toddler approved, tasty tuesday

i thought that i would use todays ''tasty tuesday'' to talk about toddler approved snacks that don't include m&m's or cookies :)

 

my boys are almost 4, 2.5 and 15 months old, please use common sense & only give these snacks to kiddos who are old enough. 

generally speaking my kids love to eat almost anything. their all time favorite (at least for pooks) are fruit snacks.

now while they are kinda sugary, i'm okay with them for several reasons. first, they are a light snack and won't ruin dinner. they are about 10 pieces in each pack and one package contains 100% of their daily value for vitamin C, they are 80 calories and fat free. they are made with real fruit juice, so overall i can't complain too much. plus they are super easy: just tear open the package and go. we keep quite a few in the diaper bag!

coming in a close second is: any type of fruit with a dip. usually strawberries, apples or blueberries. now while they love caramel dip, it is high is sugar so i limit it. usually we use all natural vanilla yogurt.

it's just a little bit sweet and the active cultures help keep 'em healthy. bubba just uses his just as dip, while peanut and pooks dip and then eat theirs.

now there are quite a few snacks that are appealing, not necessarily because of the nutrition but because of the educational value. yep, snacks can be fun! take for example both of these: cheez-it snacks and nabisco alpha-bits:

 

sure my kids are too old to play scrabble, even the junior version, but they love looking and talking about all of the letters! now i'll be honest, peanut could care less, but bubba and pooks are really recognizing their capital letters (bubba knows all of them!). these aren't really nutritious but they aren't horrible either are yummy and fun.

other popular snacks are:

• smoothies--made with yogurt, frozen strawberries, bananas and a little bit of honey.
• trail mix-- made with peanuts, raisins (or crasins), peanut butter chips, cheerios, pretzels and chocolate chips
• pretzels--plain or dipped in peanut butter
• crackers topped with cheese

i hope this post gave you at least a couple suggestions to help out with your toddler. please share any ideas or common snacks that your kids enjoy in the comments section of this post. i'll then add them to this original post for us to look back to later!

who you callin' peanut?

peanut went to the doctor today for his well baby visit and everything checked out perfectly! he is right on track developmentally (even though he STILL won't say mama) and even ahead in other areas (drinking out of an open mouth cup). his head circumference was 19.25 inches, his height was 30.5 inches and his weight was....22 pounds 2 oz! i thought for sure he was over 25lbs, i mean peanut is getting heavy to carry but in actuality that is only a 1 pound more than he weighed at his 12mos appt. overall he is in the 25th percentile for both height and weight. while this may seem little to other people, this is big to us. (hello, at bubba's 3 year appt he was in the 8th percentile for height). the little stinker had to get 3 shots (one from his 12mos that i delayed) and only cried for a split second each. he was more than content to exchange a few needle pricks for a big blue helium filled balloon. he has to get one more shot at his 18 month check up and then i believe he is done until age 5!

49 degrees

was the temperature last thursday afternoon. not only was it 49 degrees but there was no wind. now if your neck of the woods is anything like our neck of the woods, this is practically a heatwave! i was so excited to let the boys play outside that i could barely wait for their naptime to end. now while it was nice out, i still made them wear their winter hats, simply to keep their ears warm. they were out there for over an hour and thursday night, they went down for bed without even a peep. i ♥ being able to let them run off all that excess energy. this makes me SO excited for spring and summer!

 bubba (looking way to old for my liking)

all 3 (and yes, i realize peanut is trying to eat chalk)

  pooks, not wanting his pic taken

peanut enjoying his racecar

see, he knows how to use the chalk the right way!

so big!

peanut, i cannot even believe that you are 15 months old today! you have a well baby check up monday so we'll find out your height and weight then but i can tell you that you:

• have 12 teeth with 2 more poking through the gumline {and drool like crazy!}
• sleep through the night, without a bottle or sippy cup. bedtime is 7pm and you sleep straight through to 7am
• still take two naps a day. a 30 minute morning nap (usually while running errands while bubba is in school) and a 2+ hour afternoon nap with your brothers
• love bath time with your brothers but always want to stand-up, making mom and dad very nervous
• can say dada, yes, no-no, this, thanks, whats this? (all one word), sit, and i'm sure a few more that i'm forgetting
• you love to wave, blow kisses and say ''so big''. you also enjoy doing songs with movement like pat-a-cake and itsy bitsy spider
• your favorite foods are broccoli, carrots, blueberries, scrambled eggs, rice, mashed potatoes, pizza, bread and chicken. you don't really seem that big on red meat and could care less about mac & cheese. oh and on the rare occasion that you get one, you love love love lollipops!
• are a dancing machine! even sitting in the shopping cart at the grocery store--if you hear music you start moving and dancing
• love to antagonize your brothers! you intentionally take their toys and lovies, waiting for them to see you and then run. 
• you bark. seriously, you mimic rascal and make barking noises. cutest.thing.ever
• understand and follow one part commands "bring me the book" or "find your shoes/binky"
• you know a few body parts: head, belly, ears and feet

you are getting so big and your personality just shines through more each day. no one can decide if you look more like bubba or more like pooks--i think you're a combination of both, but mostly you're just you :)

love you peanut!

toddler approved, tasty tuesday....on wednesday

so sorry this is late, i was excited to share my other news and totally forgot to get this posted:

 

This week I thought that I would share a recipe that is so easy to make and delicious! Plus, using last weeks tips and tricks you can make it veggie loaded. here is the recipe, and below are some additional tips/suggestions.

Baked Ziti

Ingredients:
1 pound dry ziti pasta
1 onion, chopped
1 pound lean ground beef
2 (26 ounce) jars spaghetti sauce
6 ounces provolone cheese, sliced
1 1/2 cups sour cream
6 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add ziti pasta, and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes; drain.
2. In a large skillet, brown onion and ground beef over medium heat. Add spaghetti sauce, and simmer 15 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter a 9x13 inch baking dish. Layer as follows: 1/2 of the ziti, Provolone cheese, sour cream, 1/2 sauce mixture, remaining ziti, mozzarella cheese and remaining sauce mixture. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.
4. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheeses are melted.


Doesn't that sound freaking delicious? yeah well it is, i promise. and yes it calls for sour cream, no you cannot even tell that it's in there. i suppose if you really wanted to you could omit it and it's taste just as good. now when i make it i follow the recipe with 2 exceptions.

1. Instead of regular ziti pasta, I use Ronzoni Smart Taste 'Penne Rigate' noodles. These noodles taste exactly like regular pasta but have "Three times the fiber and calcium equal to an eight-ounce glass of milk."  These noodles cost a little bit more but are so worth it! The website has a printable coupon and we usually buy them for much less at Sam's Club.
2. As I mentioned in last weeks post, use veggie loaded sauces! Nothing makes this pasta dish better than chunks of tomatos and onion. Delish! This is also super easy to sneak those pureed carrots into; the cheeses mask the taste :) 

make it, and let me know what you think! 

oh and word to the wise--this will fill a 9x13 dish to the point of (almost) overflowing. it makes a ton! if you want, i recommend splitting it between two 8x8pans; putting one in the oven to bake and one in the freezer to thaw for an easy meal on another night.