Expert Advice On Feeding Your Children

Storytime Snack Ideas

11/1/2019

Feeding Littles | Create a fun snack time memory with your kids! Using a story to help theme your snacks will help your child be excited to eat as well as creating a memory with you. Novel presentation of food can help prevent picky eating in toddlers and young kids.

We were thrilled to be part of the #storytimesnacks in September project, spearheaded by Literacy for Littles. Each Tuesday in September, we joined some wonderful accounts in featuring snacks that fit the theme of a favorite children’s book! Reading is one of the most important things you can do with your child, and so many books pair beautifully with simple themed snacks! Even though September is over, you can still use some of these books and snack pairing ideas with your little ones throughout the year!

Our first book was “If I Could Keep You Little” by Marianne Richmond. It’s a beautiful book that describes how many of us feel about parenting - we wish we could freeze time and keep our kids from growing up, and yet if we never saw them grow we would miss so much magic along the way! I cry hysterically every time I read it but still read it nonetheless.
Our snack was inspired by the lines, “If I could keep you little, I’d cut your bread into shapes. But then I’d miss you finding, 'Hey, I LIKE ketchup with my grapes!'” To celebrate this part of the book, we’ve made peanut butter and sliced strawberry sandwiches with whole grain bread, cut into shapes. Sub any nut or seed butter for allergies. It’s a simple, filling snack that can be enjoyed before or after reading the book! We recommend eating separately from reading (as opposed to reading and snacking at the same time), as we want our kids to have the chance to eat mindfully.

Our second book was “Don’t Push the Button” by Bill Cotter. It’s funny and silly and encourages kids to interact with the story. The premise of the book is monster Larry doesn’t want the reader to push the button, but eventually his curiosity takes over and a hilarious sequence of events ensues.
You know that we are big fans of sensory play during mealtime (if your tot can’t touch something he likely won’t eat it), so we decided to make “buttons” with food in honor of this fabulous book. Simply place three dips in the end of a muffin tin (we love novel food presentation) and place a button on top! Here’s what we used:
- Yogurt with blackberries
- Roasted red pepper hummus with cucumbers
- Guac with Simple Mills crackers

Encourage your kid to “push the button” and get a little messy with the food. Perhaps they want to taste the button next. Maybe they want to try again by pushing more buttons. It’s a fun, interactive experience for kids and adults alike!

“On the Night You Were Born” by Nancy Tillman is a beautiful celebration of a child - “You are the one and only ever you...” - and it makes me cry every time I read it. I always read this one to my girls on their birthdays! In this book, the author describes how the earth celebrates the birth of each new baby.
The line, “Who in the world is exactly like you - Who - Who - Who?” inspired this cute little rice cake owl as seen on Pinterest (and it’s definitely more of a crafty snack!). For those of you who like super simple, these Babybel cheese ladybugs (also from Pinterest) are perfect, inspired by the lines, “If the moon stays up until morning one day, or a ladybug lands and decides to stay, or a little bird sits on your window awhile, it’s because they’re all hoping to see you smile...”

Here's how we made them:

Owl - brown rice cake body, apple wings (thinly slice for kids under 4), O’s cereal front feathers, strawberry beak, banana/blueberry eyes.
Ladybug - This is where it gets interesting. You can peel the Babybel cheese down the middle, slightly separate, and dot the wax with cooled melted chocolate or another dark food liquid...or you can use a sharpie (#momhack). It doesn’t bleed through the very thick non-edible wax (I double-triple checked), but it may come off on hands so I would help your little ones peel it all the way off! It’s a cute, simple way to be all crafty but...not.

“Heaven blew every trumpet and played every horn on the wonderful, marvelous night you were born.”

When this series started we were contacted by Simon Kids/Simon and Schuster to check out a few of their children’s books, and the ones they sent were so sweet!

We especially loved “Not Quite Narwhal,” a beautiful story about identity and inclusiveness, written by kid author Jessie Sima. My girls love it. Of course we had to share this book - and themed snack - with you, since we’re all about narwhals, unicorns, mermaids, and rainbows in this house!
Fruit kebabs are a simple way to put food on a stick (everything’s better on a stick, right?). Our toddler course grads know how important it is to serve food in a novel way and add dips, so for some fun - and fat, protein and blood sugar balance - we’ve added a yogurt dip (use dairy-free if necessary). Simply mix full-fat Greek plain yogurt with sweetener of choice (or keep unsweetened) and serve with strawberry, peach, cutie wedge (2 different orange colors!), banana, kiwi and blueberries on a stick. Cut the sharp end. Make sure to keep this for kids 2+ and always supervise when kids are eating!

We hope you continue to make fun snacks and read to your kiddos!

Getting Creative with Blueberries

10/3/2019

Feeding Littles | A list of different ways to offer blueberries to kids, toddlers, and baby-led weaning babies starting solids. Offering foods in different ways can help selective eating.

Do your kids enjoy blueberries? There are so many amazing ways to use this summer fruit, which is crazy high in phytochemicals (but definitely can turn kid poop blue). You can definitely serve blueberries as is (modified for age), but we like to change it up and use blueberries in other ways too.

Here are a few ways that our family enjoys blueberries:

Alternate with strawberries or bananas on a skewer and dip into melted chocolate or yogurt dip.
Smash atop toast with almond or peanut butter as "jelly".
Blend with yogurt or kefir (use dairy-free if needed), coconut oil, coconut milk, cinnamon, and a sweetener (option) for a smoothie or homemade popsicle.
Serve atop cereal, oatmeal, or overnight oats.
Blend with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, honey, lemon juice, and salt and pepper for a delicious dressing atop spinach, feta, walnuts and blueberries.

We recommend squishing or halving for kids under 12 months to be extra safe (although they’re not a true choking hazard). Keep the salad for older eaters due to the honey (a no no under 1) and the whole nuts (avoid until 4).

If you are looking for more ideas like this, you can follow us on Instagram or check out our online Toddler Course.

Halloween-Themed Smoothies

10/1/2019

A great snack for kids and adults to enjoy.

It may be October, but it’s still hot in much of the world and smoothies are A-OK year round! We love featuring these each year because they’re tasty and appropriate for many allergy families too! (We aren’t dairy-free but know many of our followers are for various reasons!)

We found these fun glass Halloween milk bottles at Target again this year in the dollar spot! Worried about glass? Tuck the milk bottle in a sock before serving! It’s great to get toddlers used to handling glass (with assistance) so they can safely drink from it as they get older.

Each recipe makes about 2 cups of smoothie, but the glass bottles fit about 3/4 cup liquid each. Make them with your kids this month for a fun Halloween-themed drink that's tasty and satisfying!

Scary Berry Ingredients:

1/2 cup blackberries
1/2 cup blueberries
1 T coconut oil
2 T dried gogi berries
1 T hemp hearts
1 T chia seeds
1 T cocoa powder
3/4 cup almond (or coconut, hemp, etc.) milk
6 small pitted dates
6 ice cubes

Sweet Pumpkin Spice Ingredients:

1/2 cup pumpkin puree (unsweetened)
1/4 cup walnuts (sub 2 T sunflower seeds or 1 T coconut oil if nut-free)
1/2 peach (fresh or frozen, about 1/2 cup)
2 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. cinnamon (more if you like cinnamon)
1 tsp. nutmeg
6 small pitted dates
3/4 cup almond (or coconut, hemp, etc.) milk
6 ice cubes

Green Goblin Ingredients:

1 large ripe banana
1/2 pitted avocado
3/4 cup almond (or coconut, hemp, etc.) milk
1 T chia seeds
1 T hemp hearts
1/2 cup kale
1/2 cup spinach
2 dates
6 ice cubes

For all recipes - throw all ingredients (liquid first) in a high powered blender like Vitamix. Blend until smooth and serve. Enjoy!

How to Make Tzatziki Dip

9/17/2019

Feeding Littles | An easy recipe for tzatziki (cucumber yogurt dip) that's great for kids, including picky eating toddlers. Kids love the novel and fun play of dipping veggies or pita in the tzatziki.

Dips can help selective eaters be more adventurous.

We love Tzatziki (cucumber yogurt dip) for veggies, crackers and pita...and the kids we tested this on last week were gobbling it up! It’s good on its own too - grab a spoon! Recipe inspired by Food Network. Here’s how to make it:

1 cup full-fat plain Greek yogurt
1 cucumber
2 cloves garlic, minced
Juice of ½ lemon
½ tsp. lemon zest
½ T chopped dill
Salt and pepper to taste

Peel and dice cucumber. Mix it in a small bowl with all other ingredients and stir until well-blended. Refrigerate for an hour before serving.

Dips are a fun way to enjoy foods! If you have a selective eater in your family, try offering a dip that works with the meal. When given the opportunity to dip their foods, kids are more likely to try a new food or a food they might otherwise avoid. If you're interested in more tips like these, check out our online Toddler Course.

Chocolate Avocado Smoothie

9/17/2019

A quick snack for kids (and adults).

We demoed this chocolatey smoothie for about 40 preschoolers and elementary school kids recently at my daughters’ school, and it was generally a hit! (I didn’t expect everyone to love it, but every kid tried it and most of them kept drinking it! It was a hit with all the adults, too!)

Remember....exposure is what counts. When you’re making smoothies have your tot help you, and let them learn about what’s going into their food! Taste along the way to make sure the flavor is right. Here’s how to make it:

1.5 cups coconut milk (full fat)
½ avocado
1 banana
½ cup strawberries
1-2 T. unsweetened cocoa powder
4 pitted dates
3 ice cubes

Add all ingredients to a high-powered blender (coconut milk on the bottom) and blend until smooth. Makes approximately 24 ounces.

Snack on a Stick!

8/25/2019

Add some fun to your kid's afternoon snack.

Any snack on a stick can help kids become more interested in eating - think about how much fun it is to eat food in this way! Make our peanut butter yogurt dip (see below for allergen modifications) and pair it with pretzel stick, plus strawberries on a skewer. Safety tip: use kitchen scissors to cut the sharp end off the skewer, and don’t serve this to a young toddler who may poke themselves! Always supervise eating, especially with new tools.

Megan's DEVOURED this snack. It was the perfect sweet, salty and crunchy combo that was also full of fiber, protein and fat (the three key nutrients for keeping our bodies full and our blood sugar more regulated).

To make the yogurt dip, combine:

1 cup of full fat plain Greek yogurt
1 T peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
maple syrup or other sweetener if desired, to taste (omit for babies).

Stir well. This makes enough for 2 kiddos and 1 parent!

Allergy Families: use Kite Hill almond yogurt or coconut yogurt instead of dairy yogurt, sunflower seed butter or almond butter instead of peanut butter, and gluten-free pretzels instead of wheat pretzels. Strawberry allergy? Serve with blueberries and bananas instead

Our Favorite Snacks

8/25/2019

Feeding Littles | We share our favorite go-to snacks that are great for babies 6 months and older, toddlers, and kids of all ages. They work for adults too! All of the snack ideas are dietitian approved and make great options for road trips. Kids need to eat often, and these will help them make it through to the next meal by mixing a high protein and fruit or veggie.

Get your snack on, friends.

What snacks does a dietitian love?? I wanted to share my go-to options, especially for road trips - but these work well even when you're at home or sending snacks to school. Y’all know how important the snack game is with kids (because HANGRY = DISASTER when you factor in tons of excitement and not enough sleep), and while traveling we up our game so we have lots of options.

I always try to incorporate high protein snacks and fruit/veggies into the mix because protein/fiber balance blood sugar, which helps everyone feel better between meals. Remember, snacks are all about honoring our body’s hunger signals between meals and feeding ourselves the tasty, enjoyable fuel we need to feel our best. Plus, little humans have little tummies so they need to eat often.

Below are some of our favorite options you can rotate into your snack rotation:

NuttZo 2go powerfuel pack - individual nut/seed butter blend, served on sliced bananas
Justin's almond butter - used for sammies using Dave's Killer Bread
Good Health Snacks veggie chips
Larabar
Blue Diamond Nut Thin crackers
Cuties and bananas (and other fresh fruits)
Blue Diamond smoked almonds (crush or omit for kids under 4)
Babybel cheese
Almond Breeze almond milk for Barbara's Bakery Puffins cereal
Sprouts freeze dried peas
Peeled Snacks Peas Please baked pea snacks
Tillamook Medium Cheddar Cheese Sticks
Purely Elizabeth Ancient Grain Granola (crunchy, more appropriate for young eaters when softened with milk)
Mini Kind Snacks bars (4+ since they have whole nuts)
Lorissa's Kitchen grass-fed beef jerky
Synder's of Hanover Wholey Cheese baked crackers
Target Simply Balanced freeze dried raspberries and strawberries

My kids don’t have any allergies - and I regularly serve allergens to help prevent the development of allergies - but if your kid has an allergy, please modify. Always have water available as well.

Tips to Navigate Snack Time

8/24/2019

Feeding Littles | Do you struggle with snack time with your kids? We have some easy tips to help your family with toddlers and young kids of all ages, as well as picky eaters. We share even more tips in our online toddler course.

Easy ideas to help make snacktime more positive.

Do you struggle with snack time? Here are a few tips:

Sit down with your kiddo to eat snack, and eat something yourself. This is the first and most important way to help combat picky eating and create a lifetime of good eating habits. Don’t worry about being perfect or doing it 100% - just do it when you can!
Choose a snack with some filling protein - most parents think of starchy beige foods like crackers, but crunchy snap peas (yes, peas have protein) and Inner Bean snacks from Trader Joe's satisfy that crunch and offer some of this key nutrient that helps regulate blood sugar. Pair them with dips like hummus and my favorite...the TJ’s Bruschetta sauce!
Make it fun and novel! Whip out some cool measuring cups for dip or for the dippers and watch your toddler suddenly become more interested.

We share many more tips in our online toddler course, loved by thousands of families worldwide!

Easy Ideas for Diaper Bag Snacks

8/13/2019

Need some snacks to pack in the diaper bag? Here are some easy ideas for feeding babies, toddlers, and kids of all ages for on-the-go. All of these options are dairy-free as well.

Feeding Littles | Our Favorite Diaper Bag Snacks

Ready, set, SNACK!

We are oftentimes asked about portable snacks that don’t have to be refrigerated, and here are just some of our favorites! (We have a LOT of favorite snacks... search #feedinglittlessnacks on Instagram, and in the Toddler Course check out the Snack step for a printable!)

Of course, many families use crackers, cereal and puffs for their go-to diaper bag snacks...these are simply some different ideas to mix it up! These snacks are good for adults and older kids too!

They all happen to be dairy-free for those who need it.

We love snacks that have a little protein/fat and a veggie or fruit when possible - check our Toddler Course Snacks section for more on this!

Freeze dried peas like Karen's Naturals brand are crunchy yet not hard {good for 14+ months, once your toddler starts to develop a rotary chew pattern} and are high in fiber and protein.
Thin Stackers by Lundberg Farms are very thin rice or rice/whole grain cakes that are great with some sunflower seed butter for a satisfying snack with a (soft) crunch!
Larabar has so many different flavors and are made with fruit, nuts and spices. The nuts are supposed to be fully blended, but gently squish each piece you give to your toddler to make sure.
Whole fruit like oranges and pears are nature’s most portable food - protect pears from bruising by wrapping them up in a kitchen towel. Apples are choking hazards until age 4 unless softened by cooking or thinly sliced/shredded.
Freeze-dried strawberries are crunchy and dissolvable. They also have a ton of vitamin C and are fun for kids to eat! They’re less sticky than dried fruit.
Hippeas Snacks are organic chickpea puffs that also happen to be vegan and gluten-free. They’re great for kids who want a cheese flavor but need a dairy-free option. (Dairy-free mamas also love these!)
That's It bar has 2 ingredients - in this case, apple and mango - and is softer and less tough/chewy than some other fruit leathers. Since dried fruit can be sticky, make sure to offer water with it and brush your tot’s teeth well back at home!

Last Chance Labor Day Popsicles

8/30/2018

Summer is coming to an end! For those of us in hot-weather climates, this is a welcome change...but we know many are trying to squeeze out every last drop of summer. This Labor Day Weekend we've partnered with some of our favorite dietitians and food bloggers to bring you some amazing popsicle recipes! Just combine ingredients (liquid on the bottom of the blender first is ideal), taste test to make sure it's to your liking, blend until smooth, and serve!

Check out our amazing contributors! Thank you for helping us with these recipes (especially on such short notice...I {Megan} am kind of a spur-of-the-moment person when I have an idea)! Please check out their websites and instagram accounts, linked below.

Yummy Toddler Food - @yummytoddlerfood
Born to Eat Book - @borntoeatbook
Veggies and Virtue - @veggiesandvirtue
Kids Eat In Color - @kids.eat.in.color
Baby Bloom Nutrition - @babybloomnutr
Heather (Veggie Buds Club Blog) - @heather_kidskitchen

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