"Wow, all those allergies! What DOES he eat?" This is something I hear quite often. Sometimes people find it hard to think of snack foods that are outside the standard toddler fare. Cheerios, goldfish crackers, and cheese-strings appear to be very popular with the 2 year old market according to my latest shopping-mall observations. So I guess I shouldn't be so surprised when people stare at Little Man's snack cup wondering what weird food I am feeding my child.
I like to refer to this as trail mix, but Little Man knows it as Crunchies, Puffs, Raisins and Lizards. His favourite part is the lizards -- he will usually dig around until he gets every last one before he starts in on the other components. They are sheets of nori seaweed that I have cut into shapes using a craft punch. They are a great enticement for him to eat other things too. If he doesn't want a muffin, I cut it into cubes and serve it with a sprinkling of lizards over the top. Zucchini quinoa muffins on their own are sometimes not what he is craving, but muffins and lizards are hard to resist.
Trail mix:
- nori sheets cut into appealing shapes using a craft punch
- puffed brown rice (I use the Simple Treasures brand)
- quinoa crunchies (by Gogo Quinoa -- either original or cinnamon)
- raisins
Oh my goodness, those lizards are the most brilliant thing I've ever seen!!! I looked at the picture and thought "why is there confetti in his trail mix?" I can't wait to try this. We can make hearts and flowers and spirals...oh I'm so excited!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea for a trail mix. I plan on making it for my toddlers. They love nori ~ great idea to use a craft punch! We often bring green smoothies with us on outings. Rice cakes and raisins are always easy too. Tom grinds up cooked quinoa and rolls them into little balls ~ quinoa balls we call them. The boys love these while we are out and about. I have never seen Quinoa Crunchies before, I will check them out and see if I can find them around here.
ReplyDelete-Ali :)
FoodAllergyMom - I'm excited to try other shapes too. Right now I only have the lizard. I'm hoping to find a dinosaur punch.
ReplyDeleteAli - The quinoa balls sound very interesting! How do you grind the quinoa -- in a food processor? Do you add anything else? How big do you make the balls? This is something my little guy would love as he eats quinoa every day.
We use a Kidco baby food grinder - not electric. Then we take the ground quinoa and roll it into balls, about the size of a quarter. It is best to do this when the quinoa is warm - not hot or cold. That's it! Just pop them into a container and take them with you. My boys love them. The girls even like to eat them too! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the instructions, Ali. I'm going to give the quinoa balls a try sometime. I wonder if I could roll a nori lizard onto the outside of them? I'll experiment!
ReplyDeleteAgain, I'm liking your blog and thrilled that you wrote into me today. LOVE the nori sheet cut outs. I've added you to my Blogroll!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Maria. I've been a fan of your blog for awhile now and I'm glad to see you posting again. I hope E enjoys the trail mix!
ReplyDelete