Wild mushroom orzo pasta, sliced apples, leftover overnight blueberry oats.  I thought it was fun to show the natural progression of what a toddler sees on a plate.  Pretty much straight to dessert! :) 

Cleaning out the fridge can be so easy and yet we still have a well rounded meal!  Avocado slices, whole wheat chips, vanilla chia seed puddin', steamed broccoli, and featuring "watermelon steak".  

My two year old likes to eat just simple hummus with a spoon.  So, a container of straight up hummus, orange slices, seaweed cantaloupe and pineapple.  Not the most well balanced meal, but she was a little under the weather, so I wanted to give her a little boost of the natural fruit sugars and nutrients.  There are lots of great reasons these fruits are nutritious, but cantaloupe has antioxidants, pineapple/oranges have vitamin c that is helpful for when you are feeling a little down!

"BLAT" sandwich - bacon (Upton's Naturals seitan bacon), lettuce, avocado, tomato in a whole wheat pita pocket.  Grapes and pickles are always a favorite!

I was raised in a small town in Ohio.  Everything was meat and potatoes.  So, this meal is a comfort food for me and a throw back to my meat and potato eating days.  I've just made it plant based and thought it would be a fun play on words to call it a stir fry.  I actually Googled the definition of "stir fry" and wouldn't you know?  That is EXACTLY what this meal is!  I paired our Midwest Stir Fry with a bowl of sliced bananas and cantaloupe, and a cup of unsweetened fortified soy milk for a well balanced meal.  

In case you don't know what rainbow carrots are, they are just mulitcolored carrots.  You can pick up a bunch of fresh rainbow carrots at your local farmer's market - they are gorgeous - purple, yellow, orange. The kids love all the different colors which makes it easier for you to feed your little ones!

Also, if you are buying organic carrots, make sure you resist peeling your carrots!  Most likely you are peeling away important nutrients. Did you know that most nutrients in a carrot are actually in, or just below the skin?  Carrots are an excellent source of carotene and other phenolic compounds, which are both antioxidants.

Yes, that's right, skipping a step of work in the kitchen AND gaining nutrients?  Sounds like a win to me! 

INGREDIENTS

• 2 Field Roast Smoked Apple Sage sausage links, sliced at an angle
• 10-12 red potatoes, also sliced at an angle
• 2 cups rainbow carrots, cut but NOT peeled
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/2 tablespoon Montreal Steak Seasoning

DIRECTIONS

1. Coat potatoes in nutritional yeast and Montreal Steak Seasoning.  Heat oil in extra large skillet on medium high heat.  Add in potatoes and carrots and stir until potatoes are brown and carrots are al dente soft, usually about 10-15 minutes.
2. Add sausages to frying pan and cover lid.  Cook on medium low heat for another 5 minutes allowing the steam to cook all the flavors together.  Serve and enjoy!