15 Healthy Recipes You Can Make With Your Toddler

One of my friends from high school contacted me on Facebook last week saying I seemed like a healthy mom and could I help her find some good recipes she could make with her pre-school class. (side note: I am always amused when people pick me out of crowds, including facebook, as "the healthy mom." Or "the kind of person who would use cloth diapers." I swear, I don't wear gypsy skirts or own anything made of hemp. Maybe someone I know in real life can tell me how I put out this vibe. But I digress...).

My little guy loves helping me in the kitchen and has his own little apron he likes to wear when he helps. I realized when my friend asked, though, that I hadn't focused much on my blog about food you can make with your toddler. What a great idea!

15 Healthy Recipes You Can Make

{With Your Toddler}

(clockwise from upper-left)

1: Chewy Chocolate Coconut Bars from Mad in Crafts. Have your kids help you mix the ingredients and let them have fun packing the granola down into the pan (put down a wax paper barrier and they can use their hands).
2: Healthy Creamy Apple Dip from C.R.A.F.T. This has only three ingredients (peanut butter, yogurt, cinnamon) and would be great for dipping organic apples into.
3: Personal Baked Apples from Having Fun at Home. You peel and core the apple and then let kids fill it with cold butter, cinnamon sugar (and I would add raisins and other dried fruit to the mix) before wrapping the whole thing pie crust and baking. Yum!
4: Peanut Butter Cracker Spiders from Mad in Crafts (scroll to the bottom below the costume). Even though Halloween is over, kids love insects any time of year. Up the health factor by using whole grain crackers and homemade peanut butter (below).

(clockwise from upper-left)

5: Peanut Butter from Carissa's Creativity Space. Peanut butter is super easy to make and a great way to connect kids with where their food comes from. Let kids pour the ingredients into the food processor and then press the buttons once the lid is locked on.
6: Crispy Almond Butter Power Balls from Rook No. 17. These are packed with calcium, omega 3's, whole grains, protein and antioxidants. Eat them right away or store them in the freezer for up to 3 months.
7: Chunky Cinnamon Crockpot Applesauce from Mad in Crafts. There are few snacks that kids seem to love more than applesauce. Making your own is really easy. In a classroom, you could set this up in the morning, cook it on high and have it ready to go by lunch time.
8: Banana Mint Ice Cream from C.R.A.F.T. We make banana ice cream in a similar way in our house and I LOVE how it tastes like ice cream when it's pretty much just fruit. Jamie adds honey to hers but we never do and find it's plenty sweet.

(clockwise from upper-left)

9: Whole Wheat Pita Pizzas from The Picky Eater. I love pita pizzas. Using pitas instead of dough makes this project easier for kids (and easier to do in a large group). Give the kids plenty of healthy topping options and let them make their own masterpiece.
10: Pumpkin Pancakes from Modern Mom. This is a tasty way to get more veggies into your kids diet and  they will love you for it. Leanna from All Done Monkey says you can do something similar with sweet potatoes for a different flavor and a boost of vitamin A.
11: Zots (Zucchini Tots) from Carissa's Creativity Space. These are great if you can find anyone with zucchini left (I personally have a large one still on my counter) or just pick one up from the store. These are a fun alternative to tater tots and easy for kids to help make.
12: Healthy Breakfast Cookies from Mad in Crafts. These are full of fruit, seeds, and whole grains. Let the kids pick what to add and calling it a cookie makes them feel like they are getting a special treat.

(left to right)

13: Strawberry Yogurt Waffle Stack from Carissa's Creativity Space. As written, this recipe is sized for a grown up, but you can make it toddler friendly my using mini whole wheat waffles (we like the ones from Earth's Best).
14: Chewy No-Bake Granola Bars from Money Saving Mom. I love that you don't have to make these and you can add whatever mix ins the kids prefer.
15: Apple Cinnamon French Toast from Carissa's Creativity Space. Use leftover apple sauce from idea #7 and help your kids make a tasty apple cinnamon breakfast treat that tastes like dessert.

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A special thanks to all the bloggers that featured such great content for me to share. I was delighted to feature you.  If you like showing off your "as seen on" swag, please feel free to grab a button:

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How to Make Yogurt at Home (in your crockpot!)

I've been thinking about making my own yogurt at home for quite some time. When I found a gallon of soon-to-expire organic whole milk on sale for just a little over $2 a few weeks ago, I figured it was a great opportunity to try without the risk or ruining a large quantity of expensive ingredients.

My only regret?  That I didn't do this sooner!

It was soooo easy! It's a great way to save money, too. A gallon of [non-clearance] organic milk makes about a gallon of yogurt and costs around $5. A quart of organic yogurt costs about $4. If your family loves yogurt like mine does, that's a huge savings! The savings is even greater if you normally eat Greek yogurt which is frequently sold for about $1 (or more) for 8 ounces!

Ingredients / Equipment Needed

• Slow cooker
• Food thermometer
• Milk (whichever kind you prefer. I even hear this works with milk alternatives)
• About 1/2 cup yogurt
• Cheesecloth and strainer (if you want Greek style yogurt)
• Fruit or sweetener of your choice (optional)

That's it!

A note about your starter yogurt:

Any kind of yogurt can be used to make homemade yogurt. Pick a yogurt you like the taste of. Keep in mind, though, that plain yogurt makes pain yogurt. Strawberry yogurt also makes plain yogurt (the yogurt cultures are what multiply. Strawberries, sadly do not.).

Instructions

Step 1: Prep the Milk

Pour your milk (use at least 2 quarts but up to about a gallon) into a clean slow cooker. Put the lid on and set to low for about 2 hours until the milk reaches 180 degrees F. Keep an eye on it so the milk doesn't get so hot that it starts boiling or scalds. If this happens you will need to start over.

Step 2: Cool down

Turn your crockpot off and allow the yogurt to cool about an hour until it reaches 120 degrees F. If your crockpot is well insulated like mine is, you may need to crack the lid to help it cool.

Step 3: Add the yogurt

Take about a cup of warm milk from the crockpot and stir it together with 4-6 ounces of yogurt in a bowl. Keep stirring until the mixture is the same consistency throughout without any lumps (though "lumps" from any fruit that may have been in your starter yogurt are okay). Pour the milk/yogurt mixture back into the crockpot and give it a stir to distribute it evenly.

Step 4: Bundle up

The goal is to keep the milk in the 110 - 120 degree range for 6-12 hours. To do this, I placed my crockpot on top of a folded beach towel, then draped another double beach towel over the top and left the crockpot turned off. I did give it a 15 min blast on low right before I went to bed for the night to make sure the yogurt cultures stayed nice and toasty. The longer it sets, the more tart and more set up the yogurt will be. I found 10 hours to be perfect for me, personally.

Step 5: Drain (optional)

Once your yogurt is done, you may see some little pools of watery stuff in there with it. This is whey. You can save it to use in baked goods or lacto-fermented veggies. Or you can stir it back into the yogurt. Up to you. If you like "Greek" style yogurt, you can set up a colander lined with damp cheese cloth over a bowl to strain the yogurt.  Keep in mind that once refrigerated, your yogurt will thicken even more. I over strained my first attempt at Greek yogurt and ended up with something of a soft cheese consistency once it got cold. If you're making a full gallon of yogurt and you get more than 16 ounces of whey, you probably want to stop.

Step 6: Store
I stored my yogurt in clean glass jars. If you are re-using jars that once housed food from the store I do not recommend using jars (or at least the lids) that used to store tomato sauce or pickled products. The scent is hard to get out of the lid and may ruin your tasty new yogurt.

I also made some personal size yogurts by added chopped frozen fruit to the bottom of 8 ounce glass jars, adding a squirt of agave and filled the rest with yogurt. Then when you want a snack, just stir and eat! Yum!

A note about canning jars: If you actually use your canning jars for canning, I do not recommend using them for storing things that metal serving or eating utensils will enter in order to remove the contents. Why? The tiny abrasions they leave in the glass can weaken your jars over time and create messy canning accidents. Keep your canning jars for canning and re-use store bought jars or use your retired jars for food storage/serving.

I hope I've inspired you to branch out and try something new that will help you save money, too!