Healthy Snacks for Growing Boys

I’m back blogging!!! And today talking: hungry boys!! 

You may have noticed that our blog has been very quite recently, well the past couple of months really! That is because the heat was totally turned up on the Masters course I was doing! After Christmas the workload really increased and I had to zero time to do anything fun. But now I’m back!! I handed in my portfolio (similar to a thesis) at the end of April, and it only now were getting back to normality! I have been trying to keep our instagram account up to date, so for a quick synopsis on the last few months, cheek that out.

I am going to do a post soon on my experience as a student working mom doing a Masters that was incredibly academically and emotional intense. But for now I’m concentrating on the fun things!

I'm a hungry growing boy! 

Devoting most hours of most days to study,(Baby bear was with his lovely child-minder),  I completely failed to notice the amount of food Baby Bear eats theses days! His appetite has really come on. Maybe it’s a growth spurt, or him just being a boy but what ever it is its great! He’s eating everything! (well….most things!!) We have Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner sorted- we have loads of dishes to make that we all enjoy etc. Snacks are my problem! You know that time between breakfast and lunch, lunch and dinner and dinner and tea- well Baby Bear eats at all these intervals! He’s great on fruit, so lots of novelty ways of eating fruit are tried and tested. Nuts and raisins are also good. But then what else can I give him to keep him ticking over? It needs to be lunch box friendly, that can be picked up running out the door to the playground, Granny’s etc...?? It also needs to be dairy free! I welcome all ideas. I’m on a mission to find and make healthy snacks to keep Baby Bear (and me and Daddy Bear!) ticking over! Any ideas I try will be posted in the ‘Diary Free Recipes’ tab!

How our Muesli Bars turned out. 

Today we tried Granny Jane’s Muesli Bars. Any time we go to Granny Jane’s in Kilkenny she has lovely baking done. These Muesli bars are always delish so I gave them a go (recipe in ‘Dairy Free Tab’). They turned out lovely, not as nice as Granny Jane’s so must ask her for tips at the weekend. Baby Bear and I have just had one with a cup of tea and honestly I’m stuffed! They are a bit crumbly so maybe next time ill put more coconut oil. I’m not convinced about the ‘healthiness’ part however. There is a lot of sugar and honey, and there are also coconut flakes, which a friend said could be high in fat! Eek!!! There is some goodness in them though as they are packed with seeds and nuts! Look it ,it’s better than a bar of chocolate, keeps up ticking over until dinner, recipe makes a good patch that are easy to grab and go, so for my first day of the healthy snack mission, its not a bad start at all!

Ill try again tomorrow and let you know how it goes. Would love any ideas for other recipes.

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3 years a Mom x

3 years a Mom.....

This month marked Baby Bear's 3rd birthday and so my 3rd year of being a mom. Looking back over the last three years there are many moments that still bring a smile to my face, some that bring tears to my eyes, and a few that send chills down my back, most through just make be burt out laughing. I have loved the last three years and could not imagine what else in the world Id be doing If Baby Bear wasn't around. 

Kate Winslet said “Having children just puts the whole world into perspective. Everything else just disappears.” And so it does, for all the right reasons. But what I didn't know would disappear was my name and my identity. 

My first Birthday as a Mom! (still in hospital!) 

It's a common cliche that becoming a mom is a life changing event. However its also a complete change of identity that I wasn't prepared for. New friends I've made, new places I've been, new classes I've joined, new shops, restaurant's, cafe's  etc that we been to as a family in the last few years, I've been 'the Mom', the mother. As my birthday falls 2 days after baby Bear's it wasn't a long wait for my first 'mother' card. That first time is was a great novelty, however by my first 'Mother's Day' in March that year, it had hit me that I am now another person, 'the mother'. And one day may even be 'the Mother -In- Law!!!!

I did struggle with the double identity. I was unsure who I was, or who i was supposed to be, how I should act or what was ok to say or do. Should I now stay in more, or be seen in different places. It was all a worry to me.  In all honestly it wasn't until Baby bear reached the 2 1/2 yr stage that it all finally clicked with me. I don't need to me mom one hour and me the next. I don't always need to introduce myself saying who's mom I am first, I certainly don't need to be wearing more 'mom appropriate' clothes, and I definitely don't need to be a different person. I have stopped segmenting my life and now I am comfortable with me as me. Just the one package that fits all occasions, and its lots more fun. I get my personality show, and take it or leave it but thats me. I think it's much more fun and less stress. 

Gilda Radne described Motherhood as: "the biggest gamble in the world. It is the glorious life force. It’s huge and scary–it’s an act of infinite optimism.” But it's also great fun, adventurous, loving and gives meaning to life......and I love it.  

I've absolutely no idea if Im doing it right or wrong, but Daddy Bear and I have thus far managed to keep ourselves and Baby Bear alive! That's got to be a good thing! At the end of the day, us Mom's don't need to be comparing ourselves to others, as long as we are each enjoying family life to the full, try to keep healthy and active, love unconditionally, learn to laugh at ourselves, give big squeezy hugs and very now and then reward ourselves, then in my opinion were all doing great.

 Cheers Moms! 

Proudly signing off as,

Mommy Bear x