Toddler Essentials Emergency Car Kit

Alternatively titled, "Your safe line to sanity." Or how about, "When You Realize Your Diaper Bag Is Empty." 

I've left the house many times without critical essentials like diapers and snacks. If I don't have a snack on hand for Anabelle, you better believe there is an impending meltdown. 

When Anabelle was a newborn, I created a baby essentials emergency car kit that had a few diapers, wipes, a change of clothes and a bib. I took that out of my car about seven months ago and finally saved myself from a few tantrums by putting together a toddler essentials emergency car kit. A snack-hungry toddler is a dire emergency in my Volkwagen. Think the end of the world doom with fireworks and lava.

Here's a list of what's in my car kit.

You know, the basics. Since I put this together a few weeks ago, I've already used several of the diapers, handfuls of wipes and all of the snacks. On a few occasions, she's been offered the Winnie the Pooh book and My Little Pony. She chucked both across the car. Good times.

All of the toys that are in my tote are from the Target dollar section. I used an old mint container for extra hair ties and let Anabelle put stickers on it for a brief rainy day activity. The snacks are non-perishable items that won't melt in the back of my trunk, and snacks I know she loves to eat. Those Plum Organics Mashups? Genius. Anabelle always wants two. That doesn't happen, though, and I get an ear full for it.

I bought this adorable tote from Marshalls for about $15 bucks and put everything inside. I wanted this larger tote so I could stuff it with more junk she needs like a blanket, socks, extra utensils, a stuffed animal and way too many toys from our house. I also have four library books I desperately need to return. 

Do you have an emergency car kit? I'm telling you, this has saved my sanity several times over since I tend to leave the house unprepared a lot. Maybe I should create a check list at the front door? Hah! Who am I kidding? I wouldn't look at it.

Meal Prep During Nap Time

Nap time is my knight in shining armor. It's pretty much the only time I have to do, well, anything. I often like to challenge myself to see how much I'm able to do within a certain time period. I can't tell you why, it's just something I do. Clearly, I have no life. 
I take advantage during the weekends, and meal prep during nap time. Planning and execution are so crucial to keep our family on track with eating healthy. If I take one to two hours out of my Sunday to plan and prep out our meals for the week, everything else just seems to fall into place.  
First, I made a list on what I planned for us to eat during the week.

My game plan was to get dinner in the crock pot, prepare smoothie packs, make kale salad and bake muffins. I poured myself a small glass of wine and got busy. Wine always seems to make things more fun, doesn't it?
First, I peeled and cut all the sweet potatoes for this chili recipe and put them in the steamer. While those were cooking, I started browning the ground turkey with an onion. After the turkey was cooked, the sweet potatoes were finished as well, so I threw everything in the crock pot.
Next, I started assembling the smoothie packs. Our breakfast smoothies packs usually consist of a banana, quarter cup of old fashioned oats, spinach and maybe some berries. When we are ready to eat them, we add one cup of milk, a table spoon of almond or peanut butter with a four to six ounce container of yogurt. It's nutritious, satisfying and quick to make before we have to run out the door. It's pretty much the only breakfast my husband has time for in the morning. 
By one hour, I had dinner in the crock pot and smoothie packs done. I started to speed things up from this point, because I knew I only had about an hour left of nap time.
I started cooking a dozen eggs (scrambled with a splash of milk) for breakfast tacos. While the eggs were cooking, I laid out the tortillas and cut ten individual portions of saran wrap. After the eggs were finished cooking, I put them to the side to cool a little bit until I could handle them. 
While the eggs were cooling, I started on the kale salad. I made the dressing first with the juice of one large lemon, about one-eighth of a cup of extra virgin olive oil, one minced garlic clove, a pinch of salt and a few dashes of red pepper flakes. Afterwards, I threw in one bunch of kale, and mixed it around to get the dressing distributed. 
By this time. I was about an hour and seventeen minutes in and I had dinner cooking, smoothie packs made, the kale salad done and breakfast tacos halfway complete. 
I assembled our breakfast tacos by putting some scrambled eggs in each tortilla, added extra sweet potato chunks I made, along with some raw kale and shredded cheese on others. I wrapped the tacos individually in saran wrap and labeled each one with a sharpie with whatever was inside. I placed the tacos in a large ziploc bag and stuck them in the freezer. These are another super easy grab and go breakfast for the morning. You just pop them in the microwave wrapped in a damp paper towel for about two minutes, and boom! You have a delicious breakfast. These are really versatile, and you can add whatever you want to them. 
An hour and a half in, I had the the breakfast tacos in the freezer and I moved right onto the muffins. I made Skinny Mini Pumpkin Chocolate Muffins aka the best muffins you will ever eat in your life. I have made these about a dozen times for teachers, co-workers, friends and family. Everyone loves them, and I mean every single person. You must make them today and everything else Gina makes, because she's a food genius. AND she has a cookbook coming out at the end of the month! You better bet that's on pre-order for this mommy. I'm so excited! Sorry, I got off track. Where was I? Oh, right, muffins. 
These muffins are quick and easy to make and also make for an awesome breakfast or snack. By an hour and forty-eight minutes in, I had the muffins in the oven. By two hours and two minutes into nap time, the kitchen was cleaned and the dishwasher was running. I sat on the couch while the muffins cooked for a few more minutes and watched a little television. 
The grand total time to make everything and have the kitchen clean was 2:12! I hope this was helpful for you all. I know I can use any extra time during the week, and this really helps our family with healthy, happy bellies.

Helpful Tips: Baking or Cooking with a Toddler

I wanted to share one of my favorite activities I love to do with Anabelle. I started cooking with her when she was around four months old, as soon as she could hold her head up in the Bumbo. We've been having a blast in the kitchen ever since! I cook dinner for our little family about five times a week and Anabelle helps out often. Baking is somewhat scarce around here, just because I don't have the patience to measure out every single ingredient. I like to wing it a lot. Apparently, the chemistry behind baking doesn't agree with that mentality. That's probably why my cookies turned into brownie-like pieces. At least Anabelle doesn't judge me on my baking skills, right? I just hope she's not telling her toddler friends about it. 
Here are a few helpful tips for you mommies (and daddies) out there on how to make baking or cooking with a toddler fun and easy.

ONE \\ Gather all of your ingredients before you begin. This step is crucial, since you can't leave your toddler unattended while you walk across the kitchen to grab something you forgot. Clearly, Anabelle was debating whether or not we had enough vanilla extra for this recipe. No worries though, we made it work. 
TWO \\ Remove dangerous items from your toddler's reach. Raw meat, knives, and sharp kitchen tools should all be out of the vicinity of toddler's grabby hands. We know how quickly they can move, so be mindful on where you put these.

THREE \\ Keep a toy handy. We know that toddlers have a short attention span. In the event your toddler is no longer interested in watching you chop your vegetables in teeny tiny pieces for meatloaf, have a toy readily available until their attention returns on cooking. Anabelle will bring her pots on the counter, use a few ingredients here and there and pretend to cook her own meal. This keeps her occupied and it's amazing to see her mimic a lot of what she's seen me do in the past, even when I didn't think she was really paying attention. 

FOUR \\ Engage your toddler. Your little one can help you measure out the ingredients, throw the vegetables in the pot, assemble the casserole layers, or whatever you're doing. Don't be afraid to let them experiment, touch, explore and play with the ingredients. 

FIVE \\ Explain each step. Toddler minds absorb so much more information than we give them credit for, and even if they look like they aren't listening, they are still learning.  
SIX \\ Have a snack available. If your toddler is anything like mine, whenever there is food around, it's for the taking. I've noticed that when Anabelle helps me cook, she immediately gets hungry regardless when her last meal was. Fruit is a good option; it's temporarily filling without ruining mealtime. 

SEVEN \\ Let your toddler be your taste tester. Taste your dish together! When we were baking cookies, Anabelle tasted a lot of butter and sugar. Let me tell you, she assured me that it was delicious. Don't worry, her sugar high didn't last very long. 

EIGHT \\ Move used ingredients off to the side. I find this tip incredibly helpful, since I'm the messiest of the messy when I cook or bake. When you no longer need an ingredient, move it out of the way, so you aren't overwhelmed with supplies. By this point, we used up all of our ingredients, and we only had a snack out.

NINE \\ Accept the messes that will happen. This is inevitable. Don't get upset when they do, because life with a toddler is messy. My house is evidence of that. When we made dinner the other night, I let Anabelle pour chicken stock in the pot and she started pouring it before we reached our destination, which meant she poured about a cup on the floor. I cleaned it up with a kitchen towel and we moved right along. 
TEN \\ Have fun! Of course, this is the most important step. Duh. You're making memories here.
Tell me, do you bake or cook with your little one? I'd love to know! If you have any other tips, share with me. Your knowledge needs to become my knowledge.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have cookies to consume while I sweep up sugar for days. And days.