It's true – Sweet Treats do bring Sweet Smiles around here. But, we've been struggling with the fact that Miss Sophia wants too many sweet treats. We've been struggling with getting her to eat her vegetables at lunch and dinner times and have been looking for ways to get her back on the Veggy Train!
So, before you go judging the picture above too harshly {but I'll let you gush about how cute it is anytime…}, hear me out. Sophia used to be a fabulous eater as a baby. Just like Moreaya does now, she would eat up her veggies before anything else! She loved peas, asparagus, sweet potatoes and preferred them to sweets. This little lady cried and cried and cried when we presented her Smash Cake to her at her First Birthday. She refused that yummy goodness!
So, what happened? I'm not totally sure. She honestly doesn't get very many sweets and when she does, we really treat them as special. But she obviously loves them and has discovered that they taste better than vegetables – and she's right, they do. But we want to set good examples for her, for on down the road when she's old enough to face the choice of "Should I have a cookie before Dinner or eat healthy foods first?", she'll make the right decision on her own.
We've always implemented the "No Thank You" bite policy. This simply means she has to try a bite before she can say "No Thank You" to the food. But we need heavy artillery because the problem is just getting worse. Sophia likes to be involved in everything, so Rob thought it would be a good idea to include her in cooking the food. We also added in the roles of helping us grocery shop and plan the week's Menu too. Letting her have a role in all 3 of these activities has certainly helped tremendously. We're not back to the Veggie Eater we once had, but everyday that she eats her vegetables without a huge fight is a Win in my book.
Since she has been doing better, we wanted to reward her with a Sweet Treat. Still sticking with the Family Rules, of eating healthy foods first, though. So, this past weekend we went grocery shopping. She helped pick out the healthy foods – fruits and vegetables – for the week and a special treat too! I told her that we would make cookies that afternoon after Dinner and she could decorate one all by herself!
This snack size bag of Sugar Cookie mix was the perfect size for our After Dinner Treat.
The *new* Cool Whip Frosting was the perfect addition to the cookies. Cool Whip Frosting is lighter, contains less calories and sugar {than traditional icing}, and can be kept for up to 2 weeks in the Refrigerator. All of those reasons made it a perfect choice for our Sweet Treat!
Before Dinner, Sophia and I made the Sugar Cookies. We needed to let them cool before we could frost them.
While the cookies were cooling, we had Dinner. It was a Sunday night, which usually means a fast-cooking Dinner for our family. Sophia helped me prepare Sloppy Joe's, Tater Tots, and Green Beans. We talked about how we were going to decorate the Cookies when we finished eating and she was so excited. Everything was fine and dandy until it came down to her serving of Green Beans. She didn't want to eat them and no amount of talking about it was helping. I suppose she thought she could hold out and not have to eat them since the Cookies were already sitting on the table, but I assured her that this was her treat for eating her healthy foods and if she didn't want to eat healthy foods, she didn't get the sweet treats!
Finally, after quite a few minutes of insisting healthy foods come first, she ate the Green Beans. I asked her later, while we were enjoying our cookies if she was glad she ate her Green Beans now and her response, "Really glad".
She immensely enjoyed her Sugar Cookie with Chocolate Cool Whip Frosting – and so did I! Sophia always seems to prefer the Cool Whip style icing on Birthday Cakes, when we go to other parties, so I wasn't surprised at all that she ate it up. Knowing that it has less sugar and calories makes it an even sweeter treat too!
Although my Parenting Style may be totally different from other Parenting Styles – even yours, it works for my family. Sophia is eating vegetables again, with less of a struggle, and we're enjoying sweet family time like baking cookies together!
Be sure to check out all the other great Cool Whip Frosting Sweet Treat Ideas from Kraft and fellow bloggers on Pinterest.
I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This content has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Kraft Cool Whip. #CoolWhipFrosting #CBias #SocialFabric
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Way to go in holding your ground and encouraging! My kids both went through that challenging picky phase but it sounds like you are really making steady progress
No wonder with healthier sweet desserts for good choices. Great lessons all around!
Terri recently posted…Tech Holiday Treats ~ @Verizon Samsung Galaxy SIII with Ice Cream Sandwich
Great idea!! I’ll have to give this a try with my boys (including my husband, he LOVES sugar cookies)!!
Sofia recently posted…Sprout Eco Friendly Watch
These look amazing! Fab idea.
Someone gave me the idea to use cool whip frosting for Isaac’s first birthday smash cake instead of regular icing so it won’t be SO MUCH sugar! I have never tried the cool whip frosting so it makes me so happy to know that ya’ll like it! I think we will definitely use it for his birthday cake!
Michelle Ferguson recently posted…Hoppin’ Halloween Giveaway Hop Sponsor Spotlight! {Amber Rose- Independent Scentsy Consultant!}
I love her sweet face~~ what a great combo!! gotta love Cool Whip!
vianney recently posted…Latism and Sweet Life Nominated for Best Latina Food Blogger!!!
I love CoolWhip can’t wait to try this!
Krystle recently posted…Comment on OCC Fall Collection by admin
What a little cutie patootie!!!
Jaime recently posted…2-day Chicken Soup–100% Homemade
What a cute post! What a great idea, I will try this with my kids.
Those cupcakes look amazing. Thanks so much!
mel recently posted…50 things You Didn’t Know About Me-Melissa:)
Aww Sophia is so cute! I don’t blame her for not wanting to eat her veggies, I didn’t care for them much when I was a kid. Now that I am an adult I eat and love most all vegetables even ones I would touch when I was younger.. Kudos to you guys for all you are doing to help her learn to eat healthy. PS – I love Cool Whip too!
Misty Kearns recently posted…Ham & Cheese Pinwheel Appetizers Recipe
Thank you for the sweet comment and for the encouragement. I am the same way – I’ve learned to love veggies that I would never touch as a child. I just want to set a good example and instill the healthy eating values for her at a young age so *Hopefully* it’ll come back to her when it really counts!
Looks so yummy and those pictures are just TOOOO Cute!! Might try these out for sure next time I am shopping!
Kelsey Apley recently posted…Calling all Tech Lovers! Great Idea’s For Holiday Gifts + Review on Docking Station
Wow – That frosting looks delicious! I haven’t seen in my store – I’ll have to look for it. I’m definitely going to try it on cupcakes!
Try not to worry so much about your daughter not loving veggies as much any more…I think it’s just a natural progression. Eventually, she’ll appreciate them again. The way I figure it, our 3 year old got a good “base coat” of veggies from 4-5 months through 18 months…LOL.
Jennifer recently posted…Nevella: Sweetness To Go {Review}
She is cute!
I understand your battle. My 4yo son turns his nose up at anything even remotely healthy looking. It’s frustrating, for sure! *I* have a sweet tooth though, so I can’t get too worked up if they follow my lead! lol I just try to bake healthier alternatives and regulate MYSELF. 
Dusty recently posted…Flat Travelers Go Historic
Exactly! I don’t want to totally deprive her of sweets, especially since I want to eat some occasionally too! I simply want her to learn that they are “treats” and we can have them sometimes, but only after we eat the healthy foods!
Lindsey recently posted…Sweet Treats bring Sweet Smiles in our House #CoolWhipFrosting
That sounds like a match made in heaven….frosting and cool whip
Crystal A. recently posted…Oregon Zoo and Radio Disney’s Madagascar 3 DVD Release Party Recap
This Cool Whip frosting looks GREAT! We will be sure to make our cupcakes with this next time.
Kristin Wheeler (Mama Luvs Books) recently posted…Reaching Your Goals Brings On the Tears ~ Get Kleenex
My daughter is developing a sweet tooth too! I really need to try this new frosting. It looks yummy. Maybe for the bday cake I have to make for this weekend?
Darcy recently posted…Why I Want the NEW Graco SnugRide® Click Connect™ 40 {+ $25 Babies R Us Giveaway} #GracoSafety
What a great combo!
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