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Kid-Friendly Energy Bites

2/1/2020

 
Feeding Littles | A super easy snack recipe idea for adults and kids that is dietitian approved. Make extra and keep them in the freezer for a quick snack for yourself or your kids.

Homemade energy bites are my kids' favorite snack, hands down! We have been making these for years and they’re so tasty for mama and kiddo alike - please make sure read the safety information below before serving.

These are also awesome for pregnant mamas as some data suggests that dates may help with cervical ripening before birth.

Best of all, they are a nice balance of protein, fat and carbohydrates (read: energy) that taste amazing.

I loved having them on hand when I was pregnant and breastfeeding, especially because they’re a quick, satisfying snack that can be eaten with one hand! You can make a large batch and keep them room temperature, in the fridge or frozen - you (adult) can eat them frozen, but make sure to thaw for younger eaters.

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These energy bites are similar to commercially available energy bars and are simply equal parts Medjool dates and nuts or seeds of choice. Make sure to use a high powered blender or food processor to blend. If using the Vitamix, use the tamper.

Vary the nuts you use: each one provides different nutrition! For non-allergic people, regular exposure to allergens is important for allergy prevention. 

A few tips for success with these:
  1. Use juicy (not dry) pitted dates - if they’re too dry the energy bites will be too. You can also soak dates in hot water for a few minutes to soften them up first. Simply drain and remove excess water before blending.
  2. Any nut or seed will do - we tend to like the ones that are a little softer/more oily. Almonds work too, but sometimes they’re a little dry.
  3. If the mix is too dry when you blend it, add more dates.
  4. You can roll into balls or flatten in a pan and cut into bars.
  5. Consider stirring in finely shredded coconut, mini dark chocolate chips, chia seeds etc. into the “dough” and mix well before rolling into balls.

SAFETY INFO:
  • If serving these to kids under 4 make sure that the nuts are completely blended - no big nut pieces!
  • If serving these to babies or young toddlers (a good way to introduce them to various nut allergens), they need to be a very soft paste. Make sure they’re completely squishable between your fingers and are soft. When in doubt wait til they’re older.

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Air Travel with Toddlers and Kids

2/1/2020

 
Feeding Littles | If you're traveling with a baby, toddler or young child, snacks are a must have. Here are our favorite snacks to bring when traveling on an airplane with little kids.

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Flying with kids? We have one word for you: SNACKS.

Here are our minimums in the snack department when we fly as a family - longer trips may require even more snack options
! 

We always bring reusable water bottles that we can fill once past security. Lately we’ve been digging the Hydroflask kids straw bottles  and we always label them in case they get left behind. Check out our Amazon shop for a complete list of our favorite straw cups! The labels shown are from Mabels Labels.

We also bring one type of fruit or veggie, either fresh or freeze dried. These freeze dried strawberries from Trader Joe's are crunchy and aren’t as concentrated in fruit sugar or as sticky as regular dried fruit (although we dig dried too - just be consistent with teeth brushing!). Freeze dried is great for kids who love a little crunch. They’re also shelf stable so they’re perfect for travel. Babies can have them if they’re soft and easily dissolvable/chewable - the strawberries are probably the safest.

We always bring a beige crunchy “interesting” food that will keep their attention for a bit, like Annie's Homegrown bunnies, veggie straws or crackers. We don’t serve these foods every day - but we do serve them sometimes - and to our kids they’re a little unique!

Lastly, something filling! We actually brought a Larabar on this trip for the kids and I tried these Enjoy Life Protein Bites - we wanted to test them out and show them here for those of you dealing with top 8 allergies! Holy moly, they're delicious! They’re kind of like a chocolate dessert with a nice protein boost, and for families who need a quick, portable option that doesn’t include top allergens they’re awesome!

Other protein/fat combo options good for young eaters on planes include string cheese or Babybel 
cheese, sunflower butter sandwich or homemade energy balls. 

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Pregnancy and Postpartum Snack Ideas

1/2/2020

 
Feeding Littles | Here's a great list of snack options for pregnancy and postpartum that are filling and nourishing. The snack ideas are dietitian approved and delicious!

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One of our lovely followers asked us to put together some filling, nourishing snack ideas for pregnant and breastfeeding moms, but these snacks are also perfect adults of all ages and stages.

Note: if you’re sharing these snacks with a kiddo under 4 there are some choking hazards shown (since these are geared toward adults). Soften the baby carrots, use thinly spread cashew butter instead of whole cashews, and soften/shred the apples.


Let's talk about real-life balance for a moment. Your postpartum snack might be a handful of chocolate chips and lukewarm coffee. That is OK. It’s about grace and survival! Your diet won’t - and really shouldn’t - be 100% perfect. Obsession is not productive. Also, we realize that not every postpartum mama can or chooses to breastfeed. There are some additional considerations for breastfeeding (like more protein, more water), but please remember that whenever we are talking about how you feed your baby we are coming from a place of inclusiveness and love - not segregation or judgement. These snacks are for everyone!

What makes a snack great? Protein, produce (fiber!) and something that’s simple to grab - most of these are just wash and eat! (Yours probably won’t be presented this carefully - what matters is getting it in your belly.)

About the food:
  • Crackers - Simple Mills
  • Energy bar - we love Larabar, Rise Bar, Kind Bars, Bulletproof, RXBAR, Pro Bar, and GoMacro
  • Cottage cheese: Good Culture (probiotic food that tastes amazing!)
  • Hard boiled eggs: Instant Pot makes this so easy! Place on rack, add 1 cup water to the IP, 6 minutes on high then manual release (per CopyKat Recipes)
  • Avocado toast seasoning: everything but the bagel from Trader Joe's
  • Babybel cheese is shown, but any cheese - as long as it’s pasteurized if pregnant - is fine. Sometimes we need individually-packaged food for convenience - just recycle when you can!

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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.​

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  • 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!

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  • “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.”

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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!

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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.

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Halloween-Themed Smoothies

10/1/2019

 
Feeding Littles | Fun Halloween-themed smoothies make great snacks for toddlers and kids, as well as adults. Recipes created from a dietitian mama and are dairy-free.

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!

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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.

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Chocolate Avocado Smoothie

9/17/2019

 
Feeding Littles | A dietitian-approved recipe for a chocolate avocado smoothie that's great for kids of all ages, including baby 6 months starting solids and picky eating toddlers.

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. 

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Snack on a Stick!

8/25/2019

 
Feeding Littles | We love this super fun and easy snack idea for kids, snack on a stick! Toddlers and young kids will love this as both a snack and an activity, perfect for after school. We included some allergy friendly options as well.

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 

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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.

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    Authors

    Megan and Judy, co-owners of Feeding Littles, bring you helpful info on food, nutrition, picky eating, and feeding young children. Megan McNamee MPH, RDN is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist based in Scottsdale, Arizona. Judy Delaware, OTR/L is an Occupational Therapist specializing in feeding therapy with children 3 and under in Boulder, Colorado. Megan and Judy are both moms of two and love helping families develop a healthy appetite for all foods! 

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