Picky Toddler

Recipe Swap – Success

Midwest Mommy

So last week, I posted about how I was trying to make Mr Picky’s crackers as healthy as possible… and well, as you saw, it was an Epic fail! This week, I tried a few substitutions and finally had some success. Here is what I did:

  • Handful of Frozen Green Beans and Frozen Spinach
  • 1 tsp of flax seed
  • 1/4 cup oil (mix of grapeseed oil, coconut oil, and olive oil)
  • 1/2 tsp of baking soda
  • 1/4 cup quinoa flour
  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 1 tablespoon flour

All in all this recipe worked great!  I mixed all the ingredients, rolled them out on a cookie sheet (using flour to prevent them from sticking) and baked them at 350 for 20 minutes.  The crackers stayed crispy and the flax seed was hidden enough that Mr Picky didn’t even notice!  These were basically the same crackers, just with a little quinoa flour and flaxseed.

What else can I add to these crackers?

PS…I will try not to post about crackers next time.  🙂  I need to find more successful veggie foods for Mr Picky.

New Recipe – Green Bean Crackers

Midwest Mommy

As I have mentioned before, I really have a hard time getting Mr Picky to eat his veggies. Crackers and Packets are my go to. Today I decided to try a new recipe. I love the Spinach Crackers, but I feel like often the only veggie he gets is spinach. So today I decided to try green bean crackers, and good news – they worked!! Sneaking veggies into toddlers is a difficult task so finding something that works is like a dream come true!

Here is the recipe if you would like to try them with your little one:

  • Handful of frozen green beans (I used about half a mini cuisinart full – picture below)
  • 1/4 cup Olive Oil 
  • 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
  • 1 Tablespoon water
  • 1 Cup Flour

Directions:

  • Pre-heat oven to 350
  • chop green beans as small as possible in food processor

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  • add oil, baking soda, water, and mix again
  • add flour slowly
  • take dough out of food processor and knead the dough in bowl until it feels very dough like

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  • flour cookie sheet and rolling pin
    • this dough is very sticky so this is very important!
  • roll out dough on cookie sheet

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  • cut dough with pizza cutter into little squares and poke each piece with a fork to help prevent to dough from bubbling while baking
  • cook in oven for 20 minutes
  • move crackers to a cooling rack once they are finished cooking

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  • Ta-da! You now have green bean crackers!

What tips or tricks do you have for sneaking veggies into your toddler?  I would love to try them out!

 

 

Spinach Crackers

Midwest Mommy

Mr Picky decided today that he was no longer going to eat any of the foods he ate last week. So I figured its time to pull out the crackers. Crackers are always a win in our house with Mr Picky and they are a win with Mom when they have spinach in them.

I wish I could remember where the original Spinach Cracker recipe came from so I could credit them, but I have made my own spin on it. There are tons of Spinach cracker recipes online but this one tends to be my favorite. Its quick, simple, and so easy!

First preheat the over to 375.

Next:

Mix these 6 ingredients together in a food processor or blender.  I use a mini cuisinart food processor and it works great.

1/2 cup fresh spinach

1/8 cup grapeseed oil

1/8 cup coconut oil

1 tablespoon olive oil

2.5 tablespoons of water

1/2 tsp baking powder

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Then add:

1 cup flour

Slowly mix the flour into the spinach goo.  I put 1/4 cup of flour into the cuisinart and mix and keep doing that until the entire cup is gone and the spinach goo is turning into more of a dough.  You may need to take the dough out and knead it in a bowl until it tuns into a spinach dough ball.

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Sprinkle flour on the pan to prevent sticking and then roll the dough with a rolling pin into a thin layer.  I also flour the rolling pin to prevent sticking.  My dough never quite gets rolled out into a perfect square.  After it is all rolled out, use a pizza cutter to cut the dough into nice little squares – or whatever shape your Mr Picky wants.

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Finally – Bake for 17-20 minutes and ta-da – you have spinach crackers!

Mr Picky is going to be so happy when he wakes up from his nap!

baked crackers

Packets for my picky eater

Midwest Mommy

Living with a picky toddler can sure make life seem more difficult than it truly is. I recently found that Mr Picky will eat squeeze packets…. these are now one of the what seems like 3 foods he will eat. I love that he will eat these packets because it is an easy way to get some fruits and veggies into his system. That being said… those little buggers are expensive! I thought, there has to be a better way! Sure enough, there was! After searching what felt like the entire internet and reading every reviews possible, I decided to try Natures Little Squeeze reusable packets…. and the review were right! (https://www.amazon.com/Reusable-Food-Pouch-Pack-Homemade/dp/B014UC3AC8/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1467331676&sr=8-1&keywords=weesprout) These are great! and I LOVE that I know exactly what is in the packets and what he is eating!

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A few other added bonuses are that they have a clear window so you can tell which packet is peaches and which is spinach. And my favorite feature….. they are DISHWASHER SAFE!  I found that if I spay them out quickly before I put them in the dishwater (top shelf only) that they clean up quite nicely!  They come in a pack of 6 so I have make enough food to fill them all and I put two in the fridge for school the next day and the remaining four in the freezer for the rest of the week.

packet window

I went with the 5 oz packets, but I think I will go back and buy the 3.4 oz packets. The only problem with the 5 oz packets is that they seem a little big for my 18 month olds hands. Also, he knows he needs to squeeze them but he doesn’t quite get it. He squeezes the middle of the packet without realizing that moves half the food up and half the food down.

To Sum it up:
Yes – I would buy these again
Yes – I would recommend these to friends

If any other mommy (or daddy) feels like those darn delicious squeeze packets are gonna make them go broke…. make sure you tell them about these great packets!

Stay Tuned for Recipes!!!