Part Two of my Toddler blog post

Toddler Series Part Two: Four Challenging Toddler Behaviors & 4 Ideas for Dealing With Them

Keeping Cool

This summer started out hot here in the Boston area (although this past week was disappointingly dreary and cool).  William has also had a low appetite due to his four incisors trying to come in, so I've been making a nutrient-rich smoothie for him just about every day! There always seems to be some left over (even after Mama has a taste), so I've been freezing the rest in our awesome push-up Kinderville Little Bites Ice Pop Molds.

Here are a few of our favorite smoothie/ice pop recipes:

Purple & Green - good way to get in some extra veggies!
(all measurements approximate)
1 cup milk (or hemp/almond milk)
1/4 cup plain whole milk yogurt
1/2 a cooked beet
1/2 cup fresh or frozen strawberries
a handful of fresh or frozen spinach, chopped

Tropical - refreshing on a hot day!
1 cup milk (or alternative milk)

William & his buddy Andrew enjoy ice pops at our Memorial Day BBQ

1/4 cup yogurt
1 banana
1/4 cup fresh or frozen mango chunks
2 Tbsp unsweetened shredded coconut

Almond Cream - packed with protein!
1 cup milk
1/4 cup yogurt
1 banana
2 Tbsp almond butter

Optional add-ins
Probiotic powder
honey
flax oil
D/vitamin drops

Keep cool, everybody!

Seriously: healthy chips!

I'd like to thanks a friend of my friend Paige for sharing her recipe for kale chips on a Facebook conversation regarding getting more veggies into toddlers.  I spiced it up a bit, and was really surprised by how yummy they are! William really enjoyed them too, asking for "chee!" every time he saw the container I was storing them in.

Spiced kale chips
1 bunch of kale, washed well, torn into bite-sized peices
olive oil
sea salt
garlic powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in center.
Toss the torn kale (no thick stems, just green leafy parts) in a bowl with a drizzle of olive oil until they are all coated:  sprinkle in a bit of salt and garlic powder and toss well.
Lay each piece of kale out on a baking sheet so that they aren't touching.  Bake for 10-15 minutes, until crispy to the touch (but not browned).  Allow to cool before eating.  Store in an airtight container at room temperature.


It took me about three batches to finish making the entire bunch of kale into chips, but it was well worth it!  Try any combination of spices to season before cooking.
Some ideas:
garlic powder and parmesean cheese
chili powder and garlic powder
dill and black pepper
premixed seasonings like Adobo or Old Bay

Toddler-friendly cookies

All-natural, whole grain, sweetened with honey! (No sugar, no white flour) Any combination of nuts and dried fruit work well in this recipe. They come out light and cakey. Healthy enough to be served for breakfast!
(And they're pretty mama-friendly as well!)

Honey-Bunny Cookies
3/4 cup room temperature salted butter
1/2 cup honey
1 egg
1 cup mashed banana (and/or applesauce)
1 cup rolled oats
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
(optional: 3/4 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. nutmeg)
(I also mixed in 1/2 cup of plain roasted almonds, ground up in food processor and 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cream together butter and honey.  Beat in egg. Stir in banana/applesauce and oats. 
Combine the rest of the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then stir into creamed butter/honey/egg mixture.  Stir in optional nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans, etc.) and dried fruit (coconut flakes, raisins, cranberries, cherries, etc.).
Drop by teaspoonful onto greased cookie sheet and cook for 12 minutes at 400 degrees.

Enjoy!

Convenience is Key....

when feeding a toddler! 


That doesn't mean it has to be bland though.  Below are some of my and William's recent favorite foods that are healthy,  flavorful, quick and easy to prepare. 

Dr. Praeger's Sensible Foods has a line of delicious and healthy kids products that William and I have become fans of.  We particularly enjoy the Sweet Potato Littles and Spinach Littles: think of them as toddler-sized potato pancakes in fun shapes including stars, teddy bears and dinosaurs!

Sargento Vermont Sharp White Cheddar chesse sticks are a flavorful alternative to the basic cheese stick (which is usually made with part-skim mozzarella).  William has alternated between wanting to hold ("hoh!") and bite these and asking me to cut them up ("cuh!")  into teeny tiny cubes.....

Ancient Harvest Quinoa Pasta Pagodas, Wheat Free, 8 Ounce Boxes (Pack of 12) is a delicious gluten-free pasta, the texture of which I actually prefer to our usual whole wheat pasta! The great thing about this quinoa pasta is that a serving size has 4 grams each of protein and fiber! We toss it with olive oil and our favorite jarred marinara sauce or some pesto.

Larabars  are delicious snack bars made almost exclusively of dried fruit and nuts.  There are some flavors like Larabar Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bar that incorporate chocolate chips, which Mama likes! But William's favorites are the banana bread and blueberry muffin flavors, each with just a handful of all-natural ingredients.  A great healthy but nutrient-rich snack on the go!

William on Easter, snack in

And I don't know what we'd do without our  Munchkin Snack Catchers filled with an on-the-go snack like Barbara's Bakery Puffins Original! We always seem to be on the go......

 Additional favorite snacks: dried mango, dried cranberries, puffed grain cereals, whole apples (nature's convenience food!).

 Do you and your child  have any favorite convenience foods to share? Please leave a comment!

When Your Baby Becomes a Toddler (Toddler Series, Part 1)

When Your Baby Becomes a Toddler (Toddler Series, Part 1)

Two New Recipes!

Sorry, everyone, it's been a while since my last post! Things have been so busy, I wasn't putting much creative energy into cooking or writing :) But in the past couple of weeks my life has mellowed out a little (healthy baby, snow has melted, etc.), and I've come up with two new baby/toddler-friendly recipes to share with you.

Pasta "Bolognese"
A traditional bolognese sauce recipe uses beef, pancetta, onions, tomato paste, meat broth, white wine and cream. Celery, carrot and onion are sometimes added. I used what was on hand to make my vegetable-rich and baby-friendly version of a bolognese sauce:

 1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 lb. ground beef
1 cup jarred marinara sauce
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
1 medium zucchini, diced
1 oz. soft goat cheese
salt and pepper
1/2 lb. of pasta, cooked (I used whole wheat shells, cooked 1 minute LESS than package instructions)
1/4 cup cooking liquid from the pasta

Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat, then add the garlic. Cook for a minute, until fragrant, and add the carrots.  Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring a few times, then add the zucchini, stir and cook a minute more.  Move veggies to the edges of the pan and add the ground beef, stirring and breaking it up occasionally as it cooks. Season a bit with salt and pepper. 

Once meat is browned, stir together with the veggies in pan and pour the marinara sauce over. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes.  Uncover and stir in the goat cheese, crumbled, until it melts. Then stir in the cooked pasta and cooking liquid, turn up the heat to medium high and allow to cook, stirring frequently for 1-2 minutes more. Top with freshly grated parmesean. Serve and enjoy!

There are a lot of substitutions that would work well in this recipe: ground turkey or veggie crumbles instead of beef (or no protein at all!), canned diced or whole tomatoes instead of marinara, fresh tomatoes, and just about any veggie diced up instead of the carrots and zucchini.....use what you have!


Coconut Rice
I've been trying to use more coconut products in my cooking since I've been hearing so much about its health benefits, not to mention its uses as a beauty product (healed up my ridiculously dry hands overnight, and is a great treatment for dry hair!).  I've been using unsweetened coconut milk on my breakfast cereal, and giving some to William, who isn't a huge fan. He loves his "moo" milk!!!

Coconut oil is an easy product to incorporate into cooking.  It is very slightly sweet though, so it's best used in dishes that intentionally blend sweet and savory flavors together.  I've used it to pan-fry panko-breaded chicken, and just came up with this recipe when trying to get creative with leftover plain brown rice.

1 Tbsp. coconut oil
1/2 a small onion, diced
1 Tbsp. shredded dried coconut (optional) 
garlic powder
salt and pepper
red pepper flakes (optional!)
1 medium carrot, diced
1 small yellow squash, diced
2 cups cooked brown rice (I used short grain organic)
1 cup vegetable broth


Heat the coconut oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the onions (and shredded coconut for an extra touch of sweetness and coconut flavor!) and cook about 1 minute, until fragrant. Add the carrots and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the squash, season with a bit of salt, pepper, garlic powder and red pepper flakes (careful!) and cook a minute more.  Add the cooked rice and vegetable broth.  Stir together, cover and simmer over medium-low 5-10 minutes (depending on how soft you'd like your veggies).  Uncover and cook until most of the liquid is absorbed, stirring frequently.  Enjoy!

Substitutions: any oil or butter could be used in place of coconut oil, any veggies could be added or replace the carrots and squash; white rice, quinoa or any other grain could be used in place of the brown rice.