LilSugar

Delilicious: Tic-Tac-Toe Peanut Butter Style

babysugar — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 05:00:35 -0700

Eeny, meeny, miny, mo, have some fun with tic-tac-toe! Turn a meal into a game time gobble with lil jolts of protein and tasty fruit pieces. Moms with a wipe clean place mat at their disposal are at an advantage but anyone with a piece of paper and a pen can play this game. Using a cookie cutter or any circular cutting shape (I used a baby bottle cap), take two pieces of bread and cut out small circles for the game pieces. Cover half of them with peanut butter and the other half with Nutella. Then put banana slices on the nutty ones and raspberries on the cocoa flavored bits. Tiny diners can pick their flavors and play one round to see who can get three pieces in a row. The game can go as the pieces last, which won't be long!

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Do you have a healthy snack recipe that your tots love? Share it with other lunch making mamas in The Children's Table group over in the LilSugar community!

Tasty Treats For Halloween Bashes: Trick or Treat Lollipops

LilSugar — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:30:34 -0700

Halloween may be all about the costumes and candy, but that doesn't mean you can't trick kids with a treat that's healthy too. Take an all-time childhood favorite – the lollipop – and convert it into something that will fill trick-or-treaters up with necessary nutrients.

Take a selection of firm fruits like watermelon, cantaloupe and pineapple and cut them into thick slices. Then using cookie cutters cut them into fun shapes, filling holes in one slice with smaller pieces from other fruits like blueberries, grapes or strawberries. Place bamboo skewers into the pieces to create fruit lollipops that lil ghosts and goblins can't keep their hands off of throughout the party.

Do you have a healthy treat that your tots love? Share it with other lunch making mamas in The Children's Table group in the LilSugar community!

10 Grab and Go Snacks For New Moms

LilSugar — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 09:30:20 -0700

Once baby arrives, new moms tend to trade in the bowls of ice cream for healthy snacks that will nourish them while helping them shed the baby weight. While healthy eating can be tasty, it isn't always quick and with a lil one demanding constant attention, eating with one hand and on-the-run is essential. We've rounded up 10 quick and easy one-handed snacks that should give a new mom the energy she needs to make it through the day.

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Happy Puffs Keep Munchkins Eco Munching

LilSugar — Wed, 27 May 2009 04:00:22 -0700

Baby puffs are a staple in many mama's snack arsenal. However, until now, the only options were from the major baby food manufacturers, neither of which made organic versions of the treats.

Happy Baby, the Brooklyn-based fresh-frozen organic food company, has introduced the first organic puffs, Happy Baby Puffs ($4). The 100 percent natural goodies have half the sugar of existing brands and are made from whole grains, real fruits and real vegetables fortified with calcium and vitamins B and D. The quick-to-dissolve munchies come in three flavors – Apple, Banana and Greens – that will have tots and their parents reaching for the eco-friendly containers. These containers are made from redundant materials from lilsugar favorite Method created from BPA-free, 25 percent post-consumer recycled materials. And for those who want their food purchases to do even more, each Happy Baby purchase is linked to a donation to Project Peanut Butter to feed malnourished children.

Lil Tip: Ice Cream Cones For Snacks

babysugar — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 12:00:39 -0700

While ice cream may be the most popular filler for ice cream cones, your wee ones will enjoy snacking on other coned goodies. Instead of ice cream, load up some cake cones with popcorn, pretzels, nuts, dried fruit, yogurt raisins, and M&Ms for other fun afternoon treats. As warm weather subsides in the upcoming seasons, the desire for iced-down treats may, too!

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Lil Tip: Healthy Snacks

LilSugar — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 13:00:04 -0700

If your tot is tired of the same old snacks like cheese and crackers or baggies of sliced fruit or vegetables, mix them up. Last night, I tried two finger foods out on my 20-month-old son that he gobbled up. For fruity nibbles, take grapes and cover them in a layer of soft cheese like chevre, quark, or cream cheese, and then roll the balls on a plate of crushed almonds or pistachios. Chill and serve.

If you're looking for warm munchies, take the stems out of mushrooms and fill the centers with a blend of ricotta cheese and bit of pesto. Bake them until the cheese sets, then let them cool before serving.
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Delilicious: After School Snacks That Won't Spoil Dinner

LilSugar — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:00:34 -0700

Breakfast was a brain-stimulating balance of eggs, fruit and whole-grain cereal, their lunch bags may have been filled with sandwiches cut into fun shapes. But once the children walk in the door from school, all they can think about is their growling stomachs.

Satisfy your hungry students with after-school snacks that provide nourishment without killing their dinner appetite. Skip the cartoon character decorated, pre-packaged snacks and give them something inspiring. The key to keeping it healthy and exciting is having fresh ingredients on hand – be it leftovers or an assortment of fruit and vegetables that are already washed, cut and ready to go. Try some of these ideas.

Ants on a Log mixes protein and vegetables and look fun on a plate.
A brown paper bag filled with air popped corn is healthy and reminiscent of a trip to the theater.
Left over sloppy joes can be added to small whole wheat rolls for some fun-to-eat sliders.
Rachael Ray's Banana-sicles are as fun to make, as they are to eat.
Homemade smoothies can be made with frozen fruit, making them a perfect treat year round.
Open the freezer and have your children munch on frozen grapes or yogurt tubes.

What is your child's favorite after-school snack?

Mural Meals on the Go: Ants on a Log

babysugar — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 06:00:33 -0700

After a Summer filled Popsicle fest, most kids face a let down in the fun food department as PB&Js get shoved into plastic bags for a run-of-the-mill lunch day. Moms can keep up the feast festive with easy and nutritious mural snacks that will have lil munchers grinning. Pull out a trick that mama taught you and craft some "ants on a log" with three healthy ingredients: celery, peanut butter, and raisins. Strip the celery's skin so tots don't get string stuck in their chompers. Cut the stalk into two to three inch pieces and fill them with peanut butter. (If you have a peanut-free rule at your school, you can substitute cream cheese or another spreadable filling.) Finally, place raisins on top and voila, you've got yourself ants on a log!

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Vanessa Williams Gives Beauty Tips to Her Daughters

LilSugar — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 05:00:03 -0700

Last week our girl Bella interviewed Ugly Betty beauty, Vanessa Williams. They had a chance to chat about how the singer and actress maintains the good looks Mother Nature gave her and what beauty tips she doles out to her older daughters. When asked how she encourages a good self-image in her youngest child, the mother of four - Melanie, Jillian, Devin and Sasha - said:

The youngest one is eating right. She’s an athlete, she dances, she swims, she does basketball, softball. So my big push is eating the proper food that will fuel her body. You know, it’s a struggle because kids love gummy bears and fruit roll ups and yogurt with sugar in it - the quick snack foods. Trying to force them to eat vegetables and be conscious of eating living food like a piece of fruit as opposed to going for a bag of chips. I’m currently trying to focus her on making sure that she fuels her body with delicious, healthy food. And also staying active which she has no problem doing.

Mommy Dearest: Scolded by Fellow Mom For Kid's Breakfast

LilSugar — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Mommy Dearest:
My son and I were running late and rather than have him be tardy for preschool, I gave him an organic yogurt smoothie and children's breakfast bar to eat en route. As we walked to school, a fellow mom joined us for the last few blocks. When I told her we were having a crazy morning and had resorted to a quick meal, she scolded me saying that granola bars should be treated as snacks rather than meals and said they were the equivalent to candy bars. Dumbfounded by her mini-tirade, I shuttled my son to class without responding. Is it so bad to give a yogurt smoothie and granola bar for breakfast?
– Meal-on-the-Go Mom

To see the response from Mommy Dearest, read more.

Meal-on-the-Go Mom,

You had a harried morning and gave your son the quickest, healthy breakfast you had. Not every family has time to sit down for a full meal in the morning even if they plan on it. Most moms can relate to your situation- it's not as if you handed your lil guy a candy bar to nosh on, but even if you did, it's your business and that meddling mama should have just kept her opinion to herself. - Mommy Dearest

Submit a question for this feature at the Mommy Dearest Group on TeamSugar.