A Healthy Snack Your Toddler Can Help You Make
Erin Burt
Getting your toddler into the kitchen to help you cook will certainly be a little messy but it is also a great learning experience and a whole lot of fun! One of the best tips I can give you is to take a deep breath before you start, and don’t have any expectations of keeping everything, or everyone, spic and span. When you’re all done you can always give your toddler a damp kitchen towel to help you “clean up.”
When you search for toddler friendly recipes keep an eye open for easy things they can do. Gathering plastic mixing bowls from low shelves, mixing pre-measure ingredients into a bowl, pressing the buttons on the food processor or blender and greasing pans are some simple ones. Kneading (think pizza dough) and rolling dough (or meatballs) are also some great ones and were always my daughter's favorites.
One of our favorite recipes to make together are snack balls that we’ve created after taste testing lots of different recipes.
Ingredients:
1 ½ cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 scoop Tone it up Organic vanilla protein powder
½ cup cashew butter
½ tsp. cinnamon
1 tbsp. chia seeds
2-4 tbsp. honey
¼ cup mini chocolate chips
½ cup finely shredded coconut
Directions:
- Pulse the oats in a food processor until finely ground.
- Transfer the oats into a large bowl.
- Add protein powder, cinnamon, chia seeds and chocolate chips to the oats and mix.
- Using your hands add the cashew butter and make sure it is thoroughly mixed. If it’s too dry you can add a tiny bit of water or nut milk.
- Spread the shredded coconut onto a plate.
- Form the mixture into ping pong sized balls and place on top of the shredded coconut.
- Roll the formed balls around in the coconut until they’re fully covered.
If you’re not a coconut fan you can skip this step or use something else instead, like raw cacao powder. Feel free to change the add ins--cranberries are delicious too- and the type of nut butter until you find your very favorite combination.
You can store them in the fridge for a few days or lay them flat in a large plastic freezer bag and put them straight into the freezer. They taste delicious either way!
Jacqueline Banks is a certified Holistic Health Counselor and online fitness coach. She works with women in all stages of motherhood, from mothers struggling with conception to those trying to get their grove back after pregnancy to ensure the best health and nutrition for both mom and baby.
