Petite Eats || Olympic-Inspired Toddler Meals

There's something about the Olympics that are so awe-inducing.  As a kid afraid to do a back handspring, I can totally recall watching the gymnasts and thinking in a totally unrealistic way, "That could be me some day!"  Regardless of our own personal athletic abilities, it's so inspiring to watch people working so hard to achieve their goals and follow their dreams.  It connects to this piece of us that always wants to achieve more and do our best. As a parent, I am so excited to be watching the Olympics this year with Parker.  I'm not totally convinced that she shares my Olympic enthusiasm, but she is totally into flags (obsessed actually) and food, so I thought it would be fun to create some toddler friendly recipes that speak her language and add to the Olympic excitement.  (Plus, you know, plenty of protein so we can start building up those arm muscles for the uneven bars!) As you have probably already picked up on here, we are big fans of Munchkin kid products around here.  We use them in the car, in the bath, and have a cabinet bursting with them in the kitchen.  I really can't recommend them enough.  Keep reading for three fun toddler recipes from around the world! (Check out Munchkin's full line of tabletop products here.)

Ground Beef Empanadas from Spain

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 medium onion, grated
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 pkg puff pastry
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Method:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Heat a skillet over high heat, add the olive oil. Add ground beef along with the onions, cumin, cinnamon, and salt.

Meanwhile, Unroll pie pastry on a lightly floured surface. Use a rolling pin to make the circles a tiny bit larger. With a 4 inch biscuit cutter or the top of a large glass, cut out circles of dough. Re-roll dough scraps and cut out more circles. 

Cook until almost completely done. You will be baking these so the hamburger mixture will finish cooking in the oven.

Drain off all oil left in ground beef mixture.

In the middle of the pie pastry circle place a tablespoon of the hamburger mixture. Pinch the edges together.

Crimp edges with a fork.

Repeat with the remaining pastry and hamburger mixture.

Place the empanadas on a foil lined baking sheet.

Brush the beaten egg over the top of each empanada.

Place empanadas in the preheated oven for approximately 10 to 12 minutes, until the empanadas are golden brown.

All-Natural Orange Cream Sodas from Italy

Ingredients:

Orange simple syrup:
2 oranges, zested and juiced
1 cup sugar
1 cup water

Italian sodas:
Ice
Club soda
Half and half

Method:

For the simple syrups: combine orange zest, juice, sugar, and water in a small saucepan. Heat on medium heat until sugar dissolves completely. Continue cooking on a low simmer for 3 minutes until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and let cool. Strain and refrigerate until ready to use.
For the italian sodas: add a ¼ cup of syrup to the bottom of a tall glass. Add ice to fill up the cup about half way. Add about ⅓ cup club soda, then top off with half and half.

Homemade Pita Chips with Tzatziki from Greece

Tzatziki Sauce:
¼ cucumber
1 cup Nonfat Plain Greek yogurt
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoon cup chopped fresh dill
Juice of ½ lemon
⅛ teaspoon salt
Pinch black pepper

Pita Chips:

8 Pieces of Fresh Pita Bread

2 Tbls. olive oil

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. pepper

½ tsp. paprika

Method:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
For the Tzatziki:

Grate the cucumber (you can peel it but I don't) onto a mesh strainer or paper towel and squeeze out as much liquid as you can. Add to a bowl with remaining ingredients. Stir to combine and refrigerate until ready to serve.

For the Pita Chips:

Cut each piece of pita bread into 8 slices, the more even they're cut the more even they will cook.  Toss them in a bowl along with the olive oil and spices.  Mix well to coat.  Add to a foil lined cookie sheet.  Bake for 6 minutes then toss the chips around on the pan and bake for an additional 6 minutes, or until crispy and starting to brown.

Photography by Kate Zimmerman

Spanish flag painted by my super awesome nephew!

This post was sponsored by Munchkin, a brand I'm sure you know by now that we love in our house!  I'm guessing you will, too!