I know many holidays are “magical,” but how many are magically delicious? Only on St. Patrick’s Day is it socially acceptable to have Lucky Charms and Shamrock Shakes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. As if we needed any other reasons to love this day, Chicago literally turns itself green, eats green and most definitely drinks green on St. Paddy’s Day.
But before you head out to watch them dye the Chicago River, or listen to the Shannon Rovers play their drums and bagpipes, get the kids in the Irish spirit. They will have a blast turning their pancakes green, and you won’t have to buy overpriced beads and flair.
You don’t have to be Irish to celebrate like one. Here are four magically delicious DIY projects to try:
Twizzler rainbow necklace
This is nostalgic for me. I remember eating beads from candy necklaces and bracelets, and thinking it was the most genius concept in modern America. I would never be hungry again, as long as I wore my meals. I don’t have any girls, but each of my three boys were totally into this! We cut rainbow Twizzlers into 2” strips and strung them on twine. We can wear them to the parade and skip the overpriced trinket vendors who wished they had thought of Twizzler necklaces.
Rainbow scavenger hunt (and photo op)
The boys loved running around the house looking for small toys in each color of the rainbow. Legos, toy cars, flowers petals, candy and fruit were all over the coffee table this morning! It looked like a rainbow got into a fight with a unicorn. Anyways, the boys had a blast, and we got a really cute photo out of it.
Lucky Charms pancakes
Every weekend, we try to pick a day to do something special for breakfast. By special, I mean not cold cereal. Let’s turn on the burners, get out the green dye and make it rain Lucky Charms!These directions are easy, just make your favorite pancake recipe and add a few drops of green food coloring until it’s your desired hue. Dollop whipped cream then let it rain Lucky Charms.
Shamrock Shake
March’s favorite dessert can go one of two ways. I’ve decided to take a page from Carla Jian’s recipe book and skip the high fructose corn syrup. She suggests you blend these healthy smoothie ingredients:
• 1/2 frozen ripe banana
• 1 cup ice
• 1 cup organic Whole Foods coconut milk (canned)
• 1/2 cup Organic Girl mâche rosettes greens
• 1/2 Tsp Simply Organic Foods vanilla extract
• Simply Organic Foods peppermint – add to taste
• 1 scoop Vital Proteins collagen peptide (optional)
• Half avocado (optional)
*Didn’t end up using any whipped cream but if I did, I would’ve used So Delicious CocoWhip. I did sprinkle a few Equal Exchange dark chocolate chips on top, and it was so good!
If you’re curious to see what’s in a typical Shamrock Shake …
Vanilla Reduced Fat Ice Cream – Milk, Sugar, Cream, Corn Syrup, Natural Flavor, Mono and Diglycerides, Cellulose Gum, Guar Gum, Carrageenan, Vitamin A Palmitate.
Shamrock Shake Syrup – High Fructose Corn Syrup, Corn Syrup, Water, Sugar, Natural Flavor, Xanthan Gum, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate (Preservative), Yellow 5, Blue 1.
Whipped Light Cream – Cream, Nonfat Milk, Liquid Sugar, Contains 2% or Less: Mono and Diglycerides, Natural Flavors, Carrageenan. Whipping Propellant (Nitrous Oxide).
