Mommy FTW

A mom friend of mine brought these Blueberry Crumb Bars to my 4th of July BBQ earlier this summer, and Cameron (not to mention everyone else) gobbled them up.  I asked my friend for the recipe, made a few tweeks to it, and baked up another batch for Cameron.  He is still loving them, and I wanted to share the recipe with you all.

Blueberry and Peach Crumb Bars

2/3 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup cold unsalted butter (2 sticks or 8 ounces)
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
Zest of one lemon
Zest and juice of one lime
4 cups fresh blueberries
2 peaches, peeled and cut into small chunks
1/4cup white sugar
6 teaspoons cornstarch

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9×13 inch pan.

2. In a food processor, mix together 2/3 cup sugar, the all purpose and whole wheat flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and lemon zest. Cut the cold butter into cubes, put it in the food processor, along with the eggs. Pulse the food processor until the mixture becomes crumbly. Press half the mixture into the pan.

3. In another bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch, lime juice and zest. (You can use lemon if you don’t have lime, I’ve just found that lime really goes great with blueberries). Gently mix in the blueberries and peaches. Sprinkle the fruit mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the fruit layer.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares. I even chill mine in the fridge overnight before cutting.

FYI, this recipe is based on a recipe from Smitten Kitchen – here’s the link if you’d like to see the original (I basically used some whole wheat flour instead of all all-purpose flour, cut out some of the sugar, added more fruit, changed the method a bit to make it easier….)  I hope you enjoy it!

At least a month ago one of my friends from Brooklyn mentioned to me that Trader Joe’s had a yogurt in a tube product, but I had yet to see it at my local store here in the DC area.  Well, it just appeared!

Ogranic, affordable, and Cameron approved

It’s called Yogurt Squishers – an organic yogurt in a tube similar to GoGurt (which Cam loves) at a better price – somehow everything at Trader Joe’s is always so affordable!  Oh, and FYI I’ve heard that Stonyfield Farm makes some of Trader Joe’s yogurt products… which makes it seem like even more of a deal to this mom.  Keep an eye out for it next time you are shopping!

I’ve given Cameron pancakes before, but one day at the playground one of my mom friends whipped out some mini (silver dollar sized) ones in a container that she had kept for snack time.  What a brilliant idea!  It’s great for the kids because they can hold them in their hands and run around and play while they snack.

Pancakes, not just for breakfast!

I make my pancakes with the Arrowhead Mills Multigrain Pancake & Waffle Mix which is available on Fresh Direct.    The directions for the pancakes don’t call for an egg, but I add one anyways.  I also use melted butter instead of oil, and add a touch of honey for sweetness.  I haven’t gotten too advanced yet, but I am thinking adding strawberries, blueberries, or bananas would be good, or if you want to go the hidden vegetable route, perhaps some pumpkin puree.  So next time you make pancakes for breakfast, make a few extra little guys to tote around as snacks.  Yum!

Our vacation is less a week away (!!) so I’ve been asking my fellow moms for advice when it comes to entertaining a toddler on a plane.  None of these are exactly groundbreaking ideas, but maybe some of these them will be helpful to you.

Stickers – lots and lots of stickers! – Cameron is really into stickers lately, so this idea made perfect sense to me.  We’ve been getting them after our weekly visits to Trader Joe’s and Cameron will spend the whole walk back sticking and unsticking them to his pants and anything around him.  I went to Target and picked up a bunch in the Stationary and Scrapbooking sections (on the first floor near the greeting cards).  We went for the truck and farm stickers, but there’s a big assortment.  I also ordered some Melissa and Doug stickers off of Amazon.  I got a pad of paper (also from Target) so that the stickers hopefully end up there instead of all over the plane.  I also plan to bring crayons.

Cameron picks out some stickers at Target

A new toy – I’m going for something blinky that involves batteries.  I haven’t quite picked out something yet, but I’ll keep you posted as to what I end up with.  But, I plan to keep it totally secret until we get on the plane, that way it will be all the more exciting.

Videos – I ordered a Yo Gabba Gabba DVD – It is Cameron’s favorite so I am hoping it will buy me at least an hour or so.  I went for the Dancey Dance Bunch, but I’m pretty sure any of them would do.  Cameron doesn’t seem to mind watching them over and over again.  I also have some Baby Einstein.  Cameron loves Baby Wordsworth, and Neighborhood Animals.

iPhone – Peekaboo Barn is still Cameron’s favorite iPhone App, but he also loves just flipping through the photos (most of them are of him) and pressing the buttons in general.

Snacks – lots and lots of snacks.  I think we all know that there isn’t much food on airplanes anymore, so don’t forget to pack an arsenal.  It was also suggested to me to try lollipops.  This isn’t something I would normally give Cameron, but when it comes to keeping a toddler quiet on a plane, I’ll go for pretty much anything.

Non-Refrigerated Milk (yes, they make that!) – I actually plan to bring this for not just the plane, but the vacation in general.  You can get it on Fresh Direct (it’s called Farmland Lil’ Milk Stay Fresh Whole Milk).  By the way, they also have 1% and 2% if your little one is no longer on Whole Milk.

Other Passengers – Cameron loves to make friends.  Hopefully some of my fellow passengers will be interested in making friends back!  If so, I plan to use them for as much entertainment as possible.

Books and Puzzles – Just like his videos, Cameron can play with his puzzles and books over and over and not get bored of them.  He also really likes his touch and feel flash cards.  I think I’ll stick with his most favorite ones (tractor, firetruck, dog, cat, ball).

Any of you mommies out there have other ideas to share with everyone?  I can use all the help I can get!

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!

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