What Sawyer's Eating: Pancakes 5 ways (grain, dairy, & gluten free)

We try to stay as close to gluten and grain free as possible. Sawyer isn't allergic, but it's much healthier for him (and us)! That's not to say that he never gets oats or rice, but if there's a way to make something without a bunch of gluten then I usually do it.

These pancakes are so simple and there are so many different combinations that you can do. I'm going to show you the few that I have been alternating here for Sawyer's breakfast. Most of them start with the same base (egg and banana) and then I change up what I add to it.

Here are the ingredients that I choose from (again, sorry for the crappy phone pic):

*almond butter
*peanut butter
*egg
*banana
*sweet potato
*canned pumpkin

Combination 1:
Pumpkin Spice

1 egg
1 banana, mashed
2 tbsp canned pumpkin
pinch of pumpkin pie spice

Combination 2:
Sweet Potato & Nut Butter

1/2 a small baked sweet potato
1 tbsp almond or peanut butter
1 egg
pinch cinnamon

Combination #3:
Banana

1 banana, mashed
2 eggs
1/2 tsp baking soda
* you can add blueberries to this one as well!

Combination #4:
Peanut Butter Banana

1 banana, mashed
1 egg
1 tbsp peanut butter

Combination 5:
Almond Butter & Banana

1 banana, mashed
1 egg
1 tbsp almond butter

For all combinations, simply mix the ingredients and cook. I prefer to cook mine in coconut oil. Again, the possibilities for combinations are pretty endless. You could also substitute applesauce for the eggs and avocado for the bananas, but I haven't tried those yet.

Sawyer loves these topped with plain greek yogurt. I have another recipe I will share in a day or two for Apple Pumpkin dip- he loves to have it on top of these pancakes as well!

What Sawyer's Eating: Muffins 2 ways

Sawyer loves muffins. I love muffins because they are so versatile. I shared the recipe a while back for the grain free banana muffins I made him. You can find it here.

I've been using that same recipe as a base and adding different fruits and veggies to change it up. Last week, I made him a batch of carrot/zucchini/applesauce muffins and a batch of banana blueberry. Both recipes are below.

Carrot, Zucchini, and Applesauce Muffins:

Ingredients:

1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup shredded carrot
1/4 cup shredded zucchini
1/2 cup applesauce
1 egg
1/4 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350*

Add all ingredients to a medium sized bowl and mix until just combined.

Spoon the batter into mini muffin tins and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool, then freeze or refrigerate.

For the banana blueberry, omit the zucchini, applesauce, and carrot. Add one mashed banana, 1/4 cup of fresh or frozen mini blueberries, and a dash of cinnamon!

What Sawyer's Eating: Broccoli Nuggets

Broccoli is another favorite in the Crossen house. I hated broccoli for years, but had some while I was pregnant and now I love it. Typically I steam it, then sauteé it with some olive oil, garlic, and s&p. Little man goes crazy for it. He'll avoid everything on his tray and eat all the trees first!

I love that Sawyer loves healthy foods. I just read an article that talked about how the foods you feed your baby set the tone for the kind of eater they will be later on in life. I'm doing my best to give him a big variety of healthy foods. That doesn't mean he'll never get treats or a Chick Fil A kids meal, but for now I don't think there's a reason for them.

I mentioned that I've been looking for homemade finger foods lately so that I can avoid giving him junk. These broccoli nuggets fit the bill! I saw a recipe for cauliflower nuggets and adapted it slightly because cauliflower grosses me out! I've seen store bought versions of these, but they're pretty expensive! It's also nice because these don't have any preservatives, etc. We've been avoiding grains so far, but now that he's older we are slowly starting to introduce them, so these nuggets have some gluten free oats to help bind them together.

Ingredients:

2 cups of broccoli florets (fresh or frozen)
3 eggs
1 cup of gluten free oats (you could use bread crumbs)
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp of oregano

Preheat oven to 375*

Pulse broccoli in a food processor until finely chopped. Add the rest of the ingredients and pulse until combined.

Spoon onto a parchment lined cookie sheet (I used my cookie scoop). Bake for 20 minutes. Cool and enjoy! I kept some in the fridge and froze the rest to use throughout the week.

What Sawyer's Eating: Avocado & Coconut Milk Popsicles

Little man loves avocado. It was the first food we gave him when he started solids and it's still one of his favorites. I was at Kroger this morning and saw that they had popsicle molds on sale (BOGO!) and decided that I would try my hand at making a healthy popsicle for him.

These are super simple- the prep time is only about 5 minutes! My plan was to just do avocado and coconut milk, but at the last minute I tossed in some spinach, because why not? These popsicles aren't very sweet, but I like it that way. I don't think he needs tons of sweets at this point in his life. If your baby is over one, you could add in some honey. You could also add in some banana as well, if you wanted.

If you don't have popsicle molds, you can pour the mixture into ice cube trays and serve in a mesh feeder.

Ingredients:

2 Avocados
1 cup of coconut milk
handful of spinach

Combine everything in a blender or food processor and blend until combined. Fill molds and freeze! Easy as that! This made 12 popsicles in the molds I had.

Warning! When you fill your molds be super careful. I pushed the handle into the mold too hard and spilled an entire tray all over my floor.

These guys are super messy, but my little man went crazy for them! I think they felt good on his gums!

What Sawyer's Eating: Baked Sweet Potato Pancakes

I'm not sure that I should even classify these as baby/toddler food. They are so good and I had to keep myself from eating all of them!

Sawyer has pretty much stopped eating pureés at this point. I still make him some fruit ones to eat with his yogurt, but for the most part he eats whatever we eat. I like to have some homemade finger foods on hand for snacks and lunch, though. One of our favorite side dishes is roasted sweet potatoes mashed with parmesan cheese, garlic, and spinach. Since I wanted something that Sawyer could feed himself, I figured that I could take my recipe and turn it into a pancake for him to pick up. Sawyer loves sweet potatoes and garlic, and I love sneaking in spinach, so these are right up both our alleys.

These pancakes (or puffs, whatever you want to call them!) are super simple and quick to make! You only need 4 ingredients- sweet potatoes, spinach, parmesan, and garlic. If you are dairy free, these will still work without the parmesan cheese.

I gave him these for dinner along with homemade veggie soup and he gobbled them up!

Ingredients:

2-3 small sweet potatoes (enough to equal 2 cups mashed)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 large handful of spinach, cut thinly
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
Pinch of thyme
olive oil

Preheat oven to 350*.

Prick the sweet potatoes with a fork and microwave until soft. You can also bake them in the oven, but I didn't have that much time.
While the potatoes are cooking, heat the olive oil in a pan. Add garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes over medium heat. Add spinach and cook until wilted- about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
Once the potatoes are cooked, slice them in half and scoop the potato into a bowl. Add cheese, spinach and garlic mixture, and a pinch of thyme.
I scooped everything into a ziplock bag, cut the tip off, and piped the mixture onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. You can also just scoop it out with a spoon if you don't feel like piping. I think piping makes it go a little faster, though.

Bake for 20 minutes, let cool, and enjoy!