food positivity | Grey Skies & Rainbow Highs

One of the best and most classic desserts are chocolate chip cookies. They’re gooey and make you feel all warm inside. Up until now, I didn’t think they could get any better, until we added one ingredient: strawberries.

This new to us recipe is one I HAD to share with everyone, especially before National Chocolate Chip Day. Not only did we enjoy the finished results, Mila had a blast making these too.

Maybe a little too much fun with the extra flour!

Anyways, here’s what you’ll need to make these delicious cookies:

2 1/4 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 stick of unsalted butter
1/2 cup of sugar
3/4 cup of brown sugar
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 cup of chopped strawberries
1 cup of chocolate chips

Before making the cookie dough, preheat the oven to 370 F. Then line two large baking sheets with wax or parchment paper.

In a medium size bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Next, in a large mixing bowl, use your mixer to cream the butter, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract. I let my butter warm up a little bit to help it cream. Honestly, I just popped it in the microwave for 20 seconds.

Then, add eggs in one at a time. Mix in between eggs.

After it’s mixed, slowly add the flour mixture in. Just mix it until combined and don’t over mix.

Once you get a good dough consistency, fold in strawberries and chocolate chips. I used a spatula for this.

Now it’s time to place them on the cooking sheet. You can use an ice cream or cookie scoop to help with this part. I just used my hands and made little balls. It was way easier for me this way than using a spoon or anything.

Then, place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Rotate the cookie sheet after and place back in the oven for 4-6 more minutes. Your cookies should have holden brown on their edges.

Once it’s done, remove from the oven and let them cool down… or not.

We enjoyed these cookies a little too much. I have a feeling it’ll be a recipe we make over and over again.

Let me know in the comments if you end up trying this recipe… you most definitely should!

Check out these other chocolate chip creations too:

No-Bake Milk & Cookie Cake by Mom Buns and Mayhem

One of Mila and I’s favorite spring activities is having picnics! Not only is it great to tell her some food comes from the ground, it’s a perfect time to talk about food positivity.

By having a negative relationship with food growing up, I want Mila’s to be different.

The best ways for anyone to learn is by reading. “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle is in Mila’s top ten favorite. She loves seeing him transform into the butterfly and counting all the food he eats!

Since she’s familiar with the story, I wanted to build upon how she can use the caterpillars experience with her own.

After reading through the entire book, I went back to where the caterpillar ate all the food that gave him a tummy ache. I asked Mila if there’s foods that make her stomach feel funny. She told me when she eats certain candy her tummy feels upset and about all the food she doesn’t like.

It’s always eyeopening to have big conversations with such little humans. They know what makes them feel happy and sad. Then they’ll tell you all about it, which I just love.

She took out all the play food and plates in her picnic basket. We talked about the colors of the food and which ones we thought tasted best. Out of everything, she said the hotdog and cow milk was her favorite meal with ‘popcorn’ being a close second.

Then we tried to find the food the hungry caterpillar ate and help him make different choices so his stomach didn’t feel so sick.

I told her that listening to our bodies cues and knowing that we can eat different types of foods. There’s no such thing as bad food, but we have to make our bodies happy through our choices.

We ended up pretending to eat different types of meals and rereading the book many times. I plan on making different activities with it in the future too! But, it was a great way to open up on being food positive and listening to your body.

I can’t wait to have even more picnics with Mila and letting her try all different types of meals. Exploring foods and trying to persuade her not to be a picky eater will be a fun journey.

Let me know what your favorite picnic food is in the comments.