Greener Days Prevail

Something I’m trying to get better at is prepping food for our fridge and freezer. Doing this helps save me time, money and stress for the busy weeks ahead, while also reducing the amount of prepackaged foods I reach for.

When it comes to cooking and baking, it can’t be complicated, especially now as a parent. And with inflation and cost of living right now, I’ve been gravitating towards recipes that use simple and affordable ingredients, which can also easily be swapped out depending on what I have on hand or what’s on sale.

Keeping some quick and easy options in our freezer for our toddler is super convenient, and I thought why not share that with you here today? Here are a few recipes I’ve been making:

Banana Bread

Whether by themselves, in a smoothie or in your favourite banana bread recipe, bananas are a great, affordable fruit to always have on hand. Unfortunately, they are also one of the most wasted foods, which is why banana bread is one of my favourite ways to use up overripe bananas. I love this recipe in particular and make a few swaps to it for my toddler. I omit the sugar, and then to make it more cost-effective, I’ll swap one or both eggs for flax eggs (if you’re interested, click here to learn about flax eggs) and/or sub the butter for unsweetened applesauce. I will say the flax eggs do make the banana bread a bit more dense, but my toddler still inhales it, which is all that matters. To make your life easier, make sure to slice before freezing!

Veggie Muffins

These muffins are such an easy way to get veggies into your kids. I use this recipe, and it’s great for when you have any vegetables in your fridge that you need to use up. You can also make it work depending on what’s on sale or in season. Again, I’ll swap one or both eggs for flax eggs, and use the unsweetened applesauce to replace the oil. Mine are much more rustic looking compared to the photos from the original recipe, but I promise these muffins are absolutely delicious even with the swaps. For this batch I used chives from our garden, grated carrot and spinach (I throw the spinach in the blender with the milk before adding).

Yogurt Melts

I love this as a mess-free way to give my toddler yogurt, plus it’s great for when they’re teething as well. Just mix some plain yogurt of your choice (I use plain coconut milk yogurt) with whatever fruit you’d like. Unsweetened applesauce is—once again—an easy and cost-effective option or I’ll use an unfinished fruit pouch or mash up some berries. Dollop small dots of the mixture onto a lined baking sheet and then pop into the freezer for a few hours or overnight. Peel off the yogurt drops (save your parchment paper to reuse!) and store them in a freezer-safe reusable bag.

I hope these recipes spark some inspiration for you. Life gets busy, and sometimes we need the convenient option of prepackaged foods, and that’s totally okay. However, when we’re able to put some time aside to prep food, we are prioritizing both ourselves, our family, and the planet with healthier food that comes in less plastic waste.