Toddler Snack Attack: Chocolate "Milkshake"

I've been making healthy and delicious oatmeal for my toddler this week.  And he eats it.  Well he did up until today.  It's a glorious bowl of oatmeal, peanut butter, banana and a few sprinkles of chocolate chips.  Only today I forgot to mix in the chocolate chips and left them sitting on top so of course he picked through the oatmeal and ate only the chocolate.  Meal time exhausts me.  Do you make them sit there until they eat something?  Do you just let them go?  I don't know the answer, but I'm searching!

So after our "breakfast" we walked down to the park to play, which didn't last long because SOMEONE was hungry and just couldn't handle life.  So we loaded up and went back home for a snack.  I thought, fine if he wants chocolate, I'll give him chocolate!  And I'll give him banana and avocado too!

Your toddler (or you for that matter) won't be able to resist this rich, velvety chocolate milkshake.  The secret to making this nice and thick is frozen bananas.  I always buy two bunches of bananas;  one to eat and one to freeze.  I break them up into 2 inch pieces and put them into Tupperware and freeze for treats like this.

Ingredients:

1 frozen banana
1/2 avocado
3/4 milk (rice, almond, or coconut will do if you don't want to use dairy)
1 T cocoa powder
1 T honey

Directions:

Put all ingredients in your blender and blender until smooth! If you need to add more milk, go for it, just don't add too much. 

I felt slightly victorious as he sipped away at this in his high chair thinking mom had finally caved and gave him what he wanted.  Don't worry, he didn't drink his out of a mason jar but out of a plastic toddler proof cup.

Toddler Snack Attack: Apples and Peanut Butter Dip

Forget the apple.  I eat this dip by the spoonful.   My little guy loved this stuff, he was more enamored with it than the apples, go figure.

We had leftovers from a parfait we made for my father in law's 60th surprise birthday party and I could not let it go to waste.  What goes better with peanut butter than apples?  This combination can be described in one word: fall.  What more of a description do you need?  Go.  Make it, now.

Peanut Butter Dip

Ingredients:

4 ounces of cool whip
8 ounces of room temp cream cheese
1/4 cup of peanut butter

Directions:

Combine ingredients and mix until smooth. 

If you soften cream cheese in the microwave, it'll be lumpy so please let it come to room temperature on it's own!

After this dip has chilled, the texture is like a fluffy nougat, that you can't stop eating.

You can easily make a "diet" version of this dip if you so choose. 

Whole Wheat Banana Muffins

I always have ripe bananas and I hate throwing them away!  I have quite a few banana bread recipes but none quite like this.  They are moist and full of flavor.  The whole wheat adds an incredible heartiness that leaves you satisfied.  I've had two and half already and guess what?  The Toddler likes them too!  He'd better, he helped make them.  He stuck his hand in the sugar and oil mixture and then licked it.  "Mmm", he said.  "Mmm". 

Ingredients:

(adapted from Betty Crocker)

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/4 cup sugar
3 bananas
2/3 cup canola oil
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup of nuts (optional)

Directions:

1.  In a stand mixer, mix sugar and oil until combined.  Slowly add eggs and vanilla.
2.  Peel and roughly chop bananas and add to the mixture.  Turn mixer on medium low and mix until bananas have broken up and all of the ingredients are combined.
3.  Add dry ingredients and mix until combined, then stir in nuts.
4.  Line a cupcake pan with liners and scoop 1/4 cup of batter into each liner.
5.  Bake at 350 for 15-19 minutes (I was able to get 19 muffins).

Toddler Snack Attack: Cream Cheese Cracker Sandwhich

My toddler did so well as a baby with his vegetable purees and now he won't touch vegetables.  He doesn't eat meat either unless it's a chicken nugget (even that can be difficult).  It's so frustrating trying to figure out what to feed him.  We rotate between mac and cheese, chicken nuggets and grilled cheese.  Occasionally I can get some pasta with red sauce and maybe a bite of meatball.  How many of you feel my agonizing pain?   

Tonight after he had eaten a few bites of his "chickens" he was ready for something else.  I had to think on my toes before the chicken ended up on the floor.  I threw on my mom cape, ran to the pantry and spotted crackers. Oh! With....cream cheese!  Yes!  Oh wait, with honey and cinnamon too!  Winner winner chicken cracker dinner!  I think he ate about 6 little sandwiches.  (and I may have had about that many as well...)  After each bite I heard, "mmm, mmm, mmm".  Oh I wish you could hear how he says it.  Just know it's darn cute.  So I of course grabbed my camera and snapped a few pictures to share this snack with you.  Sometimes you need a new idea and I hope this is it for you!  I hope your little ones love these as much as mine did!
 

I spread the cream cheese on one cracker then drizzled honey and sprinkled cinnamon and topped it with another cracker.  For the future, I am going to mix the cream cheese, honey and cinnamon together and just keep it in the fridge.  I'll be using it on waffles, english muffins, toast and anything else that requires this combination of flavors!

Do not give honey to a child under the age of one.

Does your little one have a favorite snack?

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

It's a rainy day.  Okay so there are only clouds but I'll take what I can get.  We spent the whole day at home which was much needed break from the non stop running we seem to always be doing.  We had some good play time measuring, mixing and baking our pretend ingredients, which led up to our little baking episode today.  I'm out of butter so I had to find a recipe that would adapt to my current household staples.  The recipe is from Ambitious Kitchen, which I thought was fitting seeing how I was baking with a toddler.  Sometimes, you just need to make memories.

He was so great at helping me clean up.  He's been dying to get a hold of that faucet and play with it.  Well today was his day.  My floors needed to be cleaned anyway.


Now for the cookies.  These were perfect.  No flour, no butter.  They are so chewy and the perfect balance of peanut butter and chocolate.  I happened to have extra almonds left over from my grilled chicken and romaine salad so I added them and am so glad I did.  This recipe is so easy and absolutely delicious.

Click here for the recipe.