Toddler Eats! (Part 3)

Tonight I'm sharing the third part in my Toddler Eats series, my quest to broadening my daughter taste buds ;)

1- 5 lil smokies (these were the turkey kind and she loved them!) w/ a side of white corn and sweet potato.

2 - 2 slices of deli turkey meat, 1/4 of a banana with a smear of peanut butter, grapefruit segments, and a string cheese cut up. (She loved the cheese cut up for some reason she won't eat it whole, she loved the banana with pb, she loves turkey deli meat, but the grapefruit she wasn't found of!)

3 - Grilled cheese cut into squares, 2 tomatoes halved, blackberry and strawberries. (The tomatoes were a new try she wasn't to fond of them but she did keep trying them so that's a start!)

4 - Spaghetti w/a little butter, peas and chicken. (She loves pasta!)

5 - Hard boiled egg, pineapple spear and 2 sausage links. (Pineapple was a new try she was okay with it, she is still loving hard boiled eggs, and she is obsessed with sausage!)

6 - Baby bell cheese cut up and blackberries (this was a cute little snack, she was asking for "back berries" one day lol!)

7 - Turkey meatballs (cut up), colby jack cheese (diced), and stir fried veggies. (She loved the meatballs , and I'm convinced she'll eat almost any cheese! She also really loved the carrots the other veggies she didn't pay to much attention too.)

8 - Pumpkin spice toast (cut up), banana slices, sausage link (cut up). (Trying to get her to eat toast is a hassle but she seemed to like this one, I'm thinking because it was pumpkin flavored ;) )

(Excuse the bad photographs for #s 7+8!) 

This past month I have been slacking on trying to get Jade to try new things, with our son being born things have been quite hectic and I hate to say it but I've been relying on things I know she likes. I'm hoping now that we're in a good groove with the baby and being a family of 4 that I can get back into actively trying to get her to try new things. I am definitely learning from my mistakes on this one and mister Cash will be trying new foods on a regular basis once he gets into eating solids. I raised a picky eater once, I'm hoping to change that with baby #2 :) As always if you have any ideas or suggestions let me know! Thanks for reading!

Toddler Eats (part1)

Toddler Eats (part2)

Check out my festive Halloween treat ideas!!
Healthy "Candy Corn" Snack
Chocolate Covered Banana Bites
2 Ingredient Pumpkin Brownies

Cash Alexander 1 month old!

Last week our baby boy turned a month old, where has the time gone?! 

Cashs 1 month old stats:

Length - 21 3/4 inches

Weight - 11 lbs

Diapers - Size 1

Clothing size - Mostly newborn still but venturing into some 0-3 months

His legs and feet/toes are so long and skinny! He has the chubbiest little cheeks and he is still a little baldy, although I have noticed his little peach fuzz coming in some more :) He has also started to grin and smile a little bit, I'm looking forward to big smiles and lots of cooing this month! :)

He sleeps so good! For the most part he only wakes up once per night. He is still sleeping in our room but hoping to get him into his crib in the next week or so. Putting him in his crib at night is going to be harder on me than it is him, he already takes a few naps in there during the day ;)

And as for Jade she has taken to being a big sister so well! I am actually surprised at how protective she is of him. She loves to give him kisses and every time she hears him cry she runs over saying "Cash crying, Cash crying" It's literally the cutest thing. 

I still can't believe he is a month old already, but I am so happy and can't wait to watch him grow and learn new things! 

Quick and Healthy Fruit Bowl!

This post is going to be short and sweet! This is one of my favorite healthy snacks, it's so good and it's probably one of the easiest things to whip up.

Ingredients:

• Melon of your choice (I used a small honeydew melon but I've also used cantaloupe before and it was equally delicious!)
• Fruit of your choice (I used blackberries, strawberries and bananas)
• Yogurt (I used greek)
• Seeds/Nuts (I used a mixture of chopped walnuts and sunflower seeds)

Method:

• Cut melon in half and scoop out all the seeds
• Wash and cut your fruit
• Add fruit pieces to your melon
• Top with a tbsp of yogurt
• Sprinkle on your nuts/seeds

And that's it! So quick, so easy and so delicious! 

Quick tip: Wash your melon under warm water with soap and dry before cutting through it! **

2 Ingredient Pumpkin Brownies!

Today I was having a major craving for sweets so I made these brownies and let me tell you it hit the spot, they are SO good! Last year I came across a recipe on Pinterest for 2 ingredient pumpkin muffins using cake mix, I didn't have cake mix so I used brownie mix that I had on hand and they turned out delicious! So quick and simple, you can whip these up in no time!

Ingredients:

• Brownie mix
• 1 can of 100% pure pumpkin
• Festive sprinkles (optional)

Method:

• Mix brownie mix and can of pumpkin together in mixing bowl
• Spray a baking dish with non stick spray
• Pour into baking dish and bake at 325 for 45-50 minutes

And that's it!! Easy peasy!

These brownies are so thick and moist, you definitely won't be able to eat just one!

I hope you enjoy!! :)

Happy October! Quick and Easy festive toddler halloween snack!

I am so so so happy it is finally October!! It is my favorite time of year! Now that Jade is old enough I am having so much fun with all the festive things that come along with the holidays. Themed snacks and lunches, holiday books, fun festive outfits and of course decorating! We have been busy decorating and enjoying the weather the past 2 days. It has actually been really nice here in Florida, finally a little less humid but we'll see how long it lasts! My husband loves decorating for the holidays, he get's it from his Dad who goes all out for the Holidays (Christmas Vacation style!) so we've been pulling all the decorations out of the attic and planning some new decoration additions :) The house has been a complete train wreck, it looked like a Halloween explosion in here but it's finally all coming together. Here are a few photos from our first 2 days of October.


                                                            Talking to Mickey <3

"Punkins!" She says <3

Festive jammies for my little ones <3

And now for a festive little snack I made for Jade while we were taking a break from decorating. Some fruit in  the shape of candy corn with a side of whip cream and sprinkles. I used fresh pineapple chunks, mandarin oranges and banana slices. Super cute and easy! 

I hope everyones October is off to a great start!! I'm definitely looking forward to this month and all the fun things to come! :)

Chocolate Covered Banana Bites ~ Halloween Edition! *Toddler Favorite*

The other day I got a serious craving for chocolate covered bananas, and it got me thinking how I could make them more festive and fun! I first decided I would make them into bite size pieces so my daughter could enjoy them, and then I decided to add some fun Halloween decorations and colors. These were super easy and only took me about 20 minutes to make. These would be super fun for a party or just to make an everyday snack for your toddler more fun :)

I only made enough for me and my daughter to enjoy so adjust the ingredient levels to fit your needs!

Ingredients:

• 1 banana
• 2 palm fulls of meltable chocolate (I used a palm full of each black and green, that I got at Wal-Mart in the Halloween aisle)
•  Halloween Sprinkles 
• Toothpicks (I used the kind that only have 1 pointy end and a stub end, to ensure no one got stabbed when eating these ;)

Method:

• Cut your banana into chunks
• Place the pointy side of toothpick into banana and place on parchment paper
• Melt your first batch of chocolate according to the package directions
• Place chocolate into a ziploc bag and snip a small hole in one end (chocolate should be soft and fully melted but not liquid)
• Pipe chocolate over banana chunks
• Melt second batch of chocoalte and repeat the same steps
• Add your sprinkles
• Let the chocolate harden (about 5-10 minutes)

And you're done! You could also put these in the freezer but if you do that, make sure to serve them immediately after you take them out of the freezer.

These are such a fun treat for Halloween, I hope you enjoy! :)

Welcoming the newest addition to our family!

Things have been a little hectic around my house the past 2 weeks! Our baby boy Cash Alexander was born on September 16 at 10:19am weighing in at 9 lbs 5 oz and 21 inches long! Recovering from a c-section is rough, and with a toddler running around it didn't make it any easier. I was lucky enough to have my husband home for a couple days and then my bestfriend came and helped out over the weekend when my husband was working doubles. Baby Cash is 11 days old today and I'm feeling much much better, and he is doing wonderful! He is such a calm baby, so much different than my daughter was. Jade is taking to him much better than I expected. I thought she was going to be super jealous but we haven't experienced that yet! She loves to give him kisses and bring him his binky, it is literally the cutest thing EVER. We had his newborn photos done when he was 6 days old and from the sneak peeks our photographer has posted on her Facebook page they are adorable! I can't wait to see the full shoot when I get the CD next week :) And with that said I'm going to leave this post with a few pictures of the most adorable little boy you'll ever see ;) (I may be a bit biased but he is super cute!) Have a good night/morning/day friends!

Link to our photographers Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/lovingmomentsphotography

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Toddler Eats! (Part 2)

This week I was really trying to focus on incorporating things into Jades meals that she usually will not touch. Eggs for instance, she hates them and will not touch them. Infact she screams when they're on her plate! This week though we had a breakthrough! I got her to eat eggs on three separate occasions!  I've been reading that around the age from 18-24 months kids' tastes buds start changing so incorporating new foods is important and that's exactly what I'm trying to do :)

Here's a rundown from throughout the week of some of her meals :

#1 - Banana and peanut butter quesadilla w/ half of a hard boiled egg and strawberries/kiwi on the side

#2 - Bean, cheese and ground turkey quesadilla with a small sliced apple on the side. 

#3 - Egg and cheese omelet w/ cantaloupe and sausage on the side.

#4 - Cinnamon roll waffle topped with glaze. Sausage, strawberries, and grapes on the side.

#5 - Egg w/ toast and sausage on the side.

#6 - Nachos w/ cheese sauce, shredded cheese, ground turkey, sour cream, guacamole, and refried beans.

#7 - 2 slices of ham with half of a wedge of laughing cow swiss cheese spread onto it then cut into little rolls, cheese cubes and a Buddy Fruit squeeze pack.

#8 - Turkey roast, mashed potato w/ gravy & broccoli and cheese sauce on the side.

This week was a really good week with her trying new things. I am actually really surprised at how good she did. As I said before this was the first time I have ever gotten her to try eggs let alone like them so that was a big accomplishment! Also ground turkey and mashed potatoes are a new thing that she actually devoured so I'm proud of my little munchkin! We are on our way to a non picky eater!

I hope this helps anyone looking to find some new things to try with their toddlers, and if you have any suggestions let me know. I'll be doing weekly posts on this as we try to broaden her taste buds! :)

Check out my festive Halloween/Fall inspired treats! - 
Healthy fruit candy corn - http://thelarsendaily.blogspot.com/2013/10/happy-october-quick-and-easy-festive.html
Chocolate covered banana bites! - http://thelarsendaily.blogspot.com/2013/09/chocolate-covered-banana-bites.html

Link to Toddler Eats (part 1)! - http://thelarsendaily.blogspot.com/2013/09/toddler-eats-part-1.html
Link to toddler Eats (part 3)! - http://thelarsendaily.blogspot.com/2013/10/toddler-eats-part-3.html

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2 Ingredient Chocolate Covered Banana Smoothie!

This past week I have been craving bananas like crazy! In my cereal, with peanut butter, in smoothies, everything! So today I decided I was going to try a smoothie where the banana wasn't really competing with other flavors. I realized I had chocolate almond milk in the fridge and it just seemed like a match made in heaven! This smoothie is super quick and healthy for you too! Added bonus it tastes exactly like chocolate covered bananas!

Ingredients:

- 2 small ripe bananas

- 2 small frozen bananas

- 1/2 cup dark chocolate almond milk

- 2 tsp coconut flakes (optional for topping)

We always have frozen bananas in our house, we buy them in bulk when they go on sale and freeze them when the get extra ripe. We use them in our smoothies pretty much everyday, and when you add frozen fruit you don't have to add ice! 

We also have a Blendtec blender which is pretty powerful, it doesn't have a problem chopping up half frozen bananas. I would suggest chunking or slicing your bananas prior to freezing them if you have a regular blender so you don't end up with big chunks of banana or burning up your blender.

Pretty simple just add all of your ingredients to the blender and blend until it's smooth! :)

And that's it! I chose to add 2 tsp of coconut flakes but you could add any topping you want, sliced almonds would've been nice as well! Or you could just leave it plain and omit those extra calories ;)

This will make about 2 1/2 cups of smoothie so enough for 2 servings. Each serving without the coconut is 205 calories and with the coconut is 265 calories.

Enjoy!!

Family Beach Day & What To Bring!

Our life as a family of 3 is quickly coming to a close, we are about to begin a whole new chapter as a family of 4! So with that being said we've been trying to spend extra quality time with our daughter while we can when my husband isn't working. This past Wednesday we went to Treasure Island, and even though we've lived in Florida our whole life we had both never been and this was our daughters first BIG beach trip. She's been to other smaller beaches last summer when she was still a baby but this was her first real experience at the beach, and she absolutely loved it!

The weather was beautiful. Low 90's and lots of sunshine! We had lots of fun playing in the sand, collecting sea shells and playing in the water. I think Jades favorite part was chasing all the birds, she was so intrigued by them! My favorite part besides spending it with my loves was seeing a group of sting rays swimming on the shore line, I have never seen anything like that before! (sting rays are known to be on this beach so it wasn't a surprise to see them, I had read up on the beaches website the night before that it's a common thing there).

While our time at the beach was fun, I was overly stressed the night before making sure I didm;t forget to bring anything. There is so much to bring when you have a toddler and are almost 9 months pregnant, gone are the days of just getting up and going on a moments notice! Now we need (or I should say I) need a plan to keep myself sane! 

The night before I packed our lunch/snacks. I also packed both of our beach bags and the diaper bag. The morning of we ate breakfast, put everything in the cooler and packed everything into the car and we were off! I find that having everything done the night before makes getting ready in the morning so much easier and faster. 

For lunch I packed for us - 

• Spinach salad with brown rice, corn, grilled chicken and alittle bit of blue cheese dressing.
• Grapes, strawberries, blueberries with vanilla greek yogurt and sunflower seeds.

For Jades lunch I packed - 

• Ham slices
• Diced cheese
• Strawberries and grapes

I also brought some extra snacks to be safe -

• Pretzel rods
• Mandarin oranges
• Oreos 
• Lots of water and juice boxes 

In our beach bags I packed - 

• Swimmy Diapers
• Sunscreen and lots of it!
• Wipes
• Sunglasses
• Water shoes for Jade
• Towels
• Beach blanket
• Extra clothes for everyone
• Umbrella and umbrella stand

And if you have a toddler or baby you know all the necessities that go into a diaper bag ;)

And of course I'm going to share our fun pictures and the amazing view from the beach! If you're ever in the area I would definitely recommend going to Treasure Island it is beautiful!

Toddler Eats! (Part 1)

When it comes to getting my daughter (or any toddler for that matter) to eat different foods that can be tricky! I've been trying to incorporate new foods into her daily routine to get her taste buds used to them, it does't always work but I try and that's all that matters right?! I've found that one week she'll love something and the next week she won't touch it so I'm constantly trying to switch it up.

Here is a run down from over the past week of some of the things she's eaten:

#1 - Is a snack of Mandarin oranges and pretzels. 

#2 - Grilled Chicken w/ a side of BBQ sauce. Grilled asparagus, corn and macaroni and cheese.

#3 - Cheese ravioli w/ Alfredo sauce and broccoli. Homemade garlic bread on the side.

#4 - Turkey chili on top of sweet conrbread topped with cheese. (I have a recipe post on this)

#5 - French toast w/ sausage and berries on the side. Topped with a little bit of maple syrup.

#6 - Silver dollar pancakes topped with some whipped cream, strawberries and banana w/ sausage on the side. Topped with a little bit of maple syrup.

#7 - Grilled ham and cheese sandwich cut into strips w/ grapes, strawberries and blueberries on the side.

#8 - PB&J on honey wheat bread w/ banana on the side. 

(Quick tip, we cook all of her pancakes at once. We will set aside about 30-45 min one day to cook up enough mini pancakes to fill a huge freezer bag with. We freeze them then pop them in the microwave for 30 seconds wrapped in a paper towel when we need them. It's so easy and way cheaper than buying the already pre-made pancakes! This is one of our go to breakfasts for her)

 As you can see she loves fruit, we're still working on incorporating more veggies. Also the chili was the first time she's ever had chili and she surprising loved it! Jade is also pretty much the queen of "dipping" she always wants to drip her food in something whether it be BBQ, ketchup, maple syrup, whipped cream, yogurt, honey mustard etc. She is always saying "dip it, dip it" when we sit down to eat, my crazy girl :)

I hope this helps anyone looking to find some new things to try with their toddlers, and if you have any suggestions let me know. I'll be dong weekly posts on this as we try to broaden her taste buds! :)

Check out my festive Halloween/Fall inspired treats! - 

Healthy fruit candy corn - http://thelarsendaily.blogspot.com/2013/10/happy-october-quick-and-easy-festive.html

Chocolate covered banana bites! - http://thelarsendaily.blogspot.com/2013/09/chocolate-covered-banana-bites.html

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$3.99 Stock Up Sale at Crazy 8

Link to Toddler Eats (part 2) post! -
http://thelarsendaily.blogspot.com/2013/09/toddler-eats-part-2.html

Link to Toddler Eats (part 3) post! - http://thelarsendaily.blogspot.com/2013/10/toddler-eats-part-3.html