Wednesday, January 18, 2012

A Star is Born...Or Homemade Dino-Oatmeal

Any time my girls come shopping with me I have to avoid the cereal aisle because they will inevitably see the Dinosaur Egg Oatmeal and want it. However, the price tag always dissuades me from purchasing it. So, today I decided there must be a way to create my own "dinosaur eggs" to put into oatmeal. Here are the results (which I think my girls will go for). If you want the full instructions, read to the bottom.



I had recently purchased a bottle of star sprinkles, and thought my girls would like those just as much if not more than dinosaurs. So, I started piping dots of icing along a sheet of waxed paper, but quickly decided it was NOT worth the effort, so after some brainstorming, I thought about Chex Muddy-Buddies, and decided to try a similar tactic. I warmed some icing in the microwave until it was runny, then poured a little bit (about 1/3 as much icing as sprinkles) into a zip-lock bag. When all the sprinkles were coated I scooped a bunch of powdered sugar (again, I am not a measurer, but it was about as much powdered sugar as sprinkles). Then I sealed the bag and shook it like crazy. Soon, the sprinkles were covered with powdered sugar and started separating from each other. I separated larger lumps with my fingers and continued to shake until I was happy with the size of each "egg." Then I poured the contents of the bag into a colander and gently shook off any extra powdered sugar. At this point I had a bowl full of star eggs. So I took a small scoop, put it in my oatmeal and poured the hot water on top to test it & sure enough! the stars were hatched from their eggs.

*EDIT
I have had several comments asking me what type of icing I used. I had half a can of random vanilla icing in my fridge. Any brand should work, just melt it until it is soft.

7 comments:

DeAnna Packer said...

Honestly..... The BRILLIANCE of incredible Mothers.

I ALMOST want to try it..... maybe when the grands appear on the scene.

Love you, you Darling!

DeAnna Packer said...

ps..... I understand you create the most GLORIOUS WEDDING CAKES!!!
Talent oozes from every pour! Way to go 'Sweet Heather"!

Anonymous said...

What kind of icing did you use???

Adrienne said...

What kind of icing did you use?

hellardsbabygurl said...

My 2 year old daughter is fascinated with helping me cook. So when I was buying groceries last month I saw the "dinosaur egg" hot cereal. It was fairly expspensive as you said but she would occasionally eat instant oatmeal so long as she got to do the pouring & stiring. I thought I would give the dinosaurs a go. She fell in love with it. Wonderful at first until it began to cost me 2 boxes a week and instant plain oatmeal was no longer exceptable. Sooo thank you for this idea! It is perfect for my budget! I freeze the eggs so it gives a few extra seconds to "watch" them hatch. I also found actual dinosaur sprinkles that are Included with a can of funfetti icing that cost $1.66. Thanks again!

hellardsbabygurl said...

I used a can of funfetti icing that came with a large container of multicolored dinosaur sprinkles. It cost $1.66. I freeze the eggs in single serve ziplock bags. When their frozen it gives us more time to watch them hatch. My two year old loves it! We had been using 2 boxes of dinosaur egg oatmeal every week for the past 2 months which was very expensive. She would no longer eat regular Instant oatmeal Until I started doing homemade eggs. Thank you very much for this post I plan to share to Facebook as well as Pin it to my pintrest.

Anonymous said...

How would you suggest storing these?