Easy Spinach and Hummus Pinwheels with Feta ~ Toddler Friendly

This week I learned a few new things about my toddler daughter:

1. At her 15 mo appointment (though she is almost 16 mos now), her head has grown into the 95th percentile while her height has plummeted to the 28th percentile (from 67th in February), and her weight remains in the high-60s percentile - so my assessment of this information is that my daughter is a small, walking rectangle with a large noggin'

2. Mirabelle only acknowledges what I'm saying when it doesn't conflict with what she wishes to do

3. Standing on her chair is only of interest when mommy isn't looking

4. Mirabelle and I are both similar in regards to our easily heightened temper with minimal external influence

5. Pigs sounds like "kuh-kuh", clocks sound like "tick tock, tick tock, tick tock *infinity*", dogs sounds like "urh, urh", cows sounds like "*very dramatic pursing of lips* MOOOOOOO", and cats sounds like "keh keh"

6. Mirabelle is never too full for coconut ice cream or fruit, she is only too full to finish her vegetables

7. 16 month old babies are very strong. It takes skill and strength to extract anything from their tightly wrapped little claws

8. When asked to show you her ears, she will first poke you in the eye and then happily point at her ears. This is because first and foremost she is rude.

9. On the other hand, Mirabelle is very loving and adores giving kisses...mainly to inanimate objects, but kisses nonetheless

10. Bugs amaze her, and I'm trying to not allow my distaste for the 6-10 legged creatures to influence her child wonderment, because that lasts so briefly

So! Now on to the easy peasy weeknight recipe that can be completed in less than 45 minutes with or without a whiny baby tugging at your leg, climbing on chairs, throwing books around the room, stepping on the cat's tail, and sliding your very nice decorative pillow across the floor (sorta like how a mop would clean said floor) ~ yes, that easy.

Recipe Deets

1 sheet thawed puff pastry
3 cups spinach
2 ounces feta cheese (half of the standard 4 ounce container you find anywhere)
1/2 cup hummus of choice (I used roasted garlic)
1/2 diced white onion
1 clove of minced garlic
salt to taste
Greased muffin tin

Preheat oven to 400°

- In a small pan sautee onion, garlic, and spinach (add a pinch of sea salt) until wilted - set aside when done
- Roll out one piece of puff pastry
- Spread hummus evenly (leave a bit of space on each side)
- Transfer spinach and place on top of hummus
- Sprinkle with feta (leave a bit extra for when we top of the pinwheels)
- Semi-tightly roll the pastry and brush with a bit of oil
- Cut into 8 pieces
- Sprinkle some feta on top
- On each pinwheel take the loose piece of pastry and fold it under one side of the pinwheel (this will be the bottom for when you place it in the muffin tin)
- Place the pinwheels in the muffin tin and bake for 25 minutes

Voila! A little Greek inspired, hassle-free, toddler-approved dinner!

RawTill4 ~ 2 Months + Toddler Din Successes

Happy 2 (dos, deux, zwei, liang <---thank you lady I work with...etc.) Months RawTill4!! Though...shit feels longer, just saying    >_>

Either way, I started this journey the beginning of April as a week long experiment to see how my body would adjust to a drastic change regarding how I consume food. At the time I was drinking at least two coffees a day (acid make me no happy), salads for breakfast/lunch + balsamic vinegar + steamed vegetables, salty snacks up the...up the...the you know...up and stuffs...pretty much my waking moments were composed of thinking about what I wanted to eat while simultaneously counting calories and doing crash diets in order to consume said calories. It was sort of sad actually! I was eating healthy by society's standards but my body was telling me this wasn't working, I was burying myself in a world of packaged goods in the form of salad dressing, coffee creamer, salty snacks, and well, that's about it...but that's all it took for this post-baby making metabolism!

So! After one week on RawTill4 I realized I generally felt better, my portions were back in control, and I no longer craved ridiculous amounts of salt. It just felt...good.

Buzzzzz. Beeeeeep. 2 months have passed. Hi, hey! I've finally semi-accepted my weight/physique sorta/kinda. I've lost a couple of inches and I feel great in regards to energy most of the time (B12 vitamins in use!), so summer is approaching and I dug out the 2-piece for a spin. Felt good. It's odd, how the female brain operates. My husband is my biggest supporter. He met me almost 6 years ago when I was at my heaviest (5'2; 135-140 lbs) and he loved every part of me but it didn't matter. Along  with my own self-deprication, I heard opinions from outside sources stating things like "she will become a marshmallow" or "Rick likes them big" ...haha...as I can look back and laugh, a few statements like those can really hurt, whether or not we like to admit it. And due to the fact that I had struggled with weight paranoia issues for quite some time, these opinions only fueled my general distaste in my physical form. Currently, I'm still 5'2 (yea, apparently vertical growth past 8th grade was not in the books) and remain between 115-118 lbs, but the difference can be found in the lack of bloat. While I'd love to lose another 5-10 lbs, I'm content feeling as though I'm doing everything dietary that I can possibly do. And that is a first for me.

Below are examples throughout my 2 month RawTill4 (carbs at night) food-related experiments

Besides shoving whole food items into my face, I've tried to broaden my toddler daughter's pallet with vegetarian post-work tired brain meal ideas:

What I've learned:

1. Children enjoy any vegetables that are roasted. Any.
2. Children will consume cheese regardless if dairy resides within it.
3. Children consume fruit morning, day, and night because it's sugar and sugar tastes good.
4. Make "mashed" anything and small humans will eat it.
5. Broccoli is great in soufflé form, steamed form not so much.
6. String beans are great, but toddlers with 6 teef have a hard time consuming them, so they tear, suck, and eat the garlic/butter from each piece.
7. Quinoa is awesome. Anytime.
8. Toddlers love different flavors, so add them! Paprika, curry powder, garlic, thyme, sea salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cumin, cardamom etc. DO it.

Photo One: Baked paprika/sea salt carrots and cauliflower, baked butternut squash, sweet potato mash, and fruit

Photo Two: Quinoa sweet potato parm burger, butternut squash fries, and fruit

Photo Three: Broccoli souffle, carrot coins, butternut squash, garlic butter string beans, and fruit

Lesson to be learned: don't limit your tiny person's diet...they get it, food is great in many forms. Whole foods are great in all forms.

Now on to the summer and VegFest in 2-days! More on that next week...