Ever since our recent Shopping Sense tour, Gracen’s been talking about “eating a rainbow”. I really had no idea she was even paying attention to the registered dietician during the event, but since she’d never mentioned eating a rainbow until dinnertime after the tour, I’m guessing she was. It’s amazing to see what little sponges they are, isn’t it? Now she says things like, “Look, Papa… There’s orangey, purple, and green! Grae Grae’s eating a rainbow for dinner!”
This afternoon when she requested a snack “including all the colours of the rainbow”, I decided to do something fun.
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).
I must admit, since creating our first batch of healthy{er} crispy rice treats, we’ve made several batches since. The good news is that through all of the ‘testing’, we’ve learned that they last really well in an airtight container on the counter, they can be made into fun shapes using silicon moulds and ice cube trays, and they can easily be cut into shapes with cookie cutters {all while holding their shape just as well as regular Rice Krispie treats do}. The one lesson we’ve learned along the way is that if you overdo the cereal, they turn out crunchier, more dry, and not nearly as yummy. Lesson learned.
When planning some of the treats we’d serve at our annual Valentine’s Tea, Gracen’s most enthusiastic suggestion was “Crispy treats! Valem-time ones!” Making the treats pink came to mind first, but since I’m not crazy about feeding Miss G a bunch of unnecessary food dyes, that got nixed shortly there after.
The next thing that came to mind was one of Grae’s favourite treats… Freeze-dried strawberries. We buy ours at Trader Joe’s, but I have seen them in other stores as well. They’re just strawberries, but the process of freeze-drying them causes them to be super crunchy and astronaut food-like.
I asked Grae if she’d like to experiment with making strawberry crispy rice treats, and she was on board all the way.
To get started, we took about a half a cup of freeze-dried strawberries, ground them to a powder in our food processor, and added them to the wet mixture while following our usual crispy rice treat recipe.
Of course, Miss G licked the cashew butter spoon, because, well… That’s probably the best part about helping with this recipe.
Once we’d combined the cereal and the wet mixture, we took another portion of freeze-dried strawberries, crumbled half into the mixture itself, and then sprinkled the other half on top of the mixture after pressing it down firmly on a baking sheet.
We let the mixture cool completely, then used a cookie cutter to cut out heart-shaped treats. Miss G liked helping with this job, but it required some serious muscle, so I had to help out.
It’s a simple twist, but so far the feedback’s been great… Strawberry crispy treat success! ☺
Healthier Crispy Rice Treats
1/2 cup of organic brown rice syrup (found in the all-natural aisle of most grocery stores, somewhere between the nut butters, syrups, and honeys)
1/2 cup of cashew butter (macadamia works great too)
1/2 cup of freeze-dried strawberries, ground into powder
1 tablespoon of pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon of pure vanilla
4 cups of crispy brown rice cereal
1/2 cup of freeze-dried strawberries, gently crumbled
Measure the brown rice syrup, cashew butter, ground freeze-dried strawberries, and maple syrup into a large pot. Warm over medium heat, stirring almost constantly. When the mixture is hot and liquidy (but not bubbling), add the vanilla, give it another quick stir, and remove the pot from the heat.
Add in the crispy rice cereal and mix well to ensure the cereal is evenly coated with the sticky mixture. Next, add in a 1/4 cup of the crumbled strawberries and stir to distribute them evenly.
Dump the mixture onto a parchment-line baking pan and press it down firmly. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of freeze-dried strawberries on top of the mixture, and gently press them down into place.
Allow the mixture to cool completely (or almost completely). Use a cookie cutter to cut out heart-shaped treats.
Enjoy!
♥
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Over this past long weekend, we celebrated Gracen’s 2nd birthday with a backyard party in the sunshine. The afternoon went amazingly well… The sun was shining as hoped. There was just the slightest breeze. The decorations were handcrafted and colourful. The snacks were made of local ingredients and individually portioned for easy toddler chasing. The wee ones played until they were soaking wet and filthy. The sweets were plentiful. And Miss G had the time of her life… An afternoon filled with “yittle fwends”, tons of play, 2.5 “cupcakes”, Davison Orchard’s fresh-pressed apple juice, an endless supply of crackers and treats, and a generous sprinkling of hugs – for her, it just doesn’t get much better than that.
Since the party, she’s wanted to talk about it constantly. “Mama talk (about) Grae Grae’s birf-day party?” is a request I now hear more times a day than I have fingers. We discuss all of the details of the day, and inevitably end the conversation with a “More play yittle fwends, Mama?” Yes, Babygirl… We’ll have your little friends over to play again sometime very soon.
Here is Miss G’s special afternoon in photos… (Be prepared. This may be the most photo heavy post of. all. time. But I’m sure you already expected that, right?)
The Invitations:
These simple little invites {along with almost all of the decorations} were made while we were in the Okanagan on vacation. Using this free printable as a starting point, I sketched out what I wanted the invitations to look like and Bradley designed them using Photoshop. Once they were designed, we printed them on Grandpa Dave’s colour laser printer, cut them out by hand, created homemade pouches for them, and punched out some pretty confetti to tuck into the pouches.
The Decor:
This last minute little chalkboard greeted guests on our front porch and asked that they make their way around the side of the house.
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I crafted a few of these ribbon chandeliers out of embroidery hoops and wide grosgrain ribbon, and hung them up around the yard to dance in the breeze.
Last year, I did a more traditional timeline of Gracen through the months, and although I loved how it turned out, this year I wanted something a little bit different… I ended up deciding on a ‘timeline tree’. We chose 2 photos for each month {from 13 to 24}, added the text using Photoshop, printed them, and hung them back to back using jute and curtain clips from IKEA that we already had on hand. And voila. Our plum tree instantly became a tree filled with memories of the past year.
Across the way, in our fig tree, I hung the felt poms we had made for last year’s party, giving it just a touch of colour. The beauty in not really having a colour scheme, is that everything goes. ☺
On the main food table, we displayed the letters T-W-O I crafted with cardboard letters, tissue paper dots and Mod Podge.
I also strung up one of the many fabric buntings I sewed for the occasion between two vintage apple crates that Grandma Charlotte’s family has had since she was a little girl. In the middle, I framed a copy of the birthday interview I did with Miss G on her real birthday so that guests could take a read.
For an added touch, we picked a couple of the beautiful dahlias growing in our front garden and popped them into vintage mason jars that used to belong to Gracen’s Great Grandma Amy.
Our photo booth backdrop consisted of a plain sheet {not very glamourously duct} taped up to the wall of our house, and a handmade fabric bunting strung across it.
The Snacks:
Here’s a peek at the food table… Since the party was from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., we stuck with snacks only and tried to keep them as portable as possible so that parents could munch and chase after their wee ones at the same time. Also, although we had a separate table to baby/toddler friendly treats, I wanted to make sure that everything we served was Gracen friendly (save the desserts)… Nothing more insulting than not being able to eat the food served at your own party!
On top, a layer of hummus topped with fresh veggies, many from Grandma Charlotte’s garden. On the bottom, individual layered bean dip cups {with homemade pita chips on the side}.
Fresh berry cups.
Okanagan cherry cups.
Plums picked straight off our tree the night before.
Besides these snacks, we had individual fruit salsa cups with homemade maple cinnamon crisps, as well as brown paper bags of stove-top popcorn.
For the adults, we served chilled lemonade and citrus iced tea in mason jar cups.
We also had an ice water station, which the kids quickly discovered and had a blast playing with.
At the toddler table, we served toddler trays (which included a variety of healthy bite-sized snacks), as well as fresh-pressed apples only apple juice from our favourite place in Vernon – Davison Orchard.
And for the wee babes – purée pouches in a variety of flavours.
The Sweets:
Sadly, I forgot to take pictures of the desserts on the day of the party… Not sure how I managed that one, but I’ll blame it on being busy I guess. Fortunately, I took a is a couple of crumby photos the night before while I was baking into the wee hours of the morning.
For the adults, I decided to try out these mini mason jar cheesecakes and I’m so glad I did. They were easy to make, easy to hand out, and out of the 20 I made, we were only left with 2 at the end {at a party with a total of 12 adult guests}.
For the munchkins, I used Pioneer Woman’s vanilla cupcake recipe (I made them using 1/2 wholewheat flour), baked them in flat-bottomed ice cream cones (a trick I learned early in my Kindergarten teaching days – no wrappers to mess with and much easier for little ones to hold), and topped them with this {ridiculously rich} buttercream frosting, candy sprinkles, and fresh raspberries. I also baked some regularly (sans the cone for adults that preferred cupcakes to cheese cake).
For Miss G, I whipped up this sugar-free banana muffin recipe (and added an extra banana, skipped the salt, and replaced the melted butter with grapeseed oil), baked some in a flat bottomed cone so it would look like the ones many of her friends were eating, and topped it with fresh whipped cream (made without added sugar – just a touch of vanilla) and a fresh raspberry on top. I baked up the rest of the batch as regular muffins, and topped several of them with whipped cream and fresh raspberries for the other babes who don’t do sugar yet.
The Play Stations:
Since first birthdays are often more about the adults than the wee ones, I wanted to make sure that this year’s party was all about play. Messy, fun, noisy, old-fashioned play, just the way Miss G likes it. I set the stations up all around the yard, making sure there was plenty of space and a little something for all different tastes.
A big bucket of sidewalk chalk sat at the beginning of the path.
A construction bin filled with pea gravel , tower building supplies, scoops, tractors, and a hardhat for the little builders.
And on the other side of the yard, we used a hot water heater drip pan and this homemade bubble solution to create a ‘baby in a bubble’ station.
We also had Grae’s pool blown up and filled with water and toys, as well as the sandbox filled with all sorts of moulds, buckets, scoops, and plastic dinosaur bones.
The Birthday Girl:
After having a good hour and a half of quiet time in her room, we decided that the birthday girl was probably too excited to nap. We got her up, lathered her with sunscreen, and she picked out a party dress and decided how she wanted her hair done. Then it was time to head out into the backyard and get started on playing while we waited for her friends to arrive.
The Action:
Gracen was beyond thrilled when her guests started to arrive. Hugs and playmates = one very happy little girl in our house.
Although the whole ‘baby in a bubble’ thing was really hard to do in the beginning, the solution did make great big bubbles using regular wands, so I was glad I had picked them up the night before.
All of the sensory bins, with the exception of the gardening one (which I don’t think even got touched), were a pretty big hit.
The kiddos enjoyed digging for dinos in the sandbox.
And the birthday girl made her rounds all afternoon.
This little corner was put together with our littlest guest and Grae’s beloved friend, “Baby Tate”, in mind… Away from the action, in the shade, and filled with all of Grae’s favourite toys from when she was a baby.
Before long, it was time to bust out the bikini and make a splash in the pool.
Judging by our now beautifully decorated cement pad, the sidewalk chalk paint was one of the favourites.
The snacks, hugs, and company weren’t bad either…
Time for Cake:
As you can see by Grae’s face, she wasn’t so sure about her ‘2’ sparkler… Luckily she had her little friend Jaiden nearby. I think her excitement and lack of worry made everything alright. What did go over very well with Miss G, however, were the “cupcakes”. Yes, cupcakeS. She ate every single last bite of the one I’d baked in the cone for her, then demolished a second one, and made her way through half of another. Two and a half muffins?! Hey, when it’s your party, you’re allowed.
Better with Time:
As the party went on and the bubble solution got handled more and more, the better the bubbles got (just like Jackie from Happy Hooligans said it would). Our resident bubble expert, Jordan, was not only able to put both Gracen and Jaiden in bubbles, but he was also able to make bubbles that were seriously HUGE.
The Photo Booth:
Before leaving, we asked each of our guests to have their photos taken in our makeshift photo booth using the felt props I’d created for last year’s party. Here they are…
Ava and Jordan (somehow their parents made it without being in the photo… sneakers!)
Auntie Brandie, Jackson, and Kevin.
Auntie Silke and Ainsley.
Grandma Charlotte and Uncle Brett.
Tracy and Keagan.
Auntie Steffie and Baby Tate.
Jaiden and Cheri.
The Goodie Buckets:
This was probably the part of the party Gracen looked forward to the most… Handing out her goodie buckets to her friends. We’d collected little items for them for a long while and Grae was so excited about them that I’d made sure to really prep her about the fact that we’d be giving them away. Thankfully, it worked like a charm and she was very happy {and proud} to hand them out at the end of the party.
To go with our backyard theme, the buckets were filled with a watering can and sidewalk chalk (all bought at Michael’s), as well as a big beach ball (purchased at Superstore), a mason jar of Bouncing Bubbles, and a bubble wand (purchased at our local teacher’s store). The best part? (And I totally blame me being excited about this on the Ogasawaras, because before them I never really got that excited about a good deal…) At regular price, each of the 8 buckets would have cost well over 16 dollars, but because we started collecting early and found some great deals, each only cost around $4! (Crazy, right?)
And that was our afternoon. Miss G loved it and we did too. It was the perfect way to celebrate our little girl turning two.
Ever since our recent Shopping Sense tour, Gracen’s been talking about “eating a rainbow”. I really had no idea she was even paying attention to the registered dietician during the event, but since she’d never mentioned eating a rainbow until dinnertime after the tour, I’m guessing she was. It’s amazing to see what little sponges they are, isn’t it? Now she says things like, “Look, Papa… There’s orangey, purple, and green! Grae Grae’s eating a rainbow for dinner!”
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). 
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