Meatloaf Muffins {6 WW+ Dinner}

I love cute food. And these meatloaf muffins are pretty darn cute. I mean, they're small, they're colorful and they taste amazing. I've noticed that when I make our meals in smaller portions my kids seem to enjoy them a lot more and eat more than they normally would. So anything that I can convert from a normal, larger size to muffin tin size is awesome.

A few years back I made some meatloaf muffins and blogged about them but they weren't anything special. And since I love meatloaf I wanted to play with one of my favorite recipes a bit and tweak it to make me happy. Well this recipe has done it! Not only do my kids love these meatloaf muffins, I love them too! And the smaller size isn't just great for the kids, it means portion control for me

Meatloaf Muffins

• 1 20 ounce package 93/7 lean ground turkey
• 3/4 cup Trader Joe's fire roasted onions & peppers
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup whole wheat panko bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup light shredded cheese

• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 and take out muffin pan. Saute onions, peppers, & garlic until tender. Add Italian seasoning & stir. Set aside to cool.

Place ground turkey, Worcestershire sauce, egg, panko & cheese in a large bowl and mix until combined. Add in the cooled veggies and mix in. Form 12 small balls of mixture and place each ball in muffin well (balls will be roughly 1-1 1/2" in diameter).

Bake meatloaf muffins for 18-20 minutes. While muffins are cooking mix together ketchup, mustard & sugar. Once the 18-20 minutes are up take the muffins out of the oven and top with ketchup mixture. Put the muffins back in the oven for another 5 minutes. Let rest 3-5 minutes before serving with your favorite sides and veggies.

Serves 6 | 3 WW+ Points per muffin

Nutritional Info: 115 calories, 7g carbs, 5g fat, 12g protein, 1g fiber, 171g sodium

Tuna Noodle Cups {Adventures in Toddler Food}

Oh how I've missed cooking. For some reason I either forget to take pictures of my new meals or I just make the same meals we know and love night after night. And this wonderful blog gets neglected. Well... I'm going to try and take some time to update over the the next few weeks with the fun recipes we've tried over the summer and the fun inventive ways we've turned our favorites into new dishes.

This tuna noodle casserole is something I make often. However I usually just top with a bit of cheese instead of mixing it in. And I usually make it in a casserole dish. But I received a little inspiration from a blog I've started following called Muffin Tin Mom. And figured it'd be a great way to portion control our meals if we made them in smaller containers. Plus how cool are her muffin tin meal ideas? Genius for toddlers kids!

Inspiration: Dinner with Danielle Original Reworked

Tuna Noodle Cups

• 8 ounces Wacky Mac Noodles (or egg noodles)
• 1 can reduced fat cream of mushroom soup
• 1 can tuna in water, drained
• 2 tablespoons 1% milk
• 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 cup frozen peas
• salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
• 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese, grated
• 2 tablespoons Smart Balance Light

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cook the Wacky Mac as directed on the package, drain and set aside.

While noodles are cooking open the can of tuna and soup and measure out the milk, cheese and peas. Let your child combine the soup, tuna, milk, cheese, peas and seasoning in a large bowl with a spatula.

Add cooked noodles to the mixture and let the child stir just until combined (or switch kids and let another stir in the noodles). Grab a measuring cup or cookie scoop and let your child scoop the noodle mixture into a muffin tin pan. Sprinkle each "cup" with parmesan, bread crumbs and small pieces of the Smart Balance.

Place in the preheated oven and cook for 20 minutes or until the top of the cups are golden and a little crisp. Remove from the oven and let the noodle cups cool in the pan for 5 minutes. This will allow them to keep their shape when you remove them from the pan. Take a spatula and work around the edges of each noodle cup before removing them from the muffin tin pan.

Serve and enjoy! My son enjoyed his Tuna Noodle Cups with a yummy salad of greens and his favorite ranch dressing.

Serves 13 | 4 WW+ Points 

Do you see his little tongue sticking out? He's concentrating!

Banana Freeze {0 WW+ Dessert}

I first heard of this over on the Weight Watchers message board. And when I read it I had to go to Google and find a recipe to make sure it was real. Well... it was! And although the results weren't *exactly* like jumping into a pint of Ben & Jerry's it was pretty darn close. And my son couldn't tell the difference. His bowl was cleaned (and licked) within 5 minutes.

Since it's so easy to make I highly suggest you putting some bananas in the freezer now so you can make this in the afternoon. It's summer! You need a light and cool snack to refresh you and this is just the thing. And you might find that making it is pretty fun and kid/baby friendly too. Next time we make this I'm going to play with mix ins. I could imagine a handful of walnuts or some peanut butter chips would knock this treat out of the park!

Inspired By: The Kitchn

 

Banana Freeze Ice Cream

• 3 bananas

Peel bananas and dice into small pieces. Place banana pieces in a ziploc bag or a plate and freeze for 1-2 hours. Place frozen bananas in the blender and turn it on. When the bananas go up the sides of the blender scrape them down back into the bottom and wait for the magic to happen.

Once the bananas resemble soft serve ice cream transfer to a bowl, stick a spoon in and enjoy! If you'd like top with some chocolate syrup 

Pizza Balls {7 WW+ Dinner}

I really love pizza. And no matter what I do I can't stop thinking about it when I'm watching what I eat. So instead of being tempted to order a pizza from my favorite pizza place I try and make it at home more often than not.  So I needed to change things around. Step it up a bit. And I was taken back to a meal that my mom made for us growing up. I had some pizza dough from Trader Joe's in the fridge so I figured I'd try to wing it and hope for the best.

Well my attempt not only turned out good... it turned out better than I remembered! I was so excited to share this meal with Joseph and E and was super happy to find out that their reaction was very pleased. E even asked me to make them again the next day. And he was going to help :) This is now on our monthly rotation as either dinner or lunch and E always helps add the toppings and roll up the pizza dough into balls.

Inspiration: Family meal from my childhood (my mom)

Pizza Balls

• 1 ball of pizza dough (I used Trader Joe's whole wheat)
• 1 serving Hormel Pepperoni (14 slices/28g)
• 1/2 cup Trader Joe's Three Cheese Blend
• 1/2 cup diced crimini mushrooms
• 1 1/2 cups spinach, chopped
• 1 cup marinara sauce, for dipping

Place pizza stone in oven. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Divide dough into 6 equal pieces and roll out each piece into a 4-5" circle. Place an equal amount of each topping in the middle of the dough circle and bring the edges of the circle up over the toppings. Pinch edges together to form a ball. Repeat with the other circles.

Take pizza stone out of the oven and place pizza balls on stone. Bake for 9-10 minutes or until the pizza balls are golden brown. Let cool for 5-10 minutes before serving with marinara dipping sauce.

Serves 6 | 7 WW+ Points

Chicken Parmesan Bites {7 WW+ Dinner}

I have been trying to come up with healthy, fun dinners that my toddler would be more interested in. Lately all he's wanted is chicken nuggets so I've been thinking up ways to turn typical chicken dishes into more kid-friendly meals. And I've been craving chicken parmesan for a while so why not make it into parmesan bites? Put a side of noodles and sauce on the plate and I had one meal my son was more than likely to enjoy. Right? Right! 

I put a plate of three chicken parmesan bites, 1/4 cup of noodles w/ sauce and a few broccoli florettes in front of him tonight and he went to town! And the best part? I used only one chicken breast to feed my whole family. Isn't that awesome? And budget friendly!

I also only made 5 ounces of spaghetti for the three of us and used 1/4 of a jar of sauce. We were all very full and even had room on our plate for more broccoli. Who doesn't want more broccoli? And I'm sure I could decrease the points a bit if I baked the chicken but I really liked the texture of the outside of the chicken that came with the oil. Totally worth it.

Chicken Parmesan Bites 

• 1 chicken, breast, cut into 1" pieces
• 2 tablespoons 1% milk
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 cup Progresso® Italian-Style Bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese 
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

Place chicken breast pieces in a bowl and cover with milk. Let soak for a few minutes while prepping the other ingredients. Place 1/4 cup of flour into a large ziploc bag. Measure out 1/4 cup of breadcrumbs and place into a container with salt and pepper. Grate parmesan cheese into the same container, stir to combine and set aside. Place egg white in a small bowl.

Take chicken and place in bag with flour. Shake vigorously until the chicken is well coated. Put coated chicken in bowl with egg white and stir to coat chicken. Place bread crumb mixture in bag you just used for flour. Put chicken back in the bag and shake again coating the chicken with bread crumbs.

Heat oil in a skillet on medium high heat. Add coated chicken to the pan and cook until golden brown, about 15 minutes. When chicken is cooked thoroughly remove from pan and serve with spaghetti and marinara sauce. Add some steamed veggies or a nice salad to make this a complete meal.

3 servings* (5 bites) | 7 WW+ Points

* Does not include spaghetti & marinara sauce

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffin Bites {1 WW+ Dessert}

Joseph was out with a friend for dinner last night so my little man and I decided to bake up some goodies for dessert. I started out making regular muffins but then decided to make them mini instead! I'm glad I did. These things were the perfect size for my toddler and the perfect size for me.

Plus they're only 1 point each so I can control how much indulgence I want and not have to use up too many points. The mini chocolate chips really make these tastier. You get chocolate in every single bite and feel like you're really getting away with something.

Super easy and yummy results! It's a win-win with this recipe :) And if you're making the standard muffin size you should get 24 muffins at 3 WW+ points each (versus my 72 mini muffins). But remember to calculate the points value if you change anything. The original recipe did not include an egg but the egg doesn't add anything to the points value and, I think, definitely adds something to the recipe.

Inspired By: Our Best Bites

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffin Bites

• 1 package spice cake mix
• 1 15oz can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
• 1 egg
• 1 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a mini muffin pan with Pam cooking spray. Mix cake mix, pumpkin puree and egg together until combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Place 1 tablespoon of batter into prepared mini muffin pan. Place in oven and bake for 8 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

72 Servings | 1 WW+ Point each

Adventures in Toddler Food: Apple Carrot Sauce

About two weeks ago the family went up to pick apples at an apple orchard just east of us. We brought home about 6 pounds worth of apples and I knew I wanted to make two things: applesauce and apple pie. Well, I made the applesauce yesterday and the dough for the pie is in the fridge for today!

Instead of keeping the applesauce as just apples I added some carrots in as well to give it more nutrition. My son LOVES apple carrot crushers from Trader Joe's and I just knew he'd love this mix. And guess what? I was totally right!

Source: A Year of Slow Cooking

Apple Carrot Sauce

• 8 small/medium or 4 large apples, skinned ,cored, and cut in quarters
• 6 carrots, trimmed, cleaned & cut into coins
• Juice from 1 lemon
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/4 cup water

Skin, core, and cut your apples into quarters. Clean, trim and cut carrots. Add the pieces of apple and carrot into your crockpot. Add the juice from the lemon, and the water. Pour in the vanilla, and add the cinnamon and brown sugar.
Cover and cook on high for 4 hours. When the apples and carrots are super tender, mash with a potato masher or large fork. Place the mash into a food processor or blender to blend into a smooth consistency (you do not have to do this but I like the texture of the blended sauce).

Serve and enjoy!

My son trying to lick the bowl before asking for more...

Adventures in Toddler Food: It's in the Pudding

So a few girls on a message board I frequent brought up the recipe book Deceptively Delicious and I was inspired to try and find a recipe to test out on my 18 month old tonight. I've had the book for quite some time and haven't opened it in a few months. But I figured it was time. I mean, hey, I am trying to get some toddler-friendly food on this blog anyway...

I had an almost over-ripe avocado on the counter so I decided to try the chocolate pudding. At first I was pretty skeptical. I mean... avocado... in pudding? But I followed through. And I'm glad I did. While this wasn't my favorite pudding it sure was tasty. And my toddler had no idea that there was a difference (partially because he's never had pudding). I also felt a bit better giving him some dessert when it had a healthy ingredient in the mix.

Maybe there's more to this book than a nice decoration on the cookbook shelf... next week I'm going to try the tofu nuggets :) For my son, of course!

Source: Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld



Chocolate Pudding

• 1/4 cup soft margarine (I used spreadable butter w/ canola oil)
• 1 cup pureed/mashed avocado
• 1 cup confectioners sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup corn starch

In a medium saucepan melt margarine on low. Add avocado, sugar, cocoa, and vanilla and stir well to incorporate. Use a spatula to mash avocado more so that everything is smooth. Cook for 3-4 minutes until thickened.

Take pudding off the heat and add corn starch. Stir well. Serve pudding warm and enjoy!


What is this, Mom?


Oh, it's pretty good!

Adventures in Toddler Food: Fruit/Veggie Muffins

As you're probably aware from the previous posts about toddler food I'm always trying to figure out new ways of getting vegetables into my child without him realizing it (and than spitting it out or throwing it on the ground). A great way to get these veggies in is by putting them in muffins & pancakes. I love muffins. What's not to love? The fluffiness, the flavor, the versatility. And the convenience.

I also love using natural sweeteners in place of pure sugar. In this recipe we do use a bit of brown sugar but only 1/2 a cup (for 15 muffins!). To sweeten it a bit more we add applesauce. The bananas also add their sweetness as well. You can also replace all of the oil with applesauce as well but I don't mind a little oil if my child is going to eat the whole muffin. Sometimes calories are needed on picky food days.

This muffin isn't super sweet but gives just enough flavor to entice little ones. It was good enough for this little man to devour almost a whole one! And he's only (almost) 8 months old! Mommas like them too so it's a win-win.

Source: Edible Ventures



Banana Zucchini Muffins

• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 medium zucchini, shredded & moisture squeezed out
• 2 ripe medium bananas, mashed

Preheat oven to 375. Line a muffin tin with reusable (or not) muffin cups or grease and flour the pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, applesauce, eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices. Make a well in the center and add the wet ingredients. Stir until just blended. Then stir in the grated zucchini and mashed banana.

Divide the batter among the 12 muffin cups (an ice cream scoop works well). Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in a muffin comes out clean. Let cool about 5-10 minutes, then remove from pan and eat!

Adventures in Toddler Food: Veggie Bites

My son has been pretty bad at eating his veggies lately. With the vast fluctuation day by day of his appetite we have had very little luck getting the greens in him. He's much more interested in the colorful fruit we've been bringing home this summer. A little too interested...

So I went out in search of a good veggie bite recipe and found a lot online. I got bits and pieces from a lot of different recipes and kinda pieced them together to form this one. And I am quite happy to say that it was a recipe my child loved.

He ate 2 veggie bites for lunch today! I froze the rest of the bites for a quick re-heat later as needed. This will make lunch time a lot easier on those days I don't have time to cook/bake for him.

Source: My Head



Veggie Bites

• 1 bag frozen broccoli & cauliflower, steamed & chopped
• 1/3 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
• 2/3 cup shredded cheddar
• 2 eggs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix chopped veggies, bread crumbs, cheese & eggs together until moist and able to form. Using either a small cookie scoop, a spoon or your hands form about 20 small balls the shape of a chicken nugget. Place on a foil lined cookie tray and bake at 20-25 minutes. Turn over after 15 minutes and press down with a spatula to evenly brown.

Cool a bit and enjoy! If your toddler needs their bites cut up (like mine did) just cut into 4s before serving.


Veggie bites prepared into balls and placed on the tray to bake


All cut up and ready for lunch


I don't know about this, Mom...


Ok, maybe they're kinda good...


Mmmm... better than the chicken nuggets



After 2 minutes of eating he had eaten 1.5 veggie bites, 1 cut up piece of chicken nugget & 2 sweet potato fries. He polished off the rest of the veggie bite pieces and called it a day for lunch. Oh, the finicky toddler. One day he'd polish off a plate full of food and the next just bits and pieces.