20+ Rainbow Recipes For All Times of the Day

A few years ago we discovered Rainbow Pudding Cups, and somehow they have become a St. Patrick's Day tradition for our family, even though they are not at all traditional to the holiday. But we also enjoy making them at other times of the year, because they are just so fun and colorful.

This inspired to search around the web and find even more creative, fun, and colorful Rainbow Recipes. In fact, we've found over 20 of them for you to enjoy and spread across the day!

One Bowl Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

As we've shared before, the boys love muffins. Banana muffins are usually our go-to recipe as we almost always wind up with overripe bananas in the house. I'm always looking for ways to make them a little quicker and easier, which is why I've come up with this one bowl banana chocolate chip muffin recipe. Fast to make and easy to clean up.

When I make these, I always make them in our KitchenAid mixer, which makes the mixing fast and smooth. It had actually been a while since I made some, but we were pretty excited to enjoy a fresh batch this week.

Homemade Strawberry Shortcake

It's strawberry season here in our neck of the woods, which means it's Strawberry Shortcake time. And to me, nothing says summer quite like strawberries.

I've been playing with our recipe a little bit and tweaked our favorite biscuit recipe to make it a sweeter version for shortcake. 

Chicken Sausage Kebabs

As soon as the snow melts we pretty much start grilling, it's definitely our go-to cooking method in the summer. We love to our keep our dinners simple, so we can have even more time to play during the warmer weather. This recipe is easy to put together, cooks in very little time, and can be enjoyed by everyone in the family!

I've always enjoyed making kebabs, and love mixing up the ingredients we use. And although I enjoy using other meats, recently we discovered how easy using sausages on kebabs can be. 

Easy Blueberry Cobbler

There are a lot of different recipes and opinions out there for how to make a cobbler. Do you put the fruit on the bottom and add the batter on top? Or do you make the batter for the bottom and put the fruit on top? And although we've tried many of them, this quickly became our new favorite go to recipe this summer when we have fresh berries (or cherries) in the house and we want a warm, cobbler treat.

It's fresh blueberry season, which is one of our favorite times of year! We love baking with blueberries,freezing  them for the winter, and of course eat them just in their natural, yummy state. 

Kids Cook: Chocolate Chip Craisin Oatmeal Cookies

It's been a while since we posted a recipe, and I can't believe we haven't posted this recipe yet. This has been our "go to" cookie recipe for almost a year now.

We love the yummy goodness of the mix of the craisin, chocolate, and oatmeal flavors. They mix together and bake up easily. And they always disappear quickly. 

Vanilla Surprise Cake Playdough (Celebrating Our First Year)

Today is our one year blogiversary. One year of writing, posting, picture taking, and more. One year of sharing things we love to do often, are just trying for the first time, and things that become new favorites. One year of learning, for both me and the kiddos as we all explore new things (including how to make this whole page work.) What started out as something fun has blossomed into something I hope we stick with. There is still so much more to learn but still a lot more we want to share too.

Looking back over this year to date we have had 10,442 views, 127 posts, and found 134 fans on facebook. A few popular posts over the year have included our Love Bugs, "Swimmy" Sponge Painting, and our Seed Exploration. A few of our personal favorites include our Alphabet Adventures, Raspberry White Chocolate Muffins, Rockin' Robin Footprints, and our New Year's Bags for the Whole Family.

I can't wait to see where we go in this next year . . .

In honor of the one year blogiversary today we created Vanilla Surprise Cake Playdough. And although I didn't tell the boys why we were pretending to make cakes, they loved the theme of the play for the afternoon.

"Stuffed Snake" Stromboli (Kids Cook!)

A few years ago we originally made this stromboli for one of our Halloween parties, it quickly became a family favorite for dinner, although we don't always turn it into a snake . . .

As Big Brother has gotten a little older, he can really help with the whole recipe which makes it even more family friendly. 

Crock Pot Chicken Sausage Tortellini Soup

When I started blogging I envisioned posting more family friendly meals than I have so far. While crafting and learning has become our primary focus here, I'm always on the look out for meals and recipes that the whole family will enjoy and that are convenient too. The crock pot is definitely a huge help in creating a little sanity in our family. So as I promised on facebook last week, here's the first of some of our favorite crock pot recipes.

I've been making this recipe for a couple of years now, and modified it a few times. It's mild enough to be enjoyed by both boys while still being flavorful enough for the grown-ups too.

Double Chocolate Valentine's Popcorn

Yesterday (January 19) was National Popcorn Day, which inspired Big Brother and I to experiment with a new popcorn recipe ourselves. In order to get ready for Valentine's Day, we decided to try out a new recipe we might want to give some of our own sweet valentines.

We've made white chocolate popcorn before, but decided this time to add in a semi-sweet chocolate element too. 

Sparkle Snow Dough

Today's rainy weather is definitely putting a damper on winter fun. No sledding, no snowman building, no using skates and snowshoes. So we decided we needed to bring some winter fun inside. I'd seen several recipes for "Cloud Dough" before and heard from other moms how fun it can be, so we decided to turn it into "Sparkle Cloud Snow Dough."

There are several different versions of cloud dough online. I went with a a flour based version. We tweaked amounts based on a couple of different recipes and added in glitter for a more wintery look.

Peppermint Marshmallow Stir Sticks

I've had so much fun making these a couple of times over the past holiday week I just had to share how easy they are to make. 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

There's something about these cool evenings and warm days that instantly make me start craving "fall" food. My aunt had sent me a recipe for pumpkin chocolate chip muffins at the beginning of the summer and I'd been waiting for the right moment to try making them with Big Brother. The cool, crisp, sunny weather today had me convinced it was the right time.

The original recipe came from a Ranger Rick magazine and was one my aunt had enjoyed making with my cousins when they were little.

Triple Raisin Chewy Granola Bars

Big Brother is a fan of granola bars and I'm often on the look out for a good, homemade granola bar recipe. Today we decided to experiment. The primary inspiration came from a recipe my husband spotted on the back of a store brand cereal box. It used yogurt covered raisins but the coating was melted off and used as part of the mixture to hold the bar together. We replaced the cereal with oats and puffed rice and added in more raisins. I swapped out the nuts the original recipe called for and replaced them with sunflower seeds as I wanted these bars to be nut free. Of course, we also had to add a little bit of chocolate.

The recipe does involve some cooking, but no baking (so no oven on these hot days.) And it was a great one to get Big Brother's help with.

In the end, we were pretty pleased with the taste of this new treat! Definitely a sweeter granola bar, more like a dessert, that would make a great treat in a lunch box. (And sadly, we all know summer vacation won't last too much longer.)

The Recipe

Ingredients
2 cups quick cooking oats
1 cup puffed rice cereal
1/2 cup golden yellow raisins
1/2 cup craisins
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup yogurt covered raisins
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
3 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips

Directions
1. Mix the oats, rice cereal, yellow raisins, craisins, and sunflower seeds in a large bowl.

Big Brother helped pour the ingredients into the bowl and then mix them.  Here he's sampling some of the dry ingredients while stirring. 

2. Melt the yogurt raisins, honey, and butter in a small sauce pan over medium to low heat. Melt until the coating has come off the raisins and the butter is fully melted. Stir regularly while melting. (An adult should do this task.)

3. When the yogurt and butter mixture is fully melted add to the dry ingredients (raisins too!) and stir until all the ingredients are dampened.

4. Spoon the mixture into a parchment lined 9x13 pan. Use a spoon or spatula to really press the mixture into the pan, so that the ingredients all stick together. At this point it's still a little warm from the mixture that was melted on the stove so I recommend not trying to press it in with your hand. Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top and gently press again.

5. Let cool for at least 30 minutes. I popped our batch in the fridge as it was pretty warm here today. 

6. Cut and either serve the bars or save them in a sealed container to use throughout the week. 

Really, any kind of dried fruit or nut could replace one of the raisin ingredients. It will be exciting to see what other flavors we can come up with. 

Bon Voyage Party

Each year my college friends and I find an opportunity to gather as a larger group for at least one long weekend. Although technology and social media allow us to keep tabs on one another from a distance, it's still not the same as the chance to get together in person. Sometimes the gatherings take a lot of preplanning and emails, as we travel from 5 different states and 7 different daily lives, but it's always worth it in the end. When I tell people about our gatherings, I usually add that we haven't been out of college that long so it's still manageable. That was until I recently realized we're quickly approaching our ten year reunion . . . which has given me a new sense of pride in our efforts to stay connected as a group and a greater sense of appreciation for these continuing friendships. 

No group gathering is complete without at least one attempt of a group shot. 

As we gathered over the Fourth of July weekend we not only looked forward to seeing one another, but also to celebrating the courageous and exciting life change of one of our friends. She has decided to move from her home and job in the United States to a position and home overseas in England. We wanted to celebrate her moving with a small, backyard "Bon Voyage" party and decided to go with a garden tea party with map and airplane themed decorations.

I made most of the decorations at home, and needed them to be easily transportable in the already overly packed car, so most of them were made out of paper. I used everyday materials I could find at home or the craft store. 

I used maps from the local "Welcome Center" to create a flag garland and used brown package paper with white poster paint to make a banner. Although I wanted to locate a true globe to display, instead I wound up using an inflatable one as I knew it would pack more easily. 

I'd been saving the four paper lanterns from the dollar store for a while, and they went perfectly with the colors of the maps. I used some cloud printer paper to create a garland of about thirty paper airplanes. The planes were folded in the traditional "old school" way and then threaded onto fishing line with a large needle. 

I made a few extra airplanes and attached some on craft wire to create an airplane arrangement. We also tucked some of the extra airplanes around the table. We used large white doilies on the table and trays to add to the theme of a garden tea party. 

Food included tea sandwiches, lemon cupcakes, chocolates, candies, fresh fruit, iced tea, and champagne.

 We discovered pretty much anything goes these days for tea sandwiches, so we had four options:

1) Cucumbers and alouette cheese on whole wheat cocktail bread. 

2) Honey ham, brie cheese, honey mustard, and green apple on baguette. 

3) Fresh mozzarella, tomato, basil leaves and olive oil on roasted garlic bread. 

4) Goat cheese, pecans, and fig jam on cinnamon raisin bread. 

We loved the breezy backyard of one friend's cottage for the setting and the tent another friend brought gave us a place to hang all the decorations. Even the colorful wooden chairs added to the ambiance. In all a really nice celebration and kick off to the weekend. 

The guest of honor. Bon Voyage my dear!

Additional note: This theme and decorations could also be used and added to in order to create a great boy's birthday party. I'm already thinking . . .

Almond Lemon Berry Tart (Gluten Free)

As a family we don't need to eat gluten free but we have several friends and coworkers who do. So I'm always in search of a few easy dessert recipes I can create for events which are gluten free. Last week for our end of school year potluck I created this Almond Lemon Berry Tart by combining several different recipes I found online.

Ingredients: 

Almond Crust-

2 cups whole almonds

1/4 tsp nutmeg

3 tbsp brown sugar

5 tbsp unsalted butter (melted)

Filling-
1 cup white chocolate chips
8 oz sour cream
1 block cream cheese
2 tbsp sugar
1 small lemon

Topping- 
2 cups berries (I used strawberries, but raspberries or blueberries would also taste really good.)

Directions: 
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.
2. Toast the whole almonds under the broiler for a few minutes and check frequently. (I set the timer because they can be quick to burn.)

3. Let the almonds cool for a minute and then place into a food processor and grind until they resemble coarse crumbs. 

4. Mix the brown sugar and nutmeg into the finely ground almonds and then stir in the melted butter. Stir until the whole mixture is damp and the almonds have absorbed all the butter. The mixture is similar to a graham cracker crust.

5. Press the mixture firmly into a tart pan. Bake for about 20 minutes until the crust is slightly golden. Let cool completely. (I actually made mine the night before, letting it cool before covering it with plastic wrap for the night.)

6. Melt the white chocolate chips over low heat. I like to use a double boiler to melt chocolate as it allows for more even melting. Sometimes I find melting white chocolate a little tricky, but a small splash of vegetable oil can help if it's clumping. 

6. With an electric mixer blend the white chocolate, cream cheese, sour cream, and sugar. 

7. Zest the lemon into the mixing bowl. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice into the white chocolate and cream cheese mixture. A small, metal strainer will help catch the seeds. 

8. Spoon the filling into the tart shell and smooth with a spatula. 

9. Top with berries and chill for at least one hour in the refrigerator before serving. 

Enjoy! 

And in case you were wondering, the original recipes I adapted are from here and here. 

A Father's Day Gift: Spicy BBQ Rub

My Dad loves to grill. In fact he continues to grill year round even when there is several feet of snow on the ground. So I was pretty excited when I saw these personalized grill utensils at Pick Your Plum a few weeks ago. (I'm new to Pick Your Plum, and I love seeing their daily deal arrive in my inbox each day. This was my first order and I was pleased with the ordering and delivery process.)

I knew I wanted something else to go with the utensils, so I decided we could create a BBQ rub. We gave BBQ rubs as part of our food baskets at Christmas. They are easy to create and keep, and there are lots of flavor options and ideas to play with. I combined several recipes I found on the internet to create our "Spicy BBQ Rub" recipe. 

The Recipe:

(I actually used double these quantities and made a little too much, so I'm writing up smaller amounts here. Be prepared to package up around 3 pints with these amounts. Half pint containers make a nice gift size.)

1/2 cup salt

1/2 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup ground cumin

1/2 cup chili powder

1/4 cup ground black pepper

1/4 cup red cayenne pepper

1/2 cup dried minced onion

1/4 cup smoked paprika

3/4 cup paprika

Ingredient note: One of our local stores sells spices in these convenient, large containers. I would also recommend finding them at a bulk store like BJ's or Costco when making a large recipe like this. Using the small containers usually found at a grocery store would add up in cost.

Big Brother was able to help with this recipe. We measured the ingredients into a large mixing bowl. 

Next we mixed the ingredients with a wire whisk. The rub smelled pretty spicy at this point, both our noses were tingling. We did test it out at dinner by using it on some pork we grilled. It didn't taste as spicy after it had been cooked. 

We used a measuring scoop to put the rub into mason jars.

  We had a couple of other people we wanted to present the gift to besides my Dad, so we packaged up several jars of the rub and saved some for ourselves. 

I again created some labels using our word processing program and some free clip art. 

We added a little ribbon . . .

 . . . and we had the perfect complement to our utensils. 

Spring Orzo Salad

With the coming of barbeque season comes the need for pasta salad. I love creating different types of salads, especially when they can go together quickly and simply. Lately I've been experimenting with creating an orzo salad we all like. This is the family-friendly recipe I've come up with for the spring events we've been going to. Older kids could be easily involved in the cooking by cutting the tomatoes and cucumbers and helping to stir. In our house we enjoy the blend of simple, sweet vegetables with a slightly tart dressing and salty feta surrounded by the great texture of orzo.

Spring Orzo Salad

This recipe makes a large bowl, great for a potluck and serves at least 8 as a single side. For smaller dinners cut the quantities in half.

Ingredients
1 lb. orzo (one 16 oz. box = a pound)
1/4 fresh lemon juice
1/4 white wine or rice vinegar
1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
1 pint grape tomatoes
1/2 english cucumber
6 oz. crumbled feta cheese*
1/4 chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh scallions

(Note: I have also tried this salad with an herbed, crumbled feta. This added some extra flavor and was delicious.) 


Directions: 
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta according to box directions. (8 to 10 minutes.)
2. While pasta cooks slice tomatoes in half and cut the cucumbers into quarters. Thinly slice the scallions and finely chop the parsley.
3. In a large mixing cup combine the lemon juice, vinegar, salt, pepper, and olive oil and mix with a small whisk to create a dressing.
4. When the orzo is cooked, drain in a colander and rinse under cold, running water. Let the colander sit in the sink for a few minutes until more of the excess water drains out.
5. Combine the cooled orzo, vegetables, herbs, dressing, and feta cheese in a large bowl. Gently stir until mixed.
6. I like to sprinkle a small amount of fresh ground pepper and salt on top.
7. Chill in the fridge for at least a half hour.

This post may also have been shared at some of these terrific link parties. 

Rocky Road Brownies

I discovered an amazing new brownie recipe today. So good, I made them twice. Yes, twice. In one day.

I wanted to give a thank you gift to a friend who loves brownies. And although I've developed a pretty good brownie recipe over the years I wanted to make something special. I was thinking about creating something like a "s'mores brownie" to go along with this coming weekend's theme of kicking off summer when I stumbled across this recipe for Rocky Road Brownies. A few tweaks, some time in the oven, and these brownies looked and smelled amazing. So amazing, that after they'd been delivered I knew I had to make a batch for us to try as well. Hence, two batches in one day. Our batch didn't let us down; this chocolate, gooey, nutty treat is perfect for a rainy day (or really any day.)

I didn't really plan to post the recipe today, so please excuse the lack of "how to" pictures.

Rocky Road Brownies

Ingredients:

1 stick of unsalted butter (plus a little extra for buttering the pan)

1 bag (12 oz.) of semisweet chocolate chips ( I used Ghirardelli chips)

2 large eggs

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup flour

1 cup mini-marshmallows

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8 x 8 pan and then line with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the sides. Butter the paper as well. 

2. In a microwave safe bowl melt the stick of unsalted butter and 1 cup of the semisweet chips. (It's easy to burn the chocolate so I recommend melting the butter and chocolate in small increments and then stirring. I melted for 45 seconds, stirred, and then for another 45 seconds.) 

3. After the chocolate is melted add in the eggs and salt, stir until combined. 

4. Stir in the sugars and vanilla. 

5. Add the flour and stir until just combined. Pour into the prepared pan. 

6. Bake on the middle rack for 30 minutes. 

7. Remove the brownies from the oven and immediately sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips onto the top of the brownies. Sprinkle the chopped walnuts and marshmallows on top of the chocolate chips. 

8. Put the brownies back in the oven and bake for another 5 to 7 minutes until the marshmallows begin to toast. 

9. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes. Carefully use the extra parchment paper to lift the brownies out of the pan and onto the wire rack. Continue to let the brownies cool until the topping seems to hold together when gently touched with a finger. (Probably about another half hour at least.)

10. Cut the brownies up and enjoy!