Another mom was telling me about her daughter’s love of Trader Joe’s Freeze Dried Mangoes, so I went and picked some up a few weeks ago. I was pleased to see that there were no other ingredients besides “mangoes” in this treat! They have the consistency of Astronaut Ice Cream (if that means anything to you guys?!) Anyways last Friday I was at Trader Joe’s again and I noticed this time they had a lot more freeze dried fruit options – I picked up some blueberries, bananas, and strawberries in edition to the mangoes. Healthy treats with a long shelf life – not too shabby!
Yum Yum, Gimmie Some!
What are your favorite toddler and baby snacks from Trader Joe’s? Leave a comment and share with us!
The other day I was hosting a playgroup at my house and one of the moms broke out some Snapea Crisps. The babies were in a frenzy! Cameron was double fisting them! I knew I had to find these Snapea Crisps, and fast. Fresh Direct came to my rescue, as usual. I ordered 2 bags right off the bat!
Yummy Yummy in Cameron's Tummy
Now, I know these aren’t the healthiest snacks on the planet (I think the Fig Newtons are a lot better) although the first ingredient is “peas.” But, sometimes it’s good to have a sure fire winner in your arsenal.
Recently a mom told me that her daughter loved to snack on fig newtons and that that her pediatrician had recommended them as a healthy snack. I went on Fresh Direct looking for them, and I was happy to find that they had 100% whole grain Fig Newton Minis. They come in little packages, which I keep in my diaper bag. Cameron really loves them! I did a little research on figs, and I learned that they are indeed good for you.
A tasty treat mom approves of
Here’s some of what I found out:
The mineral content of figs closely resembles that of human milk
Figs are rich in both vitamins A, B1, B2 and calcium, iron, phosphorus, manganese, sodium potassium and chlorine
Figs are high in vitamin B, that is essential in the intestine regulation, the fig has a similar function in our bodies as cereals do;
Dried figs are rich in fibre, potassium, calcium, magnesium and iron
The fig is oxidant, laxative, diuretic, digestible and a blood cleanser
Figs excellent for the liver
Sounds good to me! Snack on, Cameron – snack on!
Today I decided to make some banana bread because I had lots of super-ripe bananas, and I didn’t think Cameron would get to them all before it was too late. I searched online for banana bread recipes and I found one that used apple sauce too (I happened to have some that I bought at the Fort Greene farmer’s market). Here’s the recipe I used, which I adapted a little bit from this one I originally found on Cooks.com (I reduced the amount of sugar, added more banana, a few spics, and omitted the nuts).
Banana Applesauce Bread
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
pinch of salt
2 c. flour
4 ripe bananas (mashed)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 c. applesauce
Cream sugar and oil. Add eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt and beat well. Add in the mashed bananas and applesauce. Add flour and baking soda, and mix until just combined. Bake in greased loaf pan, 350 degrees, 1 hour. Or if you want to use small loaf pans, or muffin tins, just bake it for less time – when a knife inserted into the bread comes out clean, it is done. Also, you will notice it pulling away from the edges of the pan slightly.
FYI – you could probably use whole wheat flour, although I would recommend doing a 1/2 and 1/2 with whole wheat and regular flour. Using 100% whole wheat flour might make the bread crumbly and hard for baby to pick up.
I hope your baby (and you) enjoy it!
At Cameron’s 12 month check up I was talking to our pediatrician about how to get him to eat eggs. Sometimes he goes for scrambled eggs, and sometimes not…. She suggested trying french toast. For Cameron, it was love at first bite! A mom asked me the other day for my recipe. I don’t really have one (I never measure) but here is a rough estimate:
1 egg
1/2 cup whole milk
dash of cinnamon
pat of butter for in the pan
4 pieces of whole wheat bread
French toast and strawberries!
I whisk up the egg, milk, and cinnamon and then dunk the bread in for a few seconds on each side. Then cook in the pan with the butter until nice and brown on both sides. I always make extra (Cam usually only eats 1/2 – 1 piece per serving) and keep it in the fridge. It reheats well in the microwave. Serve the toast with fruit and a touch of maple syrup if you like.
This Christmas when we were driving down to DC to visit my family we stopped at Chick Fil A. My trusty Skip Hop plate was packed away in the trunk, but it didn’t matter! They gave us a great table topper that stuck to the table – it kept the germs away from Cameron, and made his mess fairly easy to clean up.
Cameron enjoys his Chick Fil A
I checked out Amazon to see if I could find something like this to keep in my diaper bag, and indeed I was able to!
This one comes with a pop up travel case
These toppers (above) have a sesame street theme and come with a pop up travel case – great for diaper bags! There are other themes too, if your little one isn’t into Sesame Street.
The other day I was at the playground and a mom got out some pretzel sticks as a snack for her little girl, who is the same age as Cameron (12 months). She asked me if he would like to try one. I was sure with his limited teeth it would be too hard for him, but I gave him one anyways, and boy did he prove me wrong. He loves chomping on them! I ordered some from Fresh Direct, but perhaps you can find them at your local market. The only thing to be careful of is when you get down to the last bite – sometimes Cameron shoves the last big chunk in his mouth, and it can be a little big!
Snyder's Organic Oat Bran Sticks Pretzels
I got this idea for a breakfast treat from another mom who was feeding it to her 14 month old daughter:
Whole wheat toast with a little butter, and then some peanut butter. The butter helps it not be quite so thick and sticky. The warm toast melts the peanut butter nicely.
Cameron really enjoys it – and it’s a nice break from the morning waffle rut we had fallen into.
Lately Cameron has really been digging Applegate Farms Chicken Nuggets that I have been ordering from Fresh Direct. I know it’s not the healthiest thing on the planet, but at least the chicken has no Antibiotics, so I can feel a little bit good about that. Plus he is getting some protein! They are easy for him to mash up in his mouth, and easy for me to make. I throw a few in the microwave to defrost for a couple seconds (usually with some sweet potato fries) and then finish them off in the toaster oven.
Yummy Chicken Nuggets
It’s no secret that Cameron (and mom) love the sweet potato fries at 67 Burger here in Fort Greene. But we can’t be eating out there all the time, plus all that frying – though delicious – isn’t good for us. So I was trying to think of a way to make these at home, and make them a bit healthier too. Chatting with some moms one day at the park, I mentioned that I had bought some sweet potatoes that I was going to cut them up into sticks and bake in the oven. Someone commented that this was “awfully ambitious.” I thought to myself that they were right, and then a light bulb went off.
My husband and I order frozen fries all the time from Fresh Direct that we bake in the oven, and I knew there were sweet potato ones too made by the same brand – they are called Alexia Sweet Potato Julienne Fries with Sea Salt. I defrost them for a few seconds in the microwave and then finish heating them in the toaster oven. Cameron really loves them, and they are easy for me to make a few at a time.
