Delicious DIY Summer Recipes for Toddlers

What to feed a toddler? That is a loaded question!

In a society that has daily reviews of what our food is really made up of such as artificial dyes, GMO’s, hormone exposure and so on; I have decided to be a very conscious mom about what I’m feeding my daughter. I only have a very short time of her life that I get to choose what she’s going to be exposed to, and I know I’m not the only parent out there who wants to give their baby healthy, fresh and unprocessed food.

I have had a passion to help catapult my daughter’s health to the best it can be from the very beginning.  Here are a few delicious recipes and ideas I thought I would pass along just in case you’re just starting to introduce foods to your toddler or are in a rut. I love these recipes because anyone in the family can eat them!

Smoothies are an anytime meal or drink in our house and this one is our favorite:

Berry Banana Smoothie

• 1/2 cup Almond Milk
• 1/4 cup yogurt
• 8-12 grapes
• Handful of spinach leafs
• 6 ice cubes
• 1/2 cup strawberries
• 1 small banana
• 1/8 tsp vanilla extract or 1 tsp honey
• Dash of cinnamon

Put together in a mixer and blend.

My daughter goes crazy for this next recipe, I make at least twice a week:

Roasted Fruit & Veggie

• 1 sweet potato- skinned & diced into chunks
• 1 yam- skinned & diced into chunks
• 2 apples, peeled & cut into quarters
• Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), salt, pepper & cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Place prepared fruit and veggies on a parchment lined baking sheet. Drizzle all with EVOO.

Sprinkle sweet potato and yam with salt and pepper. Dust apples with cinnamon.

Roast for 45-50 minutes, and let stand until they are cool enough to handle. Dice fruit and veggies into bite size pieces and store in an airtight container in the fridge until you are ready to serve.

Applesauce Pancakes

• Make up your pancakes batter as usual (I use Pamela’s Baking & Pancake Mix because it’s gluten/wheat free. I purchase it at Hy-Vee or Whole Foods)
• Add 1 cup of applesauce & 1 tsp of cinnamon.  If my batter looks runny I just add a little more dry mixture until I get the consistency I want.

A couple helpful ideas:

• Grate up apples or any firm raw fruit or veggie with a cheese grater and give them a medley of finger foods.
• Slice up strawberries with an egg slicer.

I’ve truly enjoyed sharing these ideas recipes and ideas with you and I hope they are a helpful start or change to your daily meals. Remember, our children need us to be their advocates and that includes the food they are exposed to!