Oatmeal Bites

Full disclosure here...

Sometimes it gets quite tedious to feed Jagger (the baby) anything liquid-y and messy like oatmeal.  Often, his time in the highchair eating breakfast is when I like to chat about what we're doing for the day, eat my own breakfast, and/or load the dishwasher while no one is trying to crawl inside.

I decided it was about time to create another recipe that got in some healthy, breakfast ingredients in convenient, finger-food bites.

Alas, these oatmeal bites were born.

Jagger-dude polishes these off within minutes and Magnolia feels like she's getting dessert for breakfast.  I don't correct her - these could absolutely be used for a dessert at well!  

I've since experimented by adding and subbing lots of other mix-ins, and let me tell you, these bad boys are pretty versatile!  Feel free to get creative and let me know how they come out for you.

Oatmeal Bites

Ingredients:

• 2.5 cups of quick oats (we use gluten free)
• 1 cup pureed carrot (pumpkin or sweet potato work well too)
• 2 large & ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 medium & ripe avocado, mashed
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 2 T crushed walnuts (optional)
• 2 T raisins (optional)
• 1/2 large carrot, grated - save half for garnish (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients.
3. In a blender, mix the wet ingredients and add to dry ingredients.
4. Spread batter in a greased, 8X8 cake pan.  (Any baking pan with an edge will be fine, just keep a close eye and adjust cooking times).
5. Add grated carrot garnish to tops, if using.
6. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until top is golden brown and batter no longer jiggles.  
7. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before cutting into squares (or triangles or dinosaurs…whatever will make your kiddo smile).

Enjoy!

In good health,

Tara

Watermelon "Cookies"

I've been on a watermelon kick lately, because…Summer.  Our latest creation involved the baby, the toddler, some fun cookie cutters, and MOST DEFINITELY a couple of baths afterwards.  ;-)

Check it out:

Super Green Protein Cookies

So here's the deal…my kids like cookies.  I like cookies.  There was a 2-for-1 deal on spirulina, and alas….the Super Green Protein Cookies recipe was born.  

I should mention, my investigative 3-year old does always double-check, "These are healthy cookies, right mama?".  Yes, of course!  And they're GREEN!  These cookies will awaken the inner Hulk in us all.  They satisfy a sweet or crunchy tooth without sending your blood sugar on a roller-coaster ride.

Spirulina is what gives these cookies its color and is a type of blue-green algae that comes packed with protein, vitamins A, K1, K2, B12, iron, chromium, and maganese.  With that fresh-from-the-ocean smell and taste, it's best to keep portions small and include it in recipes in which it can be camouflaged (such as these cookies or a smoothie).

I used goji berries too, to add texture, sweetness, and plant magic, but feel free to substitute with raisins or omit altogether.  The green-red combo was really pretty though!  I'm thinking I'll have to repost this recipe closer to the holidays for the Christmas celebrators.  (Can someone remind me?  I've got that mommy-brain-sleep-deprived thing going on).  ;-)

The key to the perfect crunch is allowing them to bake until the edges are golden-brown and then being patient enough to let them cool down on a cooling rack (or some other place where the air can get all around).

This recipe makes about 24 cookies.  I've had a lot of inquiries recently about serving sizes (more information to come on that).  To be technical, 1-2 cookies is a good serving for most… per sitting.  So just stand up and sit back down to have more.  Ha!  Wouldn't it be wonderful if it worked like that?!?!

Let me know if you try these and what you think.  The million $ question…did your kids like them?

In good health,

Tara

Super Green Protein Cookies

Ingredients:

Dry:

1.5 cups almond flour

½ cup ground flaxseeds

3 T dried goji berries (sub: raisins)

1 T hemp seeds

1 T chia seeds

1.5 tsp. spirulina powder

½ tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. salt

Wet:

¼ cup coconut oil, melted

¼ cup honey

1 T vanilla

Directions:

1.    Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2.    In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients and stir well.

3.    In a medium bowl, combine all wet ingredients and stir well.

4.    Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until dough is formed.

5.    On a greased baking pan, place tablespoon-sized balls about an inch apart.  Press down / flatten slightly with a fork.

6.    Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees F – until the edges are golden brown.

7.    For best results (and crunch!), allow to cool 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack for an additional 20-30 minutes.

Cake Smash Success! (Jagger Turns ONE)

Well how did THAT happen?  365 days and boom...Jagger-dude is 1 year old.  

He is the most perfect compliment to our crazy family.  His smiles and laughs make strangers smile and laugh everywhere we go.  He loves to be silly and mobile and hi big sister - well, he's a BIG fan of hers.

Some of you already know that our babies came with a little (lot of) help from science.  They were IVF miracles.  They also each survived a terrible pregnancy disease I had both times called Hyperemesis Gravidarum.  All this just to say, we are so. incredibly. BLESSED!

I believe we can find reason in everything we experience.  "If it doesn't kill you, it makes you stronger." (One of my favorite quotes since I was a kid - from Nietzsche).  Our experiences have brought me to where I am today…I value my family and our health above all else.  I know what it's like to long for each of these.

Well, hello there!  (Jagger-dude - a few months old)

To my sweet Jagger Jack, Happy 1st birthday!  We knew we loved you long before you joined us Earth-side.  You've been such a bright star in our lives over the past year.  I have loved every minute of our 365 days together - watching you grow, play, and learn.  I can't wait for more todays and tomorrows with you!

Babywearing has saved me this year!  Having free hands to chase after big sis is always a good idea.

Now on to parties and cake smashes.  Here's what I learned:

1. January birthday parties in NY need snow dates as a back-up plan.
2. Using blueberries to color the icing actually makes purple icing, not blue.  Jagger is a very secure little dude, he doesn't mind purple….but, it didn't quite fit into the "Winter One-derland" theme that we were going for.  ;-)
3. Sometimes the "cake smash" turns out to be more of a cake fondle.  And that's cool!  He enjoyed it, and that's all I was hoping for.

We may have had to reschedule Jagger's party, but at least we got an unexpected day to play in the fluffy white stuff!

I started feeling pretty nostalgic as I made this recipe - the same one I created originally for Magnolia's first birthday.  I was a newbie to healthy baking, at that time, and ended up making about 7-10 versions of this one before it was "right".  That was wayyy back in 2014.  ;-)  I've come a long way!  Now I have TWO adorable reasons to keep me on top of my healthy baking (and cooking) game.

Magnolia enjoying her smash cupcake 2+ years ago at her 1st birthday party.  It's incredibly bittersweet to see how much she's grown in body and mind and how fast our memories are piling up as the months fly by.

This was also the start of the muffin magic.  What the heck is that muffin magic, you ask?  Well, it's figuring out that muffins can be made of all the healthy stuff you want your kiddos and your whole family to eat!  We're talking veggies, fruit, protein, healthy fats, and fiber.  I don't hide anything in there as I believe it's in the kiddos' best interest to know they are eating veggies and all the good stuff to give them the best foundation of health that you can.  So grab the little ones and let them help measure and mix and get very familiar with these healthy ingredients!

*Note: This recipe is for muffins.  Add the icing and voila - you have cupcakes!

Pumpkin Batter all mixed and ready for the muffin pan.

"Happy birthday to you…"

Pumpkin Carrot Muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe bananas
• 1.5 cups pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup sliced carrots (optional)
• 1 T coconut oil
• 2 eggs
• 1.5 cups almond flour
• 1/5 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp sea salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Blend together all wet ingredients in a blender.
3. In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients.
4. Slowly pour wet ingredients from blender into the bowl with the dry ingredients.
5. Fill greased muffin pan (or muffins liners) 2/3 full.
6. Bake 30 minutes.

*Makes 12 muffins.

"Is the goal to shove as much of this in my mouth as possible, mama?  'Cause that I can do!"

I switched up the kind of icing I made this time, as I wanted a nice shade of blue to go with our "Winter One-derland" theme.  Hmm.  That didn't work out, but it was a very pretty purple color. Haha.  And it was tasty!

Blueberry Coconut Cream Icing

Ingredients:

• 1 can coconut milk
• 2 T coconut oil (not melted)
• 1 T raw honey
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries

Directions:

1. Place can of coconut milk upside down in fridge overnight.
2. Carefully open can and scoop out the hardened coconut cream.  This is what you will be using for the icing.  Save the watery part to use in other recipes.
3. Mix all ingredients in a blender (you will need to keep scraping down the sides and blending several times).
4. If you make in advance, it's ok to refrigerate icing, just be sure to give it a good blend/whipping before you use as it will harden a bit.

Jagger seems as surprised as we are that he's ONE already!