Green Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

I'm always trying to think of ways to feed Dustin more veggies.  A great way is through is fruity drinks.  He loves juice and smoothies.  So, for his mid-morning snack we experimented with a peanut butter, chocolate, banana, and SPINACH smoothie.

Here is what we did:

• 1 banana
• 2 Tbsp chocolate whey protein powder
• 1 Tbsp PB2 (I ordered mine, but you can find it in some stores and most GNCs)
• 1 cup skim milk or unsweetened almond milk
• 1/3 cup torn spinach (lightly packed)

Put all the ingredients in a magic bullet or blender.  Puree until liquefied.

 

I came on here right after making the smoothie so I could remember what we put in it.  He was done drinking the entire thing before I wrote "1Tbsp chocolate whey protein powder".

 

 

If you're not a big spinach fan, start off with a little less spinach at first or add extra protein powder or PB2.  

Honey Oat Teddy Grahams

Like most kids, my 17 month old LOVES graham crackers.  He always wants to munch on them and I want to make him happy, despite knowing that our store bought overly processed graham crackers are probably not the healthiest snack choice out there. 

So, after trying out a few recipes and adapting it to what I think is taste good without sacrificing his baby figure, I'm sharing my honey oat teddy graham recipes.  It's not overly sweet, but that could always be adjusted to your tastebuds.  I figured Dustin doesn't know just how sweet life can get yet, so might as well keep him in the dark for now :)

 

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/8 cup wheat germ
• 1/8 cup wheat bran
• 1/2 cup oat flour (I just buy whole oats and put them in the food processor)
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 Tbsp skim milk or vanilla almond milk (for a vegan or just tasty option)
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Place the rack slightly above the middle.
2. Mix all the wet ingredients in one bowl and the dry ingredients in another.  Slowly mix in the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until well combined.
3. If the dough is too sticky, pop it in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour. 
4. Roll the dough in between two pieces of parchment paper to about 1/8" thick.  Using a bear cookie cutter (or any shape of your choice) press into the dough.  Place the bears on your lined baking sheet.  Repeat this until all the dough is gone or until you have no more room on your baking sheet.  I had to make mine in two batches.
5. Bake for 9 minutes, remove from the oven, and carefully flip over the teddy bears.  Cook for an additional 8 minutes.  Remove from the oven and transfer the bears to a cool surface.
6. Happy snacking!

*I bought my cookie cutter from Michaels.  It came with 5 other shapes and it was the Noah's Ark themed cookie cutters.  Don't forget to print off your 40% off coupon from their website!  I've also seen these at JoAnne's Fabrics.