Tag Archives: Cooking with Toddlers

4 Ingredient Protein Packed Pancakes (gluten free)

These were a total spur of the moment “I have stuff that’s going bad, and I should probably make something!” recipe.

I had made a quinoa dinner earlier in the week that I’ll hopefully post soon (practically a one pot easy meal!) So…why am I posting this before that? was that good!! And more importantly…THAT EASY! Oh, and should I mention-HEALTHY?!

Because this was that good!! And more importantly…THAT EASY! Oh, and should I mention-HEALTHY?!

When it’s a trifecta, I know I should blog it! Ok, when it’s a trifecta, and I actually take pictures, I know I should blog it 🙂

What you need… (makes 20 mini pancakes or 10 medium)

One overripe banana
One cup cooked quinoa
2 eggs
2 tablespoons unsweetened Almond Milk
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

What you need to do…

Mash the banana, add everything else, and mix a lot (baby got back! ok, nevermind…)

blog-4-ingredient-protein-packed-gluten-free-pancakes-2 She’s usually up for being my baking assistant, but not always the willing photography assistant. Totally understandable since it was first thing in the morning 🙂 Above are Tablespoon mini pancakes for Maya, which she’s flipping (and are pictured stacked later)

Below are the 1/4 cup pancakes that I ate (as well as a few of her mini ones :)).
blog-4-ingredient-protein-packed-gluten-free-pancakes-6 The mini ones were easier to photograph, and….could she be a better assistant???!!

Just for kicks, I entered everything into VeryWell.com. If you eat the entire batch, it’s less than 500 calories and has 20 grams of protein! Honestly, they were so filling, I ate half the batch myself, and then worked out. I was totally satisfied until lunch! Normally, I eat a lot more of-to be honest…processed calories usually, and am not as satisfied. Lesson to be learned. But, let’s be real. This was super simple, easy, and quick to do, but…it wasn’t as quick as grabbing something with no clean up. I GET IT! I’ll let you know if they toast well haha.

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1 (423g)
Per Serving	% Daily Value*
Calories 458
Total Fat 13.6g	21%
Saturated Fat 2.9g	15%
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 327mg	109%
Sodium 160mg	7%
Potassium 564mg	16%
Total Carb 66.9g	22%
Dietary Fiber 8.2g	33%
Sugars 15.1g
Protein 20.5g

Enjoy!! dit-elle-Lauren

Paleo Apple Muffins with Steusel Topping

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blog-paleo-apple-streusel-gluten-free-muffins-1 Maya had a play date the other day, and I promised them we could make something. I’ve been wanting to try a healthier apple muffin, and these turned out so good!! You could leave out the walnuts for a nut free option for school!
So moist and yummy!! blog-paleo-apple-streusel-gluten-free-muffins-5

Ingredients (makes 12 muffins or 24 minis)

2 cups almond flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice or 1/2 tsp ginger and 1/2 tsp nutmeg
3 eggs
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
4 medjul dates pitted
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk
2 small apples, diced or about 1 1/2 cups

For the streusel-

1/4 cup almond flour
1 tsp coconut flour
1 Tbsp Pure Maple Syrup
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp coconut oil
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
pinch of salt

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Line muffin cups with muffin liners.
First, prepare the streusel topping by mixing everything together, except for the pecans, in a small bowl. Add the pecans and stir until well combined. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, mix together the dry muffins ingredients (almond flour through nutmeg).
In a large bowl, mix together the wet muffins ingredients (eggs through Almond Milk).
Add the dry mix to the wet and stir just until combined! Fold in the apples.
Pour 1/3 cup of batter into each muffin cup. Sprinkle the streusel on top.
Bake at 425 degrees F for 5 minutes and then lower the temperature to 350 degrees F and for another 8 – 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean. Mini muffins only needed 8 more minutes but larger muffins may need up to 15.
Let the muffins cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then remove the muffins to a wire rack to cool completely.
These are super moist and need to be kept refrigerated in an airtight container after the first 24 hours.

Recipe adapted from Texanerin Baking.

Enjoy!

Paleo Cherry Coconut Flour Muffins with Dark Chocolate Drizzle

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Every year thus far for Maya’s birthday I’ve made some kind of pumpkin cake or pumpkin muffin, since her birthday is in October. This year, I finally gave her a choice.

SO not like me haha. And then…she picked my favorite birthday dessert-CHERRY!

Ok, for me, I picked Betty Crocker Cherry Chip Cake with Cherry Frosting every year growing up. OMG, sugar BOMB!!! And truth be told…I LOVED IT!!!!

BUT…I’m determined for Maya to love healthier althernatives, and so far, it’s working! What she doesn’t know, she doesn’t know. And natually sweetened treats, are treats!

I’m sure that’s going to bite me in the ass, but…until then….

I mainly used Coconut Mama’s recipe, but just added diced up frozen organic cherries and then drizzled some dark chocolate on them to make sure the kids in Maya’s class were more apt to eat them!
blog-paleo-cherry-gluten-free-muffins-with-dark-chocolate-drizzle-1 Using cocunut flour can be challenging, so I love to see what the consistency looks like! In my opinion, it’s more cookie dough like than muffin, but it all works out in the end!The original recipe called for only filling it to 3/4th full batter, but mine never raise that much, so…I filled them up!
blog-paleo-cherry-gluten-free-muffins-with-dark-chocolate-drizzle-4 And Maya drizzled dark chocolate on them once they came out of the oven… YUM!

Ingredients (makes 12 muffins or 24 minis)

3/4 cup of coconut flour
1/2 Teaspoon of baking soda
1/4 Teaspoon of sea salt
6 organic eggs
1/2 Cup of coconut oil, melted
1/2 Cup of pure maple syrup
1 Teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 Cup frozen cherries diced

For the drizzle

1 Cup Dark Chocolate
1 teaspoon coconut oil

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
In a small bowl, mix all dry ingredients together and set aside.
In a medium bowl, beat eggs and mix in melted coconut oil, honey, vanilla, and diced cherries.
Add dry ingredients and mix well.
Let sit for 3-5 minutes or until coconut flour has absorbed the liquid.
Scoop batter into prepared muffin pan.
Fill each muffin tin ¾ full of batter.
Bake for 25-30 minutes.
Let muffins cool.
Microwave chocolate and coconut oil in 20 second increments until smooth.
Drizzle over muffins and enjoy!
Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

Enjoy!

Healthy Chocolate Chip Mint NiceCream

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Ever since I successfully made a Healthy Cherry Garcia, I’ve been dying to make a Mint Chocolate Chip version. I’ve had this recipe in my mind for a LONG time, and finally got around to making it last night. I might play around with it a little more, but overall, I think it was pretty good for the first try! Blog Healty Mint Chocolate Chip NiceCream-1 Ingredients (serves 3-4)

3 Frozen Bananas (cut into 2-3 inch pieces prior to freezing)
1/2 cup frozen Avocado (cut into cubes then frozen)
1/3 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk
Half of a vanilla bean (slice open and scrape inside out)
1/2 Teaspoon Peppermint Extract
Garnish with dark chocolate chips

Directions

Put frozen bananas, Avocado, almond milk, peppermint extract and inside of vanilla bean in a high speed blender or Cuisinart, and pulse/stop and stir occasionally until it gets to a creamy consistency. You might need to add more almond milk.

Maya loves to push the button 🙂 Blog Healty Mint Chocolate Chip NiceCream-5

That’s it!!

Garnish with the dark chocolate chips (although, omit this if you are strict on certain diets). Blog Healty Mint Chocolate Chip NiceCream-6

Enjoy! We did 😉

Ginger, Chicken Sausage, Spaghetti Squash, Egg Muffins | Paleo, Whole30

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I have always loved the taste of ginger, but have been even more inspired to add it into things after reading Esther’s post on the health benefits of it. I mainly just loved the taste haha.

I had made another variation of these muffins a few months ago (with spinach!), and have kept meaning to make them again. They are a little time consuming, but it’s SO worth it to have these ready to eat in the morning! OR…for a snack 🙂 Blog Whole 30 Paleo Ginger Spaghetti Squash Chicken Sausage Egg Muffins-1

What you need… (12 Muffins)

5 Large Eggs
2 cups spaghetti squash, cooked with water squeezed out.
6 precooked chicken sausages, chopped into bite size pieces (I used these)
1 Teaspoon ginger
1/2 Teaspoon crushed garlic
1 medium onion, diced
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil (or fat of choice)
Salt and Pepper to taste

What to do…

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Squeeze out all the moisture from the spaghetti squash with a paper towel and evenly distribute into lined muffin tins (This is my 2nd time making these and I spent almost as much time scrubbing the tins both times, even though I greased them!!). I had Maya push a paper towel into them to get even more moisture out. She thought it was fun, and it helped pack them in there!
Bake for 10 minutes til the spaghetti squash gets slightly browned at the edges.
While that is baking…In a large frying pan, heat up your oil (or fat of choice) with the ginger and garlic, and cook diced onions until soft. I let Maya stir these up. 🙂
While these are cooking you can dice up your chicken sausage. Once the onions are soft, add in the chicken sausage for a few minutes to warm them up and release the juices.
After the spaghetti squash has cooked, reduce your heat to 350.
Evenly distribute the onion/chicken sausage on top of the spaghetti squash in the muffin tins.
Whisk all the eggs, and add salt and pepper to taste. Maya loves whisking eggs, and it was an easy way for her to help!
Pour over the sausage and onion mixture until you can see the egg. Not quite covering the sausage.
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, or until the eggs are all the way cooked through.
Store in an air tight container, and eat through out the week!

Here are some behind the scenes video from us making these. I’m totally inept at Snapchat, but we are both having fun with it. Find us at lkahan-ditelle 🙂

ENJOY!! 🙂 dit-elle-Lauren

Monster Cookies

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Every once in a while we deviate from healthy. And…that is SO OK!!! Everything in moderation, right??!

This is one of those times. These cookies represent my childhood! We made them every holiday season, and every season in between when we wanted to!! ;}

My only sadness is that when we made them as kids they were 1/2 inch thick, ginormous, basically it was a meal cookie!! In my adulthood, I have yet to recreate the cookie of my youth. I’ve asked my mom. Was it my imagination? NO! They were absolutely thicker…

So…back to the drawing board. BUT…the flavor is still the same. YUM!!! Blog Monster Cookie-1 Blog Monster Cookie-2 Blog Monster Cookie-3 What you need…

1/2 Cup Butter
1 1/2 Cups White Sugar
1 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
4 Eggs
1 Tsp Vanilla
18 oz of Chunky Peanut Butter
18 oz of Oatmeal
16 oz of Chocolate Chips
8 oz of Butterscotch Chips
2 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
Optional (we didn’t have either this time, so we didn’t add either) 1/4 Cup Coconut + 3 small bags of M&M’s

What to do…

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a really big bowl or Kitchenaid Mixer, cream butter and sugars
Blend in eggs and vanilla.
Blend in Peanut Butter and baking soda, and chips/M&M’s.
Slowly add in oatmeal. If you are doing this in large bowl, make sure you have a REALLY strong spoon! Many a wooden spoons have been broken in the making of these Monster Cookies!
Original recipe calls to drop 1/4 cups of batter on cookie sheet and bake for 13-14 minutes, or until the edges get a little brown. Middle will still look uncooked, but they are super moist and chewy then-aka doughy 😉
Can also make the cookies smaller

Ok, truth be told. I didn’t realize she was going to try and crack the egg. It didn’t end well…

So….this recipe has one egg, somewhat cracked + an egg. But, I turned my back for a minute, and she was so proud. Blog Monster Cookie Baking with Toddlers-4 I mean… Who loves the dough of cookies even more than the actual cookies? We sure do!! I know everyone’s all scared of salmonella, but I grew up eating cookie dough, and I’m just fine. I even remember they used to sell cookie dough cones at Mrs. Fields!! Yup, I used to get them-SO GOOD 🙂 No chance they could do that now!
Blog Monster Cookie Baking with Toddlers-9

Enjoy! dit-elle-Lauren

Coconut Almond Dark Chocolate Mug Cakes // Paleo + Gluten Free

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I made one other mug cake here, and I have NO idea why I don’t do them more often. There’s no shortage of variations, and they are ridiculously easy to make, enough for one or two to share, and with nominal clean up=TOTAL WIN!! Blog Paleo Coconut Flour Almond Mug Cake-1

Ingredients

2 tablespoons coconut flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
2 tablespoons Almond Butter (can use Sun Butter for a nut free option)
1-½ tablespoons melted coconut oil
1-½ tablespoons raw honey
1 tablespoon almond milk (or any milk you’d like)
½ a vanilla bean (scrape out the inside, throw away the shell) or ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Optional topping ideas- dark chocolate chips, coconut flakes, or berries (dried or fresh)!

Directions

In a separate bowl whisk together coconut flour, and baking powder.
Add egg, almond butter, coconut oil, honey, almond milk and vanilla bean and blend until creamy. Super easy to have your child do all the mixing! Not so easy to keep them from eating the batter 😉
It will look like this in the mug before you microwave it.
Microwave for 2 minutes (depending on your microwave) and you magically have cake!!
That’s IT!!!

Enjoy!

Thank you to Regina, from Leelalicious for the inspiration! dit-elle-Lauren

4 Ingredient Quinoa + Sun Butter + Maple Syrup + Hemp Seed Protein Balls

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I may be alone here, but I don’t think I am. As a busy mom, granola bars/protein bars are kind of a must to survive. Both for us and our kids!! Grab on the go. Or in between snack that you want to feel ok giving them, BUT…so many have a LOT of ingredients that you may or may not be ok with, but you do it anyways, because….SURVIVAL. And…they can be really expensive if you don’t buy them in bulk. I’ve been dying to make my own, but it seemed like a LOT of work. SO….I abbreviated my efforts and went simple. As I do… 😉

One day, I’ll blog about a simple, inexpensive, healthy protein bar, but until then… 😉

These are not a dessert, although, I convinced Maya they were for a few nights haha. More like a healthy snack to tide you over 🙂 Blog Quinoa Sun Butter Hemp Seed Protein Balls-1 Ingredients (Made 34 Balls)

1 Cup uncooked Quinoa
6 Tablespoons Sun Butter
1/4 Cup Organic Pure Maple Syrup
6 Tablespoons Hemp Seeds (for rolling-btw, OBSESSED with Hemp Seeds right now!! If you’re interested in the health benefits, read here. Oh, and they’re yummy!)

(All these ingredients I found at Costco. NOT in any way sponsored, but just an easy “Mama cooking for the masses” FYI ;))

Directions

Cook Quinoa as directed (I did mine in my rice cooker and it took me 30 seconds of prep, but about 30-45 minutes to wait :))
Stir in Sun Butter and Maple Syrup The reward of licking the measuring cup…who could deny such a thing??!!
Take 1 Tablespoon amounts and form into balls
Roll the balls in hemp seeds.
Refrigerate for an hour in a air tight container and store for future snacking 🙂

ENJOY!

Chicken Sausage, Spaghetti Squash Egg Muffins | Paleo, Whole30

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I’ve seen so many variations of eggs in a muffin tin. The possibilities are almost endless! I saw a version of this recipe posted on the @Whole30Recipes page on Instagram by @dollyessfit, although I couldn’t find it on her website, Unapologetically Living, but there are a lot of other yummy recipes there.

I changed it a little, but basically stuck to what she did, and these were amazing! And better yet. I had breakfast every day for a week, and Maya asked for them for lunch too!

She also helped with almost every step. She’s totally getting into cooking with me and wanting to help with everything! Yes, it takes a little longer, and some ingredients are lost along the way, but it’s so worth it for her to know that she helped make what we are eating! Especially when it’s healthy! I mean, what kid doesn’t want to make cookies? I love that she was excited to make these with me, and more importantly that she wanted to eat them! Although, that last part isn’t a real shock. She eats just about anything. 🙂 Blog Paleo Whole30 Egg Chicken Sausage Spaghetti Squash Egg Muffins-1 What you need… (12 Muffins)

6 Large Eggs
2 cups spaghetti squash, cooked with water squeezed out.
4 precooked chicken sausages, chopped into bite size pieces
1 cup spinach, kale (or any leafy green) chopped
1 medium onion, diced
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil (or fat of choice)
Salt and Pepper to taste

What to do…

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Squeeze out all the moisture from the spaghetti squash with a paper towel and evenly distribute into greased muffin tins (overly grease!! I had to do a lot of scrubbing to get all the egg off after, because I only lightly greased). I had Maya push a paper towel into them to get even more moisture out. She thought it was fun, and it helped pack them in there!
Bake for 10 minutes til the spaghetti squash gets slightly browned at the edges.
While that is baking…In a large frying pan, heat up your oil (or fat of choice), and cook diced onions until soft. I let Maya stir these up. 🙂
While these are cooking you can dice up your chicken sausage. Once the onions are soft, add in the chicken sausage for a few minutes to warm them up and release the juices.
After the spaghetti squash has cooked, reduce your heat to 350.
Evenly distribute the onion/chicken sausage on top of the spaghetti squash in the muffin tins.
Whisk 6 eggs in with diced greens.
Pour that evenly over muffin tins til the mixture reaches the top. They don’t rise that much.
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, or until the eggs are all the way cooked through.
Store in an air tight container, and eat through out the week!

Keeping it Real…

The number one hardest part of cooking and baking with a toddler? Or at least MY TODDLER, is stopping them from licking the spoon and eating along the way. But…whatever. Oh, and we made these at 5:00 at night, so there was NO natural light, which bums me out, but such is life.

Blog Paleo Whole30 Egg Chicken Sausage Spaghetti Squash Egg Muffins-10 The second hilarious thing that happened (which I’m only admitting at the very end of this post, knowing most people won’t get this far hahaha.) I accidentally turned the oven off when I thought I was turning it down to 350. So…I put the muffins in, checked them at 20 minutes and thought. WHY don’t they look more cooked?? Did I not get enough moisture out of the squash?? SO…10 more minutes. STILL not looking done. 5 more minutes. Then I started getting confused on how long they’d been in there and wondered how I would tell people how long they should cook! SO, I checked them again, and realized…my hand wasn’t hot when I stuck it in to shake the pan. Um….hmmm, yeah, turning the oven on. Important step!!!! I was actually making these for dinner and had to scrap it and make something else while they cooked for their appropriate 20 minutes. GRRRR.

ENJOY!! 🙂 dit-elle-Lauren

Gingersnap Cookies // Paleo, Nut Free

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Happy NEW YEAR!!!

Truth be told, I made these last week. I’m not going to lie. I almost said &*^% it to the cookies for Santa this year (BAD MOMMY!!!), but…someone kept me honest. AND…I’m always on the hunt for a healthier version of a cookie that I love. Honestly, I set out to make Gingerbread men…decorated and all. AND THEN…life happened. So, honestly, we are lucky these cookies happened at all! Our entire family is a sucker for gingersnaps, so I thought this might be the perfect thing to try.

The biggest dilemma (in my opinion!) is underbaking vs overbaking vs just right baking. WHO KNOWS??!! I’m usually a fan of underbaking. The ooey gooey goodness is spot on as far as I’m concerned. BUT…when you are talking Ginger SNAP…well, snap leads you towards the more crunchy aspect, no?

I cooked the two batches a little differently. One for a little longer, and one for a little less. I’m still on the fence about which one I liked better ha! Blog Paleo Nut Free Ginger Snap Cookies-1 What you need…(makes 2 dozen cookies)

1 cup Sun Butter (you could use any nut butter if you have no dietary restrictions)
3 Tablespoons Pure Molasses
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger root
3/4 cup coconut sugar
¼ cup coconut flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground pumpkin spice (originally called for all spice)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
A pinch of freshly ground pepper (sounded weird to me, but I went with it ha!)

What to do…

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. I wouldn’t skip this as they really are pretty gooey and sticky.
In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or by hand, beat together the sun butter, molasses, eggs and freshly grated ginger until smooth. It’s STICKY, as an fyi, so hand mixers won’t work as well because they just get really stuck in all the blades…I actually tried, and then switched over. Not a deal breaker, just a warning 🙂
Into a medium bowl, sift together coconut sugar, coconut flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, pumpkin spice, salt and pepper.
Slowly add the sugar and spice mixture to the almond butter mixture while mixing on low until just combined.
Drop the dough by the rounded Tablespoons about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
Bake for about 10-12 minutes of you want a softer cookie go on the 10 side, crisper on the 12 side.
Cool 2 minutes on the baking sheets out of the oven then transfer the parchment paper with the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.Maya deciding exactly which one she wanted 😉

Adapted from Gourmand In The Kitchen- Thank you!

dit-elle-Lauren

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