Archive for kids

Strawberries.

May 12, 2012 · Filed under Fruit, kids · Tagged , ,

Spring and summer mean fresh, organic strawberries are everywhere I go…my FAVORITE!  I am not sure there is anything that tastes much better than a perfectly ripe strawberry! 

The first thing you need to do is make sure your strawberries are organic.  They are pretty high up on the “Dirty Dozen” list (number 3) and one strawberry can have up to 13 different pesticides.

Once home, remember to store them in your refrigerator because they go bad fast…and only wash what you plan to use, as water accelerates the decomposition!  You also want to be sure and wash them BEFORE you remove the stem as once the cap fills with water the strawberry loses some of its flavor.

Added bonus:  Strawberries are full of antioxidants and have more vitamin C than oranges!

This is our version of strawberry shortcake and a family favorite!  Plus I get a lot of smiles for 2 minutes of work, can’t beat that!

Ingredients:

  • Strawberries
  • Lemon shortbread Cookie (I buy gluten/wheat free ones, 120 calories and only 5g of sugar)
  • Can of whipped cream, soy cream, rice cream…whatever your family uses

 Wash the strawberries and remove stems

Place a small amount of whipped cream in the bottom of the glass and add the cookie

Add Strawberries all around the cookie

 

Add just a touch more whipped cream and voila! 

Under 200 calories, 6g of fat, 6 g !

 

 

 

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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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Happy Friday

March 16, 2012 · Filed under kids · Tagged

Happy Friday!  I hope where you live the sun is shining bright!  Not so much here, I woke up this morning thinking “Maybe we should start building Ark’s?”  Seriously the rain has not let up this week!  Uggh!  I am POWERING through because I have no choice.

Today I made my own sunshine…I know this sounds corny, but I can’t remember the last time I had a quiet Friday morning that was so enjoyable.

Cute story!  Last night my kids were invited to watch a movie.  They had the usual movie “fun food”.  We call ”junk food” “fun food” in our house.  We try to eat “healthy body food” most of the time and we have “fun food” some of the time.  Sooooo…in the car this morning:

Ellie says “Mom when I ate the rice crispy treat and snacks I kind of felt bad last night.  My tummy hurt a little bit.”

Me, “Well, sometimes when we eat those foods that is our body’s way of saying it wasn’t very happy with our food choices.  Remember, what do we call “junk food”?”

Ellie, “Crap.”

OMG!  I almost swerved off the road!  I have never EVER called junk food “crap” to my children, but I am sure I have said it more than once to my Husband.  Just another fabulous reminder that little ears are ALWAYS listening!  Poor Ellie…I was laughing so hard I could barely breathe, but in between breaths I had to explain that it was a bad word, I should never have used, and she can NEVER say that word…still laughing.

Oh the joys of Motherhood!  So I dropped Ellie at school, got a Starbucks, and then took on the task of bringing a snack for my Son’s St. Patrick’s Day Party!  Rainbow fruit skewers have been blowing up Pinterest this week so that was a no brainer.  But still giggling about “crap” I decided to go to the candy aisle and see what “crap” I might be able to “live with” while making the fruit skewers a bit more “fun food”.

I thought the addition of rainbow twizzlers was genius.  So this how I made my own sunshine today!  Cranked up the Ipod…put on a playlist one of my dear friends made me (thanks Stephanie), sipped my Starbucks, threaded fruit skewers, added some “crap”, and smiled because I have a great life, though it may be a little cloudier some days than I care for…this house is filled with lots of sunshine, and not too much “crap”.

TGIF my friends!

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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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Do Better

January 19, 2012 · Filed under 411, Baked Goods, kids, Organics, Recipes · Tagged , , , , , ,

A friend and I say this all the time. Usually laughing at some idiotic, dumb, or senseless thing someone has done…we will look at each other and just say “Come on, DO BETTER!” That is really my motto with the way we eat now, I am just trying to “Do Better”! I am not trying to take the fun out of eating…I am simply trying to just make what we eat real food…instead of everything being packaged, processed…over refined.

We are on our third snow day here in the Seattle area and that means lots of sledding and cozying up by the fire! It also means fun things like baking cookies and making hot cocoa! Yes, we still bake cookies and drink hot cocoa…I promise, I am fun!

Though I realized it would be a bit of experiment when I went to get the ingredients to make the cookies. The recipe would be the same…right off the bag of chips, but the quality of ingredients had changed. Would the end product be the same? Would the kids be able to tell? What the heck…we are snowed in and this is all I got!

Guess what…I think they were better! Could it be? Healthier, better ingredients=a better cookie??? YEP! And my four little helpers showed nothing but complete and utter satisfaction as they gobbled them up! I had to laugh when they asked for milk…apparently you can dip a cookie in Almond Milk and be just as happy!!!

Almond Milk and Power Flour Protein Cookies…nothing but empty glasses, happy kids, and lots of crumbs…Good Food=Good Memories=Good Stuff!

Ghirardelli Chocolate Chip Cookies

  • 2 1/4 cups unsifted flour (so the only flour I had was a batch of protein power flour I keep ready for baking (usually muffins). Based on my results I would say any type of flour…other than white and refined, would be “Doing Better” and work just fine. Try a combo of whole wheat, almond flour…whatever! Bob’s Red Mill makes tons and they are sold pretty much everywhere now!”
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup butter, softened (we use earthbalance when we need butter, worked great. 100% natural, no GMO’s, no transfats, no hydrogenated oils, or artificial ingredients of any kind)
  • 3/4 cup sugar (Whole Foods Brand, Vegan Cane Sugar…thicker granules, but didn’t seem to be an issue)
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed (Private Selection, Organic is what I had in the pantry…a Safeway or Kroger Brand I believe)
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract (we just buy the kind w/o alcohol in it)
  • 2 eggs (always get them with omega 3′s added)
  • 2 cups Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips
  • 1 cup walnuts or pecans (optional)

Directions are on the Ghirardelli Bag! Yummy!

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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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