What I Baked This Week

TGIF! I hope that everyone had a good week. If you follow my blog, instagram or FB posts, it is quite evident that I am super into nutrition and healthy eating. We eat a whole foods diet in our house, and I spend a lot of hours in our kitchen! I like to bake alone early in the morning before anyone else gets up. Over the years I've heard so many people say, I just don't have the time to bake and cook for my family. Taking the time now, not buying anything processed, will buy you and your family more time on this planet, so it's worth every extra second spent soaking beans, baking bread, and buying organic. Unfortunately, the modern family opens bags, eats out, and is missing key nutrients needed for health and not only health, children's development. Developmental delays, sensory processing challenges, allergies, and Autism, are all rapidly on the rise, and I whole-heartedly believe that nutrition is one of the main factors to this increase. 

So, back to the point of this post! I'm sharing some of the recipes that I baked up this week to help you see how easy it can be to bake healthy, gluten free (I think everyone should be gluten free to be honest - but that's a whole other post), refined sugar free goods for you and your loved ones! For baked good, I am a recipe follower, which makes it easy for you! I have my favorites like Against All Grain, Elana's Pantry and Tasty-yummies, but I do stray and experiment from time to time! This week, my kids were the snack helpers at their pre-school, so we made Homemade Bagels, mmmm. The link to the recipe from +Elana's Pantry can be found here. The mini bagel/donut pan can be found on amazon. They also have a large one that I really want to order soon. I love Elana because her recipes have simple ingredients that I always have on hand! Check out her recipe and whip up some bagels this weekend! She has an awesome chocolate donut recipe too :) 

Honeyville Almond Flour

For snack, we sent in Once Again Sunbutter and local apple slices, which are still nice and crisp this time of the year! I have been ordering more and more from Vitacost to save money, and this is where the Sunbutter is from and linked above for you! 

Delicious! 

Next up from Danielle Walker +Danielle Walker and Against All Grain are Grain-Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, which actually contain no oats at all. I love Danielle's website, blog and instagram. She healed herself from illness through diet, as did Elana, and she seems like a kind-hearted, amazing woman on a mission that I love! If you haven't checked her out yet, this weekend is the time. I have made tons of her recipes and they are no-fail every time - the whole family devours them from Breakfast to Desserts to Dinners and yours will too! 

Last up, I made Almond Flour Banana Bread. I made this over the summer for my Sensory Camp as well, and the kids absolutely loved it and ate it up without hesitation. Although I didn't this time because there is a no juice and chocolate rule at my kids pre-school, I often add +Enjoy Life Foods mini-chocolate chips to the bread and they make it taste extra yummy! Follow the link here for the gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free recipe. 

I hope this post is motivating and encourages you to bake for your family this weekend. Children are eating for development; brain development, muscle development, sensory development, bone development, and they need key nutrients in their diet daily. Processed food does not provide them with the ingredients that their little brains and bodies need, and children are taking in way too much sugar in america's diet, impacting their development across the spectrum. Pairing these recipes with fruits and veggies are perfect ways to provide kids with healthy snacks between meals! They are also great treats to have on hand as the holiday season is upon us and visitors are coming and going. In Vermont, I'm lucky enough to buy local eggs and honey from our neighbors, maple syrup from our good friends at Bobo's Mountain Sugar and local, grass-fed meats right in town. If you can buy local and organic to support your local economy that is the best! The dry ingredients I do usually buy online to save money for our family, but I also support our local coops as well! Some food for thought ;)

Have a wonderful weekend! 

Sensory Camp 2016 Day 2

What a truly incredible morning we had this past Monday! Painting sticks, mud pies, tire towers, nature balancing on trees, yummy organic treats, animal yoga, lions breaths and playground play. These kids are just awesome and not short on smiles by any means! Special thanks this week to Donna Bonang, Eva Morrow, Niki Olesky and Abigail Schmidt - this camp wouldn't be possible without all of the help and support that I have received. 
















We started our morning at our fire pit area built by lbstonework.com, drawing on the stones with chalk and reviewing our day. Next, we painted the sticks that we found during our nature walk in the woods last week. Fine motor, visual motor, bilateral skills and the tactile system were targeted with this activity. Next week, we will complete our nature instruments and have a musical parade with them around the yard (auditory love). Children with sound sensitivities will be able to choose a quieter
way to make their instrument too. The kids had so much fun painting the sticks, and themselves!  Some children even tolerated waiting to have their hands washed until all of our tactile activities were completed, which was awesome to see. It's amazing to watch these kids grow and show improved sensory integration after just 2 camp sessions! My job could not be better, right?!

 












Next up, mud pies, OH MY! We paired mud pie making with tire tower climbing. This way, if children became a little over stimulated or wanted to avoid the messy activity, they had another option! The tire tower is a great activity for building strength, working on balance along with improving proprioceptive and vestibular 
awareness as well. It was also a big hit! 





Well, by this time of the morning the kids were starving.... Off to the fire pit area for some yummy snack! Snack this week included: 'Like a Bowl of Oatmeal' Muffins and Lemon Hibiscus Tea "Juice". I have to give all props for today's snack to my dear friend, PT, Ayurveda trained, Yogi, Nutritionist and health nut (in a good way), Rebecca Davis! Thanks for your ideas, always!

Here are the recipes:
Oat Muffins - made before your oven is even pre-heated! 

• 3c oats
• 2c oat flour - you can just grind the oats in a coffe grinder, Vitamix or I use the cup attachment to my Ninja blender.
• 1 tsp. baking soda or baking powder (I have found them interchangeable altering the taste only slightly)
• 1 egg - to make vegan just substitute in a flax egg (mix 1 tbsp. ground flax seeds with 3 tbsp. water)
• 2/3c maple syrup
• 2/3c coconut oil melted
• 1/4-1/2c chocolate chips, raisins, or currants

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients together while your coconut oil is melting. Then, add in the egg, maple syrup and coconut oil. Fold in raisins (or whatever addition you choose) Mix well. Spoon into mini muffin tins (make sure that you are using pans that are free of PTFE and PFOA).

Mini-muffins - Bake @ 350 degrees for 13 minutes

Regular muffins - Bake @ 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes

Lemon Hibiscus Tea

Boil Hibiscus Tea leaves and let steep for at least 10 minutes. There are many theories on steeping your tea, but I tend to let mine steep hoping for the most benefits of the leaves! Strain the tea into a large mason jar (avoid plastic), add in honey or maple syrup, and squeeze in lemons. Once cooled to room temperature, allow tea to cool in the fridge. It's a healthy delicious "juice" without any of the refined sugars found in all juices on the market, even organic. 

The kids gobbled up everything again this week and loved the tea too. Healthy treats for active campers. I whole heartedly believe that we could avoid many of the sensory, behavioral, developmental and learning challenges seen in many youth today by changing their diets, avoiding wheat, sugar, processed foods and eating a whole foods diet. Snack has been an important part of sensory camp, and again, the kids have gobbled it up the past 2 weeks! You are what you eat!

Off to our Yoga safari in the grass it was - the kids had a blast pretending to be frogs, giraffes, trees for the giraffes to eat, cobras, downward dogs, twice, and more! After yoga we came together for some deep breathing (smelling the flowers and blowing out the candles) and camper requested, lions breath! Yoga is so amazing in a zillion ways, and teaching kids how to access self-regulating tools young, can be key to their lives! 

We have ended each camp session with nice, child-directed free play at the playground. This week, we also had our nature balance trees all set-up. These are so awesome and the campers had a blast walking, balancing and exploring. The playground is also set-up to build strength and allow kids to move their bodies about. Many children chose the monkey bars this week too - love it! Kids need to move and these campers never stopped! 

Thank you, parents, for sharing your little campers with us. 
We can't wait for next Monday! 

Pediatric Play is always available for consultation related to your child's development, sensory needs, lifestyle assessment and basic nutrition. Please feel free to contact Michelle with any of your questions and/or concerns. 

CALLING ALL SCHOOLS - Educate Staff, Implement Strategies Immediately and Enhance Learning; Let's GO!

In-services are abundant during the school year, and I would love to help provide information to staff, which will decrease referrals and increase success within the classroom. Please see below for a description of presentation options. Both of the in-services run approximately 3-hours in time. 

To start, here is a recent testimonial from a paraeducator in the Springfield, VT school district following the OT in the Classroom presentation, 

"Honestly, this was the best in-service I have ever had in all of my years as a para. It was the most beneficial with the most relevant information that I could use. I don't think that I have ever gotten more out of a presentation before. Thank you!"

Presentation Option 1: 

Nutrition, Yoga, Mindfulness, & Aromatherapy in the School Setting to Enhance Learning and Promote an Optimal, Calm Learning Environment for ALL

"The following presentation guides it's participants through the process of how to implement healthy and holistic approaches into the school setting. Participants will learn about nutrition, how to incorporate daily yoga into the classroom, the benefits of mindfulness and deep breathing and aromatherapy. They will learn how each of the above can impact a child's life, especially children diagnosed with ADD, autism, learning disabilities, developmental delays and emotional trauma, and how to immediately implement these strategies into the classroom routine for optimal benefits and a calm, engaging classroom!"

3 Goals/Objectives:

1. Participants will be able to describe 3 benefits of each of the following holistic approaches: Nutrition, Yoga, Mindfulness/Deep Breathing, Aromatherapy.

2. Participants will understand how to immediately implement each of the holistic

approaches in the classroom.

3. Participants will understand how to use provided materials and research based

documentations to support holistic approaches in the school setting.

Presentation Option 2: 

Occupational Therapy in the Pre-School Setting and

Occupational Therapy in the K-5 Classroom (2 separate in-services)

What Sensory Processing Disorder Can Look Like.

"Schools can decrease their referrals by educating staff on how to incorporate 'occupational therapy' skills into the school setting. Participants will learn about: occupational therapy, fine motor skills & activities, proper seating and alternatives to seating for success, pencil grasps for ages and stages, pre-writing & writing skills, multi-sensory learning, visual motor skills & activities, sensory integration & sensory processing disorder - sensory integration is broken down by each system and participants will learn how to identify sensory processing challenges and are provided activities to help support each sensory system; and lastly, teachers will briefly learn about the importance of holistic approaches in the classroom." 

This course is also specialized to your school districts literacy/writing program, i.e. Fundations, Handwriting without Tears. 

A little bit more about Michelle if you choose one or both of the courses listed above. You can also click here for more detailed information about her career path, ideas, and philosophies.

Michelle Bonang, OTR/L is a spirited OT who has embraced holistic treatment

techniques, grown overly passionate about nutrition, and has built an immense love for

yoga over the lifetime of her career. Michelle received her Masters of Education in

Occupational Therapy through Springfield College graduating cum laude in 2001.

Michelle has a special interest in Sensory Integration and is certified to administer and

interpret the Sensory Integration Praxis Test (SIPT). She is also trained in the

Therapeutic Listening® program and received certification through DIR® to provide

DIR/Floortime therapy. Michelle has a passion for complementary alternative medicine

and continuously increases her knowledge in this area through courses, webinars and

self-teaching. Michelle’s most recent coursework includes: Holistic Occupational

Therapy - Mind, Body & Spirit and Introduction to Aromatherapy. She will also become certified in Level I and II Radiant Child Yoga this August, and is excited to share her

knowledge with you!

Michelle is a member of The American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc. (AOTA) and the Holistic Occupational Therapy community. She has also contributed to an article in ADVANCE for Occupational Therapy Practitioners as well as being a co-writer for the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Leader blog. Michelle’s most recent article has been featured on the HolisticOT.org website – 7 Holistic & Healthy Ways OTs Can Bring Change in the School Setting.

Contact Michelle today to fill your schools in-service needs with presentations that are fun, energetic yet calming, and engaging, with useful information for immediate implementation and proven success!

Phone//802.289.2930
Email//pediatricplay@gmail.com
Pediatric Play on Facebook

Check out my contributing quote in ADVANCE for Occupational Therapy Practitioners!

If you follow my posts, you are most likely well aware of my thoughts on nutrition and health and it's impact on life, development, attention/focus, sensory processing and more. I am so happy to have been a contributor to this wonderful article written by an amazing, well respected Holistic Occupational Therapist, Emmy Vadnais. I would put my quote here, but then you wouldn't get the benefits of the full article. Follow the link and enjoy! 

http://occupational-therapy.advanceweb.com/Columns/Holistic-OT/Do-You-Eat-Well.aspx

Image credit: Alexander Dixon

Please contact Michelle at Pediatric Play Occupational Therapy for questions or consultations related to occupational therapy and nutrition needs. 

The 8th Mile and 8 Mirena Symptoms

A few months ago I posted on FB that my friend and I were in; we were running the Boston half-marathon this coming October. We had run it together in 2005 and were determined to get back in shape after each having 3 kids. Since then, I have managed to work up to running 8 miles (soon to be 9 this coming weekend) get my husband on board to train and run with us (he's competitive, as am I, so that wasn't hard ;), and support my dear friend Nikki in all she has been going through since taking Mirena, a scary scary IUD, out of her body.

I am going to start with the Mama-training that I have been doing to work up to 8 miles because in all honesty, it initially wasn't easy! I have Lymes Disease, which I have been treating holistically with diet and herbs since March 2012 (I will post more about that at a later date), I was on bed rest prior to my daughter Livvy being born in November and have lost an amount of blood nobody should lose, twice. One hemorrhage happened after a "simple" DNC to remove a piece of retained placenta 6-weeks following my son Luke's 100% natural birth. And once during my emergency c-section with Livvy due to placenta previa, which required 2 transfusions. Clearly, placentas and I don't get along, thank goodness tubes are now knotted! In other words, my body has been through a lot, had a lot to recover from, lost a ton of muscle tone and was no longer the body I had in my 20's, to say the very least! Running one short mile was taxing, and that was quite frustrating. Being an athlete, my go to run was always 3 miles and now...1 was nearly doable, ugh. I kept at it, started stretching every night, doing sun salutations in the morning before the kids woke up and incorporating core work whenever we were all on the floor together playing or before bed. Basically, whenever I could fit them in. I also still have a significant diastasis, so core work and bringing my abdominal muscles back together to support my back is essential. I squeeze things in when I can and my husband and I alternate running when he gets home from work. Other than the days I get to run, there are no scheduled workouts, specific gyms times or classes to take. Now, we eat everything from scratch, and I mean everything; from almond milk to granola bars to dinner - nothing in a bag or box or even a can for that matter, except coconut milk! So, preparation is key and I try to have everything prepped and ready by the time Luke gets home, so that taking 30-45 minutes to run doesn't impact our dinner, aka, the witching hours. Its not always easy, but it works for us, and I am so thankful to have an awesome, supportive husband that helps with the kids and dinner. He's honestly and truly the best! Anyway, training for previous half-marathons I followed a pretty strict work-out regimen and I followed Hal Higdon's programs. Now, I have a general idea of what to do. Once I was easily running 3 miles, I began to increase my runs on the weekends. Each Saturday I go up a mile and one week I went from 5 to 7 without difficulty. It feels good to do something for myself, and is probably the only thing I do for myself, literally - we need a date night like no other :) Although I should be, I'm not doing weight training right now, but I have arm and shoulder strength from always having one of the 3 kids in my arms! Livvy is always in the ergo as well, so I am constantly squatting to pick up toys and clean working on those glutes, and the boys, they keep me moving! Workouts are different, but good different! I feel awesome running, have my Lymes under control without joint pain and am psyched to have made the leap to run! Being a mom is the hardest job I have ever endured and I give my all to my kids. It's so easy to forget about yourself, so I knew I had to commit to get out and run and not feel guilty about it. As an OT, I also know how important it is to exercise for body, heart and mind, and I want all the Moms out there to know that taking an hour a day to exercise is the best thing that you can do for yourself and your family. Start with one, guilt free mile and go from there, you deserve it, Mama-training begins now!

Now, let's chat Mirena. Nikki's training is a little behind mine and she is not even 100% sure she will be able to do the half-marathon. So, as doctors and the pharmaceutical companies are making billions on an FDA approved birth control, Nikki has had an MRI, CT Scan, blood work, saliva samples, and has seen every specialist from a functional medicine doctor to a rheumatologist. Everything is coming back negative, thank goodness, except for newly diagnosed Celiac Disease and a ton of food sensitivities. Another person close to me also had Mirena in for a time and experienced a number of the same symptoms as Nikki. I am happy to say that I connected these two and I think that it helped Nicole realize that she wasn't crazy. She wasn't somaticizing and there was something going on, but many people don't have support and medical doctors will often times not link symptoms to the IUD, shocking right? Not so much. There are also online forums, blogs and support groups to help people learn more about Mirena and the impacts it can have on your life. In this blogpost I am going to give you the 8 symptoms that the 2 people in my life experienced from Mirena and my only advice to you is - if you have it in you GET IT OUT! Encourage your husband to get snipped if you are done having children, use other methods of birth control, such as condoms, but don't go the Mirena route because the road is treacherous.

I have never believed in birth control because my mother, who is actually the complete opposite of me and extremely medical minded but I am forever grateful to her for this, always linked my Aunt and Godmothers breast cancer and brain tumor to being on the pill for so many years of her life. It makes you wonder why there is so much infertility nowadays and why so many young women are having strokes. Anyway, I'm diverting, but just educate yourself prior to just following a doctors advice in any situation. Here are the 8 symptoms that my loved ones shared:

1. Numbness/Tingling (left arm and hand, leg and face)

2. Severe Anxiety and Panic Attacks 

3. Heart Palpitations/Heart "Racing"

4. Feelings of having a stroke or heart attack or losing consciousness

5. Difficulty swallowing

6. Fatigue/Exhaustion and Mental Fogginess

7. Inflammation

8. Joint Pain

Hopefully, as Nikki continues to slowly improve, she can get Mama-training too, but for now, just getting better is her priority.

Please note, as stated in the disclaimer that this blogpost is not intended to be used in the place of medical advice.

2nd Annual - What's In My Boy's Easter Baskets? 1st Annual - What's in Livvy's Easter Basket?

With Easter around the corner again this year, I am happy to share with you the bunnies agenda for the upcoming Sunday! If you have followed my posts, or know me as a person or just an OT, you are very aware of my feelings related to nutrition and my passion for health, which has grown exponentially in the past 10 years. I truly believe that the american diet is contributing to not only childhood obesity, diabetes and asthma, but also the ever-growing developmental challenges kids have today. Just because it's Easter, it is not an excuse to "drug" kids with a basket filled with genetically modified, processed sugar and food dyes. Be creative and think outside of the candy box.

First, my mom got all the kids these adorable Easter baskets from Personal Creations. When I just went to their website to give you the link, it shows there is still time to order before Sunday!

Now, for the boys. I did stick with the same trend as last year, but this year I went with Fish Sticks instead of Zoo Sticks to change it up a bit! These are just so great for working on fine motor skills, hand strengthening and promoting a correct grasp to help carry-over to holding a pencil, I couldn't resist. When you do use these with your kids, whether it's for eating, playing, or cleaning up small toys, such as Legos, please encourage them to use their "pinchers" getting the optimum fine motor gains from the activity.

Next on the list...playmobil has become a minor obsession in our house lately. Henry discovered a playmobil toy at our local (and amazing) bookstore in Manchester. Henry loved the toy because it was a toy that you could take apart, put together and pretend play with, and Lukey soon enjoyed playing with the playmobil too. I love them because they encourage using two hands together, have small, intricate parts requiring fine motor precision and strength, and they all have inter-changeable parts we are finding out as well! This Easter, I found that playmobil had these eggs for sale, so I purchased two, again at our local bookstore (support local and happy environment :) as there is no shipping required), but I am giving you the link to amazon, where they are also sold. I know the boys will be psyched! 

Lastly, I bought the boys new, re-usable snack and sandwich bags (happy environment :) These are great to use instead of plastic baggies, due to decreasing waste and they are also so much safer and healthier than the awful chemicals in plastic bags. I bought these at our local coop, but I previously bought some at Target and they are readily available in many locations, even some grocery stores. As with last year, I also bought the boys Lake Champlain chocolate carrots. Lake Champlain is a fair trade Vermont company, which makes me feel okay about splurging on the chocolate!

I also am going to make the boys homemade, vegan "peanut" butter cups. I don't have a picture because when I made these for a gluten free alternative when heading to a birthday parts a few weeks ago, they were not picture worthy! However, they tasted delicious. I am not saying that these are healthy, but they are much better than Reece's peanut butter cups. Here's what you need: 1. Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips 2. Organic Cashew Butter 3. Organic Coconut Palm Sugar 4. Himalayan Sea Salt - 4 ingredients, simple right! Melt the chocolate chips on the stove. While they are melting, stir the palm sugar and sea salt into the room temperature cashew butter. Once melted, pour a little of the chocolate to coat the bottom of a mini-muffin pan (lined with unbleached muffin liners), place a dollop of the cashew butter mixture on top of the chocolate and then cover with more chocolate. Place the tray in the fridge and voila, once cooled, you have an awesome indulgence. You can use peanut butter as well, but I like to limit the amount of peanut butter we eat due to the aflatoxin. One of my favorite websites, as my frequent readers and Facebook friends know, tappstips.com also has a tahini version of this, which really packs some health benefits into a small treat.

Now for Miss Livvy! Luke's basket was rather scant last year due to him being 1, so Liv's is looking the same, as she is just coming up on 5 months. Livvy is getting an amber necklace, to hopefully help with her teething (my kids all teeth ridiculously early!). I'm also getting her a "girly" book from again, our local bookstore, because there may come a time that she gets tired of reading up on her excavator's and front loaders! That's it that's all for Liv! 

Again, we will be cutting our Easter grass from construction paper instead of buying the fake grass from the store, which I feel is a waste. Cutting is also such a great skill to work on with kids, and when you are making Easter grass, you can just let them go wild with the blunt, kid-friendly scissors. Varying the paper (plain white, construction, oak tag) will also increase or decrease the resistance. This is great if you really want to work on hand strengthening or if your kids are older, give them the oak tag and a green crayon and leave the thin paper behind!

Enjoy your Easter everyone!

Sunday Morning Pancakes

My poor children have been deprived of the age old, yummy, Sunday pancake for their entire lives until.....today. I have finally found a healthy, easy pancake recipe that tastes good too! Follow the link below for the recipe on Danielle Walker's website and check out other tasty, healthy, grain free treats as well.

http://againstallgrain.com/2012/04/05/grain-free-pancakes/

Remember to include the kids in the cooking; it's a fun and great activity with so many benefits, as discussed in my previous blogpost. I topped our pancakes with Bobo's Mountain Sugar maple syrup, a great, local syrup that our friends began tapping, boiling and making last year! Enjoy, and keep eating and feeding your kids healthy foods to aid in their development! You ARE what you EAT.

HEALTHY ROAD TRIP? IT CAN BE DONE

Healthy and Road Trip in the same sentence, it seems rather the oxymoron! Traveling with my boys this summer, I realized that when we ran out of healthy food and snacks, there were absolutely NO options on the road that were filling and healthy. Even the so called "healthier options", when you read the ingredients, sugar content, etc., turned out to be not so healthy after all. So, what can you do? Prepare, prepare, prepare! A lot of times we try to stop a a Coop on our way somewhere for some extras, but I do have a few staples that we also pack in the bags and cooler on our trips. I ended up with 2 boys that love to eat in the car. I'm not sure where they put all the food that they eat in their little bodies, but when they are not sleeping, eating keeps them occupied! 

As much work as this all takes before we leave, it's the choice that I have made for my family. Once we are on vacation, I do let my kids live a little! We will have ice cream cones, make s'mores at the camp site and have chips and other special treats on the beach. I just think, what I can control for my family, I do most of the time. It's just a really unhealthy world out there with little to no healthy options so it's a must for us to prepare. The kids also love being a part of the cooking and baking, which makes it a great activity with many OT benefits as well!

As we head out the door this afternoon to go camping, this is what I have in my travel healthy arsenal. I've also added some extras that I am not bringing this trip, but I pack along with us at times. Another quick side note, we often times are staying in a house or cabin when we go away. This times it's a tent, but we will still be cooking our own food. It's rare we are in a hotel room for more than one night, which makes cooking while we are away easier as well! Everything listed below is also organic. I buy all organic and use all organic or local ingredients free from pesticides, gmo's, etc. All, which I believe, are contributing to the many issues in our society including: cancer, developmental delays, autism, allergies, asthma and obesity to name a few.

These require some prep work and making. I started making things on Wednesday, such as jam dots to not be so overwhelmed on Friday morning! I also make all of these food gluten free as wheat and gluten impacts my one son Henry. 

• Mung (Moong) Bean Pancakes (I never travel without these!)
• Homemade Granola Bars (Great for the kids when they wake up in the morning)
• Oat Muffins (Another breakfast option as well)
• Banana Bread
• Jam Dots (overcook these a little and they make a great teething cookie!)
• Kale Chips
• Celery with sun butter or almond butter

Other foods that I always have with us:

• Pirate Booty (This trip it's corn sticks)
• Blueberries
• Bananas
• Apples
• Watermelon
• Carrots and cucumber slices (for my older son I will let him dip them in hummus, which is packed in another small container that he can fit in his lap)
• String beans are also a great option
• Banana chips and peanut butter

Happy Environment :) Tips:

• You can pack all this food in glass or bpa free plastic containers (even bpa free plastic contains some amount of bpa so limit your plastic use) instead of baggies or foil
• There are plenty of compostable paper plate options nowadays
• I have great plasticware from the coop that is heavy duty, and I rewash instead of throw out
• As with the food, bring all the "equipment" that you need and can bring home and wash instead of buying things while you're out and throwing things away 

Now, a few important things to remember - Kids are kids and are not neat! Have wipes on hand, understand you will need to vacuum your car when you get home, and most likely wash the car seats! However, my kids can't handle outside foods for more than a meal or two so the prep and clean up at the end is 100% worth it all!

Enjoy these yummy treats and make them when you are not traveling as well :)

ROAD TRIP RECIPES

MUNG BEAN PANCAKES - MMM!

1/2 cup mung beans (soaked overnight)
1 tbs. Chopped fresh Ginger
1/4 tsp. Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp. Cumin powder
1/2 tsp. Coriander powder
1 tsp. Curry poswer
1 tsp. Sea Salt
1/2 cup frech Cilantro
1/2 cup garbanzo bean flour
Add water to cover

Blend until smooth
Prepare a heavy skillet by placing ghee in the bottom and heat until ghee is melted and very hot. Pour mixture in hot ghee, forming small pancakes. Fry until edges are brown and slightly crispy.
Add a pinch of love and enjoy!!

HOMEMADE GRANOLA BARS

I honestly don't really have a recipe for these - I usually throw anything that I have in the cabinet in our granola bars. The base is 1 and 1/2 cups of oats and what holds them together is an egg, maple syrup, coconut oil - melted (I use this to coat the pan as well) and chia seeds soaked in water that make a nice paste. If you are a vegan you can easily skip the egg and they will still mold together. Cook them for about 20 minutes on 350 and then make sure they are really cold before you attempt to cut into bars. I usually like to refrigerate mine overnight.

Add in options: Note: I grind many of the seeds and nuts, some to a fine powder such as the flax seeds, and some I leave a little chunky.
Walnuts

Almonds

Chia Seeds (mentioned above)

Flax Seeds

Coconut flakes

Chocolate chips, raisins or cranberries

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes

OAT MUFFINS

1 Egg

3 cups Whole Oats

2 cups Oat Flour (You can just grind whole oats in a coffee grinder or food processor)

1 tsp Baking Powder (I use Rumford)

2/3 cup Coconut Oil, melted

2/3 cup Maple Syrup

1/2 cup Raisins or Chocolate Chips

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes

BANANA BREAD
   

2 cups all-purpose flour (I substitute Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour and add a little less than 1 1/2 tsp. Xanthum Gum)
1 tsp. Baking Soda (gluten free)
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/2 cup Butter
3/4 cup Organic Brown Sugar
2 Eggs beaten
2 1/3  mashed overripe Bananas
Optional: 1/2 cup crushed Walnuts

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan (I use heated coconut oil or butter).
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, xanthum gum and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir in banana mixture into flour, just to moisten. Pour batter into loaf pan.

Bake for 60-65 minutes. Let bread cool for 10 minutes, then turn onto wire rack.

   

Nutrition: The engine that keeps us moving....

As a mom of 2 with another on the way, I know how hard it can be to have everyone in the house eat healthy 24/7. However, it's my priority, and I attest that it has aided in my children's development, immune systems and energy levels. Recently, my friend Rebecca, a physical therapist, nutritionist and one of the healthiest people I know, told me about a website with great recipe ideas to aid families in making "healthy choices in a complicated world." 

tappstips.com is a website that is now saved in my bookmarks as a standard resource to go back to when I need healthy, easy and fun ideas. Last night, my whole family, including my 3-year old and 15-month old ate the Marinated Kale Salad with Toasted Walnuts and Strawberries with Tapp's favorite salad dressing as a side to our dinner. 

I urge you to make small adjustments each day in your diet avoiding processed food choices and your whole family will notice the difference!

tappstips.com can help you with these small, but huge, changes!

What's in my boys Easter baskets?

With Easter around the corner, I figured that I would share what an OT puts in her kids Easter baskets. Henry will be three and Luke will be one, both at the end of April. I am not against sugar every once in a blue moon, but a basket filled with sugar is a disaster for any kid. Here is what is on the Easter Bunnies agenda in our house this Sunday.

Henry's Basket:

• ZOOSTICKS - Great for building fine motor strength and coordination.

• VELCRO CATCH BALL SET - Works on eye/hand coordination, bilateral skills, strength pulling the ball off of the velcro, turn taking.

• BUBBLES - Strengthens oral motor skills and is a great visual tracking activity. Also works on bilateral coordination (one hand holds bubbles while the other hand holds the wand) and fine motor skills (holding the wand) along with eye hand coordination. Have your child chase the bubbles, jump, squat and clap them and you have just added gross motor skills to this simple, wonderful activity of BUBBLES!

• SOCKS - He just needs them! However, beginning by age 2, your children can be independent in putting on their own socks. This activity that needs to be done daily is such an amazing therapy task. It takes postural control, balance, bilateral coordination (using 2 sides of the body together in a coordinated manner), eye hand coordination, fine motor strength and control of how much force to use. So, you don't have to go buy socks for your kids Easter basket, but make them independent in putting them on!

• EASTER GRASS - That we made by cutting small strips of construction paper. Cutting works on fine motor, visual motor and bilateral skills. 

• Annie's fruit snack mix

• Organic gummy bears

• One small chocolate carrot & Reece's peanut butter bunny (I couldn't resist!)

Lukey's Basket: *Remember, he's not even 1!

• A Small Ball - A great activity for infants. Works on bilateral skills, visual motor integration, visual tracking and turn taking

• Bubbles - It's never too young to start and I love watching the boys interact when Henry blows bubbles to Luke as he chases them, visually tracks them and laughs!

That's it for Lukey! 

Happy Easter!