These are so good! I have yet to make my own chocolate-hazelnut spread. But it is completely on my list of things to do.
2 slices whole grain bread
1/2 of a ripe banana, sliced into 1/4″ slices
1 tablespoon Nutella or other chocolate hazelnut spread
1 teaspoon butter, divided
Preheat a saute pan over medium heat.
Place the banana slices on one slice of bread. Spread the nutella on the other slice of bread. Put the nutella slice of bread on top of the banana slice with the nutella side down.
Melt 1/2 teaspoon of the butter in the saute pan and swirl it around the bottom of the pan. Cook the sandwich for a few minutes or until golden brown. Remove the sandwich. Add the rest of the butter to the pan. Return the sandwich and cook the other side for a couple more minutes.
Cut the sandwich into small squares or shapes as your whim dictates. Serve. Allow to cool a few minutes if you are feeding young ones.
Yield: 1 sandwich
Prep-time: 10 minutes
Print
There’s nothing like a bag of inexpensive red grapefruits to brighten up these sometimes dreary winter days.
If your kids are younger, or if you just don’t feel like getting fancy with the skewers, you can serve the grapefruit on the side or simply on top of the yogurt parfait style.
Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve never been a huge fan of hummus. Making it at home has changed my tune, though. Homemade is so much creamier and tastier. My kids named this snack Ted and then proceeded to devour him with gusto.
More importantly, my beautiful husband gave me a new camera for Christmas. And the sun came out this morning! Lucky me!
Read the rest of this entry »
Recently, my three-year-old grew tired of clementines (gasp!). She is a great lover of novelty. Here are a few ways I’ve found to rekindle the magic:
1. Drizzle with pomegranate molasses.
2. Drizzle with warmed (or not) honey. Warm 1 tablespoon of honey in a very small dish in the microwave for 5 – 10 seconds. This is enough honey for two whole peeled and segmented clementines (not just two segments as pictured above).
3. Drizzle with chocolate sauce or chocolate syrup.
4. Serve with Honey Vanilla Yogurt.
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 teaspoons agave nectar or honey
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
Tiny dash of cardamom (optional)
Mix yogurt, agave, vanilla, and cardamom (if desired) in a small bowl. Serve topped with chopped clementine.
Yield: 1/2 cup
Prep time: 5 minutes
You are more than welcome to add your suggestions in the comments. Thanks!
Print
My oldest, who will pretty much eat anything, does not like nut butter of any kind (at the moment). It’s bizarre, but I let it slide since she is an open-minded eater (and, honestly, what choice do I have?). In this recipe, chocolate saves the day and makes the nut butter palatable.
I made some chocolate sauce based on a recipe from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook
awhile ago. I intended to buy some, but the ingredient lists at the store were a little too frightening. Chocolate syrup would work just as well and there are a couple brands with short and understandable ingredient lists at the health food store and Trader Joe’s.
1/3 cup unsalted nut butter (such as almond or peanut)
3 tablespoons chocolate sauce or chocolate syrup
Small pinch salt
Sliced apples for dipping
In a small mixing bowl, stir the nut butter, chocolate sauce, and salt together until the color is uniform. Serve with apples.
Yield: scant 1/2 cup
Prep time: 5 minutes
Print
This recipe is inspired by Kath’s Tribute to Oatmeal and is a mere shadow of her concoctions. Check it out. You’ll never look at oatmeal as a boring food ever again.
Plain cooked oatmeal (thick consistency works best)
Chocolate sauce or syrup
Whipped cream
Allow the oatmeal to cool or even stick it in the freezer for a few minutes (otherwise the whipped cream with melt on contact). Transfer the oatmeal onto a serving plate with an ice cream scoop. Top with chocolate sauce and a dollop of whipped cream.
Prep time: 5 minutes
Print
I’m on a bit of a back-to-basics kick lately. I hope I’m not putting my dear readers to sleep. Believe me, I’ve been experimenting with crazy “innovative” snacks. But they’ve all been
bombs. Sometimes I need to whip up something more predictable so my kids will not mount a rebellion.
Read the rest of this entry »
The super sweetness of dates demands a counter-balance of, you guessed it, FAT. Cheesy, nutty sweetness, here I come. Seriously, take it easy with these. I read somewhere once that a dried date has more fiber than a prune.
If you’d like to learn more about dates, click on over to my Dried Dates page. (Yes, I have a page devoted to dates. Stop teasing.)
1 tablespoon cream cheese
1 teaspoon almond butter
1/4 teaspoon orange juice
Pinch salt, if the almond butter is unsalted
3 large or 4 medium dried organic dates, pitted
In a small bowl mix together the cream cheese, almond butter, cinnamon, and salt (if required) until smooth and uniform in color. Divide the cream cheese mixture between the dates. Serve.
Yield: 3-4 dates
Prep time: 5 minutes
Print
True, more of a dessert than a snack. How about a treat? Anyway, the kids loved it + it took no time at all to make + a serving of fruit = winner.
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch freshly ground nutmeg (optional)
1 tablespoon butter
2 medium apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
Vanilla frozen yogurt
In a small bowl, mix together the maple syrup, cinnamon, and nutmeg (if desired). Set aside.
Heat a saute pan over medium heat. Add butter to pan and allow to melt. When butter starts to sizzle, add apples and stir to coat. Then add the maple syrup mixture and stir again. Cook the apples until they turn soft (approximately 5 minutes, depending on the size of the pieces).
Allow the apples to cool until they are warm instead of hot. Scoop frozen yogurt into small bowls, top with one quarter of the apples, and serve.
Note: In the picture above, I used pumpkin ice cream as my children selfishly ate all of the frozen yogurt before I had a chance to take a picture. Guess who got to eat the pumpkin ice cream version after the photo shoot? Yum.
Yield: 4 servings
Prep-time: 10 minutes
Print
This snack idea is from Gastrokids. I’m just starting to warm up to snack mixes for kids as my youngest recently turned three and is supposedly clear to eat popcorn, whole nuts and the like. More importantly, she is extremely likely to pick all the sweet bits out and leave the rest. But, in this case, at least it’s cranberries and not chocolates. Pepitas are a new favorite thing of mine too.
1/2 cup pepitas
1/4 cup dried sweetened cranberries
Mix and serve.
Yield: 3/4 cup
Prep time: 2 minutes
