Lil' Crafter and his Lil' Griddles

If you've been a One Artsy Mama reader for any significant amount of time, you already know that my "Little Crafter" is one special guy.  He's an amazing artist who loves painting and creating {wonder where he got that love from!}, he's hysterically funny, and he has the sweetest and most loving heart I've ever seen in a child.  I know.  I'm truly blessed.  

But we all have our vices, and Little Crafter is no exception.  One of the things we constantly struggle with is that, for whatever reason, he is literally the. pickiest. eater. I've ever met.  No joke.  I could probably count on my fingers the number of foods he's willing to ingest.  It's easier to tell you what he won't eat.  No grilled cheese, no chicken of any kind, no cheese pizza, no french fries, no sandwiches, no peanut butter, no mac and cheese...nothing a "normal kid" usually loves.  When we go to birthday parties, I have to pack him his own snacks.  When we go out to eat, I have to pack for him unless he can order a poppyseed bagel.  

Seriously.

He doesn't like ice cream, and won't touch chocolate with a ten foot pole.  My "brother" Matt says he's, "the only kid I know that will pass over standard desserts because he doesn't like them."

Mealtime is such a struggle that I decided to try and make it a game by creating a menu for him and letting him "order" his choices.  Which works okay, except that he just wants to pick "hot dog" for every meal, which is just unacceptable to this mama.  One food he does happen to like is pancakes.  But, I can't just drop everything to pull out the griddle, make up a batch, and cook them for him every time we need a quick meal.

Enter my new best friend, Aunt Jemima.

Have you seen these cute things?  Lil' Griddles.  They're little tiny mini-pancakes, and they come in the freezer section of the grocery store with all the other frozen foods.  You can find them in plain and Blueberry, as well as Cinnamon French Toast Sticks.

They're less than $3 for a box of 40, and if you're lucky you can find them on sale like I did.  {Which, LC informs me, means it's a good time to stock up.  You've been learning well, grasshopper}.  Plus, you can even request a coupon.

LC was moderately interested when I told him I had some yummy pancakes for him to try, but his interest absolutely skyrocketed when I told him he could be the chef and make them himself.  He's at that stage where he loooooves to be helpful, particularly in the kitchen, and loves to do things "all by myself."  He ran and got his chef hat {Thanks, Uncle Jon} and pulled his stool right up in front of the microwave. 

He counted out five pancakes on a plate, then heated them for 30 seconds with no help from me.{Meanwhile, it amazes me how much kids today can do with technology.  When I was four, I don't even think microwaves existed.  I was busy eating play doh.}

Aren't they cute?  Just the right size for a Little Crafter.  I helped him fix them up just the way he likes...we're both weirdos who hate maple syrup, so we eat our pancakes with butter and apricot jelly.  I know what you're thinking, and no, he doesn't get his picky-ness from me.  Well, not entirely.

So, this was the dreaded first bite.  Every time he tries something new, I hold my breath at this point, because I know there's a 97% chance he's going to wrinkle up that cute little nose and say, "Yuck.  You eat it."

But not this time.

Hallelujah.  Can you hear the angels singing?  He likes it!  LC likes it!  In fact, these are literally the first words he said after trying that bite:

"Mommy, guess what?!  They taste like regular pancakes!  Would you like to try one?" {Yes, I chase him around all day with a dry erase marker and a quote bubble so I can write down the funny things he says}.  His favorite thing is the taste.  My favorite thing?  "Every batch made from scratch."  I love that these Lil' Griddles are made with real eggs, milk, and sugar.  I don't have to worry about high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors, or other things that I don't want going in my son's body {or mine}!

I did, of course, try them myself too, and I assure you they're as tasty as they sound.  I love that they taste just like I made them on the griddle myself...but I don't have to do any of the work!  In just 30 seconds, we get made-from-scratch pancakes without the mess, time, and effort of doing it myself.

Little Crafter ate ten of them in one sitting.  Yup, you read that right.  TEN.  We found a winner!  Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go grab a marker and add Lil' Griddles to the menu choices for every meal...

Hugs & Glitter,

Thank you to Aunt Jemima Frozen Breakfast for being a sponsor. I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective. All opinions expressed here are my own {and Little Crafter's}.