Variety is the Spice of Life

Princess Gigi has been in fine form this week. Her only food requests have been, you guessed it, Chocolate Chip Pancakes and Mac and Cheese. I did get her to try a little bit of a Chicken and Rice Casserole I made at the beginning of the week but it took a lot of coaxing and bribes and I made Chocolate Chip Waffles today instead of pancakes but for dinner she requested pancakes again.

I long for the day I set a plate in front of my two princesses and they say Thank You and eat the food I have prepared! Do you think that day will ever come? I am not holding my breath that it will be anytime soon. In the meantime another week begins and I can only hope for something other than CCP and MC. ;)

Energy Boost Bars

I finally got the chance to make the new granola bar recipe and although it isn't the most awesome thing I have ever had, I kind of like them and I can't seem to stop eating them! Hahaha, I know, I know, I am trying to find food for my princesses to eat and here I am devouring the tasty treats. Princess Gigi still won't even try these and like usual Princess Gia sticks it into her mouth and chows down. The bars are a little on the crunchy side, think Nature Valley Granola Bar but not as crunchy. I didn't have all of the ingredients so I omitted the sesame seeds and dried blueberries and added chocolate chips to make them more appealing to the princesses. Next time I will follow the exact recipe and still add chocolate chips and see if it turns out even better.

INGREDIENTS:

1 (8 -ounce) bag almonds
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1 1/2 cups oats, quick-cooking
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup dried blueberries
2/3 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup milk chocolate chocolate chips (optional)
I also added about a 1/2 tablespoon or more of vanilla extract (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oven to 275 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 baking pan (or line with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray). Grind the almonds in a food processor (or the magic bullet if you have one) until they resemble a coarse meal. Combine the ground almonds and the remaining ingredients in a large bowl and stir well. Using wet fingers, press the mixture into the prepared pan and bake it for 1 hour. Cut into pieces and allow to cool.

I found this recipe in a Family Fun Magazine.

Grab and Go Crunchy Granola Bars

I have this cookbook for kids with recipes that hide healthy foods in Kids' favorite meals called The Sneaky Chef. Occasionally I like to flip through it and see if something catches my eye. I have been on the lookout lately for a good granola bar recipe and found one in the cookbook that I thought I would try. The ingredients didn't exactly sound appealing to me (Wheat Germ, crispy brown rice cereal, blanched almonds) but I thought what the heck, I will give it a try. After mixing all of the ingredients I have to say I didn't really like the smell so I was pretty scared about the taste. Twenty minutes later and bit of a cool down I cut the the granola into bars. It was very crumbly and I still did not like the smell. My husband, always the adventurer, said he would try one. His response was not so favorable. I ventured a taste and I have to say I wasn't too impressed either. I debated on whether to throw the granola bars in the trash but my husband said, "who knows, maybe the princesses will like them!" I agreed and put them into a container. In the morning I placed a granola bar in front of both princesses. Princess Gigi said, "No Way!" Getting her to try new food is close to impossible. Princess Gia grabbed it and stuck it in her mouth! She loves food! Since she can't talk yet I have to go by the fact that she ate quite a bit of the granola bar and assume she must have liked it.

I have another recipe for granola bars so I am going to try that tomorrow. I am too tired tonight after wrestling with my two princesses all day!

Honey Bran Muffins

I am always looking to try new things for my princesses to eat. I stumbled upon this recipe one day while I was trying to figure out how to get more fiber into Princess Gigi's diet. I knew I wanted to make Bran Muffins, but your typical bran muffin is not always kid approved in the taste department, no matter how much jelly you put on it, Until Now!! This bran muffin has that bit of sweetness to it to lure any small child into eating. Princess Gigi liked them so much she kept asking for more and more (I made mini muffins).

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups pineapple juice

2 cups golden raisins (I use dried cranberries and sometimes I just omit this all together.)

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup honey

5 eggs, beaten

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoons salt

4 cups whole bran cereal (I use All Bran)

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a small bowl, combine pineapple juice and raisins. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in cereal. Set aside.

3. In a large mixing bowl combine brown sugar, oil, honey, and eggs; mix well. Add cereal mixture, and mix well. Fold in the pineapple juice, raisin mixture. Batter will be thin; it will thicken as it chills. Cover, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.

4. Stir chilled batter. Fill greased or paper lined muffin cups 3/4 full.

5. Bake in a preheated 400 degree F oven for 15 to 17 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack.

For the mini muffins I baked them for 12 minutes.

Fruit Smoothies

My homemade fruit smoothies are a big hit with my two princesses. I tell Princess Gigi that they are shakes like the ones you get at McDonalds. She absolutely loves them and I know that they are getting lots of vitamins and nutrition in such a simple thing.

INGREDIENTS: (Listed in the order I put them in the Magic Bullet)

Orange Juice
Frozen Blueberries
Frozen Strawberries
Frozen Peaches
Fresh Banana (if I have them on hand)
Vanilla Yogurt
Orange Juice

I don't use exact measurements for this. I just fill the Magic Bullet to the top and use the cross blade to mix until the fruit is all chopped up.
Pour into a cup and let them sip it with a straw!

I use to make these Smoothies every morning when I was pregnant with Princess Gigi. Maybe that is why she likes them so much!!

My two girls

I have two little princesses. One is 3 1/2 and she has been a spit-fire from the moment I gave birth to her and the other is 13 months old and is much more laid back than her older sister but don't let that fool you, she still has some spit-fire in her too.
When my oldest was a baby she woke every 2 hours at night wanting to eat and ate every two hours all day long. She believed in snacking rather than having a complete meal! 3 + years later not much has changed except that she doesn't get up as often during the night! When it was time to introduce baby food she turned her nose up at nearly everything. I usually had a trash can full of opened jars of hardly eaten baby food. I kept trying, like all of the experts said, but pretty much to no avail. I kept saying to myself this is only a stage and it will get better, the pediatrician would say pick your fights, don't battle about food. Here I am 3 + years later and my little non-eater still only has a hand full of things she will eat like chocolate chip pancakes, macaroni and cheese (but not any kind, it has to be Velveeta Mac and Cheese), spaghetti, my homemade smoothies (we call them shakes), cheese sticks (but only Sargento's Colby Jack) and pretzels. I can occasionally get a banana into her list of things to eat but absolutely no vegetables. Sometimes I have to get sneaky and puree vegetables to put in her food or slip extra ones into the spaghetti sauce.
So here I am on a journey to find food she will eat and post recipes of these foods for other mom's in my situation. May are children grow big and strong despite their objection to food!!