It’s no joke.  Yesterday was our dog’s birthday.  Something that use to mean something, kind of, before I had my daughter.  We use to mention the dog’s birthday, maybe get him a new toy.

Then came along my daughter and not only did I forget about his birthday, I pretty much forgot about him.  Busy with a baby, a job, a business (or two) and poof, a whole day could go by and I might not even talk to the poor dog.

Well needless to say things have settled down in my life.  The baby is 3 1/2 years old, the job only takes a small part of my time and the businesses have been cut back one business.

All that said, the dog is back on my radar.  He’ll never make it back to the status he once had prior to children, but he has made it back to (wo)man’s best friend.

So with that, the new found love for the dog, combined with cabin fever from our ridiculous joke for spring weather, we made a big deal out of the dog’s birthday yesterday.  We baked a cake, wrapped up some new toys and had ourselves a good old birthday party at 6:30 in the morning, before dad went to work.

Here’s the recipe for our Dog Birthday Cake in case you want to treat your four legged friend on his or her next birthday!

• 1/2 cup white or whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup chopped carrots
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/8 cup honey
• 1 egg

Mix up this delicious batter and bake in a mini loaf pan for 25 minutes at 350 degree.

We iced it up pureed cottage cheese and cinnamon.

Recipe adapted from Dog Birthday Cake Recipes

By all accounts the dog seems to have enjoyed having a birthday cake and eating it too.

The Mommy in Charge

If you are anything like me, you are sick to death of the answer from your toddler to the age old question “what do you want for lunch”. Macaroni, macaroni, macaroni.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind it every now and again, but I do think that I can provide something a little more, how should we say, nutritional, the rest of the time.

In addition to the macaroni and grilled cheese sammy repertoire, my toddler will also tolerate soup, for the most part, as long as it doesn’t have anything yucky in it. So with that I took to making some toddler friendly soup that I could freeze and re-serve in toddler size portions.

Toddler Friendly Easy Chicken Soup

What you need:

Chicken breasts or pieces (raw or cooked)
1/2 cup chopped onion (optional)
1 clove of garlic mined (optional)
1 litre chicken broth
1 cup of diced carrots (or whatever veggie your little one eats)
1/2 cup of diced celery
1 cup of egg noodles

What to do:

If using raw chicken, place diced chicken in your saucepan with onion, garlic and a couple tablespoons of water. Cover and cook.

Once the chicken is cooked, I removed the chicken, rinsed and put back in the pan minus the onion. You know, doing everything one can to keep the toddler happy.

Add broth, carrots and celery and bring to boil. Simmer until vegetables and cooked, but still crunchy. Add noodles, cook for 5 minutes and serve.





At this point, because I have an entire pot of soup minus everything I like, like spices and seasonings, I poured the soup into muffin tins to freeze into toddler size servings.

Enjoy with your picky toddler!

The Mommy in Charge

The tulips are blooming. Blooming inside our house this morning. Of course they aren’t blooming outside, remember the current state of my garden?

So with this current state of my garden, combined with the distant memories of last year’s visit to the Tulip Festival, we decided a Spring Craft was in order for today.

Using what had on hand we decided on Egg Carton Tulips.

What you need:

- cardboard egg carton
- paint
- bamboo skewer
- green pipe cleaner

What you do:

Cut the egg carton sections apart and trim to the shape of a tulip.





Paint each tulip inside and out. Allow to dry.





Cover each bamboo skewer with green pipe cleaner, winding it around. Poke the pointed edge of the skewer through the bottom of the flower and arrange in your vase.





Voila, the tulips are blooming while we try to patiently wait for spring.

Enjoy,
The Mommy in Charge