When we had our first born, Blair, my hubby made all of her baby food fresh. I loved how inexpensive it was and that I knew all the ingredients going into it. Fast forward to life with twins. I want them to have the same healthy food but there just isn't time for that. That's where Little Spoon has come in!

Little Spoon does all the work for me by making FRESH baby food and shipping it to me. No trip to the grocery store, no time spent cooking... just fresh (organic!) food for your baby/toddler. After doing some research I noticed that most shelf stable baby food is older than the baby eating it (ew!). I also found an article that listed all the toxins that make their way into shelf stable baby food...some of which are BPA and lead!

I also love that Little Spoon combines ingredients that are both common and uncommon to help promote an eater that is not picky. They use items that are in season and items that I wouldn't normally choose or know what to do with.

The containers are small and come with a spoon which makes my life easier. Plus, the twins love feeding themselves so that's a win. When I opened the package I literally said, "Aw look at this little spoon!" Haha. The box comes with a cooler and bib (they think of everything!) which was a nice added touch.

The last thing I wanted to mention about Little Spoon is that they have a team of doctors who work together to determine the best foods to feed your baby depending on their age. Little Spoon also sends items based on your child's allergies (if any) so it is completely tailored to your baby! Amazing!

Have I sold you on Little Spoon yet? I've sold myself on it! We are now saying no to "no more old baby food" and have joined the fresh side of Little Spoon!

What's a party without treats? We take our treats very seriously over here, especially on birthdays! I knew we had to make a unicorn cake for the party and since that's not my area of expertise I had my friend Lynnea help me out. We used boxed white cake mix (because six year olds don't care or know the difference) and I bought the unicorn accessories HERE.

For the popcorn I bought colored candy melts and added a little bit of coconut oil to the chocolate so it would drizzle easily over the popcorn. My hubby actually popped the pop corn and then spread it out over baking pans. Next, he drizzled the chocolate and then let it harden. We put it in a bowl and covered it so it would still be fresh the following day.

When I saw the cotton candy at Target I knew it would be cute but I wasn't sure how I was going to display it since it came in a tub. I found the pink cardboard fruit baskets at Michaels and put the cotton candy inside. I then dipped waffle cones in the same colored chocolate I used for the popcorn and added sprinkles to give them a whimsical look. Adding the eyes to the cardboard boxes was a last minute touch that really tied the look together!

Finally, for the sugar cookies I bought the cookie cutters HERE and made them the night before. The following day I iced them with THIS RECIPE. The actual sugar cookies are Betty Crocker's sugar cookie mix and they never disappoint! They are always a crowd favorite and we never have any left!

If there is one thing that Blair is an expert on it's sprinkles! Even when we make muffins she has to make sure they are appropriately covered in sprinkles. After we made the chocolate covered peanut butter balls we had some left over dipping chocolate. M thought it would be fun to dip pretzels in it and then let B add some sprinkles and hand them out to her friends. His idea was sure a hit!

Such a fun Dad!

Also a little fun fact for you...M and I started dating this very day in 1997!!! Happy dating anniversary, Matt! Um that's 19 years ago. Woah. 

Every year my Mom and I make chocolate covered peanut butter balls and give them to family and friends. With the twins taking up so much of our time I wasn't sure we were going to get to it this year but M decided they were worth the time and energy. He spent all day on Saturday making them with Blair while I hung with the babies. They are a labor of love but totally worth it! 

Ingredients

Peanut Butter (4 cups)

Powdered Sugar (3 pounds)

Butter (1 pound)

Chocolate (1 pound Hersheys)

Wax (1 bar parowax)

Directions:

Melt butter and stir it into the peanut butter. Add powdered sugar until the mix is firm, but not cracking. You should be able to roll it into a ball without it being sticky or cracking. It's a fine line. ;) 

Roll all the peanut butter into balls and set on a tray with wax paper. Melt the chocolate and wax in a double boiler but be sure not to allow it to get too hot or else it will burn. Dip the balls into the melted chocolate with a tooth pick. Set back on wax paper to dry. Enjoy!

Let me know how it goes if you decide to try these out! Are there any recipes that you enjoy making with your family during the holidays? 

I've been hearing a lot about a restaurant in my town called "Health's Kitchen." All the cool, hipster, healthy people go there and I've been wanting to try it out (not that I am any of those things). Yesterday while out running errands I happened to stumble across it and checked it out with Blair.

I ordered a chicken salad sandwich to go and some mac n cheese to go for B. While we waited for our food the server brought her a cup of tangerine juice and some homemade flax seed crackers (which were delicious!)...free!

Poor girl has Daddy's cold. Those eyes!

We played "I spy" for a while..which is another story in itself. Blair basically says, "I spy a glass of orange juice" instead of saying "something orange." She kills me. I've tried explaining her fault but she doesn't seem to care. Oh well.

We also checked out some cool gold fish they had swimming around. Apparently they release carbon dioxide and then that water gets transferred to some plants that take it in and release oxygen back to the fish pond. I know that sounded super legit and scientific. Definitely quote me on your next bio paper.

We got our food to go and the server opened the door for us (chivalry!) and told us he hoped to see us soon. I was nice and shared half my sammy with M when I got home and then Blair shared half her mac n cheese with me. Everything tasted super fresh and delicious...no hormones or antibiotics! I'm for sure going back...maybe even this weekend for breakfast! Nom nom. :)

Have a great weekend friends! And even though I'm ten weeks now here's my late 9 week photo from earlier this week. :)

     I hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend! One of my good friends did exactly that...and labored yesterday and had a sweet baby last night. It was seriously crazy...we went over to their house to eat dinner and she was as calm as can be. Before dinner was even over they were off to the hospital and the baby was born! The even nuttier thing is that we helped them move to a new house two days before she had the baby. Sounds kind of familiar if you ask me. :) For those of you who haven't read our birth story it's quite similar.

Over the weekend we helped our friends (above) move into a beautiful new home. They currently have two girls and were 39 weeks pregnant at the time. We were able to unpack everything but the office so I would say it was a successful day!

On Sunday we had some friends over to swim and then had a little BBQ with my fam. The weather has been brutally hot which I'm less than thrilled about. Yesterday I just ran some errands for the bachelorette party I have coming up this weekend. It's going to be so fun I can't wait to show you pictures of the decor! Insert heart eyes here.

Oh, and of course it was Baby's birthday again so we had to bake her some donuts. I grabbed a recipe from Pinterest but it's basically just cake mix and easy home made frosting.

Blair is turning into quite the littler baker I must say. I'm not sad about it either. :) Cheers to a short week and for babies, donuts, and bachelorette parties!

Last week I was whining to my trainer about how some people can eat dessert AND have abs. She said simply, "Those people are jerks. And you're not one of them." Tough love but that's why I like her. ;) Anyway she recommended a "dessert" that she makes and doesn't feel too guilty about eating. I tried it out and while it's not brownies and ice cream it's still pretty good! This recipe is gluten free, grain free, high in fiber, clean, natural, higher in protein and down-right-delicious.

{Chocolate Chip Blondies}

Prep time: 3 Minutes – Cook time: 30 Minutes – Total time: 33 Minutes
Yield: Makes 12-16 Brownies
Ingredients:

• 1 Cup Natural Smooth Peanut Butter (if you have a nut allergy you can always try to make these with a seed butter)
• 1/3 Cup Honey (Agave or Maple Syrup – to make these sugar free you can try Stevia)
• 1 Egg
• 1/4 Cup Egg Whites (2 Egg Whites)
• 1/4 Tsp Salt
• 1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
• 1 1/2 Cups Cooked Chickpeas
• 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 Cup Chocolate Chips (You can use 1/4 Cup Chocolate and 1/4 Cup White like I did)

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350F.
2. Spray your 8×8 glass baking dish with a healthy, non stick oil.
3. Place all ingredients excluding the chocolate chips in your food processor and blend until smooth (stopping to scrape down the sides).
4. Using a spatula hand mix-in your chocolate chips.
5. Pour mixture evenly into your glass baking dish (use your spatula to smooth out the batter).
6. Place in the oven and bake for 27 – 30 minutes (until your fork comes out clean).
7. Remove from oven and let set for 10 minutes.
8. Cut into squares, serve and enjoy!
9. These are all-natural so I highly suggest storing them in a sealed tight container in your refrigerator.

I hope this inspires you to whip up a healthy treat!

Lately the weather has been beautiful and we have been soaking up some serious rays by the pool. And what better accessory than a fruit pop!? Mountain High Yoghurt is the perfect base for our fruit pops and the adults kids love them! With three ingredients: bananas, strawberries, and yoghurt, this is an easy recipe that's not jammed with refined sugars.

One cup of Yoghurt, 2 bananas, and 1 cup of frozen organic berries.

Fill up your fruit pop maker. We got ours from World Market.

Wait for 10 minutes...and presto!

Pops for Blair.

Pops for Brooklyn (along with some sweet goggles).

Annnnd pops for me! :)

What is your favorite fruit pop recipe? Be sure to visit Mountain High's Pinterest page for more amazing recipes for toddlers!

Lately one of my favorite snacks to make for Blair is yogurt squeezies with Mountain High Yoghurt. The recipe is simple and they are a great healthy snack (with lots of protein!). Be sure to download the coupon on their site HERE!

Here's how I made these Mountain High Lowfat Plain Yoghurt Squeezies:

Ingredients

2 cups Mountain High Yoghurt

1 cup organic apple sauce

cinnamon to taste

Directions

Put all ingredients into a mixing bowl. Stir until combined. Pour into squeezie pouches and voila! 

I purchased my squeezie maker by Infantino at Amazon. The pouches are disposable which I like. I previously had reusable ones and discovered mold easily grows inside since they are so difficult to clean. 

Check out Mountain High Yoghurt at:

Pinterest for recipes

Facebook for coupons

Instagram for inspiration

Thank you for checking out Mountain High Yoghurt. Doing so makes it possible for me to continue blogging. :) Be sure to download the coupon on their site HERE!

     I'm always looking for yummy, healthy snacks for Blair. And while banana and almond butter is healthy in theory it's not the most convenient snack to take and eat on the go. Enter yogurt squeezies! More specifically, Chobani Yogurt Squeezies. I love a good healthy, convenient snack and Chobani just recently launched a line of healthy, tasty yogurt squeezies. Blair ate one in the grocery store yesterday (yup, I'm that Mom) and she approved!

I try to always choose snacks that are whole foods like cashews, raisins, string cheese etc. And what I like about Chobani Greek Yogurt is that they have only natural ingredients and way less sugar than the other brands. They also have a lot of protein (8 grams) to keep Blair full longer, which she needs for days at the park...

Can you spy DB?

Over here at the Bushman household we like to incorporate healthy eating and exercise into our daily lives. Blair definitely sees how important it is to get exercise. Since I'm at home with her I have the luxury of going to the gym at 11 am and taking her with me since it's not crowded then. We often run there since it's less than a mile from our house. She also sees firsthand what healthy food is by what we eat (eggs, avocado, fruit, lean meats, veggies etc). I don't make separate meals for her (unless she's starving and our dinner isn't ready yet) and we always make sure she tries something at least once before denying it.

With all this said don't get me wrong we love the occasional donut. But the key here is occasional. With me on the verge of type 2 diabetes my sugar binging days are over. :( I'm just thankful for companies like Chobani who make healthy lifestyles simpler for my little family. :)