Over the course of the last week or so, the one thing Gracen can’t stop talking about is ‘when she gets bigger’. So far, she’s told me she’s excited to get bigger so she can cross the road by herself, ‘work at a job’, walk in parking lots alone, drive a car, and go to university (Eesh…slow down, baby girl). Part of me wants to curl up and cry, and the other part is incredibly proud that she desires such independence and self-sufficiency at 2.75 years old.
While I’m not ready to hand over the car keys or let her navigate her way across a busy road just yet, I am ready {and more than happy} to let her put together some of her own meals. Given the proper set up, it’s something she’s totally capable of and she’s so, so, sooo proud after having done so. A couple of days ago, she created her own breakfast banana split, and today she assembled her own quick and easy pizza lunch.
To make is super simple, we skipped pizza dough all together and used wholewheat Middle Eastern flatbreads instead. These work perfectly, but wholewheat tortilla shells, pitas, and even bagels (cut in half of course) are great too. Together, we cut up a bunch of stuff we had in the fridge (grilled chicken, red and yellow peppers, zucchini, and mango) and I set it all out, along with some grated fresh mozzarella and pesto, in a little pizza making station for my girl.
We’ve done this many times now, and what I’ve learned is that it’s best to let her create her pizza masterpiece directly on the parchment-lined baking sheet we’ll use to bake the pizzas. After that, I kind of just let her go. I’m a big fan of not directing our activities all that much (well except when it comes to safety, I guess), and really, it doesn’t matter which order the toppings go on in all that much. The finished product will undoubtedly be delicious no matter what.
That being said, we’ve made our favourite from scratch pizza together so many times in the past, she pretty much sticks to the sauce, cheese, toppings order. And when this girl does toppings, she does toppings!
Here’s her mini pizza, ready for the oven. I cook ours for about 5 to 8 minutes at 350 degrees, then crank up the temperature and broil them for just a minute at the end.
I can’t even explain how proud Miss G is after creating her meal on her own… She exudes pride. And my personal opinion is that when kids take part in creating food, they are much more likely to eat it.
The verdict? A total hit. A pizza assembling station is always a hit in our house.
♥
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Based on my beginning 
It’s such a simple morning meal, but it’s healthy, can be made a ton of different ways, and almost tastes like dessert for breakfast. ☺ They change from one time to another, but here’s our usual line up of ingredients… 1/2 a banana cut lengthwise, plain organic greek yogurt (you could use sweetened yogurt if that’s what you’re used to), some almond butter (any nut butter would be delicious), a strawberry sliced up, and something to serve as sprinkles (today we used unsweetened coconut, but we’ve also used chia seeds and hemp hearts). 
This morning, I set out the ingredients as a little ‘build your own breakfast’ station and Miss G assembled her own banana split. Just as we’ve done together previously, she laid the banana pieces down first, added a couple of big scoops of greek yogurt, topped them both with almond butter and strawberry slices, then sprinkled the whole thing with coconut.
Breakfast is served!
With 1/2 a crate of mango in the fridge and our supply of 
Here’s our lineup of ingredients… Pineapple chunks (we used frozen because it’s what we had on hand, but fresh would be even better), mango chunks, a lime, one ripe banana, coconut milk, and Grae’s addition – unsweetened shredded coconut.
We began by juicing our lime and threw both the juice and the pulp into our food processor…
Along with everything else, except the shredded coconut.
Then we blended everything up until completely smooth while this little monkey gave our food processor some love.
Next, we added the shredded coconut and gave the mixture just a couple of pulses to mix it in. At this point, we had a little taste test and decided to add in a teaspoon of good honey because our mango was very tart (totally optional, of course).
Now while it does mean dirtying another dish, I always like to pour our popsicle mixture into a large measuring cup before filling the moulds. It’s so much easier and quicker than clumsy me attempting to pour straight from the food processor. Of course, if you use a blender, this won’t be an issue.
After I fill the moulds, Miss G’s job is to place a ‘stick’ in each one. When she was done, she desperately wanted a popsicle to eat (particularly, “the green and blue one on the riiiiiight”) .
Luckily, the disappointment that came with me telling her they’d need to sit in the freezer for several hours first was kicked to the curb with the offer of drinking up the leftover mixture, smoothie style.
Healthy Tropical Fruit Popsicles
Yesterday, when I told Gracen that we’d be celebrating Papa’s birthday soon, the first thing she said was, “We need to make a cake!” Then she went on about painting him party hats and getting 3 pink gifts, but I digress. Originally, I was thinking about doing two cakes. Something delicious and wildly unhealthy from 
Here’s the lineup of ingredients my little sous chef and I used to make our mini mason jar cheesecakes… Sour cream, cream cheese, lemon zest, pure maple syrup, pure vanilla, almonds, an egg, and coconut. Plus the mini mason jars themselves, of course. 5 of these little jelly jars works perfectly with this recipe.
To make our crust, we added some coconut, some raw almonds, a little bit of pure maple syrup, and a little bit of pure vanilla into our food processor and blended until it was thick and sticky.
Then we scooped the crust mixture evenly into our 5 jars, and Miss G used a cork to flatten them out.
This was the end result.
With our crusts ready to go, we switched our focus over to the actual cheesecake part. First, we added our room temperature cream cheese and egg into our mixer and beat until smooth. 
Next we added our sour cream, pure maple syrup, pure vanilla, and lemon zest, and mixed again.
Baking is ridiculously fun, wouldn’t you agree?
With our cheesecake filling prepared, we poured the mixture evenly into our 5 mason jars.
Then we placed them into a high-walled baking dish, filled it halfway up the jars with hot water, and baked the entire thing.
When they’d finished baking, I topped the ones for Gracen and I with stewed blueberries…
And the birthday boy’s with deliciously naughty Nutella. Of course the options are endless really… Fresh berries, shredded coconut, sliced bananas, or mini dark chocolate chips would all make yummy toppings too. 
The other night, Brad went out for Saturday night movie treats after G was in bed. I requested a fudgesicle, and he came home with a box of 18. Oy. Several fudgesicles into the box, I decided we’d better come up with a healthier version, stat.
Here’s our line up of ingredients… Frozen banana chunks, cocoa powder, pure maple syrup, and pure vanilla. Plus a popsicle mould of course.
To get started, we basically turned out frozen bananas into 
Next, we added some cocoa, a little bit of pure maple syrup, and a little bit of pure vanilla, and blended everything up again to create thick, chocolatey soft serve.
And that’s it. We simply scooped the soft serve into our popsicle moulds and popped them in the freezer overnight. 
This was the end result. Thick chocolatey banana pops that are bound to satisfy a sweet tooth or chocolate craving.
What does Miss G think? Well, after finishing her first one, she turned to see mine still almost whole, and said, “Mine’s a little bit almost all gone, Mama, so I want to trade wif you.” as if she was doing me a favour – hah! Thanks for thinking of your mama, Miss G.
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.
Homemade granola is somewhat of a staple in our house… Gracen and I usually made a big batch once a month or so, jar it up, and eat it as a cereal, serve it with yogurt, sprinkle it on nut butter toast, or use it as a smoothie topper.
Though it can be full of sugar and not-good-for-you fats when purchased in stores, we jam pack ours full of nutrient-rich nuts and seeds, use a good pure maple syrup to sweeten it, and include a relatively small amount of oil, so I can feel good about giving it to Grae {and eating it myself}.
While I’ve posted about our 
Last month, I had the absolute pleasure of attending a green cleaners workshop at 
The first cleaner we made is the only one we haven’t yet fully put to the test… Not because we haven’t wanted to, but because it’s a dishwasher detergent and we don’t have a dishwasher (much to my dismay!) But because I’m not willing to let it sit unused, I’ve put it to the test as a kitchen sink scrub and a toilet scrub, and I’m happy to say that it’s worked great as both. 
Here’s what you’ll need to make your own lemon mint dishwashing detergent… Washing soda (different than baking soda and found in grocery store laundry aisles), Borax, peppermint and lemon essential oils (you can really use any kind you like – last time we used a combination or sweet orange and rosemary and it smelled wonderfully), and a large mason jar.
To make this one, Gracen simply added a 1/2 a cup of washing soda and a 1/2 cup of Borax to our jar, added a few drops of lemon essential oil, then another round of washing soda and Borax, and one drop of peppermint essential oil. We shook everything up, then repeated the entire process again.
Voila! Dishwasher detergent made of 3 natural ingredients. To put it to use, all you have to do is add a scoop to your detergent compartment along with a squeeze of castile soap (we like 
Next up, Gracen and I made one of my favourites… A citrusy bathroom scrub that makes getting rid of soap scum nearly effortless. It also makes tiles, toilets, and sinks sparkle and leaves them smelling fresh too.
In the line-up for our lemon grapefruit bathroom scrub… Baking soda, washing soda, Borax, salt, lemon and grapefruit essential oils (again, you could switch up the scents), and a medium-sized mason jar.
For this one, Grae added all of our dry ingredients to the jar, dropped the essential oils on top, and shook it all up. Easy as that. The only thing about this recipe is that it does fill a medium-sized mason jar right to the tippy top, so mixing it in a bowl or larger jar would make it easier.
To clean tiles and other flat surfaces with this scrub, I simply shake a little on a wet, textured sponge, give the surface a scrub, and rinse it with running water or a wet cloth. Toilets are even easier – all you have to do is sprinkle some straight into the toilet bowl, let it sit a moment, and scrub with a toilet brush as usual. And for soap scum (the nasty, stubborn stuff), I like to spray the surface with plain white vinegar first, let it sit 5 to 10 minutes, sprinkle the scrub on top, and scrub it off with a textured sponge (you’ll be amazed by how well this works!)
The last cleaner Gracen and I made may just be my very favourite of the 3… The recipe is ridiculously simple, and it works pretty much everywhere. I use it all over our kitchen as a basic surface cleaner, plus I use it while dusting our main living space, and while cleaning up sticky messes on the floor. The best part though, is that it works as a glass cleaner too and leaves mirrors and windows just as spotless and streak-free as specialized glass cleaners do. And window crayons? They literally melt off.
Here’s what you’ll need to whip up a batch of your own… Some hydrogen peroxide, some water, some freshly-squeezed lemon juice, and a spray bottle.
We juiced our lemon, added everything to the spray bottle, and shook it up {while singing with our eyes closed apparently}.
And that’s it. Paired with a damp cloth, it makes a great surface cleaner, and paired with a dry cloth, it makes a great glass cleaner.
With these three cleaners, we’re able to keep our entire house sparkling clean. Plus they’re inexpensive, all-natural, homemade, and you can feel good about using them around munchkins. 
Holidays like Halloween and Easter, which are most often filled with chocolate, candy, and other junk can definitely be a little challenging when you work hard to not have your child eat any of those things. And while I’m certainly not ready to throw in the towel and pass the jellybeans her way, I also really don’t want her to ever feel like she’s missing out on something special. My solution? Creating treats that are fun and delicious, but healthy at the same time. I won’t deny that it takes a little bit of extra planning, some extra effort, and some extra time, but for me, it’s 100% worth it that my little love gets to enjoy and indulge, while maintaining a wholesome, healthy diet. Needless to say, when I saw 
Before I could get to making the popsicles themselves, I had to prepare the moulds first. And by *I*, I mean I had to ask my hubby to drill holes in the bottoms of the plastic eggs, to which he recruited my father-in-law’s help. The two of them disappeared into the garage for a minute, and returned in no time with the job done. 
For the filling, I knew I’d have to make them a little sweeter than I normally would in order to coax my niece and nephews into eating them, but I also wanted to keep the ingredients very simple. Grae and I popped a cup of plain organic yogurt, a cup of no-sugar-added frozen berries, and 3 tablespoons of pure maple syrup (you could easily do with less – half even) into Grandma Sue’s food processor, and blended it up until nearly smooth. My plan was to fill a piping bag and carefully pipe the mixture into the closed plastic eggs via the drilled hole, but at the last minute, I decided to go with a less finicky and much more messy method. Basically, I dunked the egg halves into the mixture to fill them up separately, then quickly slapped the two halves together trying to lose as little as possible in the process. It worked fairly well.
With the eggs full, I plugged the drilled holes with my fingertips, quickly ran them under some cool water to clean off the exterior of the eggs, then popped them into an empty egg carton and added sucker sticks into the holes. We froze them for several hours, and voila! A new Easter treat was ready.
The good news is that most everyone really liked them. Even my 6 year old nephew who tried a piece of apple for the first time this weekend ate about a 1/4 of his before leaving it to melt in a cup (pretty much a huge success in my books). And most importantly, Grae loved them. While her cousins moved on to apple pie, Jell-O dessert, and salt water taffy afterwards, she happily asked for another popsicle. Yay.
Ever since our recent 
Fruit lends itself to creating a rainbow so well that I could have easily made the entire thing just from one food group, but I decided to try and include at least a little bit of protein, dairy, and veg too. I ended up with strawberry chunks, all-natural sharp cheddar cubes, low-sodium chickpeas, edamame beans, fresh blueberries, and banana coins for the clouds (sorry indigo and violet – skipped you this time!)
The chickpeas were scooped up by my hungry little monkey before I had a chance to assemble the rainbow, so they were replaced with chunks of yellow pepper (just as well – she loves those too). Using a small plate and following its arc made shaping the rainbow really easy.
And you should have seen the eyes on my little rainbow loving girl when I set the plate down in front of her… She loved it so much that we had a great brainstorming session about all of the foods that could be used to create a rainbow snack (and she of course had way more ideas than I did). 
A couple of weekends ago, at our local farmer’s market, we came across a Abbotsford-based farmer selling my favourite fruit… kiwi. While I had no idea that kiwi fruit was grown locally, I did know that kiwi is delicious and lasts a long time when properly kept, so I stocked up. When we got home, the kiwi went into the back of the crisper and I forgot about them for a while. Oops.
Upon rediscovering a stash of over a dozen kiwis, I decided we had to put {at least some of} them to good use asap. I ran a few ideas past my sous chef and she very confidently decided on popsicles. As you do. We gathered up a few simple ingredients – the kiwi, some plain yogurt, a little bit of honey, and some pure apple juice, and got started. 
While I’m sure they would have been yummy given the original line up of ingredients, at the last minute I decided to add in an avocado… Extra creaminess and extra nutrients equals a win-win, right?
My little helper threw everything into the food processor…
Stopping to sample her first ever taste of apple juice. When the measuring cup was four fifths empty she asked, “Dump it in now, Mama?” Hmmm… you think she enjoyed it?
After replacing our missing apple juice, we processed everything until smooth.
This was the result. A super smooth, super creamy mixture that Miss G wanted to drink then and there.
We transferred the mixture into our makeshift popsicle moulds, which are still some of my very favourites despite the fact that we now have several proper sets.
Grae happily placed the lids on top and inserted the wooden popsicle sticks…
And it was time for the freezer.
Several hours later, we had delicious, healthy popsicles Miss G couldn’t wait to get her little hands on.
Okay, okay, okay…. So I know I first declared 
Erin hit the nail on the head when she explained that adding blueberries into the mix to prevents the green veggies from mixing with the brown cocoa and turning into a grey sludge. Brilliant, really.
Each morning I give this to Grae she has the exact same response. “It’s a CHOCOLATEY smoozie!! But not yucky sugary chocolate, right Mama? Just Gracen chocolate.” As soon as I give her the confirmation that it’s chocolately because we’ve added cocoa to it, but it’s still filled with all kinds of healthy ingredients, she chugs it back. Silly little munchkin.
Miss G and I have been loving this simple twist on the 
For extra flavour and an extra burst of nutrients, my little smoothie lover and I top our drinks with a generous sprinkling of cinnamon. Of course she just slurps it all up. 