my yummy bar.

enjoy!

candy cane treats! YUM!

December 13, 2013 by mama lola

tis the season for candy canes! my kids are a bit little for just sitting and eating a cane; it tuns into a huge sticky mess, which i hate! so, instead i love to incorporate candy canes into all sorts of treats we like to eat. here is a round-up of super yummy candy cane treats of all sorts… from cookies to fudge to bark!

ENJOY!

chocolate peppermint bark cookies from recipe girls