Recipes

Vegan Banana Bread Recipe

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Last week when faced with 3 overly ripe bananas, I decided it would be really fun to bake banana bread with my toddler. I can hear everyone laughing as I write this…I probably won’t be doing that again for a while, and unless you have lots of extra ingredients to make up for all that will end up on the floor, and all day to clean after it goes in the oven, I suggest you bake this yourself. I just decided to create a recipe from what I had in my pantry, and it turned out to be a really tasty, low sugar, high fiber version of the classic.

Holly’s Hippie Banana Bread*
* ¼ cup organic brown sugar
* ½ tsp organic vanilla
* 4 tbsp ground organic flax seeds, mixed with 3/4 cup water
* 1 ½ cup organic bananas, mashed
* 2 cups organic oat flour
* 2 tsp aluminum free baking powder
* ½ tsp fine sea salt
* ½ tsp baking soda
*organic walnuts and cinnamon for sprinkling

Heat oven to 350° Fahrenheit.
Mix sugar, vanilla, and flax seed/water mixture.
Add bananas.
Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
Stir dry ingredients into banana mixture.
Pour in bread loaf pan (9×5×3 inches) (I greased mine with coconut oil)
Sprinkle chopped walnuts and cinnamon on top, just before putting in the oven.

Bake 45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Yum!

*This is a vegan recipe, but you’ll never miss the milk, eggs or butter!

Try it, you’ll like it! Please come back and leave a comment after you make it- I love hearing from you.

My son enjoyed the process so much, and when his daddy came home he ran to him and said, “NANA-BED!” That moment was worth every bit of the clean-up, and I’m sure I’ll be doing it again very soon. Oh- and next time I plan to add chocolate chips.

Ask Holly, Babies, Nutrition

Ask Holly: Fish For Toddlers?

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Hi Holly,
What types of fish are safe to feed my toddler. I’m very confused by the information out there.

Sarah

NY,NY

Hi Sarah!

I’m glad you asked- fish is such a great source of protein and omega 3 fatty acids and it’s easy for our little ones to digest.  There is a lot of confusing and conflicting information out there, but if you follow these guidelines, you can relax knowing you’re feeding your toddler well.

  • Do not feed your child  Shark, Swordfish, King Mackerel, or Tilefish because they contain high levels of mercury.
  • The smaller the fish the better: the “bad stuff” we hear about- mercury and PCBs- accumulate in the tissue, and so the higher on the food chain the fish are, the more they will have accumulated.  Two good ones to try:  sardines and anchovies. (My toddler loves sardines on crackers!)
  • Five commonly eaten fish that are low in mercury are shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon, pollock, and catfish – only buy these fish if they are “wild caught,” and be sure to check the country of origin.  I only buy fish caught in the USA, usually Alaska.  Avoid farm raised fish-  they are often fed grain (not their natural diet!), antibiotics, and in the case of salmon, paint chips to give its flesh a pink color. (We are what THEY eat, and I don’t know about you, but paint??? No thanks.)

Aim for 2 meals a week of a variety of fish and shellfish, and your child will reap the many benefits of eating fish!

Prevention, Products, Recommendations

Mother’s Day Gift Idea

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You might want to pass this post along to the one who will be buying you a gift…I’ve decided all moms, especially ones with newborns, need a Kindle- the Amazon book reader.

There are 2 main reasons for this:

1. When my new baby napped in my arms is when I finally had the time to read The Baby Book and The No Cry Sleep Solution, and all the rest of my untouched books on my nightstand…but after I figured out how to balance those huge books on my lap without disturbing baby,  inevitably the minute I would turn the page the crackling noise of the paper would wake him.  How was I ever going to learn how to put him down to sleep if I couldn’t get past the first page of the book without waking him? Even when I discovered the quietest way to turn the page, the awkward way I had to position my arms and crane my neck left me uncomfortable and hardly able to focus on my reading material. The Kindle changed things- the pages turn with the silent press of a button, and it weighs next to nothing. (Also a plus, since you can throw it in your diaper bag without taking up precious space.)

2. It holds over a thousand books. This is important because as you’ll soon see your bookshelf will be completely taken over and crowded out by copies of Happy Baby: 123, Dinosaur Roar, etc etc etc…so you’ll have no room for books of your own- problem solved with your new digital book!

You can also adjust the font size if you’re reading in a dimly lit room- key during naptime…

I was a reluctant convert, because I LOVE books so much, specifically the physicality of them. I thought a digital reader would somehow take away the magic…but there were books I wanted to read, and it doesn’t matter how much I love them if I never have a chance to read! My husband, knowing I was on the fence about it, bought me a Kindle as a gift so I had to try it. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it, how “real book” it seemed, and how much reading I actually got to do!

You can also subscribe to the Integrative Mom blog on your Kindle, and every time I post something new, you can read it there!

Prevention

Slides and Fractures

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Just something I came across and wanted to share:

Broken legs from sliding down the slide are a common playground injury in children aged 14-32 months.  You may already know this, but the reason is what I didn’t know:  This happens most often when the child is sitting on an adult’s lap while sliding. These findings were published in The Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics. It makes sense when you think about it- the adult’s weight propels the duo down the slide, and if a tiny foot gets stuck on the side (which happens often) it can result in a tibia fracture.

Conclusion? From the Journal: “If the child is unable to use the slide independently, another activity would be more appropriate.”