Exploring the toddler sense of touch - sticky!

I am always torn between whether or not to allow my child to get sticky and disgusting when trying foods or to try and minimize the damage.  For example today we have waffles.  I gave him a small container of syrup to learn about the dipping process.  My husband was horrified, he hates sticky!  Will loved to dip with the waffles and then later with his fingers.  He got his syrup everywhere simply playing with this new texture taste and experience.  I love to watch him explore new things but ugh why does it have to be so messy?  He got it on his face, armpit, chest and in his hair.  We went straight from the high-chair to the bath tub. So I'm torn whether or not to seek out a product that has the syrup already in it for the sweetness or grin and bear it with the sticky. 

Zucchini Tots

Zucchini Tots

I attempted to do something a bit different this experiment.  I have the most difficulty gettting my little man eat vegetables and meats.  For this recipe I decided to see if I could get him to eat zuchini outside of a bread product.  I hoped that this zucchini tot recipe would do the trick.  Boy, was I wrong.  Will would not even try this recipe.  Though it resembled a muffin, which he loves, he was not willing to eat even a bit of it no matter how many times I offered.  However, my husband and I thought they were awesome and would happily eat this healthy side dish again and again.

Recipe result: Parents enjoyed them - SUCCESS! Toddler enjoyed them - FAIL! 

This recipe was found on Pintrest.com and the blog that was pinned was from TheCuriousCountryCook.com

More Mini-Muffin Madness

You may be curious, what is that magical recipe for mini-muffins?  Well here it is:

The original recipe is found in the Favorite Brand Name Bake Sale Cookbook.  It is available on Amazon.com.

(Insert your additional flavor(s) here) 

Banana Oatmeal Mini-Muffins

 

1 mushy ripe banana (I have used up to 3 bananas)

1 egg

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 milk

1/4 vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats (Regular oats work)

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp of salt

1/2+ cup of your flavor choice (strawberries, blueberries, nuts, chips, dried fruit, etc.)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Blend the banana(s) in a mixer. Add egg, sugar, milk, oil and vanilla.
3. In a seperate bowl combine flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
4. Add dry mixed ingredients to the wet ingredients in the mixer.
5. Blend in your flavor choice
6. In a GREASED (I use liberal amounts of cooking spray) mini muffin tin fill the cups to almost full.  A Large Pampered Chef Scoop for Cupcakes & Muffins about half full works awesome! 
7. Bake for 8+ minutes depending upon how hot your oven runs. 

Yields: 24 muffins

Muffins once cooled can be placed in a ziplock bag and frozen.  They are perfect when reheated for 30 secs.

Healthy Muffin Recipe for Toddlers

My latest obsession to get my son to eat a nutritious meal starts at breakfast.  I am delirious with muffin fever. Or I have simply caught the bug my son picked up from day care too.

We attempt to get little Will to eat his fruits and healthy grains for breakfast but as he is growing he is getting more independent and pushing the spoon away.  He wants to be a big boy and feed himself.

I am currently working and reworking a muffin recipe I have found.  It allows me to use the bananas Will won't eat fast enough, oatmeal and various other ingredients to make different flavors.  Will and I cannot get enough of them. 

So far I have made:

• Banana Oatmeal
• Blueberry Banana Oatmeal
• Chocolate Chip Banana Oatmeal
• Cinnamon Raisin Banana Oatmeal
• Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal
• Strawberry Banana Oatmeal

The recipe calls for only 1/2 cup of sugar and a 1/4 cup of oil.  I am planning to start playing around with applesauce to see if I can reduce those ingredients even further.

The best part is - he is eats them!

Recipe result: Parents enjoyed them - SUCCESS! Toddler enjoyed them - SUCCESS!

Tasty Toddler - healthy recipes for picky kids

My Picky Toddler, Will

Hello and welcome to Tasty Toddler, recipes for picky eaters!

This is a blog that was created to test and share delicious and healthy recipes that I have modified to get my discerning toddler (and let’s be honest - picky husband) to eat.

My name is Jo. I am a first time mother of a beautiful 15 month old. He is a happy, active, healthy child who is unbelievably selective when it comes to meal time. I find it very challenging to get my little Will to eat new let alone nutritious foods.

In this blog, I will share my failures and successes as I attempt to try recipes I have found in cookbooks, gotten from family and friends and have found on the Internet. Some recipes will be attempted "as is" and I will document whether my son and the adults in the family enjoyed the dish. Other recipes may be modified based on my family's tastes and to increase their nutritional value.

My promise to my readers is that I will be honest, available and I will listen. I will be honest about where I found my recipes and honest in how the creation and taste testing went. I will do my best to be a resource to others. I promise to be approachable. Please feel free to ask questions or to offer suggestions on recipes to try, recipe modifications to be made or even to offer ideas on how to improve the format of this site. I want to get to know you and your families so that we can work together to feed all of our families wholesome nutritious meals that they look forward to eating. Because after all, what mom doesn’t want to hear her family asking for second helpings of a home cooked meal?