Baseball Birthday Party

Baseball Birthday Party

With my daughter's birthday coming up, I thought I'd share some photos and ideas from the last party we threw.  Our oldest son turned 3 in April and we decided to do a baseball theme for his party.  I wanted the party to be simple, so we just stuck to baseball park food and snacks and simple decorations.  Little did I know that my cousin would be making centerpieces and banners for the party as well, so the whole thing turned out even nicer than expected.

This was the cake table.  I bought the star candles with the number 3 at Dollar Tree, the cake plate was from Dollar Tree as well.  I bought some plastic baseballs from there and glued 6 of them to the bottom of the cake plate.  The red stitching on the baseball cakes was done with a piping bag and tip.  I found the Braves and Yankees napkins on Oriental Trading.  My husband is a big Braves fan, and I grew up watching the Yankees so I thought it would be cute to incorporate both teams.  The invites looked like baseball tickets, and on them I put: Braves vs. Yankees.  The rubber baseball bases were also from Dollar Tree. I bought the wooden letters with his initials from Hobby Lobby and painted those with the red baseball stitching.  The balloon weights were also from Dollar Tree.

My cousin brought these baseball gloves, popcorn bags filled with popcorn from Dollar Tree and the candy.

I ordered the wide banner from Oriental Trading company, and my aunt made the round baseball sign that they hung on the front gate.  We bought a big bucket of sunflower seed packs from Sam's club and set those out in plastic bowls.

These centerpieces were the ones my cousin made.  She found the baseballs at thrift stores, and some were her boys' old balls.  She put peanuts on the plate around the baseballs, and the popcorn bags around those.  The balloons were from Dollar Tree.

My cousin made the banner.  The food was simple.  In the crock pot, we had queso.  One with New Mexico green chile, and the other with no chile.  We had hot dogs in a larger crock pot and nachos.  For toppings, I chopped lettuce, tomatoes and onions and sliced jalapenos. We bought the 3 pack of condiments from Sam's club with ketchup, mustard and relish.  I also made a large pot of chili with meat and beans.

Here is another banner that my cousin made.  I printed out the autograph sign myself, and bought the inflatable baseball from Oriental trading.  We bought the small baseballs from Big 5 with 2 display cases to keep them in.  Each guest signed the small baseballs with a black pen, and the large one with neon sharpies.  I wanted them to use the neon sharpies so that we could use the inflatable ball when we're doing black light activities for his visual impairment. 

All in all the party turned out really nice and everybody had a good time.  We had one hot dog left and a few cupcakes.  With my daughter's birthday coming up soon, I will be posting pics and ideas from her party as well.  We will be doing a Parisian theme, so I'm very excited to blog about hers next time.

Until then,

Trad Cat Mama

Meatless Friday: Bean and Potato Taquitos

Bean and Potato Taquitos

My husband and I usually eat out on Fridays for our weekly date nights, but I usually still end up making dinner for my mom and the kids so that she won't have to worry about making dinner while babysitting.  This week, I had made a large crock pot full of pinto beans, so my mom requested bean tostadas.  However, I would like to prepare something that will be easier for her to heat up and prepare and that she won't have to assemble herself, so I'll be making these cheesy bean and potato taquitos.

1 8oz package of corn tortillas

2 potatoes

1 cup cooked pinto beans

Cheese to taste

Red chile sauce to taste (if you don't have new mexico red chile available in your area, you can substitute your favorite salsa or hot sauce)

Oil for frying

Your choice of dip: guacamole, salsa, queso, sour cream, etc.

Peel and small dice the potato.  Put in a small saucepan and cover with water.  Boil until soft enough to smash, but not too mushy, like for potato salad.  Season the potatoes with salt, pepper, cumin and paprika.  Smash your beans in a separate skillet or saucepan and add the red chile, salsa or hot sauce until your desired heat level.  I like to soften the tortillas in the microwave for about 10-12 seconds before putting the filling that way the tortilla doesn't crack when you roll it up.  To assemble, spread a layer of beans on 1/2 of the tortilla.  Spoon some of the potatoes down the length of the beans.  Sprinkle cheese on top and roll up.  Repeat until you use up your filling.  Heat your oil in a skillet and fry the taquitos a few at a time, until golden brown and crispy.  You can freeze them at this stage, or refrigerate until later, or you can enjoy right away.  If you set the taquitos aside, preheat your oven to 375 degrees Farenheit.  Bake the taquitos for about 15 minutes, or until sizzling.

Happy Friday!

Trad Cat Mama

Toddler Recipe of the Week: Oatmeal

Toddler Approved Oatmeal

I'm not a big oatmeal eater to begin with, so I have to make it tasty to enjoy eating it in the mornings.  Growing up, my mom always topped our oatmeal with cinnamon, sugar and lots of milk, to the point where our oatmeal resembled a bowl of cold cereal.  I loved it as a kid, but grew tired of it as I got older.  So I started searching for different oatmeal toppings to make it more appealing to myself.  I like my oatmeal a little thicker now that I'm older, and my daughter seems to like it that way too.  Plus it's a lot less messy to feed her since it holds together on the spoon.  She loves all of the oatmeal I make her, so these are definitely toddler approved recipes.  I love that oatmeal can be a great mini meal for pregnancy and postpartum when I just need to get something into my system.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Oatmeal

1 serving oatmeal, cooked (I prefer instant packets of plain oatmeal, but you can use whatever kind you like)

1T. Ovaltine

1T. peanut butter (if it's for a young toddler, make sure to use smooth peanut butter to prevent choking)

After getting my oatmeal to the consistency that I like, I swirl in the Ovaltine and peanut butter.  This is very delicious, high in protein, and not too bad for you, considering the Ovaltine has lots of added vitamins and minerals. Some additional toppings you may want to add are diced bananas, berries, pomegranate seeds, or maybe even some shredded coconut.

Cinnamon and Sugar Oatmeal

1 serving oatmeal, cooked

a few dashes of cinnamon

1t. brown sugar

1 t. butter

Melt in the butter once the oatmeal is your desired consistency, then stir in the cinnamon and sugar.  This is a classic way to eat oatmeal.  For added  nutrition, you can stir in 2T. raisins or cooked apples.  The raisins usually soften enough to feed your toddler as well.

Fruit and Yogurt Oatmeal

1 serving oatmeal, cooked

1/2 cup fruit

1/4 cup yogurt (plain or flavored)

1 t. honey for sweetness (if desired)

Swirl in the toppings.  I would recommend making the oatmeal a little thicker than you would normally like since the yogurt may thin it out a little bit.  You can always add more milk or water if it's still too thick.  For myself, I also like to add some toasted sliced almonds, about 2T.

Bon Appetit!
Trad Cat Mama