Spinach Nuggets

You know, it's time I start sharing some of my many, many brilliant ideas with you mothers out there! Well, I don't actually create those brilliant ideas but I do come across quite a few.

Matt is out of town this weekend so I planned some really kid-friendly dinners for Jane and myself. Tonight we made Spinach Nuggets and we had so much fun. The original recipe can be found here, but since I made several additions I am going to reprint it with only a slight twinge of guilt.

Spinach Nuggets:
16 oz. frozen or fresh spinach
1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs (I make my own from whole wheat bread)
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup flax meal
1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
3/4 cup veggie puree (I used yellow squash puree--or you can use 3 eggs)
1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. onion powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1. Cook Spinach. Drain and wring out REALLY well in a kitchen towel. Chop it up more if necessary.
2. Combine all ingredients.
3. Roll out to about 3/4 inch thickness and cut away with cookie cutters. (We made small hearts, stars, and circles, and then just cut the rest into rectangles, squares, and triangles. You can also roll them into snake-like ropes.)
4. Place on cookie sheet (I used my silicone baking mats) and bake at 375 for 20 minutes, turning them over half-way.
5. Serve with marinara sauce.

I enjoyed them. Jane couldn't help herself and ate them raw while we were cutting them. So by the time they were cooked she didn't want more. But it's always fun to find a way to get spinach into Jane's belly.


NEW IDEA: THE SNACK BIN

Jane and I used to get into mini power struggles over snack time. I've never been very good at having set snack times because I always forget. So Jane would usually just come up to me with her own idea for a snack: crackers, cookies, lollipops, vitamins :), etc. If I did actually have them in the house I didn't want her to snack on them all the time. So I finally came up with my own original great idea. I turned one of my produce bins into Jane's snack bin. I put things in there that I want her to snack on. Now she tells me "hungry" or "snack" and I tell her to look in her snack bin. When I get it out for her she usually dances around chanting "snack bin, snack bin." She has tried many new things from the snack bin after having seen them for days at a time. And she usually doesn't request her own ideas anymore. Things you may find in the snack bin are: all sorts of fruits (kiwi, mango, apple, grapefruit, oranges, peaches, grapes, avocado, etc.) as well as small tupperware containers of cut-up fruits such as pineapple, melons, and strawberries. For the most part I try to have the foods washed and ready to eat, but I also like her to see the actual fruit when she can. Other items I toss in are edamame, tomato juice cans, hard-boiled eggs, cooked corn on the cob, tupperware of applesauce, tupperware of mashed sweet potatoes, tupperware of Ranch dip with a baggie of cut up crudite. And I'll even throw in leftovers I want her to finish. Obviously it doesn't have all of those items at one time, but I try to provide a variety throughout the month. And Jane doesn't always like everything in there. She used to love avocado's but hasn't eaten one in months. But I still have it in there for her to see should she decide to give it a go. Let me know if any of you mom's out there give this idea a try! I think it is so easy and so fun.

Last thought: If there are mommies out there dealing with power struggles over food just remember this very wise thought that I once read: It is your job to offer the food, and it is the child's job to eat the food. Don't try to force her job on her. Jane will refuse a food for months and then out of the blue sit down to a bowl full of broccoli.