Frozen Yogurt Ice Cream Cones

It's been awhile since I posted. I have had tons of posts written in my mind, but between being pregnant, chasing a toddler, dealing with summer heat, and almost moving, writing them actually down has eluded me.

Even though I just finished a book on toddler foods, feeding a toddler still remains a mystery to me. Every day I learn something new and every day I am surprised. I thought I would share a few observations and then share with you a really easy and healthy summer treat. Maybe we can make amends for my prolonged absence from the blogosphere?

Feeding a Toddler

My two year old clocks in at under 24 pounds. This means there are some 9 month olds I know that weigh more than my toddler. As a food writer and recipe developer, sometimes I take this a little personally.

I have gone through phases where I thought I could fatten her up. The only thing that happened was that my waistline thickened. You can't force a kid to eat. Together, we made chocolate chip peanut butter cookies. She ate all the chocolate chips out of the cookies and then wanted watermelon. I ate three cookies. I made homemade macaroni and cheese for lunch. She only wanted cucumbers and I ate two helpings of mac and cheese. Probably not my smartest mama move......

Sprinkles are my gateway food. Are sprinkles the healthiest food in the world? Nope. But if they get my daughter to eat a 2-egg banana pancake for breakfast, I'm in. You will see I use them in the recipe below. I have no problem adding a sweet treat to foods when it's something I can control. I'm still not a fan of sneaky sugars (like sugar in flavored yogurts), but that's just me. And come on, sprinkles are pretty awesome.

We remain a one family, one meal household. I always serve something that I know she will like: bread, fruit, yogurt; but I am not making multiple main or side dishes. It's hard enough cooking one meal, I refuse to start making two.  And besides, do you know how frustrating it would be to make a separate main dish and then have her not eat it?

The best way to get her to eat is to have her help me in the kitchen. My daughter will try and eat anything that she has helped me make, but only if she eats it right after she makes it. Wait an hour, and she won't touch it. I don't get it, but I have learned it. She tries new veggies, salads, dips, anything, as long as she can dump it in or stir it or do something that contributes to making it.

Frozen Yogurt Ice Cream Cones

For me, summer is not summer without ice cream cones. I have no problems with the real deal ice cream cones, but I'm always looking for a way to turn a normal junk food into something reasonably healthy. My daughter loves Greek yogurt and she's only had plain, so that is her favorite. Throw in some sprinkles, cut up fruit, and graham cookies, and you have have a sweet, frozen treat.

 ***This recipe is based on approximations. Don't bother measuring, make them by taste.

Ingredients: 
 
6-8 mini ice cream cones

Few healthy dollops of Greek Yogurt

Handful of cherries (or berries) roughly chopped and pits removed (for cherries)

Few good shakes of sprinkles

Handful of smashed graham cookies or crackers


1. In a medium sized bowl, mix together yogurt, sprinkles, crackers, and fruit.

2. Place ice cream cones in an ice cube tray or another dish with sides. I find the ice cube tray works best as it keeps them upright and prevents them from freezing together. 

3. Spoon yogurt mixture in each cone and top with sprinkles. Freeze for a minimum of 2 hours. Serve out of the freezer.

 

Enjoy!!

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What have you learned about feeding a toddler? What are your favorite summer treats?

Easier Homemade Graham Crackers

My husband took Baby G downstairs to play while he works out. This means I get bonus time with my computer and a cup of coffee. Glorious!!

At first, I thought I'd just write updates and then realized I have a really awesome recipe and baking hack to share with you that I just prepared for a potential work project.

First, a few quick updates:
-Baby G is obsessed with my computer. She knows the office is Mommy's room so most tantrums are about her not getting to go into mommy's room.
-I'm thinking of getting one of those learned tower things so she can watch me cook. I have been putting her on a chair and she loves it. It's hilarious because I'm usually taking notes on a recipe and she will often grab my pen and take her own notes. This also means that I have trouble deciphering said notes because they are covered in scribbles.

Alright, so onto the recipe. This baking hack was derived because I was hungover. Yes, mom of the year right here folks. Too much wine plus Baby G up in the middle night because of teething, and I had to bake some graham crackers in the morning to get my timing down and all I wanted to do was curl up on the couch.

I love baking crackers, but the whole rolling out dough on a floured surface and then getting the crackers from the floured surface onto the cookie sheet, it's a pain in the butt. I decided to try rolling them out on parchment paper (no mess!) and then was trying to move the crackers on to the cookie sheet. They kept breaking. I was frustrated. I knew my time was limited so I thought, screw it. I'm not dealing with this. Instead of throwing the dough out, I took my rolled out, cut dough on the parchment, threw it on the cookie sheet and put it in the oven. After 15 minutes, I took the dough out and separated the crackers (so much easier!) and baked for a few minutes. Voila! They came out crispy and yummy and frustration free.

You're welcome.

Easier Homemade Graham Crackers

These crackers are a diaper bag staple. Unlike commercially made graham crackers, these don’t crumble and make a mess when you are out in public. All of the nutty taste of graham crackers (thanks to the spelt flour) without the chemicals. Extra bonus? If your little one is not yet a year old, then simply swap in maple syrup for the honey. The dough can sit in the fridge for up to 4 days, so make the dough during naptime one day, and don’t sweat it if you can’t get to it until later in the week.

Prep Time: 10 minutes to make the dough, 4 hours to 4 days to let dough sit in fridge, 5 minutes to prep the dough for baking

Bake Time: 20-25 minutes

Yield: 30 crackers

Freezer friendly

Ingredients:

1 [1/2] cups whole-wheat pastry flour or white whole-wheat flour

1 cup spelt flour

[1/2] cup dark brown sugar, packed

[3/4] tsp salt

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

[1/2] cup unsalted butter, cold

[1/4] cup honey

[1/2] cup milk or non-dairy milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1. In a food processor with a chopping blade, pulse together whole-wheat pastry flour, spelt flour, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Add unsalted butter, and pulse until a coarse meal forms. Add honey, milk, and vanilla extract, and pulse until dough is formed.

2. Separate dough into halves. Spread out a piece of parchment paper. Place dough on parchment paper and use your hand to flatten the dough into a disc, approximately [1/2]-inch thick. Cover dough with twice the amount of plastic wrap. Invert dough onto plastic wrap and cover the disc. Repeat with second half of dough. Refrigerate wrapped discs for at least 4 hours and up to 4 days.

3. Preheat the oven to 350 dg(F).  Place a piece of parchment paper on the counter. Unwrap dough and place the plastic wrap over the dough. Roll out to [1/4]-inch to [1/8]-inch thickness (the thicker the dough, the more cookie-like the cracker). Use a pizza cutter to cut into two by three inch rectangles. Do not separate. Transfer the parchment paper to a cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.

4. Remove from oven and separate crackers. You may need to re-cut using a metal spatula or a pizza cutter. Bake for an additional 5 minutes. Transfer parchment paper to a metal cooling rack. Cool completely. Store in a covered container for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Variations: To make Cinnamon Graham Crackers: replace 2 teaspoons cinnamon with 2 tablespoons cinnamon.

Substitutions: If your little one is under a year old, she should not have honey as it can cause infant botulism. Substitute maple syrup for honey. Do not use artificial maple syrup.

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What are some of your favorite baking hacks?

Am I using this trendy term correctly? Sometimes I wonder if I have turned into the out of date aunt.... 

Creamy Fruity Protein Pops

Ice pops in late September? It might seem like I'm late to the party, but moms out there with a teething toddler can relate. For the last month, Baby G has been obsessed with ice pops, and I don't blame her.

It was a lot easier before she connected our freezer with her beloved pops. That plus her learning sign language has led to more ice pop meals than I care to admit. I am thrilled she can communicate, but every power has its price. After she went through a tray of nine pops in two days, I knew something must be done.

I made pops with spinach with hopes that it would slow down her love. She kept demanding them, but wouldn't finish them. To be honest, I felt kind of bad about the whole thing. I always swore I wouldn't hide greens in food and here I was deceiving on her on an already pretty wholesome snack. I mean, my pops are generally filled with fruit and ground flax seeds, is that really the worst thing I could feed her?

My goal with this pop was a little more nutrient oomph plus the same fruity goodness. We had some ridiculously ripe mango from the CSA that I needed to use so I combined that with silken tofu and frozen blueberries. Fresh fruit, vitamin C from the blueberries, and creamy protein from the tofu. 

For those of you not familiar with silken tofu, it's a less dense version of tofu that does not need to be refrigerated and has the power to create non-dairy creamy dishes and desserts. Vegan cooks know what's up. I have seen it used in everything from macaroni and cheese to chocolate mousse.

Creamy Fruity Protein Pops

1 cup fresh mango, diced

[1/2] cup frozen or fresh blueberries

6 ounces silken tofu (half the package)

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Pour into ice pop molds. This makes 9 small kid pops and 2 adult ones.

Allergy notes: If you are dealing with a soy allergy, try subbing in Greek yogurt. You'll still get a nice dose of protein. Dairy allergy, try a [1/4] cup of almond milk.  You may not get the protein, but you will get some added calcium provided that your almond milk is fortified.

Question for the moms: what snacks have helped your LO through teething?

Homemade Cereal Bars

Baby G is walking.

I hope this explains my absence the last two months.

This summer has been filled with early morning runs, park expeditions, yoga/wrestling matches (Baby G has mastered the body slam during my Shavasana), and lots of wine after G is down for the night. 

As the summer draws near, my writing work is ramping up and I couldn't be more excited. Next week I will be giving a talk in Verona on healthy after school snacks and I have some projects that are in development but I can't wait to share with you. First, this talk next week, I will be at Verona Chiropractic on Wednesday August 20th from 5:30-6:15 talking about healthy after school snacks and lunches. If you are interested, call 608-497-3000 to reserve a spot by Monday, August 18.

This is one of the recipes I will be sharing next week. It has been a major go-to recipe for us all summer. I developed it for my last cookbook, Homemade Snacks and Staples, because I lived on Nutrigrain bars growing up. Next time you are in the store, read the ingredients and you will see why I made my own recipe (spoiler alert: over 40 ingredients!).


I have been making these so often lately that I have developed some shortcuts. I thought it was easy when I first made it, but now I have it down to an assembly line science. This makes two dozen so I keep about six in the fridge and the rest in the freezer. It's a great little morning treat. If Baby G sees them, she has to have one. They are dangerously good.

Homemade Cereal Bars

 3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
[1/2] cup quick cooking oats
1 [1/2] teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
[1/8] teaspoon salt

[1/2] brown sugar, packed
[1/2] unsweetened applesauce
[1/2] cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
[3/4]- 1 cup jam of your choice*

*homemade is best, but otherwise look for jams that have fruit as the first ingredient and no high fructose corn syrup

1. Preheat oven to 350 (dg)F. Grease a 24-cup mini muffin pan (or two 12-cup mini muffin pan).

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

3. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together butter, sugar, applesauce, and vanilla extract. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture. You may need to use a wooden spoon and/or your hands to get it all combined.

4. Use a small cookie scoop to scoop dough into muffin pan (approx. [1/2] tablespoon of dough). Flatten dough into pan. Add a teaspoon of jam to each on. You can do two different jams if you'd like- I usually do apricot and blackberry.

5. Scoop another [1/2] tablespoon of dough for each bar. Then flatten into disk and seal the muffins.

6. Bake 18-25 minutes until tops are golden and starting to crack. 

7. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-5 days, in the fridge for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 2 months. To thaw, either take out and sit at room temperature for 30-60 minutes or put in microwave for 20 seconds- if you heat it up, the jam may be hot so be careful when giving it to your little one.

Enjoy!

Living with and Feeding a 1 year old: Month 1

It's been awhile since I posted, yet Baby G still eats. So what gives?

Baby G turned one. With that came a major milestone in eating, but also the sudden attachment phase which I have feared since I first heard murmurings among my more experienced mama friends. Suddenly, I am the coolest person in the world and no one else compares.  Not daddy, not grandma, not her adoring cousin Hannah, no one. Just mama. All the time. 

On one hand, I know that I need to enjoy what will probably be the only time in her life where she only has eyes for me. I know that once she gets a clue, she will realize that daddy is way more fun, grandma lets her do whatever she wants, and cousin Hannah is really the coolest person we all know. But this period is not without its challenges. Namely, there is no escape from her her chubby hands, sweet smile, and occasionally, shrill cries.

Suddenly, cooking time has vanished and yet, the other major milestone that comes with the first year is that she needs to get all of her nutrients from solids as we are no longer using formula. So I need to give her more complete meals. Throw in the fact that it's summer and we are running here, there, and everywhere, and I hope you can see why I haven't been posting much.

Life has been a little crazy.

I thought I would share with you what she has been eating and I would love, love, LOVE to hear what you are feeding your little one. I fear some days that I am raising Baby G on single girl food: veggie burgers, tamales, quesadillas, and hummus by the boat load. It's easy, it's not the worst food in the world, but it makes me sad that I am not all Donna Reed and whipping up these amazing family meals. It's just not how we live.

Breakfast Foods

There is not a lot of variant in our breakfasts. Once I introduced toast, there was no going back. Baby G recognizes the bread bag and the toaster. I still make my own bread, and I usually mix whole fat plain yogurt and a little jelly to make a topping. To tide her over while the bread is in the toaster, I have been giving her a squeeze pack of my yogurt mixture. I use these reusable pouches and love them. I bought them because they were out of the disposable ones and I didn't expect to like them. I highly recommend them if you are interested in making your own purees or yogurt mixes. They also make it easier to make yogurt bites like this:

I just fill the bag and then squirt little dots of yogurt onto wax paper and freeze them. Baby G loves these! I got the idea from another mama friend (Thanks Erin!)

Back to breakfast, I usually give her fruit and I am trying valiantly to get her to eat eggs. She is so not interested but I keep trying. I have tried scrambled them with cheese, with seasonings, and just plain. Moms, any tips on getting your kids into eggs? The closest I have come to success is giving her French toast and she loved that.

I found a recipe for banana oat bars that I wanted her to like, but I ate most of them. I found the recipe at Foodlets, a great whole foods family blog. She calls them cookies, but that's like saying kale chips are like chips. Why do healthy bloggers torment us so? 

For the not-cookies, you just mash two ripe bananas with a cup of old fashioned oats, scoop them out,  and bake them for 15 minutes at 350 dg(F).  

You can stir in [1/4] cup of mix-ins and of course, I stirred in mini chocolate chips for me. I love them with my coffee, Baby G is not so sure about them, but we will keep trying. If anything, it gives me a sweet, healthy treat with my cup of joe.

Lunch and Dinner

We are not as set in stone with lunch and dinners. In a perfect world, I would make myself a great, healthy lunch and dinner, then share it with Baby G. In reality, I usually drink a protein smoothie for lunch and dinners have been haphazard as both my husband and I golf a lot in the summer and aren't home together as much as we would like. When we are home, it's lots of veggies, sometimes meat (most times not), and a big salad.

For G, I try to follow a basic formula. Lunch and dinner always include: a protein, a dairy, a veggie, and a fruit. We are finally in CSA season, so it's been fun to experiment with new variations.

 Here are some of our protein standbys: 

-Some type of quesadilla: either pinto/black beans mashed with salsa and cheese in a wheat or corn tortilla, heated in a dry frying pan until the cheese melts, and then cut into bites by my new favorite tool, the pizza cutter.

Our other favorite variation is a veggie burger mashed with ketchup and cheese in a tortilla. If a tortilla is involved, Baby G is in. 

-Hummus and tortilla.This is her favorite, by far. I use Sabra roasted red pepper hummus because we all eat that in embarrassing amounts.

-Black bean or spinach and cheese tamales. 

-Baked beans.

-Tofu- we cook it in a sauce. She is still a little unsure about the texture, so we are still working on it.

She doesn't have much interest in meat, but I have had the greatest success with getting her to eat chicken enchiladas- I cook the chicken in a slow cooker with salsa, shred it, and then wrap it up in tortillas. She loves a little spice so I think she likes the salsa, salsa verde is her current favorite. 

And whenever applicable, we give her what we are eating or leftovers from the night before. 

Veggie standbys:

- raw, peeled zucchini sticks- I gave some to her on a whim, mainly because I needed a veggie. She loved them! I think it has a similar taste to cucumber, but the texture is easier for her to eat, more spongy.

-thawed frozen peas

-steamed green beans, asparagus, or carrots

  

-cooked red peppers

Fruit standbys-

Baby G is one of the only babies who is not interested in fruit. We have the best success giving it to her at snack time, usually with homemade cheese crackers.

-red or black grapes, cut in half (green grapes have not been popular!)

-thawed frozen blueberries

-fresh figs cut in half

-strawberries

We have tried peaches, plums, apricots, watermelon, cantalope, and mangoes, but Baby G isn't too interested yet. Hopefully I will have some updates on more fruits she likes as summer progresses. 

Dairy standbys

For dairy, we normally give her cheese and yogurt (sometimes in frozen bite form as pictured above). She is a little lactose intolerant, so she doesn't drink whole milk, but can eat cheese and yogurt. Because of that, we try to give her dairy at every meal and opportunity. For anyone living in the Madison area, you can buy diced cheese at Woodman's. Highly recommend it! It makes meal prep so much easier and it's a nice blend of a lot of cheeses. 

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So, that's what we have been eating. What are some of your current favorites for your little one?