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Frozen Fruit and Yogurt Popable Bites

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This Frozen Fruit and Yogurt Popable Bites are the perfect kid’s summer treat!

Watch the girls make these Frozen Fruit and Yogurt Popable Bites!

Growing up, the summers meant lots of fun!  One of the best things was the almost endless amount of ice pops and other frozen treats that we were allowed to consume.  I remember whenever we went to my grandparent’s house, we got these ginormous ice pops that took forever to eat.

Naturally, my girls love frozen treats too.  What I love is how easy it is to make homemade frozen treats. Kids literally don’t care what you put inside a frozen treat either.  It’s the perfect opportunity to stuff in a ton of fruits or vegetables and get in their daily allotment of nutrients.  One of the girls favorite ice pops are a combination of avocado and banana.  Seriously!

What I don’t like as a parent though, is that any variation of ice pops have a tendency to get a little messy, especially if it’s hot outside.  They start dripping.  Things get sticky. And often, the kids don’t even want to finish the entire ice pop which is frustrating as we try to limit the waste we have.

Insert: Frozen Fruit and Yogurt Popable Bites

Kids are still getting a delicious frozen treat that’s healthy for them, but they can just pop them in their mouth and eat them within seconds, minimizing the mess and the waste. It’s a win, win for everyone. Plus they are super easy to make. Our girls loved making them almost entirely by themselves.

Here’s the recipe:

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Frozen Fruit & Yogurt Popable Bites
Author: Larisha Campbell
Ingredients
  • 1 cup frozen strawberries
  • 1 cup frozen mixed berries
  • 1 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
Instructions
  1. Let frozen berries, slightly unthaw.
  2. Chop with a knife into tiny pieces.
  3. Combine chopped mixed berries and chopped strawberries together in a bowl.
  4. Inside silicone mold, layer berry mixture, then yogurt.
  5. If any berry mixture is left over, top yogurt with remaining mixture.
  6. Place in freezer for 4 hours or until frozen solid.
  7. Serve immediately or pop out and store in air tighter container in freezer for up to 2 weeks.

Tip:  Empower your kids by letting them cut things on their own.  These amazing kid’s knives are what we are using in the video. They are sharp enough to cut the food, but they can’t cut your child.  The girls love asking for their knives to take control themselves in the kitchen!

These products may be beneficial for this recipe:


Banana Swirl Ice Cream

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This post is made possible with support from the Association of University Centers on Disabilities through a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “Learn the Signs. Act Early.” program. All opinions are my own.

I remember when we had our first baby.  I was OBSESSED with whether or not she was meeting her milestones. Anytime like I felt she was falling behind on something, I panicked.  I would ask the same question in all 3,421 Facebook parenting groups I’m a part of and they would all tell me the same thing, “Breathe.”

Thankfully, I was just being a first-time parent in all of the circumstances I presented. It’s important that while milestones are critical, hitting all of them exactly the second they turn 3, 6, or whatever corresponding age bracket, isn’t always going to happen.  Much to my friend’s pleasure, I calmed down a bit with my second child. I realized that sometimes she would hit things much earlier than projected, while other things took a few more weeks. And that was okay. What is important is to find reputable sources of information on developmental milestones and keep tracking your child’s progress.

CDC’s “” program offers developmental milestones that most children should reach by different ages. What’s great about this campaign is that parents can now know exactly which milestones their children should be reaching from birth to age 5 years old.

The “” program is geared towards early identification of children with developmental disabilities, including autism.  By detecting these concerns early, children and families are able to get the services, as well as the support, they need. Each milestone age gives targets for how your child should play, learn, speak, act, and move. By watching and tracking your little’s development, you are able to quickly act if something is not on track.

We recently hit the , and are now gearing towards the 2 year old ones.

Some of the 18 month milestones she has been reaching are:

  • May have temper tantrums
  • May be afraid of strangers
  • Says and shakes head “no”
  • Knows what ordinary things are for; for example, telephone, brush, spoon
  • Scribbles on her own
  • May walk up steps and run
  • Drinks from a cup
  • Eats with a spoon
  • and ..


       

One of my favorite milestones from this age was her learning to really use a spoon.  Mostly, because it meant that there was less mess to clean up. Don’t get me wrong, there are still messes and accidents, but her learning to use a spoon has helped so much.

Today, I wanted to share one of my favorite treats to make at this age is Banana Swirl Ice Cream.

Now, I know what you may be thinking.  Ice Cream at 18 months!? This isn’t healthy! But SURPRISE!  This Banana Swirl Ice Cream has just 3 ingredients, helps to meet the daily fruit serving size AND helps with teething. SAY WHAT!?  It’s true.  Frozen foods have always helped my girls when teething and these last teeth they get between 12-24 months are always the hardest in our house. It also helps with teaching them spoon skills.  What kid won’t practice spoon skills for some ice cream! 😉

Here’s the recipe for Banana Swirl Ice Cream

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Banana Swirl Ice Cream
Author: Larisha Campbell
Ingredients
  • 6 large bananas
  • 2 cups frozen strawberries
  • 3 tbsp water
  • Chopped Walnuts Optional
Instructions
  1. On a baking sheet lined with wax paper, chop up bananas into large chunks and spread across sheet.
  2. Place in the freeze until harden.
  3. Meanwhile, place frozen strawberries and water in a suacepan and heat over medium heat.
  4. Stir often until the strawberries break down.
  5. Using a sieve, separate the strawberry juice from the pieces.
  6. Set juice aside and let cool. *You can throw away or compost the pieces.
  7. Once bananas are frozen, place in a food processor and pulse until the consistency of ice cream.
  8. This takes about 3 minutes and you may have to scrap down the sides of your food processor.
  9. Pour ice cream into a bowl and swirl in the strawberry juice.
  10. Serve immediately or place back in freezer until ready to use in an air tight container.

 

Looking for more information about where your little should be?  Head over to the

Strawberry Coconut Cashew Lactation Smoothie

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You’ve asked and begged.  You’ve even pleaded.  It’s finally here. 

A BRAND NEW LACTATION SMOOTHIE RECIPE. 

Breastfeeding.

It’s one of the hardest things I’ve done. Yet, it’s also one of, if not the, most rewarding thing I’ve ever done. You’re nourishing an actual human being and that’s no small feat.  Whether you breastfeed for 5 days or 5 years, you helped to give that little one the best gift ever. Part of making sure you are nourishing another human being is making sure that you are nourishing yourself as well.

I know we’re all busy, especially once another little person enters into the world. Furthermore, if this isn’t your first littler person, you’re even busier. Sometimes we literally just forget to eat.  But I’m going to have you make me a promise today. You will eat breakfast every morning. Deal? Deal! Good. HA!

Now that we’ve made that commitment, let’s get to out strawberry coconut cashew lactation smoothie.

As with any of our lactation recipes, I’m going to put that disclaimer that you really need to get to the underlying issue if you think you have low supply.  It’s very unlikely that you have a low supply or you aren’t producing enough to nourish your child adequately.  However, there are a small percent of people who do.  What we like to promote with our lactation recipes is that these recipes are providing you with the calories, protein, and healthy fats that you need to maintain a healthy supply.

This lactation smoothie is delish.  If you’ve never had the strawberry, coconut, and cashew flavor combination, you are totally missing out!

Without further ado, here’s the recipe you’ve been waiting for since forever!

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Strawberry Coconut Cashew Lactation Smoothie
Author: Larisha Campbell
Ingredients
  • 1 frozen Banana
  • 7 frozen Strawberries
  • 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
  • 1/2 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
  • 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
  • 1/2 cup cashews
  • 1/4 cup shredded coconut
  • 1 tbsp chia seeds
  • 1 tbsp ground flax seeds
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1/2 tsp debittered brewers yeast
Instructions
  1. Add all ingredients to a blender and blend.
  2. If you need it thicker or colder, add a bit of ice.
  3. If you need it thinner, add a bit more milk.
  4. Enjoy!

Here’s some other posts you might enjoy:

 lactationmilkshake

breastfeeding myths

lactation boosting foods

lactation energy bites

Here’s some products you might be interested in!


Peanut Butter and Jelly Smoothie Bowl

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This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #MySmoothie #CollectiveBias

Peanut Butter and Strawberry Jelly Smoothie Bowl

When smoothie bowls became all the rage, I’ll admit, I didn’t get it. Who wanted to add another step when you can just stick the straw in the cup and start drinking.  But I took one for the team and tried it out anyway.  What I found is that it made not only a delicious breakfast option, but it also make for a sweet late night treat that you could feel great about. Most importantly though, my toddler, Skibbles, thought these things were amazing and I found a way to get more fruits and veggies into her.  Even the baby loves these. I like to imagine them as being ice cream since they are thicker than a smoothie, and then what I add on top is essentially my ice cream toppings, so the possibilities are endless.

We’re sharing today our girls’ favorite smoothie bowl – a Peanut Butter and Jelly smoothie bowl.  I feel like PB&J is the epitome of childhood. I know that Andrew and I both enjoy eating sandwiches still, but we both feel better about the ingredients when making a healthy smoothie bowl instead of the bread and sugary jelly.  What’s great about this is that we use strawberries for the “jelly” aspect which makes it pink and if there’s one thing I’ve learned from having a toddler is that she will eat anything pink.

how to make peanut butter and jelly smoothie bowl

I was excited to try out JIF’s new Peanut Powder and Dannon’s new Oikos Triple Zero Vanilla Greek Yogurt for this recipe as well. The JIF Peanut Powder is literally just peanuts, nothing else added, which, as a mom, I was insanely excited about. It also has 85% less fat than traditional store bought peanut butters, making this even better for you. The Dannon Oikos Triple Zero Greek Yogurt has 0 fat, 0 added sugar and 0 artificial sweeteners, plus 15g of protein for every 5.3oz. While is does not mean it’s a low calorie food, it is quite possibly the perfect protein snack™!

JIF PB Powder smoothie Bowl

We started by chopping up our peanuts and thinly slicing our strawberries to go on top of the smoothie bowl.

jif pb powder smoothie recipe

Next, we blended all our ingredients into our blender. If you are looking for a new blender, check out this Oster® Blend-N-Go® MyBlend®! Just Fill, Blend & GO!

BLSTPB-GWH My Blend Grey

Once blended, we poured that into our bowl.

how to make a smoothie bowl

The thick and delicious blended smoothie is the base for your smoothie bowl.

how to make pbj smoothie bowl recipe

Then it’s time to add your toppings.  When making smoothie bowls, the toppings possibilities are endless, but I really love trying to enhance our protein components going into here.

pbj smoothie bowl

So we used the chopped peanuts, chia seeds, and then the sliced fresh strawberries.

pbj smoothie bowl recipe

We topped it with more peanut butter powder to make that flavor really shine through.

peanut butter bowl recipe

The end result is simply to die for.  Anytime we make this one, Skibbles wakes up the next day and asks for it again.  Of course, we keep making it because why wouldn’t I want her to have all this healthy and deliciousness going into her growing body!  Yum!

Peanut Butter and Jelly Smoothie Bowl

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Peanut Butter and Jelly Smoothie Bowl
Author: Larisha Campbell
Ingredients
Smoothie Bowl Base
  • 2 Frozen Bananas
  • 12 frozen strawberries
  • 3 tbsp JIF Peanut Butter powder
  • 1 cup Dannon Oikos Triple Zero Vanilla Greek Yogurt
Toppings for Smoothie Bowl
  • 2 fresh strawberries thinly sliced
  • 1/4 cup peanuts roughly chopped
  • 1/2 tbsp chia seeds
  • 1 tsp JIF Peanut Butter Powder
Instructions
  1. In a blender, combine the 4 base ingredients very well.
  2. Pour that into a bowl.
  3. On the top sprinkle the chopped peanuts and chia seeds.
  4. Add the fresh, sliced strawberries
  5. Using a small mesh sieve, sprinkle the JIF Peanut Butter Powder.
  6. Enjoy!

Right now you can get $1.50 cash back on the combination of Jif Peanut Powder and Oikos (Vanilla) Triple Zero Greek Yogurt OR$1.50 cash back on the combination of Jif Creamy Peanut Butter and Dannon Vanilla Yogurt when using this Ibotta Offer when you shop at Wal-mart.

jif peanut butter powder

Strawberry and Avocado Salsa

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strawberry and avocado salsa recipe

Happy May friends!

Can you believe it’s already May!?  It seems almost impossible, but I really think it might be because we have a second child now.  Every month seems to have just gone by in a blink since having her and here we are just a few short weeks away from her 1st birthday! GAH!

Anywho, back on topic. May is National Strawberry Month AND National Salsa Month. Not only that, but it’s Cinco de Mayo in just a few days. What better way to celebrate all that than getting into out kitchen for Mini Chef Mondays to make this delicious Strawberry and Avocado Salsa.

kids learning about herbs

teaching kids about herbs

This week was a super sensory learning experience for Skibbles. I have been teaching her about fresh herbs and we have started growing some from seeds too, so she was so excited to learn about that. We use both fresh basil and fresh cilantro in this recipe so seeing her touch and smell the leaves and talk about them with her was fun. We worked on tasting them and talking about how they taste different than spinach or lettuce. She kept picking them up and smelling them throughout the recipe.

kids learning to use knives

We’ve also started working on her cutting skills.  We gave her a kid’s safe cutting knife and she’s been practicing on various things. These strawberries for the strawberry and avocado salsa recipe were perfect since they just needed diced and nothing fancy.  The most amazing thing about being a parent is watching your child’s eyes beam with proudness and satisfaction as they learn to do new things, especially things that they associate with being a grown up task.

mini chef mondays how to make strawberry and avocado salsa

Then we just had to mix everything together.   

homemade strawberry and avocado salsa

how to make strawberry and avocado salsa

This is such a perfect recipe to getting your kid’s in the kitchen, teaching them new skills, and about mixing bold and unique flavors together.  This Strawberry and Avocado Salsa is great on chips, but also pairs amazingly well atop grilled seasoned chicken. YUM!

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Strawberry and Avocado Salsa
Author: Larisha Campbell
Ingredients
  • 1 Avocado diced
  • 1 1/2 cups Fresh Strawberries diced
  • 2 tbsp fresh basil finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp chopped cilantro
  • 2 1/2 tbsp Red Onion finely diced
  • 1 clove Garlic finely minced
  • Juice of 1 Lime
  • Lime Zest of 1/2 Lime
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1/8 tsp salt
Instructions
  1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and gently combine.
  2. Serve within 24 hours.

homemade strawberry and avocado salsa recipe

I am hosting Mini Chef Mondays along with 8 fabulous bloggers! Read how Mini Chef Mondays started, plus how to link up!

MCM Blogs

Join our facebook group to find even more recipes and share recipes too!

Get featured and follow us too!
  • Pinterest: Each post/recipe linked up will be added to our Mini Chef Mondays board
  • Instagram: Use our hashtag #MiniChefMondays so we can repost your mini chef
  • Twitter: We retweet every post with #MiniChefMondays

Be sure to check out each of their Mini Chef posts as well!

  1. Cherry Avocado Smoothie Bowl // Courtney’s Sweets
  2. Zucchini Meatballs // Momma Lew
  3. Strawberry Lime Ice Pops // Baby Loving Mama
  4. Strawberry and Avocado Salsa // We’re Parents
  5. Edible Mother’s Day Gifts // Eating Richly Even When You’re Broke
  6. Dessert Tacos // Giggles, Gobbles and Gulps
  7. Perfect for Brunch Blintz Souffle // Vegging at the Shore
  8. 3 Ingredient Strawberry Rhubarb Fruit Leather // O’Boy! Organic
  9. Pineapple Upside Down Cake Popsicles // Can’t Google Everything


 

Coconut Cashew Strawberry Banana Smoothie

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coconut cashew strawberry banana smoothie

This coconut cashew strawberry banana smoothie may be our family’s newest favorite flavor combination. Slightly nutty + slightly sweet + a bit like an original classic, it’s guaranteed to be a hit.

I’ve always loved smoothies myself, but must admit that up until the last few years most of my smoothies weren’t very exciting.  Strawberry Banana, Berries and citrus, strawberry and pineapple…that was pretty much the sum of my smoothie experimentation.  Once I had Skibbles and she started eating more, I got a little more adventurous after realizing that I could pretty much put anything in a smoothie and she would eat it that way. Coincidently, I would also eat pretty much anything put into a smoothie I found out. Thus, our love and adventure of smoothies began. We experiment all the time and daddy actually came up with the recipe for this one, but Skibbles loves it!

mini chef mondays smoothie

She is just getting into “girly” things like her doll house and princesses, so she loves pink smoothies. Lucky for Andrew and I, this smoothie is loaded with great nutrients and lots of protein, so we are happy to let her have it as often as she wants too.

Click play to watch us make this one!

The other amazing thing about smoothies is that she can easy make this herself for the most part.  I typically pre-measure things out for her, but other than that she’s on her own. She loves pushing the buttons on our blender.  It’s such a feeling of accomplishment for her! The facial expressions she makes are enough to light up any room, am I right?

mini chef mondays coconut cashew strawberry banana smoothie

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Coconut Cashew Strawberry Banana Smoothie
Author: Larisha Campbell
Ingredients
  • 8-10 strawberries
  • 1 banana
  • 1 1/2 cup almond milk
  • 1/2 cup cashews
  • 1/4 cup coconut flakes
  • 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
  • 1/8 cup chia seeds
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 1 tsp coconut oil
Instructions
  1. Add all ingredients to a blender.
  2. Blend until well combined.
  3. Pour and serve.

I’d encourage you to not only try this smoothie, but if you are having trouble getting fruits or veggies into your little ones, to try it in a smoothie form.  Berries can mask a lot of flavors and things like sweet potatoes or carrots have a sweet enough taste to help with flavor too.  Leave a comment below and let me know your favorite smoothie combo!

coconut cashew strawberry banana smoothie recipe

I am hosting Mini Chef Mondays along with 10 fabulous bloggers! Read how Mini Chef Mondays started, plus how to link up!
Join our facebook group to find even more recipes and share recipes too!

Get featured and follow us too!
  • Pinterest: Each post/recipe linked up will be added to our Mini Chef Mondays board
  • Instagram: Use our hashtag #MiniChefMondays so we can repost your mini chef
  • Twitter: We retweet every post with #MiniChefMondays

Be sure to check out each of their Mini Chef posts as well!

  1. Strawberry Lemonade Ice Pops // Courtney’s Sweets
  2. Outback Copycat Coconut Shrimp Recipe // Momma Lew
  3. Strawberry Banana Smoothie Bowl // Baby Loving Mama
  4. Coconut Cashew Strawberry Banana Smoothie // We’re Parents
  5. Five Ingredient Chicken Pesto Pasta Salad // Frugal Novice
  6. Toddler Science Experiment Baking Soda Art // Eating Richly Even When You’re Broke
  7. Restaurant Style Crispy Wonton Strips with Homemade Duck Sauce // Giggles, Gobbles and Gulps
  8. Yummy Orange Apple Cider // Step Stool Chef
  9. Apple Noodle Kugel // Vegging at the Shore
  10. Quiona and Oat Granola // O’Boy! Organic
  11. Kid Approved Chicken Fried Rice // Can’t Google Everything


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