Easy way to help toddlers practice letter writing.

1. With a highlighter, write a letter in a repeated pattern to fill half the page.

2. With a pen, fill the second half of the page with the same letter in the same repeated pattern.

3. Allow toddler to trace the highlighted letters with a pencil.

4. Allow toddler to trace the pen letters with highlighter.

My three year old loved this and it kept her busy. I continued verbally saying the correct way to write the letter while she was doing it. For example with the “M” I would say: “Down, pick up your pencil, down, up, down.”

Quick, Easy, Healthy, Vegan Banana Muffins

Reasons why I have decided to create my own baby food rather than feed my daughter, Mika, store-bought food:

1. Bottled baby food is bottled, therefore, not fresh.

2. Store-bought baby food has additives that I don’t think are necessary for my child.

3. Why should I limit my child to only the few selections the store carries.

4. I want my daughter to be exposed to spices.

5. I am home with her so why not use some of my time to make food for her.

6. I put myself in my daughters shoes; would I want to eat processed food everyday?

7. It’s simple.

8. Transitioning into adult food will be easier because she will be used to the flavors that I eat.

9. It’s fun.

* Notice that I did not put “It’s less expensive” on my list.  Some items are cheap to make, however, that is not one of my reasons for making baby food.

Website: http://www.citycakescafe.com/

Twitter: @citycakescafe

Facebook: City Cakes & Cafe

Today I meandered down to City Cakes & Cafe located on the corner of 900 south and 300 east in Salt Lake City.  I thought maybe it might be a great idea to do reviews on local places so this is my first.

Upon arrival I was a bit disappointed because there was no wheelchair ramp.  These days I always have a stroller so when I didn’t see a ramp I was a bit annoyed (isn’t it a law?).  I might have to invest in a stroller lock for these such encounters. The overall appearance is very nice and modern.  I love the cozy feel it has.

City Cakes & Cafe is a vegan friendly bakery and coffeehouse although I do believe they have traditional pastries as well. I ordered the chocolate dipped banana cupcake (for myself), tiramisu (for Liji), and a fresh grape-pear juice. The service wasn’t great and it wasn’t bad, it was just mediocre.

The juice: 5/5

The juice was amazing! It is hard to find fresh juice anywhere so I was very happy when I saw that they have fresh juice each day. Liji also loved the juice.  I plan on going back to have the fresh juice more often.  I wish that City Cakes & Cafe would use their twitter account to tweet the fresh juice of the day.

The cupcake: 3/5

The cupcake was really sweet. It was almost too sweet for my liking. I actually cut it in half and ate the second half the next day because it was so rich.  My favorite part of the cupcake was the frosting.  I hate butter-cream frosting, but since this is a vegan bakery the frosting was not butter-cream.  I am not sure what it was made of, but it was so delicious.  It was a vanilla frosting with a little chocolate ganache on top.

The tiramisu: 2/5 (from Liji)

Liji did not like the tiramisu much.  He said the coffee on it tasted burnt and he prefers tiramisu with lady fingers rather than cake.  I am not a tiramisu person, but I did have a couple bites and I really liked it.  I actually think the soaked cake tasted better than lady fingers.

Overall, City Cakes & Cafe was a great.  They also have a menu with savory items as well. I will go back and try some other items (I’m thinking the vegan mac & cheese).

I love being a mom more than I ever thought I would. Mika makes me a happy mama.