We do a lot of eating in this house.
A lot.
And it gets messy, my friends. Very. Messy.
I have learned to accept it. A smear of peanut butter in the nostril. Roasted Plum-Applesauce crusted in the hair. (Everything crusted in the hair, really.) Crumbs down the back of her diaper. I really should start dressing her more when she eats. But don't worry, Auntie Erica, we still are encouraging use of a spoon, so table manner education is not going by the wayside. This gets better and better each week. We now use our spoon about 50% of the time. Maybe more when Mommy is looking. Less, a lot less, when Mommy is not.
That all being said, I'm a big fan of finger foods for snacks and to accompany meals. While I'm all for the occasional cookie or
Ritz cracker (both which Feesh successfully vocalizes now- 'cracker'
never sounded so cute), but I also appreciate when finger foods have some good nutritional value. The recipes I have linked you to below are some great snacks to share with your toddler- yes, with. I thoroughly enjoyed eating each of these, especially the Sweet Potato Biscuits, Quinoa Bites, and Zucchini Tots. Some of these recipes do ask for un-whole-grain flour, but sometimes that is just okay to splurge on. Of course, you can always swap in your favorite whole-grain flour! I swapped out on the batter for the Apple-Pancake Rings for King Arthur's Whole-Grain Buttermilk Pancake recipe, but left the biscuits and yogurt bread as is.
Looking for a way to use of the end of the zucchini? This is a great way to do it! Very light and fluffy snack. The recipe asks for breadcrumbs- I would definitely use panko!
To quote the Beatles... "Love, love, love........"
These are easily customizable! You can get creative with the add-ins. And again, panko breadcrumbs work well here.
I've said it before, I'll say it again. I. Heart. Martha. These don't keep too well, so eat up within three days or so.
Tyler Florence's Sweet Potato Pancakes w/Blueberries
This guy put out a fantastic cookbook called Start Fresh. A wonderful girlfriend told me about it, so I checked it out from the library and am HOOKED! A favorite recipe from that book is the Roasted Plum Applesauce. A bit of pure maple syrup adds the perfect touch of sweetness. We'll eat it as a snack or as a mix-in for Feesh's morning oatmeal.
Finger foods aside, we will continue our journey to utensil mastery.
However, the baby-meets-first-Drumstick-moment was not a time for such utensils.
Enjoy!
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