Peanut Butter Popcicles

Taking a little break from couponing and shopping today. (I actually just finished my meal planning and shopping for this week through January 5th yesterday, so I am a bit exhausted.)

I'll be back tomorrow with more helps for the Double Your Donation Challenge, but today I'm just Mom, and we are just making my Personal Assistant's favorite treat, Peanut Butter Popcicles.  Before we get started, I should tell you that this recipe is totally easy, and super adaptable to your kiddo's dietary needs.
The Personal Assistant has had a rough summer, gastrointestionally speaking. He's been through a bunch of tests, and on a series of elimination diets to try and sort out what's going on. Currently he is on a no sucrose, no fructose, no sorbitol diet, which eliminates all fruit, 99% of veggies, and anything that once touched fruits, veggies, or sugar of any kind. Previously, we were on no milk/no soy, and because he's been so sick, and dairy is so challenging to digest when you are not feeling good, I am afraid to reintroduce them and cloud the results of the current diet test, so we are still off those items as well.

But a little guy still needs to eat. And he's still just two, and so it still needs to be fun. The Hubster and I have been doing our best to remix the 5 foods he's still allowed to eat in new and fun ways. They had a Daddy/Son chicken nugget making party last week. Today, it's Mommy and peanut butter popcicles.

You will need:

• Peanut Butter (or whatever nut butter/nut butter substitute your child eats)
• Milk (or whatever non-dairy milk substitute your child drinks, here we used almond milk)
• Cocoa powder (or chocolate syrup, but we are no sugar, so we used unsweetened cocoa powder)
• Sweetener (Equal is the only allowed sweetener on his current diet. Normally I would use honey)
• a measuring cup
• popcicle molds

Today, I used 1 part PB to 3 parts Milk. (I have used 1:1 before and that makes for a thicker creamier popcicle mix, but it was hard to work with.) Add to that cocoa and sweetener to taste (here 2t cocoa, 4 packets equal.)

Wisk it into a smooth creamy shake like concoction.

Pour it in your molds and freeze.

They keep for awhile, so I made a big batch today. (I don't know exactly how long, they don't last.) I love that this is a sweet treat that is actually quite healthy, especially if you use cocoa powder and sweeten just slightly. In each pop he is getting calcium and protein, but he just thinks it's ice cream.

I also love that he can make it with me and have a moment of normalcy. A moment of sitting on the counter stirring, sniffing and happily exploring food. A moment of, "Yes! You can taste that" instead of, "Oh no, don't eat that carrot! It might make your tummy sad!" Seriously.

Never in a million years did I think that a doctor would say to me, "Your kid eats fruits and veggies? Yeah, we need to stop that right now." Or that I would go along with it. NEVER. This, more than anything else, has made me realize just how flexible one must be to parent, and how nothing I assumed to be true about parenting prior to being a parent is 100%. But, he seems to be feeling a little better, and the diet is only short term...I think.

One more week of diet trials to go, then we will know...something. Until then, it's eat all the sugar free jello, peanut butter popcicles, homemade chicken nuggets and saltines you can kiddo!

Happy parenting!
Jen

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