Word up Wednesday! (Breastfeeding/Cup of Serenity)

I recently stumbled upon a newscast where a nursing mother was asked to "cover up" while nursing her 3 month old baby in a local coffee shop. I could smell the boycott and "Nurse-in" from a mile away. One thing if nothing else this coffee shop learned just how powerful Nursing mothers can be. My first impression was that it really was a shame because these types of situations could lead mothers away from nursing, make them feel ashamed, or make them feel bound to their homes while they have a nursing baby. I think that more people need to stand up for the rights of nursing mothers and nursing babies. I think society has over sexualized womens breasts when we should be focusing more on what breast are intended for. I for one go out of my way to tell a nursing mother she is doing a great thing when I see a mother nursing. Breastfeeding is a great gift to both you and your baby. While I do understand that some mothers can not nurse for a variety of reasons be it medical or production issues. The nutritional values alone are huge. Here is a little article I found on Breastfeeding and another one here on Breastfeeding in Public. Also did you know that breastfeeding is a great way to get out of Jury Duty lol. Did you also know that their are several recipes out their that can help you use up your extra milk. I will to take a moment to applaud Cup of Serenity for their attempt to remedy the situation by supporting a Nurse-in On Sept 13th naming Mondays "Mommy Mondays" Which could be a good thing for their already struggling coffee shop.

Of course I love to share recipes so because of todays topic what better then a recipe that is supposed to up a nursing mothers milk production!

Lactation Cookies
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
4 TBSP water
2 TBSP Flax seed meal
2 eggs
1 Tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 Tsp baking soda
1 Tsp Salt
3 cups oats
1 cup chocolate chips
2-4 TBSP Brewers yeast

Preheat over to 350
Mix flax seed meal and water and let stand for 5 min.
beat together butter and sugars well
add eggs & flax mixture, mix in well
sift together flour, yeast, baking soda & salt
add dry mixture to wet mixture
stir in oats & chocolate chips
place spoonfuls on greased cookie sheets, bake for 10-12 mins, allow to set for a few moments on the tray before removing. the whole family can enjoy these no worries that anyone will spring a leak it only helps production in a mother who is already producing :)
(this is not a Kitchen full of kids original recipe)

Toddler Tuesday!

Toddlers are a strange breed! Some are great eaters. Some are good eaters one day and bad eaters the next. Some are so picky that you think you might pull each and every last hair out of your head trying to get just a few healthy bits of food into their little mouths. As a Mother of 4 I have had each and everyone one of these types. I am blessed that our current toddler loves just about everything. After nearly 12 years of feeding toddlers at various ages I think I might just have a few good tricks up my sleeve.

Toddler Feeding Tips
Portion Control- Toddlers have tiny tummy's and can be overwhelmed with huge portions half of which may end up on the floor, them self, or even you. I generally give toddlers about a TBSP or 2 of each food item or if its a casserole type dish 1/4 cup. If they love it great give them more!
Finger foods- Most toddlers see forks and spoons as merely something to hold in their left hand while the feed them self with their right hand. Try cutting everything in bite size pieces that are easy for them to pick-up and self feed. They love self feeding because it gives them a little control in an environment where they have very little control! I will say that my mini muffin pans are an asset I make lots of muffins, mac n cheese, pasta bites etc in mini muffin size this is a big hit for the kids for after school snacks too.
Dipping- Almost every toddler will eat so much better if they can dip their foods into things, messy yes but if it means I just got a bunch of raw veggies or chicken in them I will take the mess.
Smoothies- this is like a secret assault weapon, so many things you can add into smoothies to sneak in some healthiness. Banana avocado smoothie anyone?
Cookies & Muffins- A yummy treat that can also pack in some nutrition too, all kinds of ways to sneak in carrots, zucchini, flax seeds, beans etc.
Pasta- I would say about 99% of little ones love pasta. You can add many veggie purees to tomato sauce, or try veggie Alfredo or even pesto is a big hit here.
Fruits, Seeds/Nuts & spreads- Caution of course with seeds & nuts. My toddler loves to munch on Pepita's, sunflower seeds, dried fruits and leathers and nut or sun-butter or nutella on some whole wheat toast.
Shapes & colors- Bright colors and fun shapes bring a lot to the table for toddlers. How fun is it to eat some star shaped pancakes with some Cantaloupe & Honeydew melon balls?
Reintroducing previously dissed foods- Toddlers can be so finicky maybe they didn't like black-eyed peas last week but try it again in a smaller portion this week. You never know they may ask for seconds!
If it ain't broke don't fix it- if you find your toddler adores certain foods keep giving them those foods maybe jazz it up with different variations of the foods they love
Use Caution- Certain foods need a bit of caution in little ones. Cut hot dogs into fourths, cut grapes in half long ways, give only a few raisins, nuts/seeds & popcorn at a time. Avoid honey until a year of age and if your family has a history of nut allergies you may want to avoid them or slowly introduce them at an older age.

These are just a few tips that I could put together at 1am in the morning I may do more posts on the same subject at another time. If these tips help you out let us know, or if you have some tried and true tips of your own please comment!

Silly Saturday (Blueberry-Banana Popsicles)

Anytime I use the blender Cady my 22mth old gets so happy because it almost always means mom is making a delicious treat. She always does this silly half sumo wrestler half go-go dancer dance as soon as the blender starts going. This morning she was dancing for My Blueberry-Banana Popsicles. They are sinfully delicious, super easy and make a great smoothie as well.

Blueberry-Banana Popsicles (makes 4 to 6 pops depending on your mold sizes)
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1 ripe very ripe banana
1/2 cup vanilla or plain yogurt (I use Greek yogurt but regular or homemade is fine)
1/2 cup milk (any kind will work I use 2% or almond milk)
1 TBSP Lemon juice
1 TBSP Honey

Very simply blend ingredients well (I like to leave a few little chunks of blueberries but you don't have to) and pour into molds place in freezer until solid. To take out of molds you may need to run under hot water for a few seconds. These are so yummy be careful to eat slowly to avoid brain freeze LOL!

** if you don't have molds you can use Dixie cups and Popsicle craft sticks and just rip the cups off**

Thursday Themes

I thought it might be nice to have a theme day. Where I will maybe share a group of recipes, list of helpful links, and topics. With school in session for most I thought it would be nice to talk about sandwich ideas. Sandwiches seem to be a popular lunch choice because they are easy on moms and what kid doesn't like sandwichs...for a little while anyway. Possibilities are endless when it comes to sandwiches. Here are a few Sandwich ideas for you.

breads

whole wheat sandwich bread

whole wheat pita bread

flat bread

wraps

tortillas

pancakes

waffles

English muffins

bagels
matzo crackers

Melba toast

Spreads & fillings

Hummus

Cream Cheese

Cheese/cream cheese spreads

Sun or Nut Butters

Jams & Jellies

Cheeses & sandwich meats

alfalfa Sprouts

lettuce

shredded carrots

cucumbers

pickles

leftover turkey & chicken

egg salad

tuna salad

ham salad

chicken salad

Another thing I have found a great love for is Sandwich cutters and large cookie cutters. It's much more exciting to open you lunchbox to a Sandwich shaped like a heart or a star. I keep the trimmings of the sandwiches for my own lunch at home so their is no waste. Pinwheel sandwiches are also fun for the kids. Experimenting a few days ago I made some pinwheel sandwiches with lemon almond chicken salad (recipe coming soon) and sprouts they where a huge hit. Its so simple to just slather a spread and veggie on a tortilla roll it up and cut into fourths.

Waffles on Wednesday

Wednesdays are one of our busiest days of the week. The older girls have school then we have about 1.5 hours to change out of uniforms, do homework, eat dinner and go to church. By the time we get home it's time for a small snack, showers and off to bed. Trying to get so much accomplished in such a little amount of time makes me really glad that I always have tons of frozen waffles on hand. I think kids are drawn to breakfast for dinner because it almost feels like your doing something naughty (mind you I don't by into the concept that you should have pizza for breakfast either lol) I have a very yummy basic waffle recipe that you can add just about anything to it. Most popular in our home are Cinnamon, banana, peanut butter & blueberry waffles. I have even started making cheese waffles that are yummy for sandwiches. I have also discovered Organic batter blaster that I like to keep on hand for the rare times that we have no waffles. It's super easy and makes a really fluffy waffle. Making pancakes with it however was a bit tricky because its so light and fluffy then burn quickly. Waffles are great because they have no rules, they can be breakfast with some fresh berries, a sandwich for lunch, A comforting dinner or even desert with whip cream & honey. My 5 year old likes to eat them frozen right out of the freezer (I think that is crazy but she loves them that way lol)

Waffles (and yes works for pancakes too)
1 1/2 cups Whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt (I use a fine grain sea salt)
4 Tbsp Raw organic sugar (or equivalent sweetener of your choice)
2 large eggs
3 cups milk (you can use any kind of milk I generally use 2% or homemade almond milk)
2/3 cup butter or oil
(add fresh berries, chocolate chips, mashed bananas, applesauce, peanut butter etc)
Mix together dry ingredients in a large bowl, Mix wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients careful not to over mix them. Fold in any extras to your batter mix If you are adding fresh berries do not mix them in you will simply toss a few berries on top of the wet batter after your pour it into the waffle maker (trust me on this one)


you will want to take note of the cooking recommendations of your waffle maker. For mine I use 1/3 cup of batter and cook on medium heat for about 3.5 minutes each. You may need to butter your iron or use a cooking spray if your waffle maker requires you to do so. mine recommends it only with you are using fruits and sweet batter because the sugars/juices will make them stick.
This will make about 16-20 waffles

Now as a part 2 to this recipe a new waffle sandwich was born (due to low pantry supplies and over ripe bananas for lunch the other day. We call it the "WWED? Waffle Sammie" (wwed?=what would Elvis do)

WWED? Waffle Sammie
Using the above recipe mix in 1/2 cup of sun-butter or nut-butter of your choice (we used sun-butter) and 1 ripe banana mashed into your batter.
Take 2 cooked waffles and spread Sun-butter over it and top with thinly sliced bananas. And you have a nice healthy Waffle Sammie. We would like to think that if Elvis where alive today he would enjoy this lunch treat.
Enjoy!

Make it Monday (lunches)

Taking a moment here to talk about lunch. School lunches are pretty well BAD. Watch Jamie Oliver's food revolution if you don't believe me. I don't even know the cost of a school lunch but I recall in my day they where a $1 and well.. you get what you pay for. The schools have tried to improve and make more healthy options. Of course moms lunch is always going to be better. Packing 3 lunches a night for children with different request can be a bit daunting but doable!
I LOVE my kids lunch boxes its easy and fun. laptop lunch boxes are well worth the purchase. I try to cover the basics with lunch while making it fun & healthy at the same time. Protein, fruit/vegetable & grains and the occasional treat are the basics here. I am lucky that my kids see fruits or fruit leathers as treats and they are not expecting twinkies.
Now packing lunches if well planned can be a very smooth process. I like to plan a few days in advance and I like to cook things in groups for example I might make banana muffins, banana waffles, banana leathers and banana pudding all at once to use up bananas. Now I wouldn't want to over kill them on bananas all in one week so I think about things that freeze well to. I also know that kids bore easily with the same old sandwiches and salads so I try to think of new things. Sandwich's can be very versatile make them on bread, pancakes, waffles, wraps, pitas, english muffins, bagels etc. You can change up salads to My husbands makes an awesome cilantro lime dressing which is wonderful on spinach salad with craisens. YUM. My older daughter loves Cesar salad. Just take a walk through your produce section and inspiration will find you.