Tag Archives: toddler

Pancake Muffins

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The quest continues to find foods that Reagan will eat. Breakfast time is always a hit or a miss and usually consists of bites of toast, yogurt, fruit and Raisin Bran. I’m not a breakfast fan and pancakes are the absolute last thing that I would ever order at a restaurant, but I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE New Hope Mills Buttermilk Pancake Mix. I don’t know what it is about this pancake mix, but I am totally in love!

I was up super early this morning, so I decided that it was pancake day! I wanted to make something fun for Reagan to eat and decided on these adorable pancake muffins that I had seen on Pinterest. Reagan loves blueberry muffins and we had just picked up a bunch of blueberries at the market on Saturday, so…fresh blueberry pancakes here we come! (they are muffin shaped, so my hopes were high)

I’ve been adding Reagan’s DHA and probiotic to multiple meals lately, instead of just one. Since she hasn’t been really eating much, it’s pointless to add the entire serving of the DHA or the probiotic to say, just her yogurt at breakfast time. It’s such a waste, because she never eats the full serving of ANYTHING let alone something that I add the DHA or probiotic to.

Ground Flaxseed has also made its way into Reagan’s diet (mine and the husbands too). Flaxseed is known to have many healthy components, but is especially known for containing healthy amounts of Omega-3 essential fatty acids (good fats), lignans (antioxidant qualities), and fiber (soluble and insoluble). Reagan can benefit from ANYTHING healthy!!

I decided to make three different kinds of pancakes- strawberry, blueberry and plain. My husband is not a fruit fan, so the plain would be right up his alley. The amount of fruit depends on how much you want on top of each pancake muffin. I topped 4 muffins with 4-6 blueberries each, used 2.5 strawberries to top another 4 muffins and left 4 muffins plain.


Ingredients
2 cups New Hope Mills Buttermilk Pancake Mix
3 table spoons Organic Whole Ground Flaxseed Meal
1 egg
1 cup water
blueberries
strawberries
cooking spray

Materials
muffin tin
wire cooling rack
metal spoon
mixing bowl
metal fork

Add dry ingredients together.

Add egg and water- mix until smooth (no clumps)

Using cooking spray, coat bottoms and sides of muffin tin holes. I swipe insides of tin with paper towel so that they are not too greasy.

Fill muffin tin holes 3/4 full and then top with desired toppings.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes- The strawberry ones took a little longer- 14 minutes

Test with a fork to see if muffins are done- Stick a fork into two different muffins and if the fork comes out clean, the pancakes are done. Using a metal spoon remove pancakes from muffin tin holes and place on wire rack to cool.

These muffins were super yummy, but they were a total FAIL for Reagan. She picked out the fruit chunks and didn’t even attempt to try the tiniest bite of the pancake. Humph…there’s always tomorrow.

Envelopes with Love

Posted in Kid's Corner by


Reagan took one of her paintings that she made last week off of the fridge, held it up to me and said ‘paint mama paint’. Seriously, could she get any cuter? Without hesitation we headed to the basement and grabbed the needed materials. While setting up, I noticed the white envelopes that I had pulled out the night before to mail a letter to my cousin in Canada. What better way to show a little love to our favorite out-of-towners than custom made envelopes. As usual, I allowed Reagan to go to town and be as creative as she wanted. We talked about who we were going to send each envelope to and what we would put inside. This was a fantastic way to practice the names of the ones we love:)

Materials
envelopes
paint
paint brushes
dish for paint (we used a tupperware container because they’re easy to clean)
something to protect the surface of your table (we have a cardboard mat that we use)

Project is self explanatory. Allow your child to paint the envelopes one at a time. Allow to dry for at least an hour. Use a black Sharpie marker to address the envelope. IMG_4344

Apple Sauce Drops

Posted in What's Cookin' by


I’m trying to be creative to get Reagan to eat. She loved apple sauce for about a month and now she won’t touch it…so frustrating. Reagan loves frozen greek yogurt drops, so I thought that the same technique would be brilliant for the apple sauce that I had in the fridge. A super simple quick snack. I will forewarn…the drops begin to melt quickly. I give Reagan four or five at a time in a small bowl, in hopes that she will quickly eat them to receive more.


Ingredients
apple sauce

Materials
large baking sheet
wax paper
plastic bag
scissors

Line baking sheet with wax paper and pour apple sauce, enough for as many drops as you want, into the plastic bag.

Cut the corner of the plastic bag.

Hold plastic bag like a pastry bag and squeeze the desired sized drops onto the wax paper lined baking sheet. I make them big enough for Reagan to pick up, but small enough so that she does not choke.

You do not want the drops to touch on the sheet

Place in freezer for about an hour. Remove sheet from freezer, lift drops off sheet and place in tupperware container. It’s always so much more fun when Reagan get’s to participate!

These apple sauce treats are freezing, so I’m sure they feel fabulous on Reagan’s sore gums!

Perfect Morning

Posted in Kid's Corner by

Bundle up the kiddos it’s time to feed the UCKS! Check out that 55 degree temperature…Woot! Woot! Today was a cloudy Rochester day (not a shocker), but was nice enough for us to be able to spend the late morning and early afternoon outdoors with t he kids! The ‘ucks’ as Reagan calls the ducks were at the top of her to do list, so we met Erin and the boys in Schoen Place for some much-needed uck time.

Reagan feels the need to snack right along with the ucks, which is why we can never bring anything but fresh bread…those lucky little ucks.

When the bread was gone, we headed across the canal to have lunch and dance in the pavilion.  Oh to be a kid again.  These two are hysterical and love to dance to their favorites Justin and Kelis!

After a few falls, it was time to head to the library for a much-needed potty break and a little QT.  Henry gave me a long talk about how important it is for Reagan to have two gloves…his reasons included – only a few fingers being warm, her boo boo on her hand getting cold and not getting better and it looking silly. He’s such a smart kid- I felt like I was getting a lecture from my dad. (only one glove made it into the stroller from the trunk of the car)

The library is a comfortable and familiar place for both kids.  They know their boundaries and enjoy being able to have a bit of freedom to choose what they would like to do. They stuck together today…

Time flies when you’re having fun and before we knew it nap time was quickly approaching.  It was back in the stroller for Reagan and a quick walk to the car for Henry.  Holden was a trooper, like always, and slept the entire time!

How lucky are we to be able to stay home with our kids?  I am so grateful to be able to experience each new adventure with Reagan and fortunate enough to have Erin, Henry and Holden to share the adventures with as well.

Moon Sand

Posted in Kid's Corner by


What a mess…but so much fun! I underestimated the power that flour has to get all over anything that is anywhere close to it. Reagan and I started this activity on a towel that I set down on top of the kitchen rug. Within minutes, I had to roll back the kitchen rug, because the flour was starting to get everywhere. We will definitely be doing this activity outside next time.

The amount of each ingredient depends on the amount of Moon Sand that you want to make. We used two cups of flour and just continued to add baby oil until we reached the consistency that we liked. Reagan used the measuring cup, measuring spoon, large spoon and spatula to stir the sand, scoop it from one container to the next, create sand mounds and so much more!

Materials
Flour
Baby oil
Bowl or Tupperware container
Measuring Cup
Measuring Spoon
Large Spoon
Spatula

Measure desired amount of flour into a bowl or plastic container that your child can manipulate easily. I used a glad plastic container that has side gripped handles that are thin enough for Reagan to hold onto and is large enough for her scoop in and out of, as well as to build in.

Add baby oil, stirring with a spoon or spatula and squeezing with your hands until desired consistency is reached. I wanted to be able to form balls with our sand, so I continued to add baby oil until we were able to do so. We probably added about 1/4 cup of baby oil- total guesstimate.

Reagan played for about 25 minutes with the Moon Sand and loved every minute of it! The baby oil made our hands super soft and left them smelling fabulous as well–thanks to the lavender-scented oil!

We threw away the Moon Sand, put the dishes in the dish washer and shook the towel outside before washing.