4 Ingredient Turkey Sticks

By Alicia of Lollygag Learning

Only four ingredients go into these easy turkey sticks! Nova loved exploring a new food and feeding herself this wholesome, simple dinner. They are great for Baby Led Weaning because your little one can grip the turkey for self feeding and the texture is easy to nibble on. If you want to try Baby Led Weaning, but find it a little nerve-wracking this would be a great recipe to try!

4 Ingredient Turkey Sticks

• 16 oz package ground turkey
• 1/4 c pumpkin
• 1/4 c baby oatmeal
• 1/8 tsp cumin

Mix ingredients together with hands and form into log shapes. Brown on all sides in an oiled cast iron pan. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes.

I used canned pumpkin puree from the baking aisle. If you can’t find pumpkin you can substitute baked and mashed acorn squash, or you can even try a jar of butternut squash baby food puree. It’s fun to experiment with different ideas! My idea for this recipe was inspired by meatballs. The pumpkin holds the ingredients together as eggs would, and the oatmeal gives the turkey a light texture. When mixing ingredients together, you will be able to feel if you need to add a sprinkle of oatmeal or an extra dollop of pumpkin.

I made a batch of Turkey Sticks and used a flash freezing technique to store for quick meals. This process, a.k.a. freezer cooking, takes a lot of stress out of our dinner routine. I love being able to cook once, and freeze several portions. Not only does freezer cooking save me time, but it also saves me from throwing away leftovers that got too old.  

To flash freeze, line a baking sheet or cutting board with wax paper. Place the turkey sticks on the sheet, spaced out so they are not touching each other. Freeze several hours until frozen solid then store in a zipper freezer bag. To defrost, simply warm with your microwave or toaster oven.

When I defrosted the Turkey Sticks for dinner a few days later, I served them with steamed asparagus and diced cherries.

Another time, I served the sticks with a side of peas and pears for Nova, and Josie had a side of tortellini. 

Thank goodness I had my Bumkins Splat Mat ready to catch all of the mess! Josie (2.5 years old) is learning to keep her food on her plate, but the Splat Mat saves me a lot of sweeping and mopping after Nova’s meals. I lay it down under her chair before her meal then I shake the crumbs into the sink before tossing in the washing machine. It’s like a giant bib for the floor! Sometimes I even sit these sweet sisters next to each other and they both fit under the Splat Mat. They are too cute sharing their meals!

Featured Products:

Bumkins Splat Mat    Bumkins Waterproof Bibs

Painting Fireworks for the 4th!

By Carly of Carly G. Media

With everyone in the patriotic spirit, Independence Day is a perfect time to craft with kids. Save your empty toilet paper rolls and grab some red, white, and blue paints to make fireworks the whole family can enjoy.

What you will need:

• Red, white, and blue paints 
• 3 toilet paper rolls
• 3 paper bowls
• Scissors 
• Tape 
• Paper

Direction: 

• Start by cutting strips into one end of the toilet paper rolls. The deeper the cuts, the bigger the firework blast.
• Pour red, white, and blue paint into separate paper bowls.
• Have kids dip the fanned out end of the toilet paper roll into the paint.
• Stamp the toilet paper roll onto a piece of paper.
• Repeat with each color.
• Tada! Fun and easy firework art for the holiday.

Spring Activities for the Whole Family!

By Tammy of Musing of a Working Mom

For the past few years, our Easter routine has been: have breakfast, open Easter baskets, go to church, then head over to my in-laws for Easter dinner. This year, however, my dad and stepmom will be in town, so we are hosting Easter dinner for 10 at our house. And, other than a sign we hang on the front door and some egg cups, it turns out we have no Easter décor.

Spring letters

I thought a fun project Pumpkin, my 4-year-old, and I could do together would be to create the word “Spring” with wooden block letters and personalize them using scrapbook pages featuring her favorite Disney princesses.

Pumpkin selected which pattern would be used for each letter. Following the instructions from a tutorial I found online, the first step was to trace the letters onto the paper, placing the letter face down on the back of the scrapbook page). After cutting out the shape with scissors, I then lined the paper up with the block letter and trimmed the excess with an Xacto knife. Once this was done, Pumpkin used a sponge brush to coat Modge Podge onto the front of the letters. The Modge Podge was dripped all over the Minnie Mouse splat mat, but easily peeled off once dry. After each letter was coated, I placed the paper on top and smoothed it out. After watching me do it a couple times, Pumpkin asked if she could place the paper, too.

After she went to bed, I smoothed out the edges of the paper with fine sandpaper, and then added an extra coat of the Modge Podge and left it to dry overnight. Once they were ready, I placed them on a cabinet in our dining area, and added Easter eggs, grass and some of the girls’ princess dolls. The girls love it, and it makes our dining room much more festive!

Pink eggs

Both Peanut, 2, and Pumpkin were able to participate in our next activity. For the past couple of years, we have dyed our Easter eggs using beets (pink), purple cabbage (blue), and turmeric (yellow). For our princess-theme, we did some just with beets.

First, I peeled and chopped the beets then boiled them until they were soft. I strained the beets and saved the liquid, adding a couple tablespoons of vinegar. (I saved the beets to make myself a salad with goat cheese and chopped nuts. Yum!)

Now it was time to dye our hard-boiled eggs! First, I handed the girls princess bibs to keep the mess at bay. I honestly don’t remember the last time Pumpkin wore a bib (she tends to resist the “baby” things her little sister does) but she couldn’t wait to put one on once I showed her it had Belle on it.

This is the first year Peanut was able to participate, and she had a lot of fun. At one point, when I wasn’t looking, she put as many as she could in one cup. We dyed most of the eggs for just a few minutes each, but put a couple in the liquid in the refrigerator for a few more hours so they could see how much deeper the color would get.

For the eggs that didn’t sit in the dye, we used temporary tattoos to add their favorite characters. I used a damp washcloth to apply them to the eggs, just like I would if the girls were wearing them. The transfer wasn’t quite as easy as doing it on skin, and I had to peel parts of them and stick them with my fingers (tweezers might have come in handy) but it worked and the girls were so excited about it – they pouted when it was time to crack them to eat!

Once we were all done, the splat mat went straight from the table to the washing machine, making clean up a breeze. The girls will be so excited to show off their creations for the rest of the family!

Egg Dyeing Using Natural Ingredients

By Carly of Carly G. Media

With Easter just a hop, skip and a jump away, we wanted to bring you a green option for enjoying the fun of coloring eggs!  Our contributor, Carly, offered up the following recipes for primary color dyes made with natural ingredients that you can find in your own kitchen.

For red dye: Take 2 beets and roughly chop. Combine with 1 quart water, 1 tablespoon vinegar, and 1 tablespoon salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain, reserving the liquid for dyeing.

For yellow dye: Heat 1 quart water, 1 tablespoon vinegar, and 1 tablespoon salt in a saucepan. Add 6 tablespoons ground turmeric and stir well. Simmer for a few minutes until the turmeric dissolves.

For blue dye: Take 1 large red cabbage and shred it. Combine in a saucepan with 1 quart water, 1 tablespoon vinegar, and 1 tablespoon salt. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer 30 minutes. Strain, reserving the liquid for dyeing.

Get Ready to Celebrate Dr. Seuss!

By Tammy of Musings of a Working Mom

As one of our longest standing partnerships, Dr. Seuss is near and dear to us here at Bumkins. So, of course, we are all about celebrating the good doctor’s birthday on March 2!

Tammy at Musings of a Working Mom shares in our admiration for all things Seuss and put together an amazing post showcasing the “Seuss-a-bration” she threw for her adorable little Thing 1 and Thing 2 and their friends

We absolutely loved all of her ideas and were so happy to have helped contribute to the festivities with products from our Dr. Seuss by Bumkins collection.