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It's the first day of school! Our little guy started pre-k today! It was a big move for him because he is going all day (six hours) three days a week instead of 2.5 hours a day two times a week. Plus, he started at a new school. Our son is still a napper, but since he is going the kindergarten class in the afternoon, his napping days are coming to an end (at least for half of the week). We were very relieved to hear a good report from his teachers when we picked him up.

Another change for D is that on school days, he will eat his lunch at school. He was very excited about packing his own lunch and insists that it will be one of his new responsibilities. (How much do I love this kid!)

I made the above printable to help him remember what he needs to pack. I'd say he did a pretty good job! (His grain was a granola bar tucked into his bag.)

And here's the obligatory proud mama first day of school photo. 

Thanks to Yellow Bliss Road for the adorable chalkboard printable. 

What do you do to encourage your kids to eat well at school?

Linked to:

DIY Showoff * House of Hepworths * Keep It Simple Crafts *  Liz Marie Blog * Sew Much Crafting  * Tatertots & Jello

Easy Fruit Popsicles

Since we are waiting out the heat before we can lay down our sod, I thought I'd add a post about how we use our house now that it's done: making sweets and treats! (We also make healthful meals, but this is more fun).

Back in February, when we were busy shopping for all the things a new house needs, D found some popsicle molds and asked if we could get them. At the time, I thought it would make a fun summer project for us. Since he was diagnosed with his milk allergy, I'm grateful that we have the molds so we can make fun, safe frozen goodies for our good boy. 

Since we bought the molds--in February!--D has been asking me to make popsicles for him pretty much every week. In the last couple of weeks, he has asked several times a day! I needed time to find a recipe, and between company and fatigue, I didn't get a chance to do so until this morning. Now I feel bad, because I see how easy a fruit popsicle recipe can be. I improvised this one from one I found here.

Healthy Strawberry Popsicles

adapted from http://www.keeperofthehome.org

Ingredients:

• 2 cups strawberries, cleaned and cut into small pieces
• 1/3 cup vanilla coconut milk
• 1/4 cup honey (next time, I'll use an 1/8 cup)
• 1 T. chia seeds
• 1 T. ground flax seed
• 1 T. wheat germ

Instructions:

First, wash the strawberries. I use a homemade produce wash. I don't leave it on very long because the strawberries are temperamental. Then, rinse with water.

Next, remove the stems and cut strawberries into small pieces. Add them to the blender.

Add the 1/3 cup coconut milk.

Add the 1/4 cup honey.

Add 1 T. chia seeds.

Add 1 T. each of wheat germ and flax seed.

Enjoy the look of joy on your son's face.

Blend well until the strawberry chunks disappear.

Fill up your molds.

 I was able to fill all four small molds, and 1 large mold. Next time, I'll double the recipe. 

Five hours later, we took them out of the freezer and...

Our popsicle turned into a sorbet bowl. My mom suggested that I run the popsicle under warm water before trying to take the top off so that the stick stays intact. In the meantime, D was determined to still enjoy his popsicle.

 All done!

I figured the calorie found on these based on 5 servings per recipe, which comes out to 144 calories each. If you did all smaller pops, you'd be 120 each for 6. If you did 4 pops, you'd have 180 calories each. The large popsicle molds hold just over 1/2 cup. The smaller molds hold about 1/3 cup.

Homemade Non-Dairy Ice Cream Without an Ice Cream Maker

Our son has been dairy free for a little over a month now. Since his allergy was diagnosed, we've learned a lot about dairy substitutes, and since I make most meals from scratch at home, the transition has been much easier than it could be for our little former Dairy King. Before we learned that he was allergic to dairy, his favorite foods were cheese, milk, yogurt and ice cream. Cow's milk was easy to replace with almond milk. We found almond and coconut yogurt at Earth Fare. We've cut way down on cheese, but use Daiya shreds for pizza and a few other of this favorite meals. We did buy a 1/2 pint of non-dairy ice cream, but yowsa, is it pricey. Since ice cream is a "sometimes" food and not an every day food for D, I starting looking for an ice cream recipe we could make at home. The trick was to find a recipe that didn't require an ice cream maker because the Kitchen Aid fairy hasn't delivered the ice cream maker attachment quite yet.

Thanks to Pinterest, I found several versions of this very easy, very simple "ice-cream-in-a-bag" recipe. 

You'll need:

• 1 cup almond milk (or coconut milk)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (or almond extract)
• 2 T. sugar
• 1/2 cup rock salt (the kind you'd use to de-ice your sidewalk. The recipe called for ice cream salt, but we couldn't find any in the three stores we checked. Kosher salt might also work, but my research suggested rock salt due to the larger granules).
• enough ice to fill a gallon size Ziploc bag half full.
• 1 gallon size Ziploc bag
• 1 quart size Ziploc bag.

Optional:

• chopped strawberries for strawberry ice cream
• carob chips, peppermint extract and crushed mint for mint chocolate (carob) chip ice cream

Step 1: Put the rock salt in the gallon size bag. So easy, a pre-schooler can do it. 

Step 2: Add ice until the bag is more than 1/2 full.

Step 3: Add the milk to the smaller bag. This is a little trickier, especially if you forget to grab a funnel.

Step 4: Add the vanilla. (As a side note: I made my own vanilla almost a month ago and it's almost ready. Can't wait to try this again with my vanilla.

Step 5: Add the sugar.

Step 6: Put the small bag inside the large bag. Make sure that both are sealed tightly!

Step 7: Here's the fun part...and how you can justify eating the ice cream. Shake the bags vigorously until the liquid turns solid. It took us about eight minutes. This is a great game for a three-year-old. If you don't have help, you may want to wear mittens or wrap the bag in a dish towel.

Step 8: Remove the ice cream from the large bag.

Step 9: Add your toppings to make your own flavor. Or enjoy the vanilla. It's pretty good on it's own, too.

D wanted fresh strawberry.

Niels and I enjoyed our Breyer's Mint Chocolate Chip knock off.

 Step 10: Enjoy!

The nice thing about this recipe was the built-in portion control. I think D would have eaten all three of our shares if we had let him. It melts quickly, so enjoy right away.