A Correlation between Sugar Cravings and Toddlers-with recipe

Do you need easy to make, healthy and unprocessed snacks to bridge the gap between lunch and dinner? 

Certain foods high in magnesium, iron and B vitamins will help with your kid's energy levels after school-at a time when they are at their most ravenous. 
If you pick your kids up from school and then take them to the park or an activity such as athletics, basketball, ballet, soccer, dancing or any other sport for a few hours before home time, you’ll need a supply of nutritious snacks to get them through the afternoon.  The kinds of snacks that you choose to give your children can either be healthy and nutritious like cut up vegetable sticks with dips and fresh fruit or they can come directly out of a packet which means they are probably going to be full of sugar and contain artificial ingredients, chemicals and preservatives. If you are at the supermarket, stopping at the bakery for a cream-filled snack, will get the child’s approval but doesn't provide the kind of nutrition active kids need-especially if their immunity is down. 

Keep in mind a lot of processed sweet snacks are filled with toxic ingredients like refined sugars, artificial flavors, ingredients made from petroleum, and other very harmful ingredients. Using real food will teach children to appreciate food’s natural flavors and develop and understanding of what real food actually tastes like. Does your toddler crave sweets?

Did you know there is a BIG correlation between sugar cravings and

toddlers? 

Who knew?

Protein provides building blocks for growth and development as well as forming the basis of antibodies to help boost immunity. Children low in protein are more susceptible to infections and experience more sugar and salt cravings. Ensure your child has regular protein from a variety of sources such as grass fed meat, organic poultry (including turkey), oily fish, nuts, seeds, legumes, lentils and spirulina. B vitamins help growing bodies unlock the energy found in fats, proteins and carbohydrates. They are water soluble and therefore required in small, frequent doses throughout the day. Good sources of B vitamins include grass fed meat, organic poultry, salmon, eggs, dark green leafy vegetables, mushrooms, organic liver and spirulina. How do I get my son to eat these options? I offer them in my green smoothies, easy homemade pops, baked ziti pasta, flower power eggs,  and now cacao bomb crackles! Sometimes its okay to be sneaky.

Healthy treats made with ingredients such as cacao and coconut will give children good fats and provide them with energy. Cacao Bomb crackles are a fantastic after school treat which will ensure you are meeting your child’s nutritional needs with a good supply of magnesium and iron from the raw cacao and B vitamins from brown rice puffs. Coconut oil and butter will add stickiness and sweetness and provide a great all round anti-fungal and anti-bacterial element. I love making desserts with raw cacao because it gives you a blast of serotonin, endorphins and other neurotransmitters which all work together to give you an overall sense of well being, bliss, pleasure and pure happiness!

This Bomb Crackle recipe makes for the perfect after school snack, travel snack and would go perfect wrapped in cute little bags for the Easter basket.

Cacao Bomb Crackles

Ingredients

• 2 cups brown rice puffs
• 1/2 cup desiccated coconut
• 1/3 cup coconut sugar
• 6 Tbs coconut oil
• 2 Tbs coconut butter
• 3 Tbs cacao nibs 

Directions:

• Line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper cup liners.
• Place rice puffs in a bowl.
• In a food processor process coconut sugar & cacao nibs until it resembles a fine powder.
• Place a bowl over boiling water on the stove top and add in coconut sugar & cacao mixture powder, coconut oil and butter and until melted on a medium heat.
• Add desiccated coconut and stir well.
• Remove from heat, mix with rice puffs and spoon mixture into liners.
• Place in the refrigerator to set.