Cute as a Button and Fun Bento Boxes

I have twin 6 year old girls who share a room as well as a four year old who has her own room. I am ALWAYS looking for fun ways to decorate their rooms. I especially like looking for shared space ideas for my twin girls. As they get older, privacy will become more and more of an issue. I really love these shared spaces!!

As you know I am all about colour too. I love it anywhere in my home. Look at this cute teen room! Actually, I could live in this room and I am thirty-something or other-ish.... : )

More cute rooms...

Take a look at these cool rooms! What boy wouldn't love this one!

I really like this one too, how fun!

Are you cuted out yet? How about a cute snack to go with your cute room?! A great way to exercise portion control and make food look appealing to your child is to use Japanese-style bento boxes.
Really, you can use any divided container you have in your cupboard. I like this super-cute colorful one...

How adorable is this bunny box? This one doesn't even have dividers, they just put the food in it in a cute way!

You could put absolutely anything in a bento box. Any type of sliced fruit or vegetable with some dip. Maybe a sandwich - use your cookie cutters to make them extra cute and appealing. Veggie chips with some hummus, the sky's the limit and it's so much fun. Let your child pack their own bento box and they are more likely to eat what they packed! Let them take their box up to their cute rooms with their best buddies and let the healthy snacking begin. So fun!

~ Kids room photos from HGTV.com

Breakfast Bars

My sister-in-law sent me this yummy recipe (her first submission of many, I hope!) that I can't wait to try.  She and my niece made them together and everyone in her household liked them!   Way to go, girls!  This recipe is from the Heart & Stroke website.

~ 3/4 c. packed brown sugar

~ 1/2 c. sugar

~ 1/4 c. soft non-hydrogenated margarine

~ 1/2 c. mashed banana

~ 1 c. plain non-fat yogurt

~ 2 eggs

~ 2 tsp. vanilla

~ 1 1/2 c. whole-wheat flour

~ 1/4 c. ground flax seed

~ 1 tsp. baking soda

~ 1 tsp. cinnamon

~ 3 cups oats, uncooked

~ 1 c. chocolate chips

How to:

Heat oven to 350F.  Beat sugars and margarine together.  Add banana, yogurt, egg and vanilla. Combine flour, flax, baking soda and cinnamon in separate bowl.  Add flour mixture to the wet ingredients.  Mix well.  Stir in oats and chocolate chips.  Spread dough onto ungreased 13 x 19 inch baking pan.  Bake 25 to 30 minutes.  Once cooled, cut into 24 bars.

Nutritional information per serving:

Calories: 154

Protein: 3 g

Fat: 6 g (Saturates 2g, Dietary Cholesterol: 16mg)

Carbohydrate: 25g

Dietary Fibre: 2g

Sodium: 92mg

Potassium: 150mg

~ Courtesy of Lianne V.