Pizza Friday - Flavor Blitz

Tonight we dined on Caesar Salad and a most flavorful pizza. Whole wheat crust topped with organic tomato & basil sauce, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, kalamata olives, marinated artichoke hearts, and soppressata. Leyna now knows that she loves artichoke hearts and Cora doesn't have any idea because she wouldn't even try one. They happily ate two pieces of pizza each and even ate a little salad. This dinner was a HIT!

Our trip: What we ate...

It's hard enough to get a toddler to eat healthy in their own comfortable surroundings, but take them on a trip and you're lucky if they eat one meal a day! We were away for the past 4 days and I'm happy to say I did a few things right and the girls didn't waste away while we were gone.
First of all I brought along a few tricks.
1. Fresh strawberries. These were our "welcome to our hotel room" and afternoon snacks. The girls LOVE them and think they're a special treat but they're also healthy!

2. Milk. I bought a case of Horizon Organic Milk and it was one of the best things I did. It's not refrigerated in the store so if you only have a small fridge in your hotel room it's perfect to be able to throw in a couple at a time. And most of all I liked being able to take it to restaurants and know exactly what kind of milk my kids were actually getting.

3. New and exciting portable snacks. This worked for Cora but surprisingly not Leyna. I bought some healthy, new snacks that the girls had never tried before thinking I could stow them in the diaper bag to keep them occupied on long city treks or serve them before bed. Cora was a huge fan of both of these things, Leyna turned her nose up after one taste. Oh well, 50/50 isn't bad.

4. Peanut butter. I brought along a jar of our favorite, along with some bread and honey. Every day I packed peanut butter and honey sandwiches to take to the museums. The food there is SO overpriced and I would hate it if they wasted even a bite. Leyna could eat peanut butter for every meal (she actually ate a spoonful for her bedtime snack one night) and Cora ate a little and then shared my lunches with me. I think Cora's favorite lunch of mine was Clam Chowder. Go figure!

The second thing we did right was pick the right restaurants. Urbanspoon.com lets you sort by kid-friendly restaurants in your city. I looked at the menus and reviews and went from there. Quesadillas and Spaghetti were key menu items. I've learned to face the truth and the truth is that restaurants are new and exciting enough without new and exciting food.
1. On the first night Leyna opted for a Bean and Rice bowl and Cora had the Cheese Quesadillas. They both swapped some of their items and everyone was happy. The applesauce served as a dessert :)

2. On the second night we went to a little more upscale place but they had spaghetti and the girls hardly made a peep. They both loved sprinkling/dumping their own cheese on their pasta. Cora ate all but a few noodles and Leyna cleaned her bowl AND ate a roll for dessert. SCORE!!!

I also have to share what I got because I want to remember it for all eternity. Jumbo Lump Crab Macaroni and Cheese. SO GOOD.

3. And for our last night we played it safe. Both girls were short on naps so we wanted somewhere super kid-friendly and guaranteed to please. We opted for Macaroni Grill and again the girls cleaned their plates. We literally didn't hear a peep from them from the time their spaghetti came until the last noodle was gone. It was glorious.

Then Cora tried to take a snooze...

4. And finally on our last day we didn't eat anything too exciting but I did finally let Leyna order dessert. She opted for this little parfait and happily shared it with Cora and I. Yummy! It gave them enough energy to stay awake WELL past their nap time :)

And speaking of too much energy, the big fail of the trip was continental breakfast. I actually chose our hotel based on it having free breakfast because I thought it would be easy and the girls would have lots of choices. The problem was that the eating area didn't have boosters or high chairs and the girls just went wild. They could barely reach the table and there were TVs running news and everything was clean and fancy and it just didn't work. Every morning was a struggle. We tried yogurt, all kinds of dry cereal, toast, you name it. Cora never ate more than a couple bites because she was too busy terrorizing the place. Leyna did eat muffins on the days they had them, however muffins make a HUGE mess. Oh well, you win some you lose some. At least Cora liked the coffee...

Pizza Friday - I cheated

We had a busy day and I didn't feel like doing extra dishes tonight. So, Daddy picked pizza up on the way home. We LOVE Stuffed Crust Cheese pizza! Cora ate hers like a big girl for the first time and it was so cute :)

Valentine's Day Fare

We had a very yummy day!

Breakfast

heart-shaped chocolate chip pancakes with strawberry jam filling

Lunch
mini pizzas (I used a mini heart cookie cutter in the middle) & grapes

Snacks

sugar cookies

Dinner

Pioneer Woman's Sherried Tomato Soup (I left the sherry out of the kids' portions!) & Barefoot Contessa's Soppressata and Cheese in Puff Pastry

 THIS SOUP IS AMAZING!!!

Pizza Friday - Pre Valentine's Day

Mommy Power Lunch

This blog is about toddler tummies but I have to share my yummy lunch from today. A baked potato with light sour cream, a little bit of colby jack cheese, salsa, and diced avocado. Normally I grab a (usually unhealthy treat) snack during nap time but today I stayed full all the way until dinner. I think I'll be doing this more often!

What we ate today...

Lunch

Toasted Pesto, Ham & Cheese Sandwiches, Olives, Oranges, Veggie Sticks (carrots, red peppers, & cucumbers)

Dinner

Orange Glazed Pork Tenderloin, Stir Fry Veggies, & White Rice. (The girls went on strike and only ate rice and broccoli. It was good though so we'll try again some other time!)

A muffin tin lunch: Making up for the weekend

So after a birthday party, a Christmas celebration, a Nacho Cook-Off, and chocolate cake for breakfast this morning, we're all feeling like we need a little nutritive redemption. I made it my goal to get as many fruits and veggies into the girls as I could today and this muffin tin lunch made it much easier!

Clockwise from top left, Leyna's on top: Red peppers or tomatoes, carrots or oranges, whole milk vanilla yogurt, Double Delicious Banana Bread (it has cauliflower in it!), mango, broccoli

Nacho Cook-Off

We held a little Nacho Cook-off for the Super Bowl so I thought I'd share some pictures of the entries...

Calypso Carribbean Pulled Pork Nachos

Seafood Nachos with Crab Bisque and Shrimp

Buffalo Chicken Nachos

Dessert Nachos

There were also traditional nachos and some delicious Chicken Enchiladas! YUM!

It takes talent...

...to balance this much milk on your nose while you're eating :)
(Those are Kashi "Berry Blossoms" in case you're wondering)

Pizza Friday - BAM!

The girls made their own little simple pizzas tonight. Yesterday they watched an Elmo cooking movie that featured Emeril so guess how Leyna topped her pizza... BAM! BAM! BAM! It was hilarious :)

Another muffin tin lunch

Clockwise from top left, Leyna's on top: Homemade Parmesan & Basil Crackers (recipe below), Chicken & Rice soup, Mango Strawberry Smoothies, Cucumbers & Grape Tomatoes, Jarred Tropical Fruit Salad, and Olives

Cora LOVED drinking her soup!

Parmesan & Basil Crackers
Adapted from Barefoot Contessa, Back to Basics (Parmesan & Thyme Crackers)

These crackers and so simple and very addictive. Andy, Cora, and I LOVE them. Leyna has never been  a big fan of crackers so she ate one crumb and said she was full. I changed the recipe from the original based on what I had in the pantry.

1 stick room temperature butter
1 C Parmesan cheese (I used the Kraft kind in a can as opposed to freshly grated)
1/2 t dried basil
1/2 t sea salt
1/2 t fresh ground pepper
1 1/4 C unbleached flour

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter. With the mixer on low speed add the cheese, basil, salt, and pepper. Next add the flour and combine until mixture is in large crumbles. If the dough is too dry (mine was) add a teaspoon of water.

Dump the dough onto a floured board or wax paper and press it into a ball. Next, roll the dough into a 9-inch log. Wrap it in wax paper or plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or for up to 4 days.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the log into 3/8-inch-thick rounds. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 22 minutes, or until lightly browned, rotating the plan once during baking.