Busy Roseville Mama Shares Her Healthy & Simple Snacks By Sandeep Rehal When your kids are about five, six and so on, it’s fun to get them involved in the kitchen—with the vision of it looking like all of those commercials where the kids are helping mom make cupcakes and cookies—while the sticky mess they are making looks innocently beautiful, like it’s part of the decorum. In all seriousness, it really is a great learning and bonding experience. I can remember when my mom would let me help out: add toppings to the homemade pizza, put icing on the chocolate cake, lick the spoon, etc. But when you have an infant (like I do), I have to get as much done as possible while he is sleeping, or for as long as he is preoccupied with the piece of lint on the floor. Here are a few of my favorite and simple (well, my favorite because they are so simple) recipes that you can prepare ahead of time and make your life a little easier.
Awesome Applesauce My son loves applesauce and I feed it to him with a big smile because I know I have used a fresh organic apple to make it. Those fun looking tubes and organic labeled glass jars at the grocery store can look appealing and convenient, but who knows how long they have been sitting on that shelf. Applesauce— you can make it with your eyes closed, I promise. I like the applesauce to be as fresh as possible for my son, so I only use 1-2 apples at a time. In the winter, I love Cortland apples, the applesauce princess and Honeycrisp apples. Or mix and match. Peel and core the apple and loosely chop into chunks. Throw into a saucepan with water, I’ve never measured the water, just enough to cover all the pieces. Let boil for about 10 mins then drain.
Chill Chia Pudding Second, is chia pudding for mommy and daddy. With an infant and full time jobs we need the omega-3’s, protein and fiber. This superfood is my secret to being a supermom. Of course there are a ton of recipes for chia pudding (and apple sauce) on the internet. But here’s how the brain of a busy mom works: recipe—okay, da da da, tutu—okay, I got it. So as a result, I have come up with a perfect and fast ‘recipe’ of my own. Start with a large bowl Add a can of coconut milk (1.5 to 2 cups), 1/4 cup of chia seeds, 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 1/3 to 1/4 cup of honey (depends how much of a sweet tooth you have), and sprinkle some cinnamon powder (in the winter I like a little extra).
Use a potato masher for chunky applesauce. (Great for your toddler.) For an infant, use a two speed hand blender, gives you more of a puree.
Mix with a large spoon and pour evenly into cups or a mason jar. I don’t have time to count hours, so I just refrigerate overnight to let it gel.
On a chilly winter morning, Jai loves to be fed warm applesauce. In the afternoon on the go, chilled is just as tasty. You can keep it in the fridge for about a week.
Be creative, sometimes add a tablespoon of cocoa powder for chocolate flavor or another superfood Matcha Green Tea Powder.
For my ten-month-old, one large apple lasts two days. One day he has it for breakfast the other for lunch. So this is something I prepare every other day.
I make this mid-afternoon, pour into ready-to-serve cups and place them in the fridge. This way, my husband can reach-n’-grab, add some blueberries, almonds, banana and voila!—a hearty breakfast when you’re on the go.
Snacks continued on page 21 sacramentoparent.com FEBRUARY 2018 19