A Birthday Picnic for my Baby Girl

Two years ago today, I was sure my heart must have grown to twice its size, because how else could it fit so much love?  If you are a mother, you know what I am talking about.  I cannot describe the emotion I felt when I first held Meghan. In an instant, everything changed.  Nothing in my life would ever be the same.  And I have loved every single moment of the last two years of her life.  From that helpless infant who needed me for everything, she has grown into an independent toddler who sometimes thinks she doesn’t need me at all.  As much as she wants to control everything in her life, there is one thing that I must stand firm on.  I am the mama, and the decisions I make about the  foods I allow her to put in her body are important.  Every time she eats something, I think about how it will affect her health.  I am the mom, and that’s my responsibility; it’s a responsibility I take seriously.

For Meghan’s birthday, we had a small party on Saturday.  Since today was her actual birthday, we wanted to do something a little out of the ordinary.  One of Meghan’s favorite things to do is play on playgrounds, so we had a picnic dinner at a park and let her play after dinner.  Our picnic dinner included

Spinach Cheese Bites (recipe to follow),

a sandwich assortment

grated carrot and cucumber+organic cream cheese (Meghan) and roasted red pepper hummus + cucumbers (Tim & me)

a bowl of watermelon

and some veggie chips

The spinach bites were something I created because Meghan rarely wants to eat her formerly beloved egg and cheese omelette for breakfast anymore and I still would like her to eat eggs.  Eggs provide some great essential nutrients.  Did you know that eggs contain all known nutrients except vitamin C?  Yes, I want Meghan to eat them!  These little bites are really tasty and a great size for toddlers.  Their size doesn’t make them just for toddlers, though, Tim and I both loved these little guys.

Spinach Cheese Bites

2 eggs

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

2 teaspoons dried minced onion

1/2 cup plain yogurt

3/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

3/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated

9 oz package frozen spinach, thawed and drained very well (get as much moisture out as you can!)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease a mini-muffin pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs.  Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until well-mixed.

Spoon mixture into muffin tins (I used a silicon mini-muffin pan that just happened to be heart-shaped).

Bake in preheated oven until they puff up and are browned, about 25 minutes.

Makes 20 bites (I had to do mine in batches because my pan only had 12 spaces)

I made the last batch right before we were leaving for our picnic.  I popped them out of the oven and covered the pan with tin foil and brought it with us.  They were the perfect temperature to eat when we got to the park.

Meghan liked her dinner okay, but she was more interested in finishing up so she could go play.  Maybe a picnic with an enticing playground in full view isn’t such a good idea?

Because to a toddler, there is nothing more important than playing. 🙂

Happy 2nd birthday, Baby Girl.