Yesterday Mika decided to make a cake all by herself. I wasn't allowed to be anywhere near the kitchen. She started with an Angel food cake mix, to which she added milk, an egg, coconut, sugar and mashed banana - she didn't measure how much of each she put. She baked it in a 350F for about half an hour (until golden). The results were amazing. The cake had an almost flannish consistency, a bit gritty because of the coconut, but that worked out very well. The coconut-banana flavor was subtle, but present. The cake kept its moist consistency and it tasted great. Kudos to Mika!

Camila and I just made some bon bons from a Betty Crocker Peanut Butter bon bon Mix that my mom got me (no idea why). I have to admit I'm quite impressed. The bon bons were very easy to make - so much so that Camila barely needed any help - and they are fun too!

Basically all you do is mix some butter with the bon bon mix and peanut butter. You roll them into balls and then dip them into melted chocolate. Well, let me tell you, 5 year-olds find rolling and dipping more fun than you would expect.

These things do not need to be baked and only require fifteen minutes in the fridge for the chocolate to harden - great, given how little patience children have.

More importantly, they are quite delicious. Mika couldn't believe how good they were and she hugged Camila thanking her for making them.

As for Camila, she decided she wants to own a candy store when she grows up, given how good she is at making candy :-)

Update - I just saw the bon bon mix at Grocery Outlet for $1.50 for the 14oz, single, package. It's supposed to make about 20 bon bons.

A few days ago I discovered Häagen-Daz fat free sorbet & yogurt bars at Grocery Outlet (raspberry & vanilla). As far as treat goes, I think they are pretty good. They have mostly OK ingredients (except for corn syrup, but it's not the high fructose kind) and only 100 calories each. Most importantly, the kids love them - even more than other treats. They sell for $1 each, so they are not the most affordable of treats - but I rather pay more and have something somewhat healthier for them.

I got this incredibly simple recipe from Highlights High Five magazine (a wonderful, if very expensive, magazine for preschoolers). Camila (my 4.5 yo) decided she wanted to make it today and she managed quite well by herself. I did do the blending (I used my rocket blender) and put the cups in the freezer, but she did everything else.

The original recipe calls for little paper glasses and popsicle sticks - I didn't have either so I used small plastic cups and the handles of plastic spoons. They came out great, the kids loved them and they couldn't be easier.

I also didn't have vanilla yogurt, so I used plain yogurt, added a couple of drops of vanilla essence and a couple of teaspoons of sugar.

• 1 1/2 cup strawberries
• 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt

Put strawberries and yogurt in a blender and blend well. Pour mixture into 4-6 small cups. Place in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours. Put popsicle sticks in the middle of the popsicles and continue freezing for 2-3 hours.

Last night I made milanesas. I hadn't realized how long it'd been since I last made them, but neither my 7 nor my 4 yo remembered them. For the uninitiated, milanesas are simply thin cutlets of meat that are pounded, passed through an egg bath and then breaded with bread crumbs (I use Italian style for extra flavor, and add salt & parsley flakes to the egg). You fry them in a little bit of oil (I use olive) and then eat them. They are particularly good with lemon juice squeezed on them.

As usually, the kids first refused to eat them - pronouncing them "yucky". Also as usual, Mika, who was unusually hungry, agreed to try a bite - and she loved it! Camila followed and she liked them as well, though didn't eat that much of it. Mika had seconds and requested that I make milanesas twice a week now. Well, that's unlikely to happen but I will cook them more often.

The main reason why I made them was that now the girls have swimming until late twice a week - so on those days I need dishes that I can make very quickly. Milanesas are very quick to make (and you can even make them in advance), and you can cook them in the oven if you want to avoid using oil.

The Easy Bake Oven I bought Mika for Christmas has been recalled for the second time - this time permanently. Soon they will send me a box to send it back to them in exchange for some amount of credit on Hasbro products. Problem is, I have a bunch of mixes that came with the oven plus a couple of more they sent me when they sent the "fix" for the problem. They are really expensive - $7-$11! -, and I want to use them up. So, I suspect in the next couple of weeks I'll be doing quite a bit of "easy baking" with the girls (don't worry, I don't let them anywhere near the oven by themselves).

Today we baked the yellow cake with chocolate frosting, pictured in the left. You can see below how the cake actually turned out. It didn't rise very much (surprise, surprise), but the chocolate frosting was yummy and the two went well together. My little girls were happy with it. They decorated with a cat cookie and pretended it was a birthday cake.

I also cut the crusts when I make tea sandwiches, and these crustless cutters are the solution. The only ones I could find at Safeway were the heart one and the 4X one, but I think the 2X one would be better for my needs. Still, trés cool.

A year or so ago I saw some pictures of hard-boiled eggs in cool shapes on Craigslist. I decided I wanted to make some for my kids. The instrument apparently used was a sushimaker, so I got one (thanks Ebay) and then for one reason or another I didn't do anything with it. I finally tried it some time ago and it sort of works. The key is using a small enough egg that fits, putting it when it's stil warm and flexible, and then cooling it down. Alas, the egg usually breaks anyway and the shape doesn't last for long out of the mold - but my girl still liked it.

Michaela has discovered the pleasure of cherry tomatoes and they have now become a staple in her diet. I suspect that what she most likes is the size, she's very size conscious and always wants a smaller cup, a smaller plate and, apparently, smaller food. She's been a fan of quail eggs and baby carrots for years, and cherry tomatoes fit right in. They're a great snack at home and easy to put in her lunch box for school. They are a good source of vitamin C and they're very cute.

The figs from our fig bush are ripe. Well, they've been ripening for the whole months and some still have some time to go, but some of them are perfectly soft and ready to eat. Mika asks me for "higos", only she forgets the word and sometimes seems to say "eeco". Our routine is that I select those who are very soft without having turned dark, rip them apart, give her half and take half fo myself. Then we chew the sweet (but not too sweet) pink pulp and throw the peels on the ground - where they'll be quickly eaten by birds or other creatures.

Mika is not very efficient in her eating, but she keeps asking for more and more. The bush is pretty small so it doesn't give too many, but they are very good. Tomorrow if we go out I'll take the camera and try to take a picture of them.

I've been asking people for ideas on vegetarian sandwiches to send with DD to school. I'm listing them here to remember them and for the benefit of other parents. If you have more ideas, please post them under comments.

-PB&J
-Cream cheese & cucumber
-PB, cream cheese & cucumber
-Camembert, banana, and salt
-Egg salad (and crackers)
-Tofu salad.
-Yves bologna, ham & salami (veggi meats)
-Avocado & cheese
-Avocado & cucumber
-Tofurky lunchmeat
-Falafel
-cream cheese & olives
- Cream cheese or nut butter with raisins and chopped dates.
-Roasted vegetables and cheese (zucchini, red bell peppers)
-Tomato and cheese
-Apple, celery and cheese
-Sliced pear and cheese
-Pre-grilled portobello mushroom and spread of choice (pesto would be nice)
-BLTs with Fakin Bacon
-Baba ganouj with assorted vegetables
-Spiced/sweetened canned pumpkin and cream cheese

Michaela and I have fallen in love with Trader Joe's frozen gnocchi. Both their Gnocchi alla Sorrentina, with a tomato sauce and mozarella cheese and their Gnocchi al Gorgonzola are great. We specially like the gorgonzola one, though it's terribly caloric. One 1lb. package has almost 1,000 calories and while it's supposed to be four servings, that would only be if you served them as a side dish. Mika and I had no problem devouring one whole package for dinner last night, and she was even hungry enough to have some more gnocchi from my mom's plate.

The gnocci alla sorrentina is much healthier, with 510 calories for the 1lb package. Of course it's not as yummy, but it's quite good nonetheless.

You can make them with less sauce for less calories and less mess.

They are made in Italy, without any artificial ingredients, though the gorgonzola gnocchi has margarine in addition to butter. You can heat them on the microwave or in a frying pan (7 minutes). In all, it's a delicious and quick meal.

Hard boiled quail eggs are a great toddler food. They are small enough that they fit easily in a toddler's hand and can be eaten in a couple of bites (less mess) and cute enough that they want to eat them. We find them at the San Leandro farmers market for 10 for $1. They are quite delicate, however, so often times one or two of those eggs have a broken egg shell by the time we bring them home. They are also a little bit tough to peel, the shell breaks into many small pieces. I usually rinse them after peeling them to get all the pieces of shell off.

What I usually do is hard boil a dozen at the time and then keep them, in their shells, in the fridge. When Mika needs a snack I peel one and give it to her.

Sargento now sells its cheese pre-cut in the shapes of stars & moons. They are a perfect size for a quick snack for a toddler. Plus toddlers like the shapes, Mika already asks me for a "star" or a "moon".

This is not to say that these are good snacks for Ms. Diary Mika - but she loves them.

I was looking for some bread for P&J sandwiches and came across Ironkids crustless bread. What a great invention! We haven't arrived at the crust issue with Michaela yet, but I hate crusts myself :)