Blackstrap Molasses Granola Bar

This is great for breakfast and snack for my son. He loves the granola bar. But they are expensive if you buy it off the shelf but if you make it, it is way much cheaper. A commercial granola bar costs about RM1 ++. If you have one everyday, in one month it will cost RM30++. This will really blow my budget. Anyway, I have a look around online and found an easy recipe for this with a bit modification. Check out this photo:

I think it took me half an hour. You just need to mix the dry ingredients which comprises of oats, sunflower seeds, cashew nut or any other nuts that you like and mix it together before you toast them. Then you simmer the blackstrap mollasses and brown sugar together for awhile until well combined. Lastly, you mixed all together with raisins and pour them in a square pan; compress them on the pan and let it chill in the fridge for 2 or 3 hours then walllaaa you have a delicious granola bar. But one thing about my recipe, I find it a bit too sweet. Next time I am going to cut down on both brown sugar and blackstrap mollasses or replace with honey.


If you would like the recipe:

2 cups of oats
3/4 cups sunflower seeds
1 cup of crushed cashew nuts
2/3 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of blackstrap molasses
4 tablespoon of vegetable oil or butter
1/2 tsp salt
some dried mixed fruits



Tags: snacks for kids, breakfast granola, homemade granola, granola bar recipe, homemade granola recipe

Online Games For Toddlers

This is great fun. You should check this out and let your baby or toddler play with it!

http://www.sesamestreet.org/

They have games, videos and coloring pages which I think is very cool. My boy just love it.

Today we played these two games:

                                                ......boys will love this Dig for Dinosaurs!


Other websites I found which is of educational value for toddlers are:

http://www.pbs.org/parents/

http://www.seussville.com/#/games

Enjoy!

Greatest Mother's Gift!

I know it is not a very pleasant gift for anyone who doesn't know the true meaning of it but it means a lot to me. On the 10th May, 2011 my son finally poop on his own using the toilet bowl. Hurrrrayyyyy!!! no more diapers....

Now whenever he wants to pee or poo, he just calls me and I will lead him to the toilet. He is still not big enough to climb the giant bowl. So, he will do with a little help.

I was planning to train him right after we moved (last year, November) but I was so busy tidying the house to make it feel more like home that I put behind his potty training until recently. Off and on I do read with him a book about potty training to make him understand.

I know the quickest way to train him is to let him wear pants and let him have a few accidents. I wasn't prepared to let him poop or pee on the floor because I don't want the house to smell like toilet and it will be more work for me. I have enough cracked and rough fingers from doing all the washing, I just want to let them rest. So, finally when I read the book "Potty Train Your Child In Just One Day:Proven Secrets Of The Potty Pro" by Terri Crane, I brave myself up to let him put on the pants. But before that, I followed some of Terri Crane's method and that is to keep on repeating and telling him about how to use the toilet and when to go. I even have him follow me to the toilet to do my pee thing. But later we had an opportunity to go to a friend's house and their son showed us how he did his pee.

From then on, I just keep on telling him the same things and praise him when he pee in his potty. Finally, I think he gave in. I use "gave in" because I think he knew all along where to go for his pee or poo but because of the convenience of a diaper, he just took advantage of it.

So, to get a toddler to potty train himself fast you need:

1) Give him the knowledge. read to him books about potty training, seeing other toddlers do it. They are more willing to follow toddlers who go to toilet by themselves.

2) Once you feel you have feed him/ her enough knowledge. Then go ahead let him use pants. Good Luck!




Tags: mother's gift, toddler potty training, potty, diaper