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?

Fun Facts Friday

Hi Folks!

I am going to try to keep this short. I'm actually writing this Thursday as we are leaving Friday for St. Louis for a weekend visit to my brother and his family. 6 hours in a car with a toddler: wish us luck!

Let's just get right into it, shall we?

1. I heard the best description the other day: to-do-list-itis. I suffer from that greatly. It's when your to-do list takes over your sense of self. Add on to that the fact that I think I can do way more than is ever physically possible, I feel defeated at the end of most days. Really trying to work on this. It's so hard because there is so much I want to do, but only so much I can do. Damn Donna Reed for making it look so freaking easy all the time.

2. Yesterday G got stuck in her crib. My mother was here and I learned a very important lesson: my mother is not a good person to have around in an emergency. G was screaming, her knee was completely stuck between the slats and my mother was wringing her hands and tell me that I had to call my husband because we'd have to cut her out of the crib. I don't think my mom realizes that my husband is not a handy man. God love him, it's just not his strength. G was stuck for quite awhile but we finally got her to lay down and we were able to slide her leg out. Everyone involved was traumatized. I think we will be getting her a toddler bed very soon. If I have my say, it'd be next week. We can no longer let her 'cry it out' at night because I'm worried she's stuck.

3. We totally fell off our meal plan this week. First two days went great (so what if one the days was going out to eat?) and then we had the crib incident. Abandoned the meal and we were supposed to use a bunch of the CSA in it. I'm going to try to use the produce in a frittata tonight.  I wonder if there is a condition called CSA-itis.....

4. Been obsessed with beet salads this week. Beets + Goat Cheese + Apple + Sweet Onion + Toasted Walnuts + Balsamic Vinegar + Spinach/Arugula/Sorrel = what I could eat every single day. Thank goodness for Costco where I bought beets, goat cheese, and balsamic vinegar in bulk.

5.  G is such a toddler now. We tried two outings yesterday morning and I wish I could drink because I could have used one. Took her to Barnes and Noble and things were fine until she decided to pull any book she could reach off the shelf as she ran through the store screaming. Rather than take her home (which would have been the right thing to do), I then tried to take her out to lunch with my mom as a belated Mother's Day treat. We were those people: G decided to just stand on her chair and scream. We took turns devouring our food and walking her around the restaurant. It was a nightmare. For the record, it was really out of character for her. So much for my extra special morning with my mom...

6. In happier news, I found some great maternity running/golfing gear!  I got some great tops at Impact Fitness Wear and some great golfing/running skirts at Running Skirts.  I've been really impressed with them and I actually feel kinda cute wearing them. Makes working out just a little bit easier.

7. I discovered three additional bins of maternity clothes in my basement that I forgot I had. It could not have come at a better time. I am moving into the next size of maternity gear and was thinking I would have to do more shopping. I am so thankful for my sister-in-law and best friend as it is almost all of their hand-me-down gear. It's also stuff that I couldn't wear last time because the seasons didn't line up so it feels like new clothes for me.

That's it for me. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Would love to hear a random fact from you about your week. Any adventures? Best discovery of the week?