Nutrition and Children Category
Recipe for Not Wasting Toddler Food
One of our Kolcraft kids enjoying veggie drops for breakfast!
Sometimes mealtimes with kids means a lot of half eaten food. We decided to see what leftovers would freeze into “snack drops”. We took half eaten food pouches and leftover veggies that we blended. We placed them on wax paper (just like if you were making your own yogurt drops) and froze them for a few hours.
Read MoreTeach Your Toddler About Colors on National Angel Food Cake Day
Today is National Angel Food Cake Day. We think the perfect way to celebrate is by teaching your toddler colors while making a rainbow angel food cake. Cooking and eating can be fun opportunities for learning!
What yummy angel food cake recipes do you have to share?
National Chocolate Milkshake Day
Today is National Chocolate Milkshake Day and for those of us who want to hang on to the last bit of summer, we think it’s the perfect excuse to celebrate with our kids!
One of our favorite takes on the traditional milkshake is this Nutella milkshake by Julie from The Little Kitchen. It is an easy recipe (and healthier than a traditional milkshake) you can make with your children.
What you need:
- 1/3 cup of Nutella
- 1 cup Skim milk
- 3 scoops of low fat vanilla frozen yogurt
Just add all of the ingredients into a blender and blend together, then serve immediately after and enjoy!
Easy Summer Fruit Recipe for Kids
Summer is the perfect time to have fun with fruit! Your kids will love making their own fruit palm trees with this easy recipe!
What you need:
- Banana
- Grapes
- Tangerines
- Knife (adult use only)
What to do:
- Wash grapes.
- Cut banana in half. Put halves on plate “curving” away from each other.
- Peel tangerine and pull apart sections. (Kiwis are also great for this). Arrange at top of banana like palm leaves.
- Cut grapes in half and arrange at base of “palm tree”.
- Enjoy!
Refreshing Easy To Make Raspberry and Banana Torte Recipe
Farmers markets abound with fresh fruit. You can have a fun day going to your local farmer’s market with your kids and teaching them about growing fruit and vegetables. Ask questions of the local farmers, they are more than happy to explain things to your children. Once home you can make this yummy torte together.
What you need:
- Angel food cake
- Fresh raspberries
- Banana sliced round
- Cool Whip (or make your own whip cream. It’s as easy as freezing your mixing beaters & beating heavy cream on high setting)
- Banana flavored instant pudding (we also like it with vanilla!)
- Milk
What to do:
- Cut angel food cake into 3 or 4 small layers (horizontally)
- Mix pudding with some milk so it has constancy of gravy
- Fold in Cool Whip
- Lay down angel food cake
- Add layer of pudding/Cool Whip mix
- Add raspberries and bananas (this is fun for kids to do)
- Repeat until finished with top layer.
- Top with remaining pudding/Cool Whip mix
- Garnish with raspberries and bananas
- Chill
- Enjoy!
What is your favorite summertime dessert?
Healthy Eating Tips & Motherhood
Jillian Michaels known for her hardcore fitness tactics on the Biggest Loser, is getting in touch with her softer side now that she is a mom. After a long adoption process she brought home her daughter from Haiti and in the same week her partner, Heidi Rhoades, gave birth to their son.
Speaking of Biggest Loser Moms, we are loving these tips from The Mommy Diet by Alison Sweeney. She suggests using plain Greek yogurt in dishes instead of butter or cream. It still gives the dish lots of flavor, but without the calories!
- Use plain yogurt instead of cream in creamy pasta dishes. You will save up to 300 calories per portion.
- Use plain yogurt instead of cream and butter in mashed potatoes and on a baked potato. You will save up to 350 calories.
- Use plain yogurt instead of mayonnaise in dips and cold sauces. It will save you 340 calories!
For more tips, recipes, workout plans and more be sure to pick up your copy of The Mommy Diet today!
Easy To Make Casseroles for the Busy Mom
It’s 2pm and you haven’t even touched your “to do” list let alone think about what is for dinner. Enter The Best Casserole Cookbook Ever! We love this cookbook that has 500, yes 500, different casseroles. We love that a casserole can be made ahead of time & frozen for those crazy days when you just can’t get around to making dinner. There really is every possible casserole in here from breakfast casseroles to meat to vegetarian to kid casseroles. We give it two thumbs up!
Elmo Face Apple Treats
Elmo Face Apple
We had fun making these healthy Elmo treats with our Kolcraft Kids.
What you need:
- Red Apple
- Tangerine
- Reduced Fat Cream Cheese
- Raisins
- Knife for adult use
What to do:
- Cut apple in half
- Cut a little wedge out in middle of apple (red side up) for Elmo’s nose
- Peel tangerine & put a slice in the cut out wedge
- Put two dots of cream cheese on apple & put raisin on top of cream cheese for Elmo’s eyes
Enjoy!
Kid – Friendly Sandwich Recipe
Your picky eater will enjoy this take on sandwiches. It’s easy to make and your children can have fun creating their sandwiches with you!
What you will need:
- Bread cut into cubes
- Cubed cheese
- Baby jerkins pickles
- Cherry tomatoes
- Deli meat cubed
- Other vegetables cubed
- Skewers
What to do:
- Cut ingredients into cubes
- Put in bowls & arrange in an “assembly line”
- Give your child a skewer
- Let them create their sandwich on a stick. They don’t have to put the bread on the outside – let their creativity take over!
Feeding Your Baby and Toddler Super Baby Food
There are so many choices when it comes to feeding your baby and you want to give her the best start to life that you can – enter Super Baby Foods. What are super baby foods? Nutritious, healthy food that won’t break your bank account or take too much time to make. We had heard about these so we bought the book by Ruth Yaron to find out what it was all about.
Super Baby Food is a very practical book that explains the “why” behind skipping over the processed baby foods and going right to super baby foods. Some of the benefits? More nutritious food for baby, money savings (you won’t believe the savings!), more control of your baby’s and family’s health.
We love that the book has charts on what food to give to your baby at her different stages, charts to keep track of baby and toddler’s nutrients, tons of easy-to-make recipes (even one for mock-soda pop!), crash course in nutrition, fun crafts and activities for your child and much more!
We give Super Baby Foods 5 stars!
