dishing up creative goodness
We love quick and kid-friendly breakfast ideas in this house. So these sausage pancake bites featured on Someday I’ll Learn are the perfect solution as a bake-ahead breakfast option that we can just pop in the toaster oven, heat up, and go.
If you’re looking for more easy-to-make or make-ahead breakfast ideas, here are a few great options:
Once my kids were eating meals with my husband and I, we really had to think twice about what we were serving. I mean it’s one thing for my husband and I to eat a little un-healthy but the kids? They deserved well-balanced, nutritious meals 3 times a day.
I started to come up with quick and easy recipes for those nights that I just didn’t want to spend cooking and was surprised with how easy it was to incorporate healthy eating into our lives without spending tons of time prepping and cooking.
With the help of one of our family’s staples, whole-grain brown rice, I can jump in the kitchen and make some delicious favorites for the kids without worrying if they’ll actually enjoy it.
Need help preparing healthy kid-friendly meals that the whole family loves? Check out these great ideas that are in monthly rotation at our home!
One thing I am passionate about is trying to instill good eating habits in my children as they grow older. Offering healthy alternatives, choosing the best meals for my children, and overall choosing to educate them on how they can make better choices themselves.
Don’t get me wrong… they’ll probably choose a french fry over veggies any day but give them the choice of an apple and a french fry and it could go 50/50.
And I’m not saying I’m perfect. We do eat out about once a week at either a restaurant or fast food place and the children do consume greasy, fatty foods that are horribly bad for them but oh-so-good. But we do spend the majority of our meals at our dining room table. Together as family enjoying the food before us.
Most meals are actually prepared together. Because I find importance in getting the kids involved with tasks they can do for their age. Once they start to get involved they become much more interested in the foods they’re eating. And you’d be surprised at how many new things my kids have tried simply because they’ve helped prepare the dish.
Getting crafty and creating items to decorate your home can be pretty daunting. And sometimes it gets rather expensive! But this DIY popcorn garland is neither daunting or expensive. So pop up your kernels on the stove and lets get to it!
Every morning we wake up and decide what to have for breakfast. Sometimes it’s eggs, sometimes it’s yogurts and berries, and sometimes it’s cereal. But every once in a while we get a special treat.
Pancakes!
Now, it’s not that pancakes are hard to make. Or that they’re labor intensive. We just don’t eat them all the time. So when we do, we make them special. And I have to admit, when I run out of my Alton Brown pancake mix, I grab a box mix.
But I don’t leave it at that! We spice up our pancakes with the fruit and spices we have on hand and make them extra special and nutritious. When my kids were small I would add different purees into their pancake mix but now that they’re older we like to dice up our fruit before adding it in.
And here’s how we do it:
Pear Pancakes with Cinnamon
1. Dice up the pear into small pieces.
2. Mix together the pancake mix, milk, and egg with a whisk until just incorporated. Do not over-mix.
3. Add in the diced pear and cinnamon. Fold in gently.
4. Let pancake batter sit while you prep the pan. Heat pan on medium heat.
5. Coat pan with butter. Take a towel and wipe off the excess batter (thanks, Alton, for that tip!)
6. Using a measuring cup, pour 1/4 to 1/3 of the batter onto the hot pan.
7. Let cook until batter is bubbling and edges look firm and underside is golden brown, about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Flip.
8. Let the other side cook until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes.
9. Repeat with the rest of the batter. If making large batches, store cooked pancakes in a warm oven (I set mine on the lowest setting and place pancakes on a plate with a towel on top to keep warm while I finish the rest of the batches).
10. Enjoy!
Makes 6 pancakes
Pancakes are so easy and versatile! Why stick with the same old plain pancakes when you can jazz them up? Switch up apples for pears and add some peanut butter on top and you have a tasty, and healthy meal perfect for this Fall!
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| Molly loved watching Signing Storytime |
This past Friday I headed over to Kid Ventures to celebrate with Sign4Baby as they turned 4. We were a bit late to the party due to a busy morning and a napping M but when we arrived we quickly found that we hadn’t missed a thing! We met up with our new friend Elodie and her mom, Kari. We met them during our first 6 weeks of sign language class and the girls are almost the same age (Elodie is a month younger).
I had never been to Kid Ventures before but have gone to similar type places around town. The first thing I noticed when I walked in was the layout of the location. There was an eating area in the center of the room and a KV snack area to the left. To the right there were two strutures that can’t be missed. A huge castle and pirate ship! Kids were laughing and smiling all around me as they ran in the castle and slid down the slide attached.
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| The cafe and layout of the rooms |
We found a seat right away because signing story time was starting.
The theme for this month’s signing story time is Sea Life so Joann cleverly went with a Celebrate The Sea theme. We listened to a Hullabaloo song about the sea and then Joann read an adorable book by Karen Katz called Where’s Baby’s Beach Ball? Since we read Where’s Baby’s Belly Button? to M already she was very interested in the story.
Throughout signing story time Joann signed along with the book and the music. The children were very interested in watching her through the whole thing and would get excited when they heard or saw something they recognized. M stayed pretty interested in the signing but after a little it she wanted to explore. She loved all of the friendly faces around her and felt right at home with the fun energy that came with a room full of excited children.
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| Sign4Baby’s Signing Storytime |
As we explored we found out that there is a police department, grocery store, fire department, disco room, nursery, restaurant, library and art store in addition to the cool castle and pirate ship.Wow! And each room is completed with outfits, toys and activities for the kids to partake in. I know how much my two year old is into pretend right now and these different rooms would just make his day.
After a very fun storytime and scavenger hunt a raffle was held for those who chose to purchase raffle tickets. All of the proceeds for the raffle went to the San Diego Center for Children. There were many prizes being raffled off. Some of them included the following:
M’s friend, Elodie, was lucky enough to win one of the 3M Shoot n Share camcorder projectors plus lots of other great prizes. And I was lucky enough to win a 30 minute facial with Karen of Firefly Wellness. This mama needs some relaxation! I’m sure you’ll be seeing a review of my experience at Firefly Wellness in the near future.
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| Pickle and the KV Pirate |
The great part about Kid Ventures is that even though it was a packed house I never felt crowded. Their layout gives kids the room to play together or independently without having to play on top of one another. I know that my son will love this place the next time we go! And I’m definitely considering using Kid Ventures as a venue for his next birthday party. With all of the fun we had at Joann’s party I know that our friends and family would have an equally great time at this place.
The only drawback I found was that there wasn’t a labeling or numbering system where you child and you have identification to prove that you belong to one another. I don’t make it a habit to take my eyes off my kids but if there was a distraction
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| Molly and her buddie, Elodie |
*** Disclaimer: In exchange for this blog post I was offered free admission to the event (but didn’t have to use it since non-walking babies are free) and 6 raffle tickets to enter the drawing. This in no way altered my opinion of Sign4Baby or Kid Ventures ***
She enjoys sharing her family life in San Diego and features everything from delectable recipes to sharing DIY tips around the home and garden, what she's crafting and more.
