These Strawberr-Wee Popsicles are not only super easy to make, they’re nutritious and perfect for anyone in the family, no matter your age!

At this time of year when kids are headed back to school, most moms are focused on a million things, among them, trying to put together healthy school lunches that their kids will hopefully enjoy. Though possibly even more important than what’s for lunch, is offering your little ones a meal first thing in the morning that will give them a boost of energy to get them out the door and stay focused in the classroom.

Oatmeal is not only nutritious, but also inexpensive and a real “stick to your ribs” food. It’s delicious with a bit of honey or a touch of maple syrup, but why not add some blueberries for added vitamins and sweet flavor? Berry Delicious Oatmeal is not only bright and colorful, it’s a breakfast that will send your kids off to school with a smile on their faces.

Berry Delicious Oatmeal (Serves 2)

1 Cup Water
1 Cup Milk (almond, rice, soy or cow’s milk)
1 Cup Old Fashioned Oats (Five Minute Oats)
1 Tbsp Honey, Maple Syrup or Agave Syrup
1/2 Cup Blueberries, Blackberries and/or Raspberries (fresh or frozen)

1. Bring the water and milk to a boil.
2. Add the oats, reduce to a simmer over low to medium heat, stirring occasionally, and cook for 5-7 minutes or until thick and creamy.
3. Add the honey, maple syrup or agave and berries, cook an additional minute or until the berries are warmed-through and start to pop (I like to add frozen berries so the oatmeal cools faster for kids to eat).
4. Serve.

*If serving to a baby under 1 years old, don’t use honey

It’s Day Two for weelicious’ new, out-of-the-box and exciting PB&J school lunch recipes. Yesterday’s recipe was PB&J Pancake Sandwiches, something I think your little ones are going to love. But it got me to thinking: do you really need bread to make PB&J? That led me to the idea of mixing it with yogurt.

Plain yogurt is packed with calcium, protein and is easier to digest than milk, but it can also be just that to kids: plain. In order to get most kids to eat yogurt, you have to entice them with those flavored yogurts that are sold at the grocery. But many of those are packed with sugar and preservatives. So I thought it would be fun to see how healthy plain yogurt tasted with a swirl of low sugar preserves and nutritious peanut butter mixed in. I’m happy to report that not only is it mind-blowingly delicious, it’s beautiful to look at too!

Peanut Butter and Jelly Swirled Yogurt (Serves 4)

2 Cups Plain Yogurt (I like using greek yogurt)
¼ Cup Jelly, Jam or Preserves
¼ Cup Peanut Butter (I use natural peanut butter)

1. Divide the yogurt between 4 bowls.
2. In a saucepan heat the jelly or preserves over low heat for one minute or until liquefied (this can also be done in the microwave for 30 seconds) and allow to cool.
3. Drizzle the jelly and peanut butter equally between the bowls of yogurt and swirl the contents together.
4. Serve.

* If using store bought peanut butter such as Jif or Skippy, melt in the microwave for about 15 seconds to soften. I use organic peanut butter which tends to already be a bit more liquified then most name brands.

We’ve been having a crazy busy summer running around from our house, to camp, to activities all over the city and more. Between work and kids, by the time I get home at the end of the day the last thing I’ve got energy to do is make dinner. Especially when it’s so hot outside.

Thank goodness for the slow cooker (also known as a crock pot)! It really is a mom’s secret weapon in the kitchen. Literally, all I had to do for this recipe was sprinkle a touch of salt and coat the racks of ribs with my favorite barbeque sauce at 8am, and by 5pm me and my two little munchkins were nibbling away on the most tender, meat-falling-off-the-bone barbeque baby back ribs you’ve ever tasted. The best part is, no matter how hot it is this summer, you won’t even break a sweat making these!

Slow Cooker Ribs (Serves 4)

1 – 3-4 Lb. Country Style Pork Ribs, also known as Baby Back RIbs (about 2 racks)
1 Tsp Salt
1 Cup BBQ Sauce plus additional for serving (my favorite is Smokin Willie’s)

1. Place ribs in a crock pot and sprinkle both sides with salt.
2. Pour BBQ sauce over the ribs and coat the ribs WELL with the sauce.
3. Cover the slow cooker (aka crock pot) and cook on low heat for 8-10 hours.
4. Baste with BBQ sauce if desired and serve.

When you’ve got one soft, ripe mango, one banana and one hungry baby, that’s a perfect combination! Smooth and creamy, this Mango Banana Puree is an ideal first food for any little one. Your baby will be getting more than her fair share of Vitamins A, C and B6, dietary fiber, Potassium and more. With all these exciting facts, you don’t need to be on the National Mango Board to know this puree will be a real winner!

Mango Banana Puree (Makes 8 Baby Food Servings)

1 Mango, cut into chunks
1 Banana

1. Place the mango and banana chunks in to a food processor.
2. Blend until smooth.
3. Serve.

We used this to freeze this recipe:

Baby Cubes

The ice cream making bonanza has begun again at our house this summer! Last year it was all about letting Kenya help us make Honey, Cinnamon and Honey Gelato. This year the flavors have changed, but not the fun! Coconut milk is smooth, creamy, and refreshing and it makes for a rich ice cream — without the addition of either eggs or dairy — that is perfect in the August heat.

Coconut Ice Cream (Makes 6 Servings)

2 13 oz Cans Coconut Milk, unsweetened
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1/3 Cup Agave

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine.
2. Pour the mixture into a ice cream maker and freeze (churn) according to manufacturer’s instructions (my batch took 1 hour 45 minutes).
3. Transfer to a container and freeze for 2-3 hours or until firm (I like to save used ice cream containers for this recipe, but you could also fill a loaf pan and cover with plastic wrap).
4. Serve.
* If you don’t own an ice cream machine, you can pour the mixture into 8 popsicle molds and freeze for 3-4 hours. Refrigerate the remaining mixture for up to one week if you run out of mold space. Or, just half the recipe if you don’t want extra.

Lucky me that I have a cousin with two growing boys who loves to cook and feed her kids healthy foods. She makes a version of this recipe in a pie dish and has been trying to convince me that her boys absolutely devour it whenever she makes it for them. Although I sometimes find statements like that hard to believe when we’re talking about green foods and highly independent little boys, I’m always game for recipes that defy the odds.

I decided to take my cousin’s original recipe, make a few tweaks to the ingredients and then cook them in mini muffin cups instead of a pie dish, because it cooks faster (and after all, what kid doesn’t like something mini?). As for my my initial doubts about the kid appeal of this recipe, after watching Kenya repeatedly walk by the cooling rack to grab three of them within 15 minutes and Chloe scarfing down four at dinner, I realized these could be one of the all time greatest kid and parent friendly recipes I’ve ever made. Delicious, healthy and SO easy to make. My cousin gets total props for this kiddy culinary hit!

Spinach Ricotta Bites (Makes 20 Bites)

2 Tbsp Butter
1 Small Yellow Onion, chopped
1 Garlic Clove, minced
2 Large Eggs, Beaten
1 Cup Ricotta Cheese (low or full fat ricotta will work)
1/2 Cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese, Grated
1 10 Oz Pkg Frozen Chopped Spinach, defrosted and drained WELL (I use my hands to squeeze as much liquid out of the spinach as possible)
1/4 Tsp Salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Melt the butter in a sauté pan over medium heat and cook the onions for 4 minutes until tender.
3. Add the garlic and cook an additional minute then set aside to cool.
4. Whisk eggs in a bowl and stir in ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.
5. Once combined, stir in spinach, salt and cooled onion and garlic mixture.
6. Pour the mixture into lightly greased mini muffin cups.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the filling is set and golden on top.
8. Serve.

Before I had kids, I don’t think I ever used cream cheese to make anything other then cheesecake. Now, I use it to make everything from Sun Dried Tomato Cream Cheese Spread, to Avocado & Cream Cheese Sammies, to Mini Vanilla Cupcakes, to my favorite, weelicious Blueberry Cream Cheese French Toast.

I find cream cheese to be one of the most versatile staples I keep in my fridge. In my experience, just adding a touch of this airy delight to foods kids normally put up a fuss about yields incredible results . I’m sure if you placed some raw carrots and broccoli in a bowl in front of your wee one for a snack you would be met with an, “I’m not eating that!” But toss those same veggies into a food processor with some lovely cream cheese and voila! You have a spread that goes beautifully on crackers, in a sandwich, and best of all, happily in your child’s mouth!

Veggie Cream Cheese (Makes 1 1/2 Cups)

1/2 Cup Carrots, grated
1/2 Cup Broccoli, raw
1 Tbsp Chives, diced
1 Small Garlic Clove
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 8oz Pkg. Cream Cheese, softened

1. Place the first 5 ingredients in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped.
2. Add the cream cheese and puree until combined.
3. Serve.

Some vegetables take less effort to get kids to eat than others. While brussel sprouts and lima beans might not always be favorites of your little ones, I bet carrots are a pretty easy sell. For starters, they’re not green, a color most kids associate with their veggies. And along with being naturally sweet, carrots are a gold mine of nutrition and a great source of beta-carotene. Beta-carotene converts to Vitamin A, which is essential for good vision.

Still, some kids will avoid vegetables at any turn. The fun part of this recipe is turning carrots into something they won’t be able to say no to. These carrot chips couldn’t be easier to make and they are so delicious and fun to eat, you’ll likely find yourself running back to the market for more carrots for the next batch! Best of all, they are a great way to get kids to eat their veggies, and that should make every mom happy.

Carrot Chips (Serves 4)

4 Carrots
Salt to taste

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
2. Using a mandoline or a knife, thinly slice the carrots into rounds.
3. Place the carrot chips on a silpat or parchment-lined cookie sheet, sprinkle lightly with salt and bake for 45 minutes.
4. Serve.

We used this to make this recipe:

Kyocera CSN-202-RD Adjustable Mandoline Slicer, Red

Pulled pork sandwiches are a popular summer recipe, but these Shredded BBQ Chicken Sammies are a lot healthier and SO easy to make. My family loves BBQ. I eat barbecue sauce on everything from shrimp to chicken to baked potatoes, so it’s no surprise to me that my kids are into it too. I find that once you find a barbecue sauce that your family enjoys (preferably one made without corn syrup), it will become one of your best friends in the kitchen.

As you know from this past Monday’s post, I love whipping up Crock Pot BBQ Chicken for Sunday night dinner. What I didn’t tell you yet is all the great things you can do with the leftovers. I like to shred them for sammies for Monday’s school lunch and for quesadillas on Tuesday. That covers three meals with one easy to prepare recipe. When you’re able to make cooking this easy on yourself AND your family loves what you make, it makes for seriously good times!

Shredded BBQ Chicken Sammies (Serves 4)

2 Chicken Breasts
1/2 Cup Juice from the Crock Pot BBQ Chicken Recipe
Accompaniments: Barbecue sauce, rolls or sandwich buns

1. Using 2 forks or your hands, pull the chicken into bite size pieces.
2. Combine the shredded chicken with the 1/2 cup of juice from the crock pot.
3. Place 1/4 of the mixture on a bun or roll, cover with additional barbecue sauce and serve.