A Fruity Valentine's Treat

I got this recipe from a friend of mine.  When she told me it only required 2 ingredients and her toddler loved them, I was sold!  

Ingredients:
3oz. box of Jello (I used strawberry this time, but you can use any flavor!)
1-1/2 cups vanilla greek yogurt

How to Make:

1. Mix your two ingredients together until combined.
2. Pop the mixture into the microwave for 1 minute.
3. Stir mixture and return to microwave for an additional minute.
4. Stir again and pour into a muffin tin.  [I used silicone trays, but if you're using metal, I suggest using paper muffin cups!]
5. Freeze for about 1 hour before serving.

I used silicone trays so I could have festive hearts for Valentine's Day.  My heart tray is from the Target Dollar Spot a few years ago. 

Note: I've found that these store perfectly in the fridge after freezing because of the gelatin.  

Here are some pictures of Carson enjoying the treats!  He was a little unsure at first because of the coldness and the texture, but he ended up liking them.  :)

I'm linking up with Kristin!

Who Invents This Stuff?!

Every year for Christmas my step mom buys everyone something silly and fun.  Usually it's some sort of little game or something unique that you probably haven't seen before.  Last year we got pig poppers and Toastabags.  That's right, toasta.  Not toaster!  :)

We had a pig popper war with my family on Christmas and I think after that, sadly, the pigs have lived in our basement.  Sad life for them!  Toastabags have been in one of my kitchen drawers next to my foil, plastic wrap, parchment paper, baggies, etc.  To be honest, I almost threw them out a few times thinking they were silly but I felt too guilty throwing away a gift.

Finally (almost 10 months later), I decided to test them.  You guys, they are SO cool!

I used my Toastabags to make Carson's (FIRST EVER) grilled cheese.  This is going to get difficult, so pay attention....

1. Assemble your sandwich and insert into your Toastabags . 

2. Insert Toastabags into your toaster. 

3. Enjoy your warm and toasty sandwich!

Seriously, it's that easy!

I was a little skeptical but these things really work!  The cool part is that they're washable (even dishwasher safe) and you can re-use them up to 100 times!  I know grilled cheese is super easy to make but this allows me to have NO dirty dishes!  Bonus.  :)

Here is a close-up of how my grilled cheese turned out.  The left side of the bread isn't toasted as well because the type of bread I buy has larger slices and only fits one way into our toaster.  It doesn't fully toast outside of the Toastabags either.

Carson definitely approves!

Get your own set of Toastabags here:


Note: I was not compensated in any way for this post.  These are all my honest, personal opinions!  

Picky Toddler Problems

When I was little I was SO picky.  I was once quoted for saying "I don't like apples in my applesauce!"  (Does anyone really like chunky applesauce?!)  Anyway, you know what they say....what goes around comes around!  These days I have the pleasure of trying to plan meals for my little picky toddler!  He used to be a great eater and seemed to like everything (except meat).  Then one day he decided he hated pretty much all vegetables.  I'm lucky because he still likes all of the delicious foods like fruits and dairy.  I'm not quite sure how he's my son though because he's very picky about his carbs!

I try to include a variety of food groups into each one of Carson's dinners: protein, grain, fruit/veggie, dairy.  Check out these suggested servings:

{via}

We usually let Carson try what I've made for us, but a lot of times he doesn't like it and it's easier to just make a toddler meal for him.  When he's bigger I'll work on expanding his taste buds to include "big kid" food! :)

Here are some of my quick go-to foods that I like to keep on hand when I need to throw together a fast toddler dinner:

Protein
As you can see, the only real "meat" is fish.  Funny because I personally hate fish!  I've tried all kinds of real meat with Carson and he will NOT eat it.  I even tried mixing real meat with fake meat and he picked out the real meat and threw it on the ground!  Self proclaimed vegetarian at 15 months, I suppose.  Anyway, the vegetarian section at our grocery is where you can find us most weeks.  I like that I can get Carson's veggies and protein in by serving veggie burgers or veggie "chicken".  He loves the Morningstar Chik'n nuggets (and chik'n patties - grilled or breaded) as well as just about any brand of veggie burger.  I did find he prefers the "grillers" variety over the more gourmet like black bean burgers, haha!  Like I said, SO picky!  Another way I get protein in is peanut butter.  He LOVES the stuff.  I usually serve it for lunch but sometimes he gets it for dinner.

Fruits/Veggies
We always have fresh fruit and he eats it with lunch and dinner daily.  He isn't a big fan of any melon, but likes just about everything else.  Some of his favorites lately include bananas, strawberries, and nectarines.
As far as veggies, I get those in with the veggie burgers/chik'n a lot of the time.  If not, I always have some food pouches in the cabinet.  Carson still gobbles these up most of the time and it makes me feel less guilty about the veggies I serve him that are often left untouched [or thrown on the floor for the dogs].

Dairy
Carson drinks organic whole milk with his dinners but sometimes I add a little extra dairy to his day.  I have to be careful not to over-do the dairy because it definitely upsets his tummy.  For extra dairy Carson loves the Stonyfield Organic yogurts.  Some of them even have veggies in them - bonus!  He also loves cheese sticks which are great for on-the-go meals!

Grains
 One of Carson's favorite carbs is definitely Annie's mac'n'cheese!  The funny thing is that he will ONLY eat the bunny pasta.  I've tried the shells and even the traditional elbow noodles and he won't eat them!  Such a goof.  I have to agree though, shapes pasta just tastes better! :)
I also make sandwiches for Carson using Brownberry whole wheat bread.  This is what our whole family eats so it's easy to keep it fresh in our kitchen.  I've tried using tortillas to make little quesadillas and fun roll-ups but Carson would rather just eat the tortilla plain.

Any tips on expanding your toddler's palette?  

Anyone else have a vegetarian toddler?! 

I'm linking up today:

Toddler Snack Ideas

It still makes me cry inside to mention that "t" word from my post title.  My son is my BABY!

Lately whenever I talk to my mom friends, we always end up talking about food for the kids.  It seems like it's hard to think of creative ideas for meals and snacks so I wanted to share some of Carson's favorite snacks as of lately.  These are some of our favorite go-to snacks for between meals.

1. Earth's Best Organic Sunny Days Snack Bars.  Carson LOVES these fruit bars!  These are very similar to Nutrigrain bars.  We have tried the apple and strawberry flavors.  I thought they would be good as a snack on the go, but they're actually a little messy with the fruit filling.  I'm a clean freak though.  :)

2. Annie's Bunny Grahams.  These are a great snack to throw in the snack cup and eat on the road or during a stroller ride.  Carson loves them and gets so excited when I pull out the box.  We also do regular graham crackers as well.

3. Cheerios .  These are our go-to morning snack.  When I introduced Cheerios (so long ago now!) I started with plain.  Now we've tried several other flavors.  Carson's favorites are the Multigrain and Apple Cinnamon.

4. Plum Organics Teensy Fruits .  These are like little fruit snacks.  I like them better than regular fruit snacks because they (like the name states) are TEENSY!  I have no fears of Carson choking with these and even though they don't come with many packs in a box, each pack has a ton of fruit bites!

5. Veggie Straws.  These are a new favorite of Carson's.  I randomly picked them up at the grocery when they were on sale and they are a huge hit!  I throw these in Carson's snack cup when we're going to be out and about during snack time and he gobbles them right up.  I'm not sure how healthy they are because they seem pretty salty but the nutrition facts say that they only have 10% of your daily sodium which doesn't seem bad.  Plus they're "natural"!

6. Cheese!  Who doesn't like cheese?!  I usually buy the snack sticks of Colby Jack and cut them up for Carson, but we've also done string cheese.  This is a great snack or "side dish" during meal time if you need to get in some extra dairy!

7. Fruit.  Carson definitely takes after his Momma and loves fruit!  His favorites lately are strawberries and blueberries, but he will eat just about anything.  I almost always have fresh strawberries and blueberries in the fridge, but you can also keep frozen fruit in your freezer...it's a great snack for teething babies!



*Note: I was in no way compensated to promote these products.  These recommendations are my personal opinions and suggestions!


I'm linking up today: