Holiday Bonding with our Little Ones

Christmas season never fails to give everyone a festive mood. For me, the celebration this year will definitely be extra special as we share it with the newest addition to our family. We are now a family of four: me, my husband, my toddler and my 8 month old baby. Like in every household, this season is the perfect time to create core memories with one's family. I am sure that moms like me would do anything and everything to ensure that our children will experience a wonderful and memorable Christmas.

Here are some activities that you can do with your little ones during the Christmas season:

1. Play dress up and have your photo taken as a family
Dressing up your babies like a mini Santa or with a red Christmas-themed onesie can result to lots of laughter and cuteness overload. You may also want to dress up as a family with matching clothes and have your photo taken on your first Christmas together. The photo you will get can be used to make the family's Christmas card which can be given to relatives and friends. It can also be framed afterwards for you and your children to look back year after year.

2. Create family traditions with your baby
Having a small family calls for your own family traditions which you and your babies can do on a yearly basis. It may be as simple as setting up the Christmas tree; preparing the belen while telling the story of the nativity of Jesus; or even making Christmas stockings for each member of the family and reminding everyone about the true meaning of Christmas and the spirit of giving. These traditions are those activities that your children as they grow will excitedly look forward to and fondly remember as the year passes by.

3. Prepare Christmas meals together
Eating is inevitable during the Christmas celebrations. Parties will pop up one after the other. With little ones in tow, moms should always be mindful of the food we serve them. The food they eat should still be healthy and should contain all the nutrients they specifically need for their age. One way to make sure that they eat healthy food is to make a meal plan for them during the holidays. It would also be a great bonding activity to involve them in the process of preparing their food. You would be surprised to see them enjoying the preparations and would later on eat what they prepared with all gusto. Naturally, since they prepared it, they would not want to waste it and would appreciate it even more. It is a good teaching and learning opportunity for our children to be more responsible and to give value to food.

Here are some healthy and easy recipes which uses #CerelacPH baby food to make an entirely new snack treat for our little ones. With these recipes, I am sure it would be easy for us to catch our little one's attention when we say #LetsEatBulilit.
 

Apple Banana Cookies with Raisins by Mommy Ishee Valencia

Ingredients
- 2 cups Cerelac Wheat Banana & Milk
- 2 pieces banana
- 1 piece small apple
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 egg
- 1 small pack margarine
- 2 tetra pack raisins

How to prepare

1. Wash, peel and remove the seeds of the apple.
2. Slice the apple into small cubes.
3. Peel and slice the banana.
4. Put the butter and eggs in a mixing bowl then mix it until it is light and fluffy.
5. Put the flour, rolled oats and Cerelac Wheat Banana & Milk in the mixing bowl and mix it well.
6. Add the sliced banana and apple and mix it until the right consistency.
7. Chop the raisins and mix in the bowl.
8. Get 1 tbsp. cookie dough, roll it and put in an ungreased cookie sheet.Make the dough 2 inches apart from each other.
9. Preheat the oven and bake.
10. Cool the cookie before serving.

Cheesy Carrot Potato Balls by Mommy Kathlyn Pearl San Juan-Santos

Ingredients
- 4 pieces potatoes
- 1 piece carrot
- 5 tbsp. Cerelac Mixed Vegetables & Soya
- Breadcrumbs for coating
- Cheese
- 1 egg
- 1-2 stems malunggay leaves
- Salt to taste
- 80 ml distilled water

How to prepare
1. Wash the malunggay, potatoes and carrots. Boil it until tender.
2. Remove it from the boiling water and set aside to cool.
3. Put 5 tbsp. Cerelac Mixed Vegetables & Soya in 8-0 ml distilled water
4. Mash the potatoes and carrots. Combine it with the Cerelac mixture.
5. Get a small amount of the mixture, put a small cube of cheese in the middle and roll it into a ball.
6. Dip the ball in the egg and coat it with breadcrumbs.
7. Deep fry the balls until golden brown.
8. Drain and let it cool.
9. Cut into half, put some Cerelac as sauce and serve.

Churros by Mommy Calhaii Yabut

Ingredients
- 1/2 cup margarine/butter
- 1 piece egg
- 3/4 cups Cerelac Wheat Banana & Milk
- 1/4 cup flour
- 2 tbsp. sugar
- Pinch of salt
- Oil for frying
- Sugar for dusting

How to prepare
1. In a nonstick pan, put the margarine/butter, water, sugar and salt. Cook over medium to high heat and bring to a boil.
2. Add the sifter flour and Cerelac Wheat Banana & Milk. Adjust the flame to low heat. Mix thoroughly.
3. Put the batter in a bowl and add the egg. Mix it well.
4. Put the batter in a piping bag or a ziplock bag (cut a small hole at the end)
5. Put oil in a pan. Holding the ziplock bag a few inches above, squeeze the batter. Make each churros 4 inches long.
6. Fry for about 4 minutes until the churros is golden brown.
7. Transfer the churros to a paper towel to drain. Roll churros in sugar and serve. 

*All recipes mentioned here were lifted from this book: