Veggie and oatmeal toddler muffins

My son is almost a year old and loves loves his finger foods! Its of course easy to just pick pre-made snacks and food from the store but sometimes I like to bake little goodies for my baby so I know exactly what ingredients are in his food. we are leaving for an 18 hour road trip today and I made these for snacks/breakfast in the car. This recipe has veggies that are "hidden" ,great for picky eaters.

I really recommend using a food processor for this recipe. I do not have one but it would have made this a little easier and less time consuming if I did! I took a couple different recipes and tweaked it a little to make it my own. There are lots of wAys to add or subtract ingredients in this recipe. Next time I will try something new, maybe add a little more cinnamon because my son really seems to enjoy cinnamon! I hope you and your kiddo enjoys these!

Veggie and Oatmeal Toddler Muffins

Ingredients:
1 C whole wheat flour
1/2 C rolled oats
1/3 C oil ( I used vegetable oil because I ran out of coconut oil)
1/2 C organic unsweetened applesauce
2 ripe organic bananas
1 small organic zucchini
1 C shredded carrots
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix oil, eggs and applesauce in a bowl with a whisk or fork in a large bowl. Finely chop the carrots, zucchini and banana (or use a food processor) and add to the mixture. Stir in all dry ingredients. Use muffin cups or grease the muffin pan. I used mini muffin pans and this recipe made about 59 muffins.fill the cups 2/3 full and bake for 15-17 minutes.

This is how fine I chopped the carrots

Liam is "helping" 

Here is the first batch, yum!! Baby approved !

DIY Nursery Decorations

One of the handmade decorations I crafted for my baby boys nursery is an easy cheap wall decoration that I made in under 20 minutes. I had the materials needed already in my home so this project cost nothing !
First I picked out a piece of ribbon and decided how long I wanted it to hang down on my wall. Then I searched on Google for a clipart shape of an elephant. (You can use any animal shape or a flower or umbrella... anything that matches your nursery theme!) I don't have a printer so I just traced very lightly the outline of the elephant right off my laptop. Once I had the "stencil" drawn out I took several different pieces of scrapbook paper and cut the elephant shape out very carefully. I then glued each elephant to the piece of ribbon  just a couple inches apart from each other. After I let it dry I then hung it up on the wall with a tack. SO EASY! so get crafting !! : D

New Momma Tip #3

Newborns can't really play with many toys just yet and sometimes it's hard to keep them occupied for just a few minutes so you can clean, cook , even go to the bathroom ! I was using my baby sling while I did everything. And even though it works quite well because then you are hands free, my back and shoulders started to really feel the strain. And for me, it is a little hard to get him in and out so having to change him became a pain. The only thing we had to put him in besides his cradle was a swing and he was quickly getting bored and irritated with it.
So another Babies R Us trip we went ! And we picked out the perfect play mat for our active baby. Liam is a kicker- he was in the womb too- and so we found a playmat that has a piano on the end so baby can kick it and play music with his feet ! There is also the typical bar above his head with toys he can grab and shake and the best one- a mirror ! He loves looking at himself in the mirror and "talks" to it all the time.
Now he stays busy playing for up to 30 minutes ! Smiling and cooing and getting a good workout too ! He usually needs a nap afterwards so I can somewhat plan my day now. This playmat has given me the freedom to get some stuff done around the house, catch up on some reading and the best part- my baby loves it and I love watching him play in it !


Fisher-Price Discover 'N Grow Kick and Play Piano Gym $54.99
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11835073

New Momma Tip #2

When the department stores and magazines and baby stores give you that checklist of "necessities" to buy for your new baby, there are some things that you really don't need, some things you do, and a few things that are just convenient to have.
One thing that I saw on a checklist that I thought was ridiculous and not necessary was a baby wipe warmer. "I'm sure my baby will survive with cold wipes..." is what went through my mind. But guess what I was out buying at Babies R Us just a few days after Liam was born?  Yep. A stupid wipe warmer ! I learned fast that cold wipes were no big deal during the day, but in the middle of the night, would you want YOUR behind wiped with a cold wipe? Not so much. It was much easier using a warm wipe that my baby barely noticed at 3 a.m. And a plus : they actually are decently priced!
The one I have is called the Prince Lionheart Premium Wipe Warmer
It's $30 at Babies R Us

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3557338


this would make a great baby shower gift too !!

New Momma Tip #1

In all my baby books and online baby articles that I read, they all said that it was very important to wash all baby clothes, blankets, sheets, hats, socks, etc. with baby laundry detergent before you bring baby home from the hospital. So, that's what I did !
Unfortunately, however, we recieved more 0-3 month clothes than my baby could ever possibly wear. And since I washed all the clothes as I got them, all tags were cut off. He has been growing out of clothes before he even gets a chance to wear them once !

My advice : Only wash about 5 outfits before baby comes home! That way for at least 5 days after coming home from the hospital you won't have to do any laundry. But really, newborns aren't very messy and you don't really have to change them every single day. Then you can take the tags off and wash clothes as you need them.