Archive for Kid Tip

Tortillas I LOVE

March 28, 2012 · Filed under Kid Tip, kids, Products I can't live without, Snacks · Tagged , , , , , , ,

Ok, I promised to tell you about these little gems…I LOVE these tortillas!  Yes they are processed, but as far as processed foods go these are kind of little rock stars!  First,  I love that they are small, or basically the “right” size, so you can fill them with all kinds of yummy, healthy things and still be in the calorie range of a “reasonable snack”!  Second, they are whole wheat, and each cute, adorable, little tortilla only has 80 calories, nice!  But this last fact, number 3 if you will, is what won me over!!!  ONE, JUST one, of these tortillas has 10 GRAMS OF DIETARY FIBER! 

Seriously, think on that for a second.  If your child eats one of these tortillas they have just consumed 10 grams of fiber and are one third of the way to their daily recommended fiber intake (depending on age probably around 30 grams per day)!!!  Added bonus they get 3 grams of protein, 4% (or 40 mg of calcium) all for 80 calories!  That is a jam-packed snack.  Again, processed, and there is 1g of saturated fat, and 200 mg of sodium, so by no means a “health” food but in the arena of processed foods this one is doing way more things right, than wrong!

I was really surprised, given the 10 grams of fiber, they also taste REALLY good!  Whatever tortilla your family enjoys I think they are a great way to help kids help themselves when it comes to snack!

What is it they say “Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today.  Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime”.  We are trying really hard to include the kids in not only making healthy choices, but preparing them!  Tortillas give kids an easy platform to create a healthy snack, all on their own!

This is one my Son likes to make after school:

Peanut Butter Banana Chia Seed Roll Up

Peanut Butter Banana Chia Seed Roll Up
Ingredients:

Serves One

1 whole wheat tortilla

1 ½ tbsp. peanut butter

1 banana

½ tbsp. chia seeds
 
 

Not bad kid!

Easy!  Now his Sister is not a fan of the banana!  So we made up little “tortilla PB&J sushi rolls”!  So far everyone is a fan of these!

Get creative!  Anything will work!  I had one this afternoon with diced apples, hummus and a sprinkle of cheese!  Delish!

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No-Bake Energy Bites

March 6, 2012 · Filed under Breakfast, Kid Tip, kids, Snacks · Tagged , , ,

No-Bake Energy Bites = lots of kid fun

after school fun

You guys have no IDEA how many healthy-ISH dishes I whip up and never share because my kids make faces and run screaming!  Oh, the joys of having me as a Mommy!  But these were total winners and so SIMPLE to make!  I even passed these off as breakfast one morning and they were thrilled…guess who else was thrilled?  Easy peasy!

We have made these a bunch of times now!  The last time my nieces (also huge fans of these little power cookies now) were over so we made it a project.  The kids helped me read the recipe, choose the right size measuring cups, find each ingredient, and we set it all up on this large piece of paper.  It was fun for the big kids to help the little kids see what was what!  It was fun for me to see them get so excited about helping, contributing, and trying to not eat all the chocolate chips when I wasn’t looking!

Then they took turns dumping and mixing!

Emmy, the youngest, getting the peanut butter out all on her own! No easy task!

Smashing the pretzels, which was later voted the "most fun" job

I found these on Smashed Peas & Carrots Blogspot!  I made a bit of a different version, but that is what is so great about these…I don’t think you can screw them up!

 
 
 

No-Bake Energy Bites

(makes 18-20 bites)

 Ingredients:
  • 1 cup oatmeal
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter (or other nut butter)  I used chocolate Almond Butter the 1st time, also very good
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1/2 cup coconut flakes
  • 1/4 cup ground flaxseed
  • 1/2 smashed up pretzels
  • 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
  • 1/2 dried fruit (we usually use a mix of dates and dried cranberries or cherries) 
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 Tbs Chia Seeds (when I have them I throw them in as well)
Directions:
  • Mix all ingredients together
  • place bowl in fridge for 20 to 30 minutes (or in a ziplock if you will be finishing them later)
  • using a tablespoon or melon-baller scoop small balls into your hand and then squish/mush/roll until you get a ball.  Trust me, they stay together.  If for some reason they are not, add more honey, or peanut butter. 
 
There is no end to the fun you can have with these!  My Daughter likes to make pyramids when we are all done!
   
 
I love how I can have all the ingredients ready when they walk in the door and then they get to have all the fun making them! 
 
 
Store them in the fridge or freezer to enjoy anytime! 
 
 
 

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Pineapple Delight!

February 8, 2012 · Filed under Fruit, Kid Tip, kids, Shake It Up!!! · Tagged ,

We are big pineapple fans!!!  If ever there was a food that can instantly transport a person to a place and time, it has to be this one!  Pineapple=Hawaii!  An instant burst of sunshine, a tropical breeze, and hula music playing in the background!  ALOHA!!! 

I love it when they are ripe and in season because they are CHEAP!  $2 or $3 for so much deliciousness!  It must be that time of year because they are popping up in all the stores!  I also love how easy it is to tell if a pineapple is ripe.  You want to look for a golden-yellow color that has started at the bottom and is making its way up towards the top.  Then, of course, smell it…it should smell sweet!  I have always pulled on the leaves at the top.  If you tug and it slips right out your pineapple is ready to eat.  However someone told me this is a myth…I don’t know, it seems to work for me!

Pineapples are such a nice break from apples, bananas, and oranges this time of year.  Remember they have a thick skin so no need to buy organic or worry about any of that.

1 Cup of Pineapple has 80 calories, 2g of fiber and 1 g of protein, not bad for such a sweet treat.  There is 16g of sugar, but all natural from the fruit! And check it out-ALL the Vit C you need in one day in one serving!  Not bad, especially during cold & flu season!

Nutrients in Pineapple
1.00 cup (165.00 grams)
Nutrient%Daily Value
vitamin C 131.4%/manganese 76.5%/dietary fiber 9.2%/vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) 9%/copper 9%/vitamin B1 (thiamin) 8.6%/folate 7.4%

The “Pineapple Boat” is a favorite treat in our home!

Served with awesome chopsticks for easy picking!  Throw a few frozen berries on top and VOILA!

Now if I can do this, anyone can.  I use an ice-cream scooper to get the extra’s out after I cut some of the bigger chunks out.  Here is the best part.  Any of the stuff scooped out, or any pieces that don’t look so great at the end…DON”T toss them!  Put them in a ziplock for the next night! You can also use the other half to fill it all the way up.

So two nights ago was the “Pineapple Boat” and last night was the:  

“Hawaiian Breeze Milkshake”

1/2 cup raspberry Kefir (any flavor or just plain will work), 1 cup almond milk, and the leftover pineapple.  I have to admit it was pretty darn good!  All good stuff, healthy, fun, kid food and two THRILLED kiddos!

Kids chopsticks.  These make eating everything way more fun!!!  Click on the picture and you can see them on the Amazon site.  We received them as a gift-great gift by the way!

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Happy Hearts

February 3, 2012 · Filed under Fruit, Kid Tip, kids, Veggies · Tagged , , ,

I LOVE Valentine’s Day!  I love all things red, pink and heart-shaped!  This is a holiday that took on a whole new meaning for me when I had kids.  They get so excited about all the hearts, all the love…and I get a whole month of spoiling them with all things heart-shaped!  The down side of all this love is it has, like every other holiday, become all about the candy and cupcakes…which is great, in moderation, but sometimes I start to feel overwhelmed…my 90/10 philosophy starts to feel a little more like 50/50 as the sugar creeps in.

But healthy can still be fun, and if anything it shows even more love as we watch out for their little hearts and minds.  Today I made some heart-shaped fun for four little ones and honestly you would have thought I had served pink cupcakes with extra sprinkles…they were thrilled and the plate was cleared in under 5 minutes!  I think we sometimes under-estimate what will put smiles on their little faces!

Ingredients:  Fruit & veggies, cheese, pretzels

I used watermelon, strawberries (cut in half already look like hearts), & cucumbers

Tools:  Heart-shaped cookie cutters (you can get a set of all sizes at Michael’s for under $5) & an apple corer

 
Also try coring an apple, slicing it and filling it with cheese.
 
Or just stick to plain old crackers & cheese.
 

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Matcha Smoothie

February 1, 2012 · Filed under Costco, Kid Tip, kids, Products I can't live without, Shake It Up!!!, Vegetarian · Tagged , , , , ,

Think Green!!!

I LOVE Matcha Green Tea.  I am an addict!  My previous post on Matcha lists all the great reasons to drink it, Matcha? You Betcha!

I find around 3:30 to 4pm I need a little pick me up and this has been my go-to snack as of late. 

Matcha Smoothie

1 cup ice

1 cup Almond Milk

2 teaspoons Matcha Green Tea powder

(I mix it up with a little hot water from the microwave before dumping in the blender)

Blend and serve!   

If you don’t like the taste of Matcha…add 4 to 5 drops of agave nectar or stevia to the mixture while it is blending.  I grab a handful of pistachios (about 1/4 a cup) and I am golden!

This afternoon pick me up weighs in at 200 calories, 17 g of fat (heart-healthy fats from nuts, remember these fats do not make you fat), 7g of protein, 4g Fiber, along with Vit A, Vit C, Calcium, Iron, Vit D, Vit E, Potassium, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Thiamin, Copper, & Vit B6-hard to beat this combo! (Just the smoothie is 40 calories).

And takes less than 5 minutes to make!  Easy!

The kids?  No, I don’t have them on Matcha tea…YET!  But they join me with the pistachios and sliced up pear…still green…still easy…and so GOOD for them!

We love to shell pistachios in our house, but you can also buy them shelled.  Costco sells “Wonderful Pistachios“, just make sure you measure out the 1/4 of a cup…1/2 a cup becomes closer to a meal, than a snack.

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Apple Sandwich

January 28, 2012 · Filed under Kid Tip, kids, Snacks, Sweet Treats · Tagged , , , , , , ,

Above is an apple corer.  If you do not have one, you need one.  You can get them at Safeway, or any kitchen store.  If I was handed one more wet, slopped-on, slurped-on apple core “Here Mom, I am done with this” I think my head would have exploded.  My husband brought this home a couple of months ago and it is my new favorite kitchen accessory!

So the apple corer, led to the apple sandwich, the new “Favorite” snack at our house!

1)  Core and slice apples, not too thin

2) Add peanut butter, or whatever nut butter your kids like

3) Add toppings (dried cherries, cranberries, jelly, chocolate chips, granola, sunflower seeds, whatever they will eat) I added some chocolate syrup on this one.  Listen…health food?  No.  But you have to keep it real, and fun.  A serving of chocolate syrup is 1 tbl, there is not even 1/2 a tablespoon used here…I can live with that, and it makes them feel like they got an extra somethin’ somethin’!

4) Add the top and serve

Another fun, healthy snack we all can live with!

Now that, is Good Stuff!

Chocolate Hazelnut

 

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Added Bonus…I get to say Rappleberry!

November 11, 2011 · Filed under Brands I Love, Eat this - Not that, grains, Kid Tip, kids, Organics, Products I can't live without, Snacks, Vegetarian · Tagged , , , ,

Not much of a bagel fan.  Never have been.  400 calories of enriched flour settling into my blood stream just makes me tired!  But my family LOVES bagels!!!  My Husband is from New York and he makes it his mission to locate the best bagel no matter where in the world we may be.  He and the kids go to bagels every Saturday morning, a tradition they all look forward to. 

About a month ago I stumbled onto a pretty reddish/pink bag in the bread aisle at the PCC that said “Rappleberry” on it!  Intrigued to see they were actually bagels I brought them home and served them (sprouted and all) to the pickiest bagel eaters I know and wouldn’t you know it…they LOVED THEM!

I love them because I can get a fabulous, fiber-filled, hi-protein breakfast into my kids in a hurry on school days and know they will make it to lunch without crashing and burning into a sleepy funk.  It is hard to believe these bagels are THIS good, given they are full of healthy stuff and really they are Sprouted Wheat, but TRUST me, they are DELISH!  I do wish they came sliced, but I just slice them when I buy them, place them back in the bag and keep them in the freezer.  They go straight into the toaster and do not get chewy or stale tasting like a regular bagel can.

I have to say all these fabulous new products sure do make clean eating a whole lot easier, and a whole lot more fun!  Who isn’t going to love saying “Rappleberry”?

Rappleberry Bagel

Noah’s Plain Bagel

260 Calories

350 Calories

Total Fat 1.5g

Total Fat 1g

Cholesterol 0mg

Cholesterol 0mg

Sodium 290mg

Sodium 700mg

Total Carbs 49g

Total Carbs 77g

Sugar 13g (naturally occuring from fruit)

Sugar 5g

Protein 15g

Protein 12g

Fiber 10g

Fiber 2g

Potassium 270mg

Potassium 0mg

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Back-up dinner #2!

September 24, 2011 · Filed under Kid Tip, legumes, Quick Dinner Ideas · Tagged , , , ,

A while back I posted the 1st of three “Go-to” dinners I use when I am in a pinch.  I always keep these items in my house and when I am stuck, and in a hurry I have dinner, one I can live with!  Back-up dinner #1 was a bag of frozen shrimp, and I wrote about the different ways I use them.  You can read up on that post here.

The second two items I ALWAYS have in my pantry are a bag of Tostada’s and a can of black beans (whole beans or black refried beans).  The tostada itself is not super healthy, and is processed, but compared to ordering pizza or hitting McDonald’s, I am pretty confident this is the better choice.  It is also a vessel…transporting healthier ingredients into my kids tummys!

Kind of like make your own pizza, the kids can get super into making their own tostada, and I posted about that as well, a great, fun dinner to involve your kids in! Jessica’s Tostada, can be read here.

But back to being in a hurry.  On these nights they are not jumping in, I am just trying to get them fed with food that doesn’t make me cringe.  If I get nothing else on these besides black beans and cheese, I am happy.  But if I have any lettuce, or an avocado, corn…anything I can mix it in! 

Black beans are an amazing food!  Can you beat 15 g of fiber, 15 g of protein, no sugar, trace amounts of fat? 

Nutrition Highlights

Black beans (cooked, boiled), 1 cup (172g)
Calories: 227
Protein: 15.2g
Carbohydrate: 40.8g
Total Fat: 0.9g
Fiber: 15g
*Excellent source of: Iron (3.61mg), Magnesium (120mg), Phosphorus (241mg), and Folate (256mcg)
*Good source of: Zinc (1.93mg), Thiamine (.42mg), and Niacin (2mg)

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Justin’s Nut Butter

September 23, 2011 · Filed under Brands I Love, Kid Tip, kids · Tagged , ,

I love Justin’s Nut Butters, my personal favorite being Chocolate Hazelnut.  I am not claiming this is “health food” but it is certainly a better alternative than a lot of snack foods that line our shelves!  2Tbl has 3 g fiber and 5g protein, and Justin’s is free trade, prepares their nut butters from the freshest ingredients, and in small batches.  It is just a fun, yummy product!

I always microwave peanut butter (not in the jar, nor in plastic folks) for about 10 seconds so it will smooth onto the bread easier.  Well, oops the other day I hit 1 minute, and then got distracted.  BEST mistake EVER!

So the kids and I started dipping into our melted yumminess…apple slices and then some pretzels , when a brilliant, if I don’t say so myself, idea struck!

We dipped, then froze our concoction and they are simply divine!

Melt, dip, lay on wax paper on a plate or tray.  Place in freezer and that is it!

About three hours later when we checked them.

Throw in a bag, back in freezer and a great high protein/fiber snack that the kids had fun making, an is actually pretty healthy!

I buy Newman’s Own because I try to avoid the white flour most pretzels are made from.  They have Spelt, Whole Wheat, & High protein.  They are not inexpensive, but kind of like buying organic fruit…we don’t waste them.  So instead of throwing the bag on the counter and letting the kids eat them until they feel sick, they get a portion in a bowl…and that is that.  20 pretzels runs about 100 calories, 4g of fiber and 5 g of protein.  We used two tablespoons of Justin’s to cover a whole tray of pretzles…so like I said, not too high in calories and lots of good stuff snuck in!

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mason jars, the perfect container

September 6, 2011 · Filed under Kid Tip, kids, Products I can't live without, Snacks · Tagged

I LOVE mason jars.  I love to put flowers in them, serve iced tea in them, use them for pens, pencils and paint brushes.  This summer I started using them to store snacks in.  Here’s why:

I am a visual person and I eat what I see.  One of the easiest things I did in cleaning up my eating was getting the JUNK out of my house.  I was never the type of unhealthy eater that walked around thinking about what kind of crud I was going to inflict bodily harm upon myself with next.  However when I was hungry and I opened that pantry door…if I SAW it, I ATE it!

I know I have said it a million times and I will not stop preaching that preparation is 99% of the arsenal you need to win the battle against junk-food!  It is when we surround ourselves with garbage, or venture out into the world hungry that almost all of the damage is done.

So I noticed this to be true with my kids.  Neither of them have any weight issues to date.  So far they know and use food as fuel, energy that keeps them going.  But what I was finding was when they were rummaging through the pantry I had no idea how much of the food in there they were eating at a time.  It wasn’t until they would hand me an empty bag or box that I knew an item was gone.  I also realized early on that when a child is hungry and you provide the snack they eat it, even if EXTREMELY healthy!  However if you tell them to help themselves they will choose the easy, fast options…crackers, bars, goldfish.

I can’t always be standing by to prepare a healthy snack.  And honestly at the rate these two eat (all day long) I don’t even want to try…I would do nothing else.  So I have taken to placing the options I am happy with in Mason jars on the counter.  Here they get choices, I get an idea of how much they are eating, and all the snacks stay fresh!  Plus I know when I need to buy more, verses finding the empty package on the floor of the pantry when I go to make lunches!

When I can make it I do.

When I can’t they can help themselves!

WHY MASON JARS?
1. Dishwasher safe
2. Re-usable
3. Not plastic (though hard to break)
4. Clear
5. Stain-proof
6. Make food look delicious
7. Stackable and packable
8. Lids and jars can be purchased separately
9. Help control portions
10. Inexpensive

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