Cherry Yogurt

Today, we went with a red, white and blue breakfast.

Vanilla yogurt, chopped maraschino cherries ( yes, shame on me for not having fresh ones here at the tail end of cherry season. And I do so love cherries-- real ones not maraschino ) and a dollop of whipped cream.

Big pile of fresh blueberries and a side of cashews.

Kiddie Sunrise

I don't think my daughter likes orange juice.

Too sweet.

So I took a wine glass this morning, and added a couple tablespoons of cherry juice and three maraschino cherries into the bottom, then filled half the glass with OJ and the other half with plain seltzer to dilute it.

She enjoyed watching the colors swirl and the cherries are a prize at the bottom of the glass.

Super Cherry Lemonade with bubbles

Any mom will probably agree that keeping your child well-hydrated can be impossible. I drink a lot of water. On my good days, I used to drink 90 ounces a day. So I always poured my daughter a drink when I got one. Nowadays, it seems like they get left all over the house more than they get drunk.

And if you give them too much milk or juice, then you worry about filling up little bellies with the "wrong" calories.

Plus, now my daughter's at the age where relatives have given her a root beer here or a cream soda there and she's starting to think bubbles are cool.

Here's my solution:
Super Cherry Lemonade with Bubbles
1/3 glass your favorite lemonade
2/3 glass seltzer
1 tablespoon maraschino cherry juice
1 maraschino cherry

And you tell child he/she can't eat the cherry until she finishes the drink. This also works with diluting any juice with "bubbles." Experimenting with different seltzer flavors can create some crazy combos. My daughter loves picking the "bubbles" because the seltzer bottles usually have big cherries or limes on them to show the flavor.

Fruit Salad

We have a pet tortoise. Tortoises eat a lot of leafy greens, fruit and the occasional protein source. They also loves peas and will usually devour tomatoes and bananas. My tortoise is picky. She loves meat and cheese, which is not typical for a tortoise; spring mix, bananas and peas. But she gets moody (and picky) and turns her nose up at even her favorite foods. Today I decided to make something different, both for my daughter and the tortoise. I sliced bananas, added maraschino cherries and canned apricot halves (packed in their own juice not syrup). I served some to both the child and the pet.

The tortoise walked away leaving the meal untouched. The child ate hers.