Protein Scones

Found this great recipe and my two year old loved it!   The almond flour is a wonderful source of protein and the oatmeal adds fiber.  I think they turned out a little more like cookies than scones, but however you make them they are tasty (and easy to make)!  I doubled the recipe so I could have some for the freezer, and they went quickly so it’s a good thing I did.  I think chopped walnuts instead of the cranberries or chocolate chips or even in addition would also be wonderful.

1) Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2) Coat 2 large baking sheets sheets with vegetable oil spray.

3) Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and stir until well blended: 2 1/2 c. almond flour, 1 c. liquid egg whites, 3/4 cup vanilla whey protein powder, 1/2 c. granulated Splenda or 6 tsp. granulated Stevia, 1/2 c. old fashioned oats, 1/2 c. dark chocolate chips, 1/2 c. dried cranberries (or raisins), 1 TBS cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg.

4) Place 2-inch spoonfuls of batter on baking sheets and bake until peaks begin to brown, 15-18 min.

Hurray, It’s a Giveaway! snackTAXI Reusable Sandwich and Snack Bags!

SnackTAXI has been around since 2003 making reusable snack and sandwich bags, or as they call them “food movers for a happy planet!”  Erin Kelly-Dill is the mom, owner, and creator, who designed snackTAXI “to stem the tide of plastic ziplock bags that flowed from our house to the landfill when our 3 kids started school! We pack over 500 lunches every year, and had definitely fallen prey to the easy appeal of the ziplock bag.”

SnackTAXIs are absolutely adorable and functional, and they are actually handmade in their home-based workshop by local sewers!  Why use reusable?  One reusable bag has the potential to eliminate an average of 1000 plastic bags over its lifetime!snackTAXIs are lined with coated nylon, and can be machine washed and dried, or simply wiped clean with a damp sponge.

I received a set of snackTAXIs in the mail to try and boy, was it love at first sight!  They come in different sizes and are made with adorable fabrics, and the velcro closure is not only super fast (a lot easier than those green and blue Ziplock lines!), but it allows you to size the bags even smaller if needed (such as after the food is gone).  They are SUPER easy to wash too – I just hand washed mine and then turned them inside out to dry.

From snackTAXI:
The exterior of a snackTAXI is comprised of 100% cotton.  The manufacturer from which we order most of our cotton has had their material tested and found that it is free of lead and phthalates.  We are considering ordering all of our cotton from this manufacturer in the future.

SnackTAXIs are lined with a waterproof material that consists of nylon with a polyurethane coating.  After talking to many manufacturers of this product, we understand that this type of coated nylon is free of heavy metals and phthalates.  We have found a supplier of this coated nylon who has had their product extensively tested.  The tests revealed that the nylon is free of heavy metals (including lead), phthalates, PBBs, and PBDEs.

Enter to Win!

To win a set of two snackTAXIS just send an email to abby@littlemiraclesbabyplanning.com with the subject “snacktaxi” and be entered to win!  Contest ends Thursday April 1st at 12 noon est.

Healthy Baby/Toddler Snacks On-the-Go

My son is the king of snacking.  He asks for crackers literally all day long and I’m really not a fan of just handing him Goldfish to gobble every day.  So I have found some other great munchies that fall into the very healthy category (as healthy as a processed snack can get anyway)!   Here are some of our favs:

Plum Organics Fiddlesticks

These organic fruit and grain snack sticks come in three flavors: berry, apple carrot, and banana.  They are gluten-free (but do contain milk and eggs), made with 100% organic fruits, baked with real fruits and veggies, and they are even made with BPA free packaging.  The first four ingredients in every package are organic brown rice flour, organic tapioca flour, organic garbanzo bean,  and flour.  They do contain organic evaporated cane juice but there is no plain sugar in them and there is only 2g of sugar per serving.  It’s hard to find a snack with that low of a sugar content that still tasted good!

Beechnut Let’s Grow 7 Grain Nibblers

These come in two flavors – mixed vegetable and sweet potato.  They are similar looking to rice cakes and dissolve very easily in baby’s mouth.  These are actually made with whole grains and have no added refined sugar, salt, artificial preservatives, or colors and flavors.    The ingredient list on these are fabulous!  Multigrain bits (whole grain corn, amaranth seeds, rice flour, whole grain wheat flour, whole grain oats, dehydrated cane juice, tricalcium phosphate) dried sweet potatoes, sunflower oil, millet, and quinoa.  Almost all things I try to feed my son but he doesn’t like on their own.  And less than 1 gram of sugar per serving!

Happy Baby Organic Puffs and Melts

Happy Baby puffs are organic melt-in-your-mouth whole grain snacks for babies.  They come in apple, banana, and green veggie flavor.  My baby LOVED the taste of these, but I love that they have 1/2 the sugar of the leading brands puffs, they are fortified with vitamins and minerals, they are made with whole grains, they are sweetened with fruit juice, and they are made with 100% organic ingredients.

Happy Baby Melts are the only organic freeze dried yogurt snack on the market for babies and toddlers. And it's the only baby food with prebiotics and probiotics.  They are gluten, soy, and wheat free and contain absolutely NO preservatives.  Good stuff for baby’s tummy!