Tips for Making Star Wars Pancakes using Pancake Molds

As a Star Wars family these pancake molds were the perfect thing! They are perfect for Father’s Day, birthdays, May the 4th be with you… days, or anytime you want to add some fun to your day. Making them is pretty straight forward but I have found some tips when using pancakes mold that I wanted to share with you.
The Recipe.
It really helps to have a very liquidy recipe when using pancake molds. I have played around prefer the one listed below.


Padme’s Pancakes
(Isn’t it that a fun name for a recipe. I’m sure that if she didn’t {SPOILER} die of a broken heart she would have used this recipe of mine to make these for little Luke and Leia)
2 cups of sifted flour
1 tsp salt
2 Tblsp sugar
4 tsp baking powder
2 eggs, mixed well
3 cups milk
6 Tbsp butter, melted
Preheat griddle. Sift dry ingredients together. Combined all other ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Slowly add your sifted ingredients.


Tools Needed

• Pancake molds. Preferably Star Wars, but we don’t discriminate.
• Pam.
• Squirt bottle or pancake pen
• Decorating Icing Spatula
• Pancake flipper
• Griddle

I love using the griddle my mom got for me. Sometimes I will use a regular frying pan, but the griddle is so flat and distributes the heat so nicely. I know, clearly I need better cook ware. I put my griddle on medium heat before I start collecting my tools. Make sure to spray your molds pretty well. Your pancake batter should be easy to pour into your squirt bottle because we are using a very liquefied recipe.


Once your mold is on your preheated griddle go ahead and squirt that batter in. I try and do the face first. It’s best to work quickly for an even looking face. And some molds are easier than others. Once it starts to look a little set I use my spatula to outline the mold. I will lift (carefully because it is hot) the mold a little as I do this so it will fall out nicely. Go ahead and flip your pancake over.

Continue re-spraying your molds as needed. And use your awesome spatula to remove any pancake fluff that can get stuck to your molds. It takes a little time, but when you see your little Jedi’s face light up with happiness it is all worth it. If you are running really late you can just make a regular pancake and punch out a face. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

May the Force we with you!

Feel free to check out our other Star Wars Posts (and here)

Some of these items are affiliated links. You are welcomed to buy from anywhere. But I don't mind if you buy them from here. I only share items I really like or use. Thanks for your support!

May the 4th Be With You...

Our family loves Star Wars. So a couple of years ago when we heard about "May the 4th" be with you we were pretty excited to celebrate. So much for fun for the whole family. I wanted to share some fun ways to celebrate this fun day.

Baby Girl wasn't even scared of  Darth Maul. Picture by Shari Hanson

Star Wars Pancakes:




I heard about these bad boys and had to get them. Our kids love having Star Wars pancakes. And if I am in a real hurry, I just punch out my already made pancake with the molds. I have a different set but I am thinking we might need to get these ones as well.

Star Wars Sandwiches:



My friend gave us this for a present. And we use quite a bit. But it's a must to make sandwiches into Tie Fighters on May the 4th. My kids are pretty good at eating the crust first. Jedi's don't waste food in our house.

Star Wars Cookies:



Last year we got together with friends and had dinner. Afterwards we make cookies and decorated them together. I really wish we could get together again this year. I have seen some really cute cookie tutorial videos that I should really try some day. We usually make Star Wars cookies at Christmas too. I love using green sprinkles to decorate Yoda. I am so thankful for my client/friend who got me these for a Christmas present. We use them again and again...

Star Wars Cookbook:



This book is a must for any Star Wars lover. The pictures alone are amazing (click the link and you can see some of them) !!! My kids read this thing for hours. All the recipes are really kid friendly. One of my boys favorite times is when Grady got together with another Dad and his son and they made Star Wars food. Wookie Cookies, Hoth Chocolate, & Han-burgers. Really fun recipes. Perfect for parties or really any occasion.

Star Wars Jell-O Molds:



I just found this at Walmart a couple weeks ago when I was working on Gandalf's Percy Jackson Party. I picked them up. I am hoping my kids have forgotten about it and I can surprise them on the 4th. I will have to make some sugar free ones for Draco. I love when we can have zero carbs treats for him too! You can try Walmart or it's also available on Amazon.

Star Wars ABC Book:

Baby Girl loves Star Wars ABC! When she see Darth Vader she tries to breathe like him. And J for Jedi shows a picture of Mace Windu with his hand up. She always high fives him. This is a great book for teaching Star Wars basics to kids. And I just found the number and color books as well!!! My husband loves reading this book to the kids.

Chewbacca Softie:

Years ago I made Yoda this Chewbacca Softie. He loved it and slept with it every night. Just recently he stopped having it on his bed. The link above gives a free pattern for your own little Jedi to love. 

And of course this is a perfect day to watch your favorite Star Wars movie. I love watching my kids run around in their Jedi robes and play light sabers. Even baby girl gets in on it. Star Wars is a great movie that encourages family, friendship, and using the Force, or the power of the Light side, to help others. Any way you celebrate May the 4th with your family it will be a fun new tradition.

May the Fourth Be With You....

Some of these items are affiliated links. You are welcomed to buy from anywhere. But I don't mind if you buy them from here. I only share items I really like or use. Thanks for your support!

Easter Traditions

I was able to take some cute pictures of my sweet girl this week. She makes a darling bunny. I love her undershirt which looks perfect with this hand me down dress we received. 

Easter is really the most important holiday we celebrate. More important than bunnies, candy, and egg hunts is the chance to remember and give thanks for the glorious good news. Christ has over come death. Our Savior Lives.

Here are some ways we like to celebrate Easter. 

• Decorate Eggs. Like most kids we love to dye eggs as a family. It's a perfect family night activity. Some times I will use a white crayon and write surprise messages for my kids to discover. My kids love being creative and having fun

• Easter Baskets. Our kids get Easter baskets Sunday morning. I try to raid the $1 store and get fun toys. I do give candy, but I try to keep it simple. My husband loves peeps so we have to get those. I like giving books, bubbles, and tooth brushes. Also sidewalk chalk, goggles for swimming, or any "summer" item I would wanna buy this time of year, like sand toys.

Gandalf, Yoda, and Draco with their loot Easter morning.

• Hiding Easter Baskets. As a kid you always had to find your own basket before you could get any eggs. I usually beat my older brother, which is was great because he beat me in everything else. My kids love finding their basket. I'm excited now that we have a bigger place. I like hiding the older kids really well. Challenges are good for them.

Bubble guns were a bit hit one year...

• Egg Hunts. We love doing an egg hunt. It's pretty standard but so much fun.

• Matching or coordinating church clothes. You can check out my easy tutorial on making quick bow ties here.

• Resurrection Rolls. This is a great breakfast dish or family night snack. We have been making these for years and my kids love it. It's a great way to have a discussion about the real reason for Easter.

• Reading about Christ's Life. The week before Easter we start reading about the Jesus Christ's last week. It was my husband's idea and I really love it. LDS.org has some great helps.

• Church Videos. My church puts out some amazing videos about our Savior each year. We love watching these as a family and sharing them with others. They bring hope and peace.

Of course I love taking pictures as well. I got these bunny ears at Target when Yoda was a baby. Isn't he adorable. I love this picture of him! Shari Hanson is to talented. These were part of his 6 months mini session. 

Baby Yoda taken by Shari Hanson

Easter Pictures with Shari Hanson 

Yoda and his best friend at 6 months

We love Eggs hunts with cousins. We are sure going to miss them this year!

All my boys adore their big cousin who is perfect at organizing games.

Baby Girl's 1st Easter

New traditions we want to try:

These adorable slippers from See Kate Sew. She is so talented. Aren't these perfect?

My Grandma gave me a candy mold to make these eggs. I need to make them and tell my children about her. Perfect way to do our family history and talk about the resurrection. A to Z's recipe looks great!

This egg hunt idea from Lil Luna looks like a lot of fun. Perfect for a family night activity.

And I almost forgot! The Mesa Easter Pageant! We have never been but need to go this week! 

One of my favorite friends shared this post with me. We already read about Christ's last week but I love the activities you can do with your children.

Kinda a long post but I loved looking through all the old pictures. Life moves too fast these days. I love traditions that bring us closer. What traditions does your family love?

Home Made Crepes

Our family loves crepes. Or English pancakes. We make them every Shrove Tuesday, an English holiday where they clean out their cupboards before Lent. Traditionally English pancakes have lemon juice and sugar, but our family loves Nutella, strawberries, and whipped cream. 

We learned about this holiday from one of my dearest friends who is from England. (I think I may like this holiday even more than our other favorite English holiday.) And we miss her and her family dearly. We loved going over Shrove Tuesday morning. She always made the pancakes, and could flip them properly in the air. I'd bring and slice the strawberries. It was the least I can do.

But we love these so much we make them year round. I've made them when we had a girls trip away for breakfast. And they make a yummy night time snack. And I can make one with only 15 carbs, Perfect for my type 1 diabetic son's snack. I simply add 1 oz. strawberries and spread a small amount of Nutella. Then top with a bit of whip cream, (not like pictured above)

Crepes

{recipe from All recipes}

4 eggs, beaten

1 1/3 c milk

2 T Butter, melted

1 C flour

2 T sugar

½ salt

Whisk till smooth. Heat med pan over med heat, grease with small amount. Using a small ladle, cook on skillet. Pick up pan and twirl around so the batter covers the pan. Flip when it starts to look set. Serve immediately. Makes 11 crepes.

Top with Nutella, Oreo's, strawberries, bananas, or whipped cream. Really anything.

If you are in Orange County and don't want to make them yourselves, check out Rockin' Crepes. Their crepes are big and amazing! And they have so many to choose from. It is a bar, but they have fun board games there as well. We love taking our kids, we just don't take them on a Friday or Saturday night. 

Celebrate Pi Day!!!

Math is not my favorite. But years ago we started celebrating Pi Day and we love this tradition. Every March 14th (Get it? 3.14 PI ) we celebrate by making and eating yummy pies. The first year we made a Lemon Meringue pie with the Wolf Scouts working towards Achievement 8. Pot Pie is usually on our menu for dinner. Or pizza pies. Either are delicious.

Even though only one of my children truly understands Pi in a math sense everyone loves this holiday. And eventually my kids will be in math class and realize how smart their mom is. (Just maybe not in math ;) Check out these yummy pies below. Some of them are on my list of need to make! You can follow me here on Pinterest for more ideas...

Source Kevin and Amanda

Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Oreo Pie

How could you not want to eat this pie with all these yummy ingredients mentioned in the name? I made this for my last birthday and it was amazing!

Source My Creative Stirrings

Frozen Samoan

Love ice cream! Love Girl Scout cookies! I would love this!

Source Lauren's Latest

The Pie That Got Me Married

This Pie looks amazing. And the story behind it is even cuter. I love food with a story.

Source Cooking Classy

Mud Pie

I love mud pies! Chocolate mousse and Oreo crusts are my favorite!

Source Skip to My Lou

Ice Cream Pie with Oreo Crust

I love Mint! And this super easy pie would be yummy and quick to make. 

Source Cookies & Cups

Smore's Pie

I am a sucker for S'mores! I love marshmallows and graham crackers with chocolate.

Source Averie Cooks

Samoas Cookie Pie

This pie looks yummy! My oldest boy and I love Samoas, or Caramel Delights. He noticed a Girl Scout came to our house and asked about her. I told him I told her "Get off our lawn, We only support Cub Scouts here!" He said, "Really?" I love that I can still tease him. 

Source A Family Feast

A Toll House Cookie Pie

I pinned this awhile ago and I still need to make it. Doesn't it look yummy?

Source This Gal Cooks

Best Ever Banana Pudding Pie

You may have noticed most of these pies have chocolate. I'm not a really big of fruit pies. I like fruit, but I like them separate. But my husband would love it if I made this. He loves Bananas and vanilla pudding. So if you are like my sweet hubby this might be the pie for you!

Source Sally's Baking Addiction 

Salted Caramel Apple Pie

My Hubby's favorite Pie is Apple Pie. And I love Salted Caramel and Sally's blog. So this might be the best pie to compromise. I usually make apple pie in the fall, but this pie is so beautiful it might be the perfect Pi Pie. 

I love how traditions can bring a family closer together. My kids love this yummy tradition. I hope you can make time to make or even buy a pie on 3.14

One year I was pregnant with baby girl and not feeling my best. I made a pudding pie and topped it off with some whip cream. And it worked just fine. 

What Pie are you making this Weekend?

Do You Like Green Eggs and Ham?

Our family loves to celebrate Read Across America Day. Or Dr. Seuss' Birthday!!! I love Dr. Seuss and I am so thankful for what he has done for children everywhere. His books are wonderful. They are full of imaginative ideas and wonderful morals. There are some that are just plain silly, but are so fun to read. And there are others that teach wonderful lessons like you can change the world. Or a person's a person no matter how small. Or the importance of keeping your word or not judging others because they are different. And I love the message that Christmas is more presents. These messages warm my heart and sometimes make me emotional as I read. And I love them dearly.

  We have been having eating Green Eggs and Ham for breakfast on Dr. Seuss' Birthday since Gandalf was little. Another great message that you should give all foods a try. Some years my children wouldn't even try them. Last year we had them for dinner because it fell on Fast Sunday. The sister missionaries needed a meal that night so we invited them over. And they probably didn't think they would be served weird foods in Southern California.

Green Eggs and Ham

Eggs
Ham (sliced ham or deli meat)
Green food coloring
Water

After years on experimenting on how to make the ham green I realized I just needed to cook it in some green water in a pan. Not too much because you want it to have that cooked in a pan taste. But enough so it can coat and absorb in the meat. After adding food coloring to your eggs I also like to add a little water to make them fluffier before I scramble them. (Thanks for the tip Mrs. Whitman, my Singles Living Teacher)

Serve warm and see if your family will give them a try. They taste the same. It's a great lesson and a fun family tradition.

A couple of years ago I have kids choose their favorite Dr. Seuss book and we snap a picture. It's fun to see how their choices change over the years. (Baby girls choice is by P.D. Eastman, but she loves dogs and wanted that one.)

The Dating Divas came up with this amazing list of great art projects, food, and activities all about Dr. Seuss and his books. This morning Yoda and Baby girl had friends over and we did an One Fish Two Fish craft project. We are going to try and fun art project everyday this week. Check out the post for lots more ideas. Tomorrow we will do a Lorax project. That is my favorite book! (And I loved it before the movie came out) 

I am off to fold laundry and watch Horton Hears a Who with my partner in crime. Hope you have a Seussical week!!!