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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Spinach, Artichoke and Chicken Soup

I was on a hunt last week for the perfect spinach and artichoke soup and found this one from Rachel Ray. Using it as a base, I made a few tweaks and added leftover chicken for heartiness.

And it was darn tasty. My husband who does not really like soup had 3 bowls. It's that good.


Spinach, Artichoke and Chicken Soup

Ingredients:

• 5 organic baking potatoes - scrubbed, peeled and quartered
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2 Tbsp olive oil (EVOO)
• 1 onion (finely chopped)
• 4 cloves garlic - pressed or finely chopped
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 quart vegetable or chicken broth
• 1 Tbso dried Oregano
• Pepper to taste
• Sea Salt 
• 2 tsp dried Thyme
• 1 can (14 ounce) or artichoke hearts - drained and chopped
• 16 ounces of frozen or fresh spinach
• 2 cups diced or shredded cooked chicken
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• Shredded cheese for garnish (Parmesan, mozzarella or colby jack are all great) 

Directions:

1. Put the potatoes in a large pot of cold water. Salt the water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer until fork-tender (about 15-20 minutes). Drain the potatoes and set aside.
2. Back in the pot, melt the butter into the EVOO over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until soft (about 5-7 minutes). Add the boiled potatoes and milk and use the back of your spoon to mash together.
3. Season with oregano, pepper, salt and thyme. Add chicken broth and bring to a low simmer. Stir in artichokes, spinach and chicken. Cook until heated through, stirring throughout. Stir in Parmesan.
4. Garnish with cheese on top and serve with crusty bread. 

Pumpkin Cake and Recipe

I have a confession.

I'm not a huge Halloween fan.

I know. I feel like I just uttered the words that might make the craft blogger police come knocking.

But honestly? I can totally live without the creepy, scary, gross you out stuff that's become popular. I don't like to be scared. Or grossed out. I like my food to look like, well, food - not witch fingers or worms. Is that so wrong?

But I still love Autumn. And one of the number one reasons is pumpkins. I looooooovvvveeee pumpkins! So much cuter and family friendly than a zombie brain don't you think? So if I show up at your party with a pumpkin cake instead of something looking like it had a bad run-in with the undead, I hope you'll still be my friend.

I made this cake for a Halloween party last year and it was deceptively easy. And also nutritious (it has 2 cups of pumpkin in the mix!).  Here's how I did it:

Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Pumpkin Cake

Ingredients:
Cake

• 1 box chocolate cake mix
• 2 cups fresh pumpkin puree*
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• 1 tsp ground all spice
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 3 eggs (or however many called for on the box)
• 1 Tbsp organic canola oil

Decorations

• 3 green "Airheads" candys (for stem)
• 1 container prepared frosting, colored orange (Sur la Table is one place you can get Natural Decorating Colors if you're avoiding synthetic food dyes)

*I used the technique I taught here to make my fresh pumpkin puree (it's actually really easy). If you don't have afresh pumpkin on hand to puree, use a 14 ounce can of pumpkin instead.

Extras Needed:

• A tall glass oven safe bowl to bake in (I used The Pampered Chef Classic Batter Bowl)

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 325°F. Prepare tall glass bowl for baking by greasing and flouring it. Set aside.
2. Combine all cake ingredients using a hand mixer. Pour into prepared bowl. 
3. Bake for about 1 hour, 10 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted in center comes out clean. Run knife around edge of bowl and turn out onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool at least two hours or until completely cool to the touch
4. Decorate cake by frosting with the orange frosting. Use up and down strokes to simulate pumpkin ridges with the frosting
5. Make the stem and leaf by putting airheads in a glass bowl and microwaving in 5 second intervals until pliable. (Be careful not to heat it too hot or it may stick to and burn your skin!) Mold candy like playdough to make a stem and leaf shape. Lay over top of cake.

I'm sharing this with:

* Get your Craft on at: Today's Creative Blog*

(links to products within this post are my affiliate links and I may receive a portion of any sales resulting from your click. I promise to only link to products I personally recommend. Thank you for supporting Carissa's Creativity Space) 

Broccoli Romanesco Parmisagna

I have a broccoli romanesco plant that overwintered in my garden and was starting to get ready to harvest last week. I ran into a challenge since I didn't realize it wasn't a "normal" broccoli plant until I was checking it out and saw it's pretty, bright green spikes.

I did some research and found out it is closer in taste to cauliflower than broccoli and needs a little extra love to make sure the texture turns out right. I sauteed it first with some garlic and steamed it before adding some parmesean.  My two year old "helped" me cook and was SO excited to eat it when we were done. The grown ups liked it, too. In fact, I just ate a huge bowl of this (and just this) for dinner.

If you don't have a garden to grow your own, you can also get it at farmer's markets and natural food markets when it's in season, which won't be until the fall in most cases. But that's what Pinterest is for, right?

How to Make Broccoli Romanesco Parmisagna


Ingredients
1 head Broccoli Romanesco
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup grated parmesean cheese plus extra for garnish is desired.

Cook it up!
1. Wash the broccoli and cut the florets from main stalk

2. Heat some EVOO in a pan. Add two gloves or crushed or minced garlic and sautee for 1-2 minutes.

3. Add the broccoli and saute for approximately 5 minutes. Add 1 cup of water to the bottom of the pan and cover with a lid to allow broccoli to steam for approximately 10 minutes.

4. After 10 minutes, remove the lid and allow to cook uncovered for up to 4 more minutes to allow any remaining water to cook off.

5. Dust broccoli generously with grated parmesean cheese. Cover pan and turn off heat. Allow to sit for 2-3 minutes to allow the cheese to melt.

Serve it up with dinner and enjoy this tasty vegetable. My one head of home grown, organic, broccoli romanesco made enough for 2 generously sized adult sides and some snacking pieces for the toddler. Although I'll admit that I pretty much just ate a large bowl of it for dinner.

Best Cranberry Sauce Recipe Ever

I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is always a special time for us as a family because it was on Thanksgiving 7 years ago that my husband and I figured out that we liked liked each other in more than a best friends kind of way.

(Look at us that day...we look so young!)

This year we did Thanksgiving up north with my mom, stepdad, all my siblings (it's been a while since that happened) and my brother in law's parents. We had 14 people total, which I think is a record for Thanksgiving with this side of my family.

I was responsible for cranberry sauce and rolls. The rolls weren't anything fancy...just boxed sourdough bread machine mix which I let my bread machine handle and then I just turned it into rolls. The cranberry sauce on the other hand....awesome (if I do say so myself).

I know it's too late for you to make it for your families Thanksgiving dinner this year BUT you can pin it and come back later. Or use it for Christmas dinner. Or serve it warm over ice cream or waffles (yum!).

Best Cranberry Sauce Recipe Ever

Ingredients

• 1 cup Orange Juice
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 bag cranberries
• zest, juice and pulp of 1 orange
• 1 apple

Add your orange juice and sugar to a sauce pan. Heat over medium high heat and stir until sugar dissolves.

Pour your cranberries into a colander. Rinse and pick out any smooshed or ugly berries. Add berries to the pan and stir to coat in OJ.

While berries are cooking, zest the orange. Cut orange in half squeeze halves by stabbing center with a fork and pressing orange halves around it. Scrape out some of the pulp as well. Add zest, juice and pulp to pan.

While berries continue to simmer, peel, core and chop apple into small pieces. Once most of the berries have burst, add apple pieces to pan and stir.

Cook for 5 more minutes then remove from heat.

Serve warm over waffles or ice cream. If using for a turkey condiment, allow to stand for about 15 minutes, then pour mixture into a glass bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve.

I'm linking up with some of my favorite parties...

* Strut Your Stuff Saturday at Six Sisters Stuff * Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest * Made by You Monday at Skip to My Lou * Show Off Your Stuff Party at Fireflies and Jellybeans * I'm Loving It with Tidy Mom *  The Holiday Link Party at What Che Said *

 

A Few of My Favorite Things: Thanksgiving

Now that Halloween is over, there is only one thing standing in the way of me and Christmas: Thanksgiving.  That and about 36 days. Don't get me wrong: I love Thanksgiving. I love food and fall colors and family...what's not to love?

These are some of my favorite things from around the internet that may inspire you to make your Thanksgiving even more fabulous.

Fabulous Food

Cinnamon Roll Pie Crust by Taste for Adventure

This pie crust was originally designed to be used to make a sweet potato pie. I'll be honest: I don't like sweet potato pie. Or sweet potato anything, really. But you know what I do love? Cinnamon rolls. And this pie crust idea blows. my. mind. Use this great tutorial to make an amazing pie crust for what ever kind of pie you fancy.

Bacon Wrapped Green Beans by Just Cook Already

Nobody will want to eat Aunt Mildred's green bean casserole once you wow your family with this super tasty (and vegiphobic family member friendly) green bean dish. Sign up to bring the veggie dish and you may even steal the show from the turkey.

Turkey Cake Pops from Bakerella

A fun alternative to pie for the kids or the pie-adverse (or something to bring just because they are super fun!). I heard a rumor my brother's girlfriend is going to be making these for our family for Thanksgiving. Sounds like sister-in-law material to me! Don't worry, Chantal. I don't just love you for your cake pops.

Divine Decor

Stacked Pumpkins in Skinny Vases from FallWeddings.com

I love the look of fun things filling vases. Their different sizes and lopsidedness makes them more fun and whimsical just simply filling vases or bowls with nuts or cranberries.

5 Minute Autumn Centerpiece from SAS Interiors

Facebook fans will recognize this project from SAS Interiors that I linked to last month. It's so simple, beautiful and easy that I just had to spotlight it here, too!  Jenna's great tutorial walks you right through how to make this easy but impressive looking centerpiece.

THANKS Glasses from Naptime Decorator

If you have more than five minutes, check out this beautiful mantle decoration that Liz from Naptime Decorator made from Dollar Store materials. This would look great along the back of a buffet table, on a bar, the top of your china cabinet...or pretty much anywhere!  Liz walks you through how she made it with great pictures on her blog.

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I hope you found a little bit of inspiration for how to make your Thanksgiving even more special this year. If I featured your project, thank you for sharing your creativity with the blog community. Please feel free to grab a button!

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Better-Than-Canned Pumpkin 101

Last week I had the opportunity to share a guest post over at The Green Kids Guide (edited 2012: Green Kids Guide is now Healthy Home Magazine. This link below has been updated). If you are like me and are always looking for ways to help eliminate BPA exposure (or just like learning new cooking techniques), come check out my post, "A BPA-Free Halloween is as Easy as...Pie!" where I'll teach you how easy it is to make fresh pumpkin puree instead of having to get it from a BPA-lined can.

PLUS you'll get my recipe for chocolate pumpkin spice cake....which is a fabulous way to sneak some fresh veggie nutrition into your husband's or child's diet and they will love you for it!

Vanilla Chai Tea Latte Cupcakes

I love me some tasty chai. That warm, spicy, vanilla flavor is like a big hug on a cool fall day. I love translating great flavors into cupcakes. These would be great for a fall potluck or to pair with a cup of coffee.

Ingredients: 

• 1 1/3 cups vanilla soy milk
• 1 Tbsp loose OR 3 tea bags of Chai Spice tea
• 1 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 sticks (12 Tbsp) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs at room temperature
• 1 Tbsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• Cream cheese frosting (purchased or I like this recipe)
• Cinnamon for garnish

 Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin tin with cupcake papers.
   
   
2. Heat soy milk in a small sauce pan over medium heat until it begins to bubble (keep an eye on the soy milk while you're warming it up as it's easy to scald it if it boils up too much). Remove from heat, add tea and cover. Allow to stand for approximately 10 minutes.
   
   
3. While the tea is steeping, sift the three kinds of flour together in a medium bowl and set aside.
   
   
4. When tea is done steeping, pour through a strainer (if using loose tea) or squeeze tea bags gently to retain as much liquid as possible. Measure out 1 1/4 cups of the tea milk. If you come up short, add more soy milk to equal 1 1/4 cup. Set aside.
5. Cream butter and sugar together in a large bowl with an electric mixer. With mixer still going, add eggs one at a time. Add vanilla, salt and baking powder.
6. With mixer still running, add 1/3 of the tea milk, once incorporated, add 1/3 of the flour mixture. Alternate back and forth adding a portion of tea milk and then flour until all ingredients have been incorporated. Continue beating on low speed until batter is smooth and shiny.
7. Divide batter evenly between 24 baking cups. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.
8. Allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting. Add a generous dollop of frosting to the top of each cupcake to simulate foam on top of a hot latte. Garnish with a dash of cinnamon.

This is an original recipe designed for non-commercial use (bake sales are ok....if you own a cupcake shop or bakery and want to use my recipe, let's talk). This recipe is also available through my BakeSpace account.

I'm sharing this recipe with these great parties:

*Made by You Mondays on Skip to My Lou * DebbieDoo's Blogging and Blabbing * Get Your Craft On * Cast Party at The Lady Behind the Curtain * Permanent Posies * Cupcake Tuesday at Hoosier Homemade * Blue Cricket Designs Show and Tell Party * What's Cooking Wednesday at The King's Court IV * Linkin' with Lil' Luna every Wednesday * Nothing But Country *

My recipe has since been featured on...

Apple Cinnamon French Toast (Visually)

I've been on a warm fall foods kick in our house. Last weekend it was baby cinnamon rolls. This week it's Apple Cinnamon French Toast.  The apple flavor is subtle but a great way to gussy up the french toast if you aren't normally a fan of the whole grain flavor.

If you prefer your recipes in standard layouts that are easier to read (or print), this recipe has also been posted on BakeSpace here. If you are a newbie or just like watching the process, read on!

How to Make Baby Cinnamon Rolls

Yesterday I told you about getting to meet Heather from Dollar Store Crafts at the premiere party for her new show, Get a Little Creative. And as you all know....a party isn't a party without great food!  The night before the party, I was stressing a little about what to bring because I needed to bring something either awesomely creative or super tasty....but I had no time to invest in making something awe-inspiring. I didn't have time to run to the store, either, which meant I needed to come up with something great using items I already had on hand. A tall order!

I remembered I had a roll of low fat crescent roll dough in the fridge and with some pantry staples figured I could gussy them up a bit to make something. A little of this and a little of that and these babies were born. And boy were they awesome!  They turned out even better than I had hoped. Plus they were easy and quick to make. I'm sure they will be making appearances at future potlucks and fall food events this year!