Butternut squash and spinach {Baby food}

     My favorite thing to do during the day is cook while my baby girl watches from her highchair. She's at the age now where she's entertained for hours by just a few toys and snacks. So, as Olivia played in her highchair, I started throwing things in the blender.

Ingredients: 

• 1 large butternut squash
• 1 cup of spinach
• 1/4 cup of water

Directions:

I just love the color or this puree, it's so bright and vibrant

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Poke several hole in the squash with a fork, rinse and set aside. Line a baking pan with aluminium foil. Place the squash on the pan and in the oven for 45-55 minutes. Let squash cool. Pour the 1/4 cup of water into a pot and bring to a boil. Put the spinach in the boiling water and cook until it wilts or 4-5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the spinach to a blender, saving the cooking liquid. Remove skin from squash and place the squash in the blender. Pulse several times until smooth, adding cooking liquid until you reach desired consistency. 

Blueberry, spinach and apple puree {Baby food}

I can hardly believe Olivia is already SIX month old! It seriously breaks my heart. Does anyone else feel like time flies by so much faster with baby #2? I do! She has already learned to roll over, sit up and is now tackling gerber snacks, LOL. :( We introduced solid foods to Olivia (and Connor too) at four months old. Now, at six months, she's had pretty much all the basic purees and is ready to try things mixed together. This recipe was one of Connor's favorites and goes really well with yogurt as they get older. 

[The picture below was taken just a few days after she was born]

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup of organic blueberries
• 2 organic apples
• a handful of spinach 
• 1/4 cup of water - 1/2 a cup

Directions:

Peel, core and dice apples. Place apples, blueberries and water in a pot. 

Heat to a boil and cook for around 10 minutes, or until apples are soft. Turn off heat and add spinach. Stir until the spinach wilts. 

Place in blender and pulse until smooth. This recipe makes roughly 1 - 1 1/2 ice cube trays, depending on how many little fingers want to taste :) You can pour into trays and freeze for three months, or refrigerate for three days. 

Bacon Pancakes! {Toddler Bites}

That's right..BACON pancakes!! Who doesn't love bacon and who doesn't love pancakes? Why not combine the two?? As it turns out, my two year old LOVES bacon, but if I give it to him, he will eat 10 pieces and refuses anything else but more bacon. So I thought, why not make the bacon more filling and sneak in some pancakes!

Ingredients: 

• Pancake batter (Homemade, store bought, whatever you like)
• Bacon
• Spinach *optional*

Directions:

Heat your griddle. I usually cook my bacon around 250 degrees or 300. Throw on some bacon and let it cook. While you're waiting on the bacon, mix your pancake batter. *This next part is optional, just adds a healthy twist* Chop up some spinach, really fine. Mix the spinach into your batter. After the bacon is completely cooked, take it off and let the grease soak into a paper towel. Wipe down the griddle. Place the bacon back on the griddle and pour pancake batter over the top. Let cook for around 2 minutes and flip. Continue cooking until brown. Enjoy!

This is not my original idea, it's something I saw on Pinterest, I just added spinach. My son absolutely loved it, I hope your kids do too! :)