Healthy Kiddos Day 3

Healthy Kiddos Day 3 Meal Plan

    With a wonderfully warm day ahead and a pantry running low, we head out to town this morning. It's a twenty minute drive to the nearest store. Being so far away from town has taught us valuable lessons for planning and preparation. Planning meals ahead of time is a valuable tool. It will save you money and time if you prepare for multiple meals with similar ingredients and plan to cook in bulk to use some ingredients in multiple recipes, creating elements that you can use a variety of ways.

Healthy Kiddos Day 3 Meal Plan

French Toast with Strawberries & Strawberry Syrup

Coconut Yogurt and pistachios

Spinach Quesadillas

Gluten Free Pretzels and Sunbutter

Quinoa Stuffed Squash with Sunflower Seeds

Breakfast:

 To make French Toast:

6 Slices Whole Grain Bread

2 Eggs

2 tsp Cinnamon

1 tsp Vanilla

Dash of Nutmeg

1/4 cup almond milk

Heat a skillet or griddle over medium heat. Mix all ingredients together using a fork and pour onto a flat plate or small baking dish. (I have a set of dipping containers I bought from Pampered Chef awhile back that I love) Dip bread both sides into batter and lay on skillet or griddle. Brown on both sides, ensuring any eggy areas are cooked until white.

Syrup:
1 Cup Maple Syrup
1 Cup Frozen Strawberries

In a saucepan, place both ingredients. Warm over low/medium heat until strawberries are fully defrosted. Smash them (they should smash easily) and stir, breaking down large chunks with a spoon or knife.

Pour a small amount of syrup on each piece of toast and top with a fresh strawberry. 

Serve with Milk

Morning Snack:
Simply top yogurt with pistachios. I actually gave my son the nuts to open himself (see learn something new) to challenge him to open them. He really enjoyed the prize of his efforts. Pistachios are a lovely flavored nut with a nice pack of healthy fats, and they are easy to open!
Serve with Water

Lunch:
Tortilla (whole grain or sprouted grain. We used spelt today)
1/8 to 1/4 cup Cheddar Cheese, grated
1/2 Cup spinach, chopped finely

For the little ones, they usually will only need 1/2 a quesadilla. Take one tortilla and put a slight layer of spinach and top with cheese on 1/2 and fold over other half. You can easily heat this in the oven until cheese is melted. Use a pizza cutter to dice.

Serve with water.

Afternoon snack:Gluten Free Pretzels (Annies gone Brand)
Sunbutter

I love offering different nut butters to my son. Sunbutter is more cost effective and my son receives the benefits of sunflowers seeds: Vitamin E, B1, Magnesium, Copper, and Folate. It's also a smooth creamy nut butter with a nice taste.

Serve with water.

Dinner:

1 Cup Quinoa, cook according to package directions
1/2 cup onions diced
1/2 mushrooms diced
1 tsp fresh garlic minced
1 Tablespoon parsley
1 medium squash (your choice)
2 Tablespoons Sunflower Seeds
Vegetable Broth

Cut your squash in 1/2. Scrape seeds out (discard seeds or save for baking later) and place squash center side up in a glass baking dish. Mix onion, mushrooms, garlic and parsley into Quinoa and spoon into the center of the squash. Pile Quinoa and top and around squash. Pour broth - about 1 to 1 1/2 cups over and around squash.
Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes. top with sunflower seeds and serve.
Serve with milk.

Simple activities for you to get the most out of your time with your child. 

Play Today

Today, we learned to play a new card game called Pirate Snap. It's a game I bought from Usborne at least a year ago and ran into it seeking out activities. It let me teach him new strategy and problem solving skills and challenged him to quick thinking. 

Learn something New Today

We learned how to open pistachios. I know this seems silly, but Dominik was really taken with how cool it was to find those nuts in the middle. What independent skill can you teach your little one today?