Another week, another Toddler Food post. ☺ Admittedly, I’m still catching up, so these photos were from quite some time ago… Uh, probably from around Valentine’s Day given all of the heart-shaped food. Oy. Either way, here’s some of what Miss G’s eaten semi-recently.
Breakfast // Scrambled organic egg with fresh parmesan and basil rolled in a wholewheat flatbread. Strawberry slices and black grapes.
Breakfast // Yogurt parfait made with homemade granola, organic plain yogurt, fresh strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries, and a tiny drizzle of pure maple syrup.
Breakfast // Wholewheat flax pancakes with all-natural almond butter. Kiwi slices.
Breakfast // Wholewheat bagel with all-natural cream cheese and hemp hearts. Strawberry quarters and blackberries.
Breakfast // Wholewheat rye toast with all-natural cream cheese and avocado slices. Fresh pear.
Breakfast // Organic oatmeal topped with strawberry slices, freshly whipped cream (unsweetened), and chia seeds.
Snack // Chocolate coconut banana muffin.
Lunch {and snacks on the go} // Banana berry muffin. Dill havarti slices. Raw almonds and kamut puffs. Seedy cranberry breakfast bar. Cucumber slices. Carrot sticks. Edamame beans. Alphabet pretzels.
Lunch // Wholewheat couscous with avocado, red and orange peppers, black beans, red onions, olive oil, and freshly squeezed lime.
Lunch {and snacks on the go} // Banana berry muffin. Heart-shaped strawberry crispy rice treat. Mixed nuts and organic o’s. Carrot hearts. Veggies and all-natural cream cheese on seedy wholewheat. Strawberries.
Lunch // Tuna and avocado in mini wholewheat pitas. Red pepper slices. Baby carrots. Cucumber slices.
Lunch {and snacks on the go} // Pear chunks. Strawberry halves. Kiwi slices. Mixed nuts. Wholewheat flax pancakes. Heart-shaped strawberry crispy rice treat. Carrot coins. Cucumber slices.
Lunch {and snacks on the go} // Apple slices. Strawberry halves. Red grapes. Red pear. ‘Gracen mix’. Orange pepper slices. Edamame beans. Chickpeas. Watermelon strawberry fruit chews. Avocado, hemp hearts, and all-natural cream cheese rolled in a wholewheat tortilla.
Dinner // Turkey zucchini spinach meatloaf. Pesto tortelini with fresh parmesan, spinach, garlic, and olive oil.
Dinner // Quinoa ‘mac n’ cheese’ with broccoli, red peppers, and leeks.
Dinner // Southwest chicken chili with grated sharp cheddar, sour cream, and avocado.
Dinner // Wholewheat fusili with zucchini turkey tomato sauce and fresh parmesan.
Dinner // Veggie soup with harvest grains and chickpeas. Avocado and all-natural cream cheese in an Ezekiel wrap.
Dinner // Squash and ricotta-filled pasta with homemade spinach pesto, baby green peas, and pine nuts.
See all of our Toddler Food posts here.
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Vancouver sunshine plus an impromptu dinner picnic at the beach and ocean-dipped toes makes for a very happy mama and babe.
Oh my goodness. After our morning cooking class at 
Here’s the line-up of ingredients… Pure maple syrup, coconut oil, dried apples (we dehydrated our own, but you can just as easily buy unsweetened, unsulphered ones at the store), popping corn, cinnamon, and sliced raw almonds (not pictured because ours were toasting in the oven).
To start off, we added our coconut oil, popping corn, and cinnamon into a pot (thanks to my lovely friend 
When the popping has finished, we had a delicious, slightly coconut-y popcorn, evenly coated in warm cinnamon.
Next, we chopped up our apples, put them in a bowl, and drizzled our maple syrup on top. 
Then my freshly bathed sous chef dumped the mixture on the popcorn and mixed it all up with her hands.
The last step was sprinkling the generously toasted almonds on top and giving the popcorn one final mix. 
Depending on how much will power you have, you can either eat it immediately, or lay it out on a baking sheet and let it lose some of its stickiness for a few minutes – both ways are delicious (though we definitely know how the ‘served immediately’ kind tastes like better than the ‘wait’ kind).
When I asked Grae what she thought of it, she replied with “Nummy!”, “Sweet!”, and “Delicious!” in between ‘mmmmmmmm’ sounds. My guess is that she liked it every bit as much as I did.
While Gracen is usually more than game for impromptu adventures, she is, without a doubt, a little girl who thrives on routine and structure. She very much enjoys being part of the process when it comes to selecting activities and outings and regularly asks me which day of the week it is so she can figure out our agenda for the day. “Tomorrow is Thursday, Mama? We have dance class on Thursday! What day it is today?” she’ll say. I find that when she has a clear picture of our days and knows what’s to come, she’s calmer, happier, and transitions more easily (as many kids do, I think). 
I actually made ours using Pages (an awesome word processing program for Macs), but a design-based program like Pixelmator or PhotoShop would obviously work perfectly too. Since Grae and I do quite a lot on our days at home on our own and weekends tend to include more downtime, I opted for full spaces for Monday to Friday and a shared space for Saturday and Sunday. 
After finishing up the calendar itself, I set off to create activity cards that would fit nicely onto the calendar’s columns. To start off, I made a long list of the activities we do regularly and searched for clipart to match. I popped the pictures into boxes and added in some text in along the bottoms, and they were done.
Because I wanted the calendar and activity cards printed in colour and as 11 x 17s, I paid the few dollars it cost to have the files printed professionally. Then I took everything home, cut the activity cards out, and trimmed the edges of the calendar.
With my pieces cut out, it was back to the store to have everything laminated. While I think I could have fit everything into 2 laminating pouches, the woman working there was worried the pieces were too close together, so 3 it was (which came to around $14).
Next, I cut all of the laminated pieces out, making sure to leave a substantial plastic border around the edges.
I went back and forth on whether to use magnets or velcro several times before finally settling on velcro. The determining factor was the realization that with velcro pieces, the calendar can still be used on a fridge or magnetic board, whereas the opposite isn’t true. Plus I had a giant roll of adhesive-backed velcro already on hand (if you don’t, you can find similar stuff at fabric, hardware, dollar, and teaching stores), which was nice. I simply cut out squares of velcro, put the scratchy pieces on the activity cards, and the fuzzy pieces on the calendar itself.
With everything ready to go, Gracen and I chose a spot for her brand new calendar (the excitement was uncontainable!) We thought about putting it in her room or in the hallway just outside of her room, but chose to put it in the kitchen instead, as it’s where we start most of our days. Now, while I make breakfast, she’ll be able to take a look at her calendar and see what we have planned for the day.
One thing we made sure to do when hanging it was to place it nice and low so that Miss G can see it and move pieces around easily (thigh height on me is perfect for Grae). I hung it up using painter’s tape rolls, but you could easily use poster mounting squares or something similar. (Teacher tip: If you use tape rolls, place them horizontally to avoid your calendar slowly slipping down the wall.) We’ve had the cool magnetic strip hanging below for a long while now and hadn’t yet found the perfect use for it until now. While a bag or pouch would do just fine, the magnetic strip holds all of the activity cards and allows them to be seen all at once which is a perk. 
We’ve only had it up and running for a few of days now, but so far, Gracen is loving her calendar. As soon as it was hung, she immediately wanted to plan out our week together. First we popped up things that needed to be done, like errands, a trip to the library to exchange our soon-to-be-due books, and our Thursday dance class, and then we chose some just-for-fun activities for the other days. She scheduled a hot drink date for her and Bradley on Saturday morning while I’m at a workshop (adorable!) and a family trip to Granville Island on Sunday (fun!) 
Today Miss G and I trudged off the beaten path a little to check out somewhere that’s been on my mental list for a very long while now… Iona Beach. Nestled in a quiet area out beside the Vancouver Airport, Iona Beach is definitely unique. After you pass the farms lining the airport runway, you come to Iona Beach Regional Park, a piece of rural heaven just outside of the city.
Now I must admit that there were some very serious tears when we got out of the car and Miss G realized that this beach was not the awesome playground-having beach she’s used to visiting. Our saving grace, however, was this lookout tower that was cool enough to {at least semi} make up for the disappointment. 
While there were tons of swampy beach areas to explore, we opted to head out for a walk on the park’s jetty.
We were definitely the odd ones out in a community of bird watchers and dog walkers (every single person we passed had a dog or binoculars and/or a camera with a giant zoom), but what we really loved was the plane watching! They were amazingly close and basically came one after the next.
The other fascination during our jetty walk was with potato bugs. I’m not sure if Grae has seen these much in the past, but they were plentiful and she certainly loved them. 
What I didn’t realize when I suggested we check out the jetty was that it was 4.5 kms long! We made it a couple of kilometres out before Miss G called it quits and asked to turn around. On the way back, there were definitely a few bouts of carrying, several sitting breaks, and even an attempt to crawl ‘because it’s easier for tired legs’. (Note to self: bring the stroller next time!)
In honour of Earth Day, Miss G and I took to the streets of our neighbourhood for a little spring-themed natured hunt today. It was the perfect way to spend our afternoon…soaking in some sunshine, taking in the fresh air, and observing the nature around us a little more closely than we usually do. 
Beforehand, while Grae was napping, I gathered up a few things… A muffin tin to serve as a collection receptacle, a print out of nature item tags sized to fit in the bottoms of muffin cups, some scissors, and some tape.
In order to create my tags (which were printed on paper from our recycling bin…hence the holes), I simply created 12 circles sized to fit in our muffin tin (4.5 centimetres in diameter for ours), found some clipart via Google Images, and added some text. 
Then I printed them off, cut them out, and stuck them into the bottoms of the muffin tin cups with small pieces of rolled tape.
When Gracen woke up, she was eager to get outside and get searching. We quickly went over the items we’d be on the lookout for and headed out. First stop? The backyard to see if there were seeds underneath our plum tree. Sure enough, there were!
Dandelions and grass were easily collected in our yard, and then it was off down the street to one of the few trees that still has blossoms on it.
After each new find, Grae would take inventory, decide on a couple of new things to focus on, and head in a particular direction.
This time she decided we’d better head back to the backyard to collect some flower buds, moss, and soil from the garden – success!
One of our last stops was to collect a few clovers from a little patch growing through some brickwork in the front of the house.
At this point, we had done pretty well, but as hard as we’d looked, we hadn’t yet found a mushroom or a feather.
We decided we’d take a little break in order to some sidewalk chalk art, and Gracen would ask Papa to take her out again once he returned from work for the evening. Low and behold, they returned with the entire tray full!
Gracen really enjoyed this activity and we’ll definitely be using the muffin tin method in games and hunts in the future. It gave a clear visual of what was needed and what had been found, our items stayed in place and were organized, and Grae really liked everything having its own spot and filling up the entire tray. 
Being the uber generous, community-focused company that they are, RMFC invited Miss G and I, along with a pile of our blogger mama and munchkin friends, down to the restaurant for a toddler cooking class this morning. Now while this could be a challenge given our crunchy ‘
Our morning began with Suzanne, the restaurant’s co-founder and owner, fearlessly leading our kiddos through the process of making their own mango guacamole. What I loved most is that Suz allowed the kids to do the prep work themselves… No watching an adult cook around here! She gave them the tools, modelled the process, and set them free to be the capable little chefs that they are.
Some avocado, mango, lime juice, and fresh herbs later, Gracen and her little friends had a delicious dip for their carrot sticks.
Next up was a simple and much better for you version of lemonade… A bunch of freshly-squeezed lemons, a little pour of pure maple syrup, and a lot of icy cold water and we had a drink that will be perfect for hot summer days.
After that, we made my personal favourite… Suz’s apple pie popcorn (you can see our slightly modified version 
Together, Portia (one of the sweet little ladies belonging to Jessica of 
The magic of bubbles.
A giant microphone for a little performer.
“Hello Goose! How you doing today? You wanna see my flower???”
Every few days, a newspaper bound in a long rubber band makes its way onto our porch. If it’s not already soaked through with early morning rain, I half-heartedly flip through the stories and flyers {that make up the majority of the paper} so I feel a tiny bit less guilty about recycling it almost immediately. This morning, however, when we found a bone dry paper on our porch, we decided to put it to use.
Gracen’s been helping me wash our produce and sort it into the different refrigerator sections for a long while now and often asks if things are fruits or vegetables, so I decided we’d use our grocery store flyers to play a little fruit and veggie sorting game. 
Next we had a little chat about how we know if something is a fruit or vegetable… While it’s kind of a complex subject filled with talk of flowers, ovaries, and plant accessory parts, I subscribe to the fruits have seeds theory when teaching kids (true story – avocados, peppers, and cucumbers are all fruits!) It’s not a perfect rule because wee ones often don’t realize that things like bananas and blueberries have seeds, but it works for most things.
After adding a few little seeds next to our fruit heading, I began cutting pictures out of the flyers. I’d pass one to Grae, ask her what it was, whether or not it had seeds, and if she thought it was a fruit or veggie, and she’d paste it in the correct box.
After a couple of times, she took things into her own hands… I’d pass her a picture and she’d say, “Dis is lettuce. It no have seeds, so it’s a vegetable!”
When we’d used up all of the flyer photos, she took a minute to admire her project. She was a very proud girl and immediately went to hang her poster on the fridge.
Later on in the day, after a big produce shop, Grae was helping me lay all of the freshly washed produce on the butcher block to dry. Right away, I could see that she was putting all of the fruits on one side and the veggies on the other, so I grabbed a wooden spoon to act as a divider {and she grabbed her poster to add to the display}. Instantly we had a real life sorting game.
These are her piles when she decided she was done playing. The Chinese eggplant on the right is what she chose this time for our 
This morning at 4 a.m. I awoke abruptly to hysterical cries coming from Gracen’s room. Though it happens rarely, if I do hear her during the night, I give her a bit of time to resettle and she does, but this was a different sort of cry. It was panicked. I scrambled out of bed to see what was wrong, and as soon as I neared her bed, she wrapped her arms around my neck, pulled me close, and said “Mama!” in a tone that was both desperate and relieved. I cuddled in beside her and asked her what she was sad about…
Sometimes, or better yet, many times, it’s the simple things. This afternoon, my freshly napped bubba woke up to discover a new package by our door. She excitedly asked to open it, not caring about which actual item may be inside, but rather which packing material was surrounding the item (both bubble wrap and packing peanuts are huge in our house). To her satisfaction, she found a fresh new sheet of bubble wrap inside, just waiting to be enjoyed.
After a good long time poking at it with her little fingers, I asked, “Are there any other ways we could pop the bubbles?” This is what she came up with…
First came stomping on it with her feet, then she moved to digging her elbows into it and stabbing it with a wooden block…
Next she tried rolling beads on it (which actually worked fabulously when a good amount of pressure was applied) and twisting it forcefully.
Lastly was placing a borrowed book (sorry library!) on top of the bubble wrap and standing on it. The good news is that this didn’t work very well at all, so it was short-lived. 
File all of these lovely things – cool sunshiny mornings, layers and boots, days with grandmas – under things we’ll miss once back in Kuwait.
Many days, Miss G wakes up from her nap (though it escaped us 
While a basic rectangular table with four corner legs would have probably lent itself more graciously to the project, our centre stand table provided an unexpected perk – two separate rooms. As soon as I mentioned this to Grae, she immediately deemed one of them a reading room and the other a music room. 
Setting up our fort couldn’t have been easier. We simply moved the chairs into the kitchen, threw a king-sized sheet on top, and moved in a few pillows and blankets to give it a cozy feel. In the reading room, we added a couple stacks of small books, and in the music room, we added a xylophone, a