Toddler-Approved Protein Bites

Lately we've been struggling with Bubs wanting to eat supper, specifically. Throws the food that we give him, but criiiiiiiies for snacks until bedtime. His go-to snacks are not unhealthy by any means, but I'd LOVE for him to be getting a little bit more substance before bed. Grapes, strawberries, Cheerios, and rice cakes just aren't gonna cut it!

I put it out there on my social media and was met with lots of great advice. Lots of it was adding Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, etc. which we all know is full of great fats and protein, but with us needing to eliminate dairy right now (FPIES testing), that's not really an option.

Another great suggestion was protein balls. I like that they are full of healthy fats, protein, and are so satisfying. I decided we'd give them a try, but I wanted to put them in silicone molds rather than make them into balls - I figured balls might be a bit too big and messy for him still.

In the meantime, I decided to give some filled-with-super-duper-but-not-tasty-healthy-ingredient-muffins 😅 And boy, did Bubs surprise me!

I boiled up some split green lentils, thawed some frozen spinach, and mashed some overripe bananas. I through it all in the standup mixer along with some vegan, plant-based protein, ground flax, and chia seeds. They smelled so awful, lol. So I added honey and peanut butter and some chocolate chips to try mask all the "healthy".

I had very low expectations. But Bubs loves them! Eats them up with enthusiasm actually! lol

Well, those were a hit, so I got myself some silicone molds from the local Dollarama, and whipped up some protein bites. As you can see, these were also a hit!!

Don't get me wrong, these are definitely not something to replace having supper, but on difficult nights they are a great addition to his fav fruits to give me peace of mind that he's getting a little bit more in his little tummy!

Protein Bites

Prep time: 5 mins

Total time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

3/4 cup natural nut butter (we used peanut butter)

1/4 cup honey

3/4 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup protein powder of your choice

1/4 tsp fine sea salt

Extra Add-ins:

chia seeds

ground flax

chocolate chips

chopped nuts

other dried fruit

shredded coconut

Instructions:

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the nut butter and honey.

2. Add your dry ingredients and stir until well-mixed. You will want it to be a crumbly mixture, but not too dry.

3. Add any add-ins you might want and mix together well.

4. Fill small silicone molds and press the mixture in firmly. If making into balls, use a teaspoon to scoop out some mixture and form it in your hands. Place the balls on a parchment paper lined baking sheet when done.

5. Place the molds or baking sheet into the freezer to solidify.

6. We popped our protein bites out of the silicone molds and keep them in a sealed container in the freezer. They're so easy to pop out and and enjoy!