Showing posts with label Toddler Meals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Toddler Meals. Show all posts

August 20, 2014

Summer fun with Happy Family

Hello August... where did you come from? Anyone else out there feel like summer is whipping by us at an alarming rate? A few of my teacher friends are headed back to school and the kids will soon all follow. Unbelievable!!!

I hope you all have been enjoying summer as much as we have been up here in the northeast. After last years winter- I am holding onto the warmer weather with both hands. June and July were kind of lost months for me as I spent the majority of them sick. I am finally beginning to feel like myself again and trying to cram all of what we haven't done yet into August. :) With lots of beach days, friends and family that have come to visit... I feel like this month I haven't had time to even sit down.

I want to recap a little of the fun we've been having and have a few exciting posts coming up but I don't want to bore you all with all I've missed to blog about in my absence! ;) I promise to keep them brief!

*i received a product to facilitate this review. all opinions are my own. *

Anyways, It is no secret that we are fans of the Happy Family Brand! When Logan first started eating solid foods last summer, I was so so excited for him. I vowed to make all his food and had a blast steaming, pureeing and mixing flavors to see what he liked and didn't like. I was so proud of myself until we planned a trip for two weeks to Seattle to visit family. There was no way I was going to be able to make all of his food for the trip. So, I started to do a little research on companies that make organic baby food and ended up choosing the Happy Family brand. (Besides the pouches with meat in them, Logan has always gobbled them down.) We tried the Plum Organics World Baby series as well since I was excited about the ethnic flavors... and those were not a hit with Logan or myself. (Yes I am that mom that tries all her kids pouches to make sure they taste fine.) So, we went back to Happy Family and never looked back.
(Throwback photos of last summer... look how small my baby is, sniff...)


Fast forward to this summer and Happy Family was gracious enough to send us two flavors of their Happy Child Super Nutrition Shake to try out! I was so excited to receive our box in the mail and Logan was super excited to pull everything out once I opened it up! See those little baby toes ready to pounce...
 From the Happy Family Website
"Our Super Nutrition Shakes provide organic nutritional support to help kids grow. Each shake contains 8 grams of protein, 3 grams of fiber and 21 vitamins and minerals, helping to balance out a picky toddler's uneven diet. Available in two delicious flavors and easy to take on-the-go, our shakes are sure to please any picky eater and give mom some peace of mind!"
I've found that when we are out, in the heat of summer for the day- it's hard to get Logan to eat and drink. I've pretty much stopped carrying milk with us because it just goes bad before he drinks it. If it isn't a snack food or fruit then more times than not, Logan doesn't touch it. Even peanut butter and jelly is hit or miss. At home he eats meals and drinks his milk just fine so it has never worried me too much. I was excited for us to try these shakes out since they have a little bit more flavor than plain milk.
Verdict? Logan loved the shakes. We have had a few long days where we have been out from morning until evening. These days I packed a ton of food to bring with us since I wanted to make sure Logan would eat something. I froze two pouches and rubber banded them around one of the shakes, which helped keep it cold until lunch. We had no problem with Logan devouring each of the shakes. I couldn't tell which he liked better but I think I lean towards the chocolate. We will definitely be purchasing these again for days when we need something a little more than milk. We absolutely love the Happy Family Brand in our household and I always feel good giving Logan their nutritious and organic snacks and shakes.
We find all of our Happy Family foods at our local Target!

(and just check out how happy my little boy is playing in all the packaging... haha)




July 10, 2014

Playdate snacks

I hate to admit this... but Logan's social calendar is way more packed than mine is this summer. Lucky for me, I love all of his friends moms that we hang out with! I've met some really great people up here in NH and I feel really blessed to have made friends with people I actually have a lot in common with besides just being a mom. It's really made this place feel like home to me now!

Anyways, our weekly play dates rotate houses and snack duty! Maybe it's because I have (usually) a good eater with no food allergies but when it comes time for me to host... I always have a hard time figuring out what to make for everyone.

If you know me in real life, you would probably know that I love love love baking muffins and breads. Banana bread in the summer and pumpkin in the fall are my two favorite.

This week I decided to test out Emily's Blueberry Greek Yogurt Banana Bread.

I made a few changes and baked them into mini muffins- prefect for little hands on the go.
Paired with some sweet, cold watermelon and probably some pirates booty, you have a delicious snack for everyone.

Blueberry Greek Yogurt Banana Muffins
Ingredients:
  • 1.5 cups all-purpose flour *(I used half whole wheat, half all purpose)
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup organic cane sugar *(omitted this to keep the sugar down for the kids)
  • 2 large ripe bananas
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
  • 1 cup fresh blueberries
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Start by combining flour, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. 
In a separate bowl, mash bananas with a fork until they are gooey and liquid-like. Add eggs, sugars, and vanilla and a dollop of Greek yogurt!
Whisk until everything is well combined and there are no lumps.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and mix until just combined.  At this point, fold in the fresh (or frozen) blueberries!
Pour batter into a greased loaf pan and distribute evenly.
Pop into the oven and bake for one hour,*(this is for bread, less time is needed for muffins) or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.  



I made my mini muffins in my new pan the Grazia Silicone Mini Muffin Pan.
I wasn't sure of the timing to bake them so I started at 10 minutes and checked them every few until the were done. Took about 20 minutes for this batch.
The pan is so easy to pop the muffins out of and also to clean... I love it. The only downside was it's a little flimsy so getting it in and out of the oven  without spilling was a little tricky. Next time I will place it on a cookie sheet to keep it level. :)
I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

The great thing about these muffins since they are so small is that they pack really well. We've taken them to the park and pool with no problems!!! I am absolutely loving our summer activities. 

Have any tried and true, toddler approved recipes I can add to my collection for our next playdate???

April 28, 2014

Meal Plan for the week

I've probably said it before, I love reading meal plans of other people to get idea's on new recipes to try. So, here's our eats for the week!

Monday-Chicken Philly Sand which (got this off pinterest- cautiously optimistic as I've not had luck lately. I am adapting this a little since I don't have the seasoning mentioned and adding my own.)
Tuesday- Roasted Butternut Squash & Black bean Enchiladas (these are very good!)
Wednesday- Tilapia with Summer Squash/Zucchini
Thursday- Crockpot Lasagna
Friday- Steak and veggies
Saturday- Pad Thai
Sunday- not sure yet. I really want to try Ina Garten's Szechuan Noodles but I may save that for the next week. It will probably be homemade Pizza.

Logan got sick last night so we will be on the BRAT diet for his meals for the next few days.

I made him a big batch of Crockpot Applesauce for the week so hopefully that will stay down and keep him full. My recipe is super super easy so feel free to give it a try. (I usually make a batch of this every week)

Crockpot Applesauce
(here I promised better food pictures and I'm still posting iphone snaps... sorry)

Peel and cut up 5 apples (I like to use Gala's)
Place the apples in your crockpot (I spray just a little bit of cooking spray so nothing sticks)
Add a small squeeze of lemon juice
Add cinnamon if desired.
Place on low for 4.5 hours.

When done, take a potato masher and mash for chunkier applesauce (our favorite) or place in a blender for a smoother applesauce.

That's it guys! So simple.

*If your kid is having any sort of "back up" issue, I've swapped two or three of the apples for pears and made a pear-apple sauce to help*

*Before Logan, I would add just a little bit of brown sugar and a splash of vanilla extract to it for flavor, yum!*



April 10, 2014

Toddler Lunches and Smoothies

We've been on a lunch rut over here lately! Do you have those weeks where you eat the same things over and over again? I don't mind it when it is just myself, but I want Logan to be an adventurous eater who is open to trying lots and lots of new things. (I know, lofty goals for a 15 month old) I also need food in the middle of the day to be quick and easy to prep/throw on the table. We are still figuring out this middle of the day nap, one nap deal when it comes to food. He eats a small snack before going down (usually before we leave whatever activity we are doing in the morning) and a larger snack when he wakes up.
Our veggie nuggets are a big hit but we eat them all the time. So, this week I tried something else new and different.

Crescent Rollwiches
I took a roll of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
Filled 4 with a mix of Tomato Sauce and Cheese
Filled the other 4 with Ricotta cheese, cut up Strawberries and a drizzle of honey.
Baked for 12 minutes at 375 on a greased cookie sheet and they came out perfect.
I added edamame on the side and he gobbled up one of each kind. If you Pinterest these, there are so many ideas and combos ranging from little hot dogs to nutella and peanut butter. Quick, easy and delicious!

Along with lighter lunches, I've been embracing the warming weather and breaking out the Vitamix for some afternoon smoothies. Logan was sick a few weeks ago and really not eating much. I decided that smoothies were the way to go since I could sneak in some spinach or kale along with the fruits. They were sort of a hit... he would drink half and then pull the straw out of the cup and walk around laughing each and every time we tried them. Maybe I need a different smoothie cup?

 I was offered to try out some Organic Matcha, a Green Tea Powder by Kiss Me Organics through Tomoson. I've been seeing information on Matcha show up everywhere lately so I thought why not!

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

I tried it a few different ways
Mixed with hot water... not my favorite

 Faux Starbucks Matcha Tea Latte off Pinterest (adapted from this one)
almond milk, honey and matcha green tea.... much better

Thrown into my smoothie
almond milk, vanilla protein powder, banana, matcha green tea... my favorite combo.
(I made a large batch of the smoothie and dished out Logan's half first, then added Matcha to mine and re-blended.)

It states that you can mix it into baked goods as well which I haven't done since I share a lot of my foods with Logan and don't know much about the safety of my little eating it.

In my latest Women's Health Magazine, they had a small blurb on it as well!



I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Taste wise, when mixed into a latte or smoothie, it was perfectly fine! I love green tea and feel like there are a lot of benefits to drinking it, so I was happy to give this a try!

Any tried and true toddler meal ideas or smoothie recipes you love and care to share?

*Also, I have been thinking about the direction I would like my blog to go. I was thinking of adding in more of what we are eating each week. I also would like to take a little more time with my photography as practice- instead of just uploading quick snaps from my iphone. I would love feedback anytime if there is something you would love to see/hear more or less about! Anyways... thanks for reading!