Gold Nugget Cookies

I’m on a restricted diet right now for some fertility treatments. I can’t have several things, but the one that is killing me the most is not being able to have chocolate! I never realized just how much chocolate I eat until this past month… apparently every dessert I love has chocolate in it! Chocolate chip cookies, chocolate cake, chocolate cheesecake, brownies, sundaes… *sigh* So I’m having to get a little more creative in my dessert options (because let’s face it, I have NO willpower against sweets, so giving up sugar is not an option).

The Gift That Keeps on Giving: Paying It Forward on Your Birthday

I don’t know about you, but since becoming an adult (and especially since having a child), I really haven’t cared about celebrating my birthday. Sure, I want to go out with my family for a fun activity and dinner (who wants to cook on their birthday?!), but I don’t want cake or parties or gifts. In fact, since I hit 30 this year, I wouldn’t mind ignoring it altogether… but then my best friend Sarah came up with a great idea for celebrating.

We wanted to get together to “celebrate” since we both turned 30 this year, but she came up with a great idea based on a blog she’d seen – doing random acts of kindness as our birthday celebration! You can view the original post here.

“Child” Approved Cooked Carrots

If your child is anything like mine, he did a great job eating those pureed veggies as a baby, but is becoming much more picky as a toddler. To be honest, it doesn’t help matters that my husband and I aren’t big veggie eaters – the only veggies you’ll find on our dinner plates are green beans, corn (if you count that as a veggie), and potatoes (if you count that too). Sure, Hubby will eat other veggies, but I won’t – so I don’t fix them. Unfortunately, that means Munchkin has had far less exposure to veggies since he started eating whatever we’re having, and the small number of possibilities means he’s getting burned out on some things.

Melt-in-Your-Mouth Velvet Fudge

Ah, Christmas. That season of the year when everything we eat goes straight to our waistline… you know, iced sugar cookies, pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, Christmas candies… and one of my favorites: fudge. However, I don’t like most types of fudge. They’re too sweet, too grainy, too rich, etc. That’s why I love this recipe.

Toddler Muffin Recipe Tweaked

I usually stick to recipes when I’m cooking. There are few recipes I make that don’t include measurements. However, I do a lot of tweaking with recipes! I previously posted a list of finger foods I give my munchkin (although that list has grown as he’s gotten older and gained more teeth!), but I want to share several tweaks I made to one recipe: his toddler muffins.

Finger Foods for My Independent Munchkin

I’ve been pleasantly surprised by my son lately! My munchkin isn’t really a picky eater (he eats more than his parents do!), but the last few days he’s scarfed down things he previously hated. It’s made my day! It also reminded me of a lot of tips I read or was told when introducing him to solids, so I thought I’d share some of those as well as some ideas for finger foods. My little man decided at 8 months old that he wanted to feed himself (and after getting two teeth at 6 months old, he still hasn’t got any more!), so I had to come up with several soft options that he could pick up and feed himself.

Super Simple Stir-fry

Ok, so truthfully, this is probably a stir-fry wannabe. I don’t have a drop of Asian blood in my body, and most of my attempts at cooking Chinese food have been total failures. However, a few years ago, I came up with this concoction on a whim, and we liked it so much it became a staple! I like it because it’s easy – and since it includes grains, meat, and veggies, I don’t really have to fix anything else to have a complete dinner! That’s always a win!