From the FIORASPHEREMother May I…

Color Me Hungry!

Who knew a little food coloring could make breakfast, snacking, and even sandwiching so bright and fun? Well, get ready to introduce your family and friends to the edible masterpiece that is… Rainbow Toast! All you need is some milk, bread, food coloring, and a little imagination to create photo-worthy food moments with a side of education in color mixing!

Instructions:

• Pour 1/4 cup milk into 6 different cups
• Add food coloring to each cup of milk as follows and stir:
  • 3 drops red coloring to cup #1
  • 3 drops blue coloring into cup #2
  • 3 drops yellow coloring into cup #3
  • 3 drops red and 3 drops blue into cup #4 to make purple
  • 3 drops red and 3 drops yellow into cup #5 to make orange
  • 3 drops blue and 3 drops yellow into cup #6 to make green3 drops blue and 3 drops yellow into cup #6 to make green
• Using a clean paint brush, “paint” stripes of each color onto one side of each slice of untoasted bread
• When each side of bread has been painted, cook in a toaster on medium heat or place the slices on a cooking sheet in a conventional oven for 6–8 minutes at 350 degrees Farhenheit

(Just make sure to have plenty of FIORA® paper towels on hand because we’re working with liquids, and as careful as we want to be, spills are almost a guarantee with this one.)

Mixing It Up With Mom!

One of the sweetest ways you can foster exploration and creativity in your little ones is through baking — and we’ve got the perfect project for pint-sized beginners. Bring on the banana bread!

As easy as it is delish, it’s filled with fun tasks handmade for kids, like mashing, mixing, and (the yummiest of all) taste testing — fresh from the oven! “Knead” we say more? Sorry! We couldn’t resist.

Mommy & Me Banana Bread

Ingredients:

• ¾ Cup White Sugar
• ¼ Cup Melted Butter
• 3 Ripe Bananas
• 1 Egg
• 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 Teaspoon Salt
• 1½ Cups Flour

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Farhenheit
• Grease a 9x5" loaf pan
• Combine the sugar, egg, melted butter, and bananas in a bowl until mashed
• Mix baking soda and salt together in a small dish and then stir it into the banana mixture
• Add the flour to the bowl and stir until the batter is combined
• Pour into a loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes to an hour

Sous Chef Station

Another easy way the kiddos can help in the kitchen is to create your very own prep station for washing and chopping veggies and fruits! Keeping a very close eye, of course, give your little ones kid-safe “knives” (like the one pictured below) and line up a wide variety of stuff to cut up. They’ll have a blast honing those fine motor skills, and you can take the “fruits” of their labor to make the only kind of salad they’ll actually be excited to eat.

Festive Fruit Salad

This one’s super easy! Take all those chopped-up fruits and throw them in a bowl. If you’re feeling a little extra sweet, you can mix in a splash of orange juice or drizzle honey on top of each serving.

• Suggested fruits: pineapple, strawberries, bananas, kiwi, grapes, blueberries, apple

We don’t know about you but we’re even hungrier now than we were when we started, so we’re going to get to snacking. We hope you enjoy this kitchen fun and that maybe there’s a pot of gold — or at least some gold family moments — at the end of your rainbow toast.