Cooking With Your Toddler: Banana Muffins

I am not a baker. I don't claim to be one, I don't really even strive to be one. However, cooking isn't always the easiest to do with your child, as it usually involves a stovetop and raw meat of some kind. And my child happens to love being right next to mommy, cooking away.

So in order to solve that problem, I began baking with her. It's easier to keep her entertained, she can stir things that aren't hot, and none of its going to kill her if she eats it as we go (since that's what she does. Every. single. time.)

I've tried out a lot of recipes and one that has become our favorite are these banana crumble muffins. We have made these so many times and every time they come out tasting delicious. They are also great to take to friends houses or any brunch events.

They mostly are an awesome recipe to cook with your toddler mostly because of the crumb topping. Who doesn't love a bowl of brown sugar/butter yumminess? When applying the topping, Adly likes to follow the golden rule of "some for you muffin, some for me". Sorry, people who have had them. You've definitely had a little bit of Adly love, mixed in. 

When I first began cooking with Adly, I'm not going to lie, it was really hard to keep my patience intact. I would get very frustrated when flour spilled or when things dropped on the floor. Over time, I've tried to keep reminding myself that a mess is a mess. And it can always be cleaned up. What can't be replaced is the fun your toddler will have, being a part of what mommy does and acting as a helper. She seriously gets so much joy out of pouring the ingredients in, stirring them with a whisk, and then tasting everything as she goes.

She even has her own apron, thanks to her godmother who sewed her one. This apron is essential to Adly's cooking process and must always be worn.

Another benefit to these baking sessions with Adly has been the growth in her imagination skills. She loves her play kitchen and now really loves pretending to cook. I hear her using the same terms we use as we bake as she makes her own creations, playing on her own in her kitchen. Although she gets a little crazy with chicken and ketchup and french fries in her one-pot-wonders. 

I honestly follow the recipe to a tee, except that after reading comments from others, I add cinnamon and nutmeg to the flour mixture.

I encourage you to give this recipe a try, with your toddler. It has made so many rainy Saturdays much more bearable in our household!

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 3 bananas, mashed 3/4 cup white sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten 1/3 cup butter, melted 1/3 cup packed brown sugar 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 tablespoon butter

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.
2.	In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
3.	In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.
4.	Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

DIY: Boo-Boo Kit

As warm weather approaches, we have entered a new world when it comes to getting out of the house with Adly. She no longer needs to be carried everywhere in our arms or a stroller, and holding her hand is always a fight. Because, you know, "Moooooom! I'm like, a big girl now!" 

This newfound freedom has created a whole new realm of possibilities when it comes to injuries. Sure, she's pretty steady on her feet these days. But now comes the ability to run and jump and climb. And with that, inevitably comes plentiful opportunities for scratches, owies, and boo-boo's. We've been lucky so far, with Adly's greatest injury being a splinter in her hand that I forgot about for 4 days. Oh and then there was the falling down the stairs incident....but she handled that like a champ with no scrapes whatsoever!

However you never know when that injury with blood and major tears is going to come. A few months back, my friend Laura had informed us moms that she invested in a travel first-aid kit to throw in the diaper bag. This was after witnessing a kid getting scraped up pretty badly at the park. The idea of injury had never even popped into my mind, so I was grateful for her advice.

However, while shopping for mini-first aid kits, I was appalled at the prices compared to normal sized kits. I didn't need fancy-pants anything Disney character anything, I just needed a case with some patch up gear. 

So instead, my mind began racing with other options. I wandered through the holy grail of Target looking for mini-case options. Sure enough, within their $1 spot section, I found some sort of I think what is supposed to be a recipe organizer, that was divided into sections and could collapse into a small pouch. Perfect for diaper bags! I grabbed two since we have two diaper bags. 

These handy dandy cases also included labels for organizing. An organizers dream! I then headed back to the first aid area to price things out. I found that purchasing a full first aid kit was much more cost effective than buying everything separately. I think I bought our version for $12.99. There were so many first aid items included that we have the remainder of the big First Aid kit in the bathroom for scrapes and boo-boo's at home too. 

When I got home, I separated all of the medical necessities into the divided sections within the organizer. The kit I bought even included stickers because for whatever reason- kids LOVE stickers. And a sticker makes every sad child feel thousands of times better. 

Now we always have on-hand any supplies that could be needed for any random act of toddlerhood that my child has at the park. Hopefully this inspires you to try your own version of a Boo-Boo Kit! 

Picky Eaters: How We Dealt with Ours

Picky eating phases suck. 

There is no other way to put it. They are unbelievably frustrating for parents and make mealtimes become dreaded for everyone involved. This is a terrible feeling for someone who enjoys cooking and sharing food with others. Imagine making an entire, healthy, delicious meal for your loved one only to have them turn their nose up at it, refuse to try a bite of any of it, ignore it, or just throw it all on the floor. Now imagine when all of the above happens during one meal time. 

It will bring any sane person to tears. And that was what our mealtimes started coming to. Around 18-20 months, Adly began deciding what she did and didn't like. Most things, she didn't like. So many things she had once loved became yucky or things she would eat one bite of and say "Adly no like it". Then would come the whines to get down or for other foods she had decided that day she wanted instead. It is the most frustrating feeling to make an entire meal and then have this little person try to dictate five other things they'd rather have instead. 

Out of frustration, I did what I always do in this journey of parenthood I know nothing about, I started to read. I wanted to know about others' experiences, I wanted to hear ideas that worked, and I wanted it to fit our family. 

One day I came upon this article. It had me from the start, mentioning having a picky 6 year old and 5 years from now, still fighting the food battle. Oh hell no! Was my first thought. She goes on to have some amazing ideas that, as with everything, made perfect sense and made me be all like "now why didn't I think of that?!?" 

I loved it so much I bookmarked it and sent it to Adam. Adam admittedly doesn't always love reading about raising children as much as I do, so he usually just trusts what I say and runs with it. (See?! He's amazing like that. I love when people listen to me!) But the picky mealtimes had definitely been a source of tension between the two of us, and I wanted it to be a plan we'd both be on board with. Back to the frustrations picky eating brings out, at least in our household, mealtime fights put everyone on edge. I think it's important to have a solid frontline when dealing with a picky toddler to ensure you are doing the same things to create consistency across the board. 

He read the article and agreed with it too. So we jumped in full force the next day. And lo and behold, it worked!! 

We tweaked her ideas slightly in order to fit our family. This has created a ton less tension between all of us during mealtimes. I've let go of the guilt I used to feel when Adly refused to eat one bite. I've stopped getting mad at her whenever it happens. Essentially I've just let it all go. Because I know in the end she'll be ok.

Here are the eating rules we live and breathe these days. 

-Every meal offered contains a protein, dairy, fruit and a veggie (most days. I am admittedly terrible with vegetables). Sometimes a grain.

-Every meal contains at least one thing I know she loves. This allows Adly to feel like she has choices in what she eats on the plate. This also gives her the independence she was seeking during meal times. 

-In our house, she can have more of something (usually fruit) once she eats a few bites of the protien (usually what she doesn't eat).

-She doesn't have to eat it all, and when she is done, she's done. For Adly, she gives us her plate and says "all done" when she's done eating. There is no snacking after dinner. 

-Afternoon snacks have become lighter to help with dinner eating. 

-Dessert is unknown. We don't use it as leverage or even talk about it. Any time we have mentioned "dessert" she says yes to it and she is presented with applesauce or yogurt. They're sweet, right? 

-My biggest takeaway from this article? Six words. You don't have to eat it. 

I swear to you, since we instilled this plan into our mealtimes, not once has Adly refused her entire meal. Not once have I cried. Not even once have I gotten frustrated. (And this is coming from the most easily frustrated adult-toddler there is!) It was as though we saw the light. Seriously, that cheesy. I also believe that once my attitude got an adjustment, Adly picked up on it as well, and the battles ended. Toddlers are so much more intuitive than we give them credit for. 

That article saved our mealtimes. And as soon as it did, mealtimes became fun. A time to relax and talk and sit back and laugh. Or just relax. 

There are days where Adly doesn't eat hardly anything. And I'm ok with that. She lives with it and then eats like a monster at breakfast the next day. She is always fine. There are also times where Adly's sensitive stomach gets a bug and she has days of diarrhea. This is when we go back to the age-old BRAT (banana, rice, apples, toast) diet and our normal diet is completely out the window. So of course, this, like everything else when it comes to babies and toddlers and kids, takes flexibility. 

If you're stuck at home, crying in the corner of your kitchen because your kid threw yet another delicious meal on the floor, I suggest you read this article and/or try some of the ideas out! It saved our family, hopefully it will help yours too. 

"Adly silly. Take a picture mama!"