Goldfish crackers are the ultimate snack. Kids like them, parents like them, they’re cute and cheesy. But what if you could make your own? That’s like the PRIMO ULTIMATE, right?
The ingredients in goldfish crackers aren’t bad necessarily... but there’s still stuff in there that wouldn’t be in your kitchen cupboard.
I made these crackers with five ingredients. FIVE.
They’re healthy, they’re easy and the kids LOVED them.
Plus these are dairy, egg, gluten and nut free. Great for school lunches or snacks on the go!
I bought these cute little airplane and hippo cookie cutters at a bulk food store, but if you don’t have one, you can just cut squares. I promise your kids will still eat them.
Ingredients
1 cup sweet potato, cooked, mashed and cooled
3 tbsp coconut oil, room temperature
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups oat flour (ground up oats)
Pinch salt
Directions
Combine oat flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Place mashed sweet potato and coconut oil in a stand up mixer and let loose. Make sure it is well combined.
Scrap sides and add dry ingredients.
Blend until it forms a ball.
Cover the ball in plastic wrap, squish to a disc and place in fridge for at least 30 minutes. (Or forget about it for 2 hours like me).
Preheat oven to 350 and take dough out of fridge.
Roll out dough to ½ inch thickness and cut out shapes (or squares). Keep re-rolling and cutting out shapes until there is no more dough.
Place on parchment paper covered baking sheets.
Bake for 10-12 minutes (depending on thickness).
Let cool and enjoy! This recipe will make a bazillion little crackers or a few handfuls of decent sized squares. If you have any left over, place in a sealed container to keep fresh for up to a week.
Enjoy! It's snack time!
You could say I’m old school.
I dated my husband for just over a year; we were engaged for 11 months and got married at a lakefront lodge in front of all of our friends and family. We moved from Toronto to Petawawa (my husband is in the military), bought a house, and got a dog. I was pregnant just in time for our honeymoon, two months after we wed in 2008, and I didn't stop having babies until my third was born in 2012.
I was 31. I was living the dream. For real.
All I ever wanted was to be a Mom. In fact, at University, I was called “Mama Seanna” because my place was where everyone congregated after the bars… I mean exams… to eat and hang out. Anyone not going home for Thanksgiving came to our house and I would make sure everyone had a seat, a plate, and a good time. I took care of people. And I knew that was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Take care of a family.
This wasn’t the case for all of my friends. My friends had dreams of careers and working hard to climb corporate ladders and be those movers and shakers. They had DRIVE. I had drive too, but a it was different. I had some friends that never wanted kids, wanted the freedom and independence of single life. I couldn’t understand it. No kids? Like, ever?
So which path is better? Which path is right? Is love, marriage and a family first more important than a blossoming career? What makes more sense? Does any of it make sense?
My kids are growing up and soon they’ll all be in school. For me, this is the perfect time to start growing my brand and getting “back” into the workplace. As a Nutritionist, I’m thriving on the challenge of starting up my own business from home so I can be available for my kids. It’s the dream I am working to make a reality.
Is it difficult? You bet. I work my ass off in the nine child-free hours I have a week. Once they’re in bed at night, I’m back on my computer, trying to make things work. I’m constantly reading, writing, attending conferences, making connections, researching, developing recipes, cooking, emailing…some people ask me: “Why wouldn’t you start your career before you had your kids? Everything would have been all lined up.”
I’ll admit, my situation is slightly different than most. When my kids were born, I wasn’t living in the metropolis that I am now. I was able to AFFORD being at home with my kids in a small military town and unless I wanted to climb up the Tim Hortons/Pizza Pizza corporate ladder, there wasn’t much available. Now that I’m living back in Toronto, the opportunities are endless and trust me, I’m taking every single one. I’m finding the balance a little difficult, the house isn’t as clean as it used to be and we eat breakfast for dinner a lot, but I’m doing the best that I can.
My friends are starting their families now. They’ve got a leg up on the career front and have steady corporate jobs. They’re about five to ten years older than I was starting a family. They are financially secure, typically have two incomes, own their homes and have everything necessary in their lives to be comfortable. Here is the dilemma they face: Going back to work after maternity leave and paying for childcare. But they have a job to go back to, ready and waiting. Was that a better decision?
My dilemma is entering a workforce later in life. Having my family first and starting my career in my thirties. Having that big blank space on my resume. Not knowing where to start. And my days were already full…now I have to add work on top of that?
And secretly, okay, not so secretly…I always wanted to have kids at the same time as my friends. Don’t we all? I always imagined us sitting around together, with our babies, drinking coffee—going through phases at the same time. But life doesn’t always give you what you want…life gives you what you NEED.
Do I ever think I made the wrong choice? No. Do I ever wonder how I could have done things differently? Sure. But any change in my past and maybe, just maybe, I wouldn’t have the family I have today. My three beautiful, wonderful, crazy, happy and healthy children. My forever supportive husband. I can’t imagine my life without them. I honestly can’t REMEMBER my life before them (I should probably start doing some memory work)! No matter how crazy my days are, how frustrated I get, no matter how hard it is to find my new work/life balance…it’s all worth it. Every. Single. Day.
And that’s where it all evens out. It doesn’t matter if you chose a career first or being a Mom first (or maybe you didn’t choose). The struggles are there for all of us and once you have children, they’re all the same. We’re all trying to find a balance in our life. But we’re all so immensely happy to have the family we wanted, you just know everything will work out. It will. Support is key. We need to support each other, no matter where we started, or what phase of life we’re in.
I can help my friends with their newborns because I’ve been through it three times. I’ve got some shortcuts and I can listen and truly understand. My friends can help me grow my business through their career stories and helpful and educated ideas. We can still sit around, drinking coffee. We can still relate.
So to all the Moms out there, old school, new school, stay-at-home, working, with newborns, with kids that have grown, know this: You did it the right way. There was never a right time. You did it. The career vs. family debate will always live on, but we know the truth, don’t we?
It doesn’t matter. Or maybe that’s just me being old school.
What is with Valentine's Day these days?
People are becoming completely milquetoast about the whole thing.
I get it. I'm not a big Valentine's Day person. My husband buys me flowers, not roses, every year. And I love them. People, I will take flowers when I can get them. We don't go out. I might make a nice dinner. That's about it.
But when it comes to the KIDS... they get excited about GROUNDHOG DAY so I figure Valentine's, we can make a little more of an effort, right?
I'm not talking about the STUFF. Kids get too much stuff with their valentines. Pencils, erasers, stickers, candy, lollipops, tattoos, rulers, games, stuffed animals, cash, a new puppy...it's getting a little out of hand. Buying Valentine's cards with the class sizes these days is completely understandable, but please...leave the stuff behind.
Here's what I find underwhelming... and it makes me a little sad:
Kids can no longer write the names of their Valentine on the card. I'm okay with everyone in the class getting a Valentine. I don't want my kid coming home in tears because no one gave them one. I'm all for it. But can we at the VERY least not address each Valentine? My children have to sit and write their name out 25-30 times each...yet they don't get to choose who gets which one? LAME.
Where is the spirit of the day? Why don't we take the time anymore? All I'm asking for is a class list so my kids can choose which kid gets which Avenger. And MAYBE which little girl gets the one Valentine that says: "Will you be my Valentine?" instead of "HULK SMASH."
My kids come home with a bag full of junk, tons of valentines cards from people they don't know very well-oh-and a Valentine from THEMSELVES. Because they just drop one in every bag in the class.
I am not teacher bashing. At all. Teachers have a lot to do and not much time to do it. Plus they are covered in too many children from day one. It's overwhelming. But does that mean every occasion has to be underwhelming?
I'm just wishing for a simpler time when my kids would come home and really cherish the Valentines they got from school. The blushing cheeks of a little crush. That's all. It just seems so impersonal-and is that not the opposite of what the day is supposed to mean? Aren't we supposed to be promoting love on a day like this? I'm glad all kids go home with a warm and fuzzy feeling, I just think the excitement is gone.
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