Strawberry Dream Toddler Snack

This is one of my son's favorite little snacks.  I put a dollop of Fat Free Cool Whip with some fresh cut strawberries and then throw in 1/2 a graham cracker.  This is also one of mommy's favorite snacks!

Enjoy!

Toddler Jello Snack

Here is a quick snack idea for toddlers. Fix Jello as instructed on the package and just add any fruit that you have on hand. For us, we had plenty of bananas, so we added that and made little jello squares. My son thought they were great, plus it gives him more fruit!

If I actually owned cookie cutters then I would have cut the jello out in shapes, which I highly recommend. It just looks so cute that way! The only cookie cutter I own is a snowman, so those are being added to my wish list along with a new skillet!

I snuck a few bites of this too...yummy!

Banana Oat Crunch

When my son started out on solids, we mainly gave him Cheerios as his snack. As he has grown and tried new foods, Cheerios are more fun for him to throw than to actually eat. With this in mind, we have a large box of Cheerios that has been sitting in the pantry because my husband and I do not eat them much.

I decided to try a different approach and use up some of the Cheerios. I put the cheerios in a bowl and then I smashed them into fine pieces. I have also read that an easier way to smash the cereal is by putting it in a sandwich bag and using a rolling pin.

I sliced banana and then dipped it in the Cheerios and gave that to my son as his snack. Another way to eat them is to put them in the freezer after they have been coated with the cereal, for a frozen treat...great for teething toddlers. He enjoyed it and was not tempted to throw them!

Cooking with a Little Man

I cook with a 1 year old nearby, so I thought I would share a few ways of how I keep him occupied while I cook.

#1 Cook while he naps. This is my favorite time to cook; I can easily cook and clean up before he wakes up. Then, I just reheat the dinner before we eat.

#2 We recently made a WONDERFUL investment or I guess I should say grandpa recently made a WONDERFUL investment into Dakota's life and mommy's sanity with Leapfrog Fridge Phonics. Dakota loves Fridge Phonics and plays with it nearly the

entire time I cook.

#3 Another one of Dakota's favorite things to do is pull everything out of the drawers lids, towels, paper and anything he can find! This would be one of my least favorite ways to keep him busy, but he is happy so I'm happy!

#4 Snack time is the perfect time to cook! He stays entertained while watching me cook.

These are the tips I have, what do you have? What about more than one child...then what?