Fun and mess free toddler snacking

Sweetpea has always loved applesauce and yogurt, and we would frequently order one one or the other as side dishes when we were eating out. As she became a more independent eater, this became particularly messy! One day when we were eating out she dropped her spoon on the floor after one or two bites of applesauce. The wait staff was particularly busy and I didn't expect we would be able to flag someone down for quite awhile, so I improvised - giving Sweetpea my straw to finish her applesauce.

Not only did she think it was fun to use a straw, it was a much quicker and less messy way to get her snack from the bowl into her mouth! She requests a straw now whenever she eats applesauce or yogurt. I love that she enjoys eating these healthy snacks and thinks of her straw as an extra special treat. We purchased a big bag of extra wide straws for $1.50 to make it a little easier for her to "drink" her snacks.

What untraditional feeding methods have you come up with to help your toddler or preschooler have fun eating healthy sometimes messy snacks? I'd love to hear your tips!

Six ways to serve pumpkin pudding

I've been making "pumpkin pie" pudding lately - not quite exactly like pumpkin pie filling, but close to the same flavor - instant, frugal, healthy and versatile! Sweetpea loves to mix it together for me and she's able to do a pretty decent job!

1 small box butterscotch pudding
2/3 cup pumpkin puree
~1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Follow directions on pudding box as if you were going to make regular pudding. Add the pumpkin puree and spice after the pudding is well mixed but not yet set. Once you add the puree the pudding will set up almost instantly, even without refrigerating.

Here are some tasty ways to serve this pudding up:

* simply as pudding with a little whipped cream on top
* crumble some graham crackers underneath for an instant pumpkin pie
* serve as a pumpkin pie dip, great with graham crackers, pretzels, apple slices and the like
* layer with vanilla wafers and whipped cream for a tasty parfait
* layer with pound cake and cheesecake dip for a fabulous fall trifle
* use as the filling ingredient for the easiest cobbler ever

Any other ideas? I could seriously eat this every night, but I do like to try and mix things up a little bit...

Our last week of no spend month - what's on the menu?

So we're winding toward the end of no spend month, and I have to say there were very few times that I actually felt like I wanted to spend money on something and "couldn't" because of our budget challenge. I think we're going to come out almost exactly on target, as I've purchased our groceries for the week and we have just a little wiggle room left. Here's the menu plan for this week:

Monday: Steaks, mashed potatoes and green salads
Tuesday: BBQ pulled pork sandwiches, baked beans and potato chips
Wednesday: Grilled chicken salads and smoothies
Thursday: Pork chops, baked potatoes and peas
Friday: Pulled pork tetrazzini and corn bread
Saturday: Pizza and breadsticks
Sunday: Mexican casserole and corn cake

How are we affording such a yummy meat filled menu? As I mentioned last week, we shop the "reduced for quick sale" section at our local IGA - they have a terrific meat case and if you know when to shop you can get a super deal. All of the pork from this week's menu is from a pork loin I bought when it went on sale for $1.69/lb - I'll slice some meat off to pan fry and the rest will become pulled pork in the slow cooker to be used in several other meals this week. Normally when pork loin goes on sale I'll buy two. I freeze one for later and generally freeze half of the pulled pork after I make it.

In addition, we'll be having cake, brownies, baked oatmeal, and carrot cranberry muffins. In order to help make sure we don't feel deprived (and to help clean out the cupboard!) we've been making more desserts than we usually do. Thank goodness for those extra calories I'm allowed since I'm nursing so often! :)

If you're looking for more menu planning inspiration, visit OrgJunkie. Come back next week for a summary of no spend month!