Miranda Malisani – Nutrition Expert

You Put What In There?!

Fish oil. Yup, I did. I put it in my frozen treats for the boys and they loved it. Sea-licious Maple Fish oil is so tasty that they’ll pull the bottle out of the fridge themselves and remind me to give it to them. Let’s be clear, I don’t get into great detail of the specific ingredients inside.  They have no idea that there’s anchovy, mackeral, and sardine body oil mixed into these Maple Vanilla Frozen Cups. They just care that it tastes good. And I care that they eat it and get the health benefits. I do tell them…

Raspberry Vanilla Kids Smoothie

Sometimes they just won’t eat the dinner I make. It doesn’t matter what fancy bowl I use, dessert bribes or toy removal I threaten they just won’t eat it. I’m a softy. I have never been that mom that says “well you’re going to bed hungry then!” or “you’ll eat what we have made and that’s that.” I can’t have them feel hungry. They’ll be even more of a disaster the next day if that were the case. A hungry kid means crazy tantrums and I like to minimize those as much as possible. The other night my little one…

PSB Balls

  PSB is code for pumpkin seed butter. I call it PSB balls because even though my kids will eat everything I make with PSB they think they dislike pumpkin seed butter. They also think they hate shredded coconut, golden berries and hemp hearts these days…but when they are rolled into these sweet little balls I can’t keep enough of them stocked. They make a great school snack (some ingredients are from a facility that processes nuts, so check with your school first), even a quick breakfast when you’re tight for time in the morning and I’ve even told my…

A GREEN Smoothie That The Kids Will Drink!

  I’ve probably attempted 3,000 smoothie variations over the past seven years while trying to sneak as many different veggies and fruits into my kids bellies. Some work, MANY fail. As you can imagine and probably already know, leafy greens are the hardest to “sneak” in due to it’s natural bitter flavour. I am persistent with adding them because I believe that integrating them into the boys diet is super important for their long term diet outlook. This isn’t just because leafy greens have an abundant amount of nutrients, but because the more bitter foods they have in their diet,…

Alligator Pear & Chocolate Mini Muffins

 There is definitely no better compliment then when your kids say the love your food. They are the toughest critics and these days with my eldest going through a picky-eater phase, hearing him say these are my best muffins is THE BEST. If you’ve been following my posts, you have figured out that I always try to jam in as many nutrients as possible, yet still make it kid-approved, with some sweetness and creaminess and taste-bud friendly texture. This mini is JUST THAT and so much more! I’ve been using my browning bananas for most of my baking lately, but…

Nature’s Sour Skittles & Caramels

Kids love sweet foods! Obviously this is not ground-breaking news of any kind. But what is ground-breaking is that kids can enjoy sweet treats in a healthy way. Their first taste of sweet begins in utero with amniotic fluid, which contains fructose, glucose, fatty acids and amino acids. As a result babies are born with a preference for the sweet taste of mother’s milk. This initial stage of nurturing creates a safe and comforting feeling that is associated with the sweet flavour. This soothing feeling from sweet foods lives with us into our adult years. You might find yourself digging…

Organic Apple with Magic Sprinkles

Parenting isn’t always glamorous. I spend a lot of daily energy making sure my kids bowels are churning at optimum efficiency. Poo-regularity is a serious business in our house for many reasons. 80 percent of the immune system is found in the digestive tract. Regularity means better absorption of important nutrients for their growth and efficient elimination of waste.  I always have organic apples in the house for an easy snack. Apples contain a great assortment of antioxidants and one (with skin) contains four grams of fibre. I kick-up the fibre content of this snack with “magic sprinkles” aka chia…

Steamed “Pickled” Organic Kale

Steamed greens are an immediate ewwwww for most kids.  So, how do you get your child to eat this leafy powerhouse? You have to make it relatable in some comfortable and known way. Replicate a texture, flavour or appearance of something that your child likes. Like many kids, my son loves pickles, so I took the flavour element sour and used lemon and apple cider vinegar to give him the pucker-sour taste he loves. He describes all sour foods as tasting like pickles so when I introduced kale to him I said it tastes kind of like pickles. He also…

Welcome to the Polka Dot Plate Blog

There’s nothing that makes me happier as a mom (and a Nutritionist) then when my kids eat well. The Polka Dot Plate blog shows you a glimpse into my world as a mom instilling excitement and education into my four year old about healthy food. Within the past four years we’ve been through many dietary changes. One day he loves eggs, the next day he HATES them. At two, he would happily eat sardines for breakfast (true story), but now Sardines are soooo not happening. Like all aspects of parenting, getting my son to eat healthy foods has taken creativity,…