LilSugar

Have Your Dandelion Plate and Eat It Too

LilSugar — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:29:08 -0700

Moms panicked during the BPA scare and some of us have even opted to feed our wee ones primarily organic diets. Once the wholesome food is prepped, is there a safe way to serve it?

Dandelion ReUseable Toddler Plates ($7 per set) are made from a unique corn formula which provides a nice alternative to petroleum-laden plastic tableware. Corn is a renewable and sustainable resource which uses less fossil resources and generates fewer green house gases than plastic. The toddler-sized divided plates keep finicky eaters happy since they have barriers to keep their foods from touching each other and can be rinsed in the sink. In addition to the plates, Dandelion Toddler also makes bowls, cups and utensils to complete the set.

Lil Links: Food on the Plate Face

LilSugar — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 11:00:48 -0800

Food face plates - Cookie
Isla Fisher enjoys being a full-time mom - Celebrity Baby Blog
Kate Winslet takes her honey, Mia to school - Celebrity Baby Scoop
Are babies an no-no during recession? - Fit Pregnancy
Amy Roloff shares the good, the bad and the ugly - Parentdish
Sexy food to put parents in the mood - Health
How to survive being the only woman in the house - Alpha Mom
Childfree by choice - Momversation
I hate my kid's friends - Cafe Mom

Keeping Mealtime Manageable: Top Tableware

babysugar — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 13:00:12 -0700

Mealtime with munchkins may not be easy, but it can be a whole lot of fun! Moms use clever tricks to make breakfast, lunch or dinner a success and one that has worked for me is to keep the surroundings interesting. Toddler tableware may sound like an oxymoron, but with these adorable plates, bowls and silverware, your tot may be asking to sit at the table, rather than run the other way.

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Good Things Come in Small Packages: Beverages and Placesettings

babysugar — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 13:00:00 -0700

As the saying goes, "Good things come in small packages." I personally believe GREAT things come in small packages, which is why I love the idea of a "small" baby shower. From toothpick skewered veggies to tiny cupcakes, you won't have to serve your guests on platters but tapas sized plates instead!

To see how to sass up your shindig, read more.

The dilemma every hostess faces is whether to use disposable or reusable plates and cups. Since this is a pint–sized party, you could do either. If you don't want to fret over the breakable dishes and your flatware, you could consider faux silver plastic forks and knives and smaller cheery paper plates. My rule is, If you're hosting less than a dozen people, stick with your own dining items as it adds a touch of sophistication to the event.

If you're all set with your dinner and flatware, one way you can spice up the table is to lay out spunky or personalized napkins. Plum Party has a plentiful selection to spruce up the spread with a stack of appropriately colored polka dot napkins. If you know the sex, you can have, "It's a boy!" or "It's a girl" embossed on the soft squares.

Of course as your guests arrive, you want to hand them a delightful refresher. Clearly you will need at least one non–alcoholic beverage for the mama–to–be. My Aunt serves the most delicious punch when she hosts baby/wedding showers. The recipe is quite simple:

Fruit Delight Punch Recipe
My Aunt Irma's punch recipe.

This fruit punch recipe is sure to be a hit at any wedding or baby shower.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups sugar
4 cups water
3 large bananas
2 (6 ounce) cans frozen orange juice concentrate
1 (6 ounce) can frozen lemonade concentrate
3 quarts lemon–lime carbonated beverage, chilled
1 (46 ounce) can unsweetened pineapple juice, chilled

Directions
Mix sugar with water and heat until sugar is dissolved. Combine bananas, orange juice concentrate and lemonade concentrate in blender. Combine blended mixture with sugar mixture and freeze. (Freeze in a bundt cake pan or fun shapes for extra pizazz.)Before serving, defrost for 20–30 minutes. Pour lemon–lime carbonated beverage and pineapple juice over frozen mixture and serve.

Print recipe with images | without images Put it in a simple punch bowl and let the guests ladle it out at their leisure.

Also fabulous drink options are virgin and non–virgin Mimosas and Bloody Mary's. I like to set aside a jug of cold orange juice and Bloody Mary mix with the champagne and vodka iced separately. That way, guests can choose whether to spike it or not. To top off the drinks, place a glass full of celery stalks next to the tomato mix and a bowl of strawberries and raspberries next to the orange juice.

Again, if you're hosting a small group, stick with glass or crystal stemware. Otherwise, serve it up in clear plastic recyclable ones. Stay away from the plastic champagne glasses where you have to attach the stem to the base. They aren't stable and liquids often end up on the floor.

* Extra tip – I always put out plenty of water and rarely ever have any left over.

Trendtotting: Jane Jenni Dinnerware

babysugar — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 11:00:04 -0800

If you haven't seen the line Jane Jenni, you are in for a treat. A creative mind came up with the witty and charming sayings that have been translated onto melamine plates and cups.

If you have a little pig, a lucky duck or a fairy princess in your life, they'll delight in having a dinner set that matches their own magical personality. And, they didn't leave mom and pop out of the mix. The line offers "Mother Hen" and "Old Goat" for the elders. Plates are $9 and cups are $6.

Baby Wellness: Lead Poisoning

babysugar — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 09:30:30 -0800

When I think of lead poisoning, I think of old paint peeling off the wall. It can actually be a silent enemy. Just yesterday, a family in Utah discovered that their little girl has been affected by lead - not from sucking on a recalled toy, but from plates in their kitchen. And, the scary thing is that the girl wasn't the one eating off of them. Her mother was passing it on to her daughter by breastfeeding. I don't know about you, but I only worried about my food and drink consumption while I was nursing. I'll know better next time.

Lead poisoning can cause nausea, constipation, stomach aches, and headaches in the short term. Long-term effects include behavior, learning, and physical development issues . If you live in an old home that has old paint, it might be a good idea to talk to your pediatrician about testing your child's lead level. I'm taking my own daughter in for her test next week.

The plates were made by Home Trends and were sold at Wal-Mart over three years ago. They do not sell those particular plates anymore, but they still carry the line.

Source

Kids Smile Place Setting: Love It Or Hate It?

partysugar — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 01:38:39 -0700

Are you guys a fan of special servingware for children? Little ones have little mouths and hands, and can sometimes be picky eaters, so cute plates, cups, and utensils might encourage them to eat more. However, I absolutely hate this kids smile place setting by Mono. I'm deathly afraid of clowns and there is something so creepy about the serene smily face that brings a clown to mind. However many may find these plates adorable. So I want to know, kids smile place setting: love it or hate it?

Delilcious: My Plate-Mate

LilSugar — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 13:00:39 -0700

Mealtime with munchkins is messy. Lots of moms and dads make dinner only to find it all over the floor, table, and chairs. While parents need to be patient while toddlers figure out how to feed themselves and use utensils, I tested a product that made the situation a lil less sticky.

My Plate-Mate ($8), a circular device that you snap on to any eight-inch plate to shield a portion of the food from spillage. My 19-month-old son tried the mom invention out and it worked well. He's has been independent in his eating for quite some time, but the guard helped him slide small bits of rice and lentils onto his spoon that sometimes slipped off of his plate. And, though our ceramic dinnerware has a scalloped edge, it snapped on securely. The dishwasher-safe attachment is also lead free and does not contain PVC, phthalates, polycarbonates, or bisphenol-a.

Personalized Plates for Your Wee Ride

LilSugar — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 05:01:00 -0700

My playground is filled with hundreds of strollers on a normal day. When the weather is nice, they triple in number and more than a handful of them are the same one I push around. I can't tell you how many times I have walked up to a stroller, reached into the diaper bag and panicked when my wallet wasn't there, only to realize that my buggy was the one next to it.

The stroller license plates created by the Swedish BabiePlates may be just what you need to identify your ride. They can be customized with your child's name, your favorite slogan or a nickname, as well as your child's birth date and the flag of the country of birth. Starting at $40, they may also save your sanity.

Lil Find: Melamine Divided Plate

LilSugar — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 08:00:17 -0800

If you're lucky enough to have a child who cleans his plate, why argue with the fact that he likes his food separated?

These darling melamine divided plates keep food in four compartments and are dishwasher safe. The chip and break resistant dishes come four to a pack for $12 in pig, circus or dog designs and make sure the peas don't touch the mashed potatoes.