Friday, February 22, 2013

What's For Breakfast? - Healthy Blue Vanilla Protein Pancakes

As any parent knows, choices are a big deal with toddlers and preschoolers. It gives them a sense of control and independence. Give your child a wide variety of choices when it comes to the foods she eats, especially if your child has become the "picky eater" as mine has. It may be your only saving grace. **DISCLAIMER:  When giving choices, be very aware that you may end up making dishes that make no sense to you. Nevermind. Fix it anyway.**  When you let them help and they can "make it themselves," it adds another bonus. You can use it as mealtime ammunition. "But Mooooommyyyyy, I don't want to eat breakfast any-MORE!"  "You made it yourself! Of course you want to eat your own awesome breakfast that YOU made!"  Like that.

Here is basically the same recipe as my Healthy Vanilla Caramel Cinnamon Pancakes I blogged a little while back. Only no cinnamon or caramel. And Pip wanted them bright blue. Obviously, make any color you want.

~Ingredients~

2 scoops vanilla creme whey protein powder
2 cups quick oats (food-processed into a fine powder)
3 tsp. Stevia
1/2 cup water
6 egg whites
neon blue food coloring

 ~Directions~

1.  Combine all ingredients and mix with a food processor, blender, or submersible wand until smooth. Let the mini-person participate.
 2.  Start with 5 drops of food coloring and add more drops until you reach desired color. I think I used 15.
 3.  Let the small person help stir! They'll enjoy seeing the color appear.

 4.  Make pancakes as usual.  Your child should look something like this, and so should you knowing that you fixed a healthy and substantial breakfast!


Read More...

Monday, January 7, 2013

Foodie Fun! - Finger Paint Hand/Footprint Valentine Posters!

It's a cold, snowy January or February afternoon and your little one is a bit antsy. The buzz of the holiday season is no longer in the air. Maybe you and your little one are feeling sad and need something to look forward to. What can Mom do to relieve some boredom without having to resort to popping in the same old movies?  How about making homemade finger paints with your kiddo to make hand and footprint Valentines Day posters! They can help stir, and you have all the ingredients you need in your own kitchen. I made these with my class today and they came out SO CUTE!!


~Ingredients~

4 cups water
2 cups flour
pink, red, or purple food coloring
white or off-white poster board

~Directions~

1.  Mix the flour and water in a medium saucepan. Heat on medium-low and stir until it is thick.
2.  Remove from heat.  Separate in various bowls.  Add desired food color to each bowl.
3.  Allow to cool.
4.  Let the child decide which color they'd like their hand and footprint to be, and which hand he/she would like to use for the letter "o" in the world L-O-V-E, and paint their hand.  Press in the middle of the piece of poster board.
5.  Paint the bottoms of both feet and have them step down one at a time so a "v" is formed.
6.  Draw an "L" with a pencil before their hand print. The pencil is used in case you make a mistake and need to erase to make it look a little nicer.
7.  Draw an "E" after their footprints.
8.  Trace the "L" and "E" with the other shades of paint you created.
9.  Let them splatter some paint on the poster board to add a little pizazz.
10. Draw a heart in pencil and fill in with paint as well.
11. Embellish however you'd like!  Have fun!



Read More...

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Kitchen Goddess - Cotton Candy Champagne

Thanks again, Pinterest! Such a cute idea.  Place cotton candy in a glass and slowly pour champagne over it.  What you get is a super sweet tinted champagne. Buy more cotton candy than you need so you can pair the two. DELICIOUS!

I would have rather had pink, but couldn't find any in the grocery store!

Read More...

Friday, December 28, 2012

Foodie Fix-It: Overnight Onion Poultice

Another tried and true method to relieve cough, cold, and flu virus is to leave chopped onion near your bed.  According to this article, which I found really informative, leaving onion around your house any old time will help to capture viruses and germs that may be floating in the air:  Click here to see the article.  That being read, I chopped the other half of the large white sweet onion left over from the homemade onion and honey home remedy I made in this post, and decided to see what happened if I left it next to Piper's crib while she slept.  It is currently 10:42pm and I have not heard her COUGH OR SNIFFLE ONE TIME.  This is miraculous to me as during her nap earlier she was coughing so much I thought she'd wake herself up.  I am now an absolute believer in the power of onions and all the health benefits they can provide. The true test will come tomorrow morning to see if these last few posts combined has made any difference in her state of health. If it has, I will blog again to let you know that onions & honey elixir, bone broth, and onion poultices are the ticket to health and wellness. Stay tuned!  Here is how I made the onion poultice!


~Ingredients~

1/2 large white sweet onion

medium-sized square of cheesecloth

small bowl

~Directions~

1.  Place the 1/2 of an onion in a food processor and process until chopped.

2.  Scoop chopped onion onto cheesecloth square.
3.  Bring the corners of the cheesecloth up to meet each other and twist together so that the dry corners are underneath the wet onion section.
4.  Place the bowl and onion poultice on a nightstand (or in my case, and upside-down diaper box because it's the only thing I could find) as near as possible to your own head or the head of the sleeping child. 
Pay no attention to Peeky McLurkerson.
5.  Listen to the sound of no coughing, sneezing, sniffling, or moaning for the rest of the night!!  It's a beautiful sound!!

Read More...