toddler-approved recipe: strawberry cream cheese

You probably noticed by now how much I love strawberries. It's a pantry staple in our household and I find such pleasure in discovering different ways of incorporating it into our breakfast and snack fares. Here's another simple, healthy and yummy strawberry recipe.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Spread

2 wedges Laughing Cow Swiss Cheese

5 pcs Strawberries, hulled

Mash the strawberries and the cheese together. Spread on a piece of whole grain toast or bagel. Enjoy!

p.s. More strawberry recipes here, here and here.

no fuss picnic

Bud and I have been taking full advantage of the warm summer weather. Our daily routine includes a trip (or two) to the park and a picnic lunch. Oh how we love picnics! We just lay a blanket on the grass, et voila, a picnic! It doesn't have to be a big production really.

Here's my no fuss picnic checklist:

1. Food that doesn't easily spoil. I put it on a paper plate and wrap it with foil so I can dispose right after. Today's play date picnic menu....

2. I always bring cold beverages, fresh fruits, napkins and plastic utensils.

3. A blanket big enough to lay on for storytime after eating.

4. Relax and enjoy every moment. Take mental photos of your little one basking in the sun and running in the grass.

toddler-approved recipe: sandwich rollups

cream cheese and cucumber roll up

Wanted to share with you my new favorite way of preparing a sandwich for the little one - rolled up and cut up into bite size pieces! It's a healthy and convenient snack to bring to a picnic at the park or when you're simply on-the-go.

It's really easy to do. First, flatten the bread with a rolling pin or any glass. I just used Bud's plastic cup from Ikea. You can opt to slice off the crust before you flatten if your little one prefers his/her sandwiches crustless.

Then spread on your favorite sandwich filling. We love peanut butter and raisins and cream cheese and cucumber. Feel free to let your taste buds guide you to so many possible filling combinations.

Once you have finished piling on the yummy filling, roll the sandwich to resemble a log. Then cut up into 1" pieces. Pop in the mouth to taste then serve to your loved ones.

Enjoy!

toddler-approved recipes: guilt-free banana muffins

I couldn't believe my luck when I chanced upon a banana muffin recipe sans the butter. I kid you not. I did a double take just to make sure I read it right. I did! So, I'm going to do what feels right and share it with you. Here's the recipe with some tweaks here and there.

Guilt-free Banana Muffins

4 very ripe bananas

2 eggs

1/4 cup skim milk

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

yogurt

Mix together eggs, mashed bananas, sugar, milk and vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Fold in the dry ingredients with the banana mixture. Pour into muffin cups and bake for 20-25 mins at 350f (or 175c). Makes around 10-11 muffins.

The muffins came out really moist and soft but not too sweet. You can add more sugar and bananas if you wish. The Mister found it a tad bland for his taste so he tried eating it with a dallop of banana yogurt and it was genius! It looked like icing on a cupcake and it gave the muffin a whole new flavor dimension. You should really to try it for yourself.

After an afternoon of swimming and water play, the little man was famished and devoured a giant banana muffin in minutes. But no worries, it was as healthy as could be.

toddler-approved recipe: pizza bread

For days when we just have too many activties and not enough time to cook, here is one quick and easy open face sandwich that Bud is sure to eat.

Today's Lunch:

PIZZA BREAD

1 slice of wheat bread

1 slice of american cheese

1 tbsp marinara sauce ( I used Prego traditional recipe)

In an oven toaster, toast the bread with the cheese. Once the cheese is soft, spread sauce over the cheese and swirl together so they mix. Put back in the oven toaster until cheese and sauce mixture is bubbly. Slice diagonally into quarters and serve.

Try this with some ham and pineapple for a Hawaiian Pizza Bread.

toddler-approved recipes: Blini

It's Saturday, hooray! One of the best things about the weekend is I have more time to experiment and be creative with breakfast as we are not in a hurry to get out the door to be somewhere.

We were out of bread this morning so it was a perfect opportunity to give my Blini recipe another try. Blini are traditional Russian pancakes or crepes usually made with yeast. Yeast? I know, yeast sounds so intimidating, right? But before you close this window, I'm letting you know this Blini recipe does not use yeast so please read on.

You're probably wondering why make a Blini instead of a crepe then? Well, because I have very fond memories of eating Blini when we lived in Siberia 3 years ago and I want to share the experience with Bud. In my opinion, Blini is best eaten with some lax salmon and sour cream. But just like crepe, it's also great with sweet filling/topping.

TODAY'S BREAKFAST:

BLINI with BACON & CHEESE

1 egg

2 tsp white sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 cup flour

1 cup milk

vegetable oil

2 slices canadian bacon

cream cheese

strawberry jam

Beat egg with salt and sugar. Fold in the flour to egg mixture. Add milk and blend well.

Heat pan with some vegetable oil. Make sure your pan has a little bit of oil so that the batter won't stick to the pan and it would be easier to flip the Blini. Cook batter 2 minutes on each side on medium heat.

To assemble, spread cream cheese and strawberry jam on the blini. Add 2 pcs of Candian Bacon on one side. Fold the Blini in half then fold again to make a triangle.

I also made some with butter and cinnamon sugar then rolled them up, yum!

Have a yummy weekend, bunnies!

toddler-approved recipe: egg and asparagus sandwich

I'm very excited for today. Bud and his classmates are going to visit the firestation this morning. Lucky for us, the father of one of Bud's classmates is a fire fighter and he arranged for the kids to come to the station and ride the fire trucks while the kids are on spring break.

We're all meeting at the station at 11am and for sure the kids will be playing past lunchtime. I'm planning to pack a substantial snack for Bud in case he falls asleep in the car on the way home.

TODAY"S LUNCH:

Egg and Asparagus Salad Sandwich

1 egg, boiled

1 tbsp mayonnaise

4-5 asparagus stalks, choppped to tiny pieces

dash of salt

Mash the boiled egg and blend in the mayonnaise. In a hot pan, saute the chopped asparagus in a little olive oil. Once cooked, add to the egg salad. Season with salt.

Spread generously on toast.

toddler-approved recipes: banana oatmeal bars

We had some overripe bananas sitting on our counter and I didn't want to throw them away so I decided to turn them into a healthy snack for me and the little man.

Today's Snack:

EASY BANANA OATMEAL BARS

1 1/2 overripe bananas, mashed

2 egg whites

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup rolled oats

1/8 cup dried cranberries

1/8 cup raisins

1/8 cup chopped cashew nuts

Whisk the egg whites and mix to the mashed bananas and cinnamon. Fold in the dry ingredients.

Pour mixture into well greased baking pan. I used 2 flan pans and filled them 1/3 of the way.

Bake in 350F for 50 minutes. I baked mine in the oven toaster to be more energy efficient.

Cut into 2" squares and serve.

You can add honey or brown sugar to the recipe if you want it to be sweet. You can also try different dried fruits and nuts for variation.

Happy Snacking!