Banana Berry Hemp Seed Smoothie

Every once in awhile I'm a little bit lazy to plan a full meal for dinner. Luckily my husband likes to cook and will come up with an awesome meal idea when I'm not feeling it. But he's not always able to fill in the gaps between school, work (he's on call at dinner hour sometimes) and the kids sporting events. We had one of those nights recently. He was taking Amberly to her softball game and wouldn't be home for dinner. So, I called an audible. Leftovers for mom and the boys could have chicken nuggets. They're totally processed and I'm not proud of it, but sometimes we need a quick fix. I asked the boys if they wanted pasta (organic noodles and sauce by the way) to go with it and they both said no. Guess what happened about an hour after dinner? They both said they were still hungry. I should have just put some carrots and cucumbers (both organic) on their plate with the chicken nuggets but I didn't.

Hmmmm..... What could I make that was quick and would fill their half empty bellies? Hey, how about a smoothie? "Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" was the reply I got. A winner just about every time! Normally we have smoothies during the day, they make the perfect after school snack. I don't know if I've ever given them a smoothie as an after dinner snack. To be honest I'm generally one to say no when the kids ask if they can have something after dinner and they know it. But of course I knew I hadn't prepared a decent meal and wanted to remedy that. 

We've been trying out a variety of smoothie combinations. I'll be the first to tell you that they don't always pan out. But this one did! I went wanted ingredients that were simple and filling and healthy. I think we came up with just what the boys needed.

Banana Berry Hemp Seed Smoothie: (3 servings)

 

                             

                                                                      Just 5  Ingredients                                      

1 cup green juice
2 heaping cups frozen mixed berries
1 banana
1 cup vanilla yogurt - I used Mountain High Yoghurt

2 TBPS hempseed

1 additional TBSP hempseed for topping
fresh blackberries for topping

Add the first 5 ingredients to your high-speed blender. Blend on high for about a minute or so until you see all the ingredients blended and you end up with a nice berry color.

After you pour your tasty smoothie, top off with a sprinkle of hemp seed and fresh blackberries.

Truly you can add any fresh berries as garnish. We just happen to have hundreds of blackberries ripe for the pickin' right now and need to make use of them every opportunity we get!

                                                                       
                                                       Blackberries from our back yard

At first I was a little concerned that the bitter taste of the green juice would over power the smoothie. However, the Vanilla Mountain High Yoghurt provided just the right balance of sweetness to offset it and gave the perfect smooth finish. You can get your coupon to give Mountain High Yoghurt a try here.

Adding the hemp seed to the smoothie adds some extra protein. Protein is filling. Plus, I enjoyed the nutty flavor of the extra hempseed on top.

Give this smoothie recipe a try! I'd give it 5 out of 5 stars!

You can find other great smoothie recipes by following Mountain High Yoghurt on Pinterest. Or follow them on Instagram to find out when their Simplicity Tour will be making a stop near you!

Owen was especially pleased with the results!

Red, White and Blueberry Simple Yoghurt Parfait

Today it was all about the yoghurt parfait. And simplicity. We've been trying to find simple, yet healthy snacks to mix things up a bit. Since Amberly loves helping in the kitchen I recruited her for this healthy snack mission and she happily obliged! With berries in season, this was a good time to recreate a personal favorite....

First, we headed to our local grocery store to purchase items for our Red, White and Blueberry Simple Yoghurt Parfaits. Red, white and blue make it perfect to enjoy for 4th of July celebrations you have coming up. Simple means you don't have a lot to fuss over and you can put the kids in charge of making it themselves.

1. Fresh Strawberries (Red)
2. Granola (for crunch factor!)
3. Mountain High Vanilla Yoghurt (White)
4. Fresh Blueberries (Blue)

Once we got home we were sure to rinse our berries.

Next, I had Amberly mash the strawberries to release more of their juice since that juice lends it's sweet flavor to each spoonful.

We found our strawberries were a bit tart. So we added 2 tsp. of sugar to the 1 pound of sliced strawberries before mashing them.

Now we have our layers lined up. It made sense to use ice cream scoops for simplicity

Now for assembly of the Red, White and Blueberry Simple Yoghurt Parfait!

Strawberries and granola. Check.

Mountain High Vanilla Yoghurt. Simple.

Then, blueberries. And repeat!

Now that is a beautiful and simple parfait!

She had so much fun creating this!

She can't wait to make these again! And neither can her brothers, whom she shared this with since we went a little overboard on layering. Good thing it is a healthy snack!

I love the idea of getting kids in the kitchen. The trick is to start off simply. We hope you try it with your kids this summer!

Thank you for checking out Mountain High Yoghurt. Doing so makes it possible for me to continue blogging. Be sure to download your coupon on their site HERE.

For more simple inspiration and healthy recipes visit Mountain High Yoghurt on their Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest pages!

I've linked up this post over at....

Healthy Team Snacks - Part One

This year my husband decided to coach our youngest child in Little League. I thought this would be my perfect opportunity to implement Healthy Team Snacks by taking on the Team Parent role. 

When we had our first parent meeting I was glad to hear that many of the parents were on board with keeping the snacks healthy. One mom even came over and said "and make the snacks organic!" That was music to my ears, I had to give her a hug.

Our kids have been involved in team sports for 5 years now and I had witnessed the trend of junk and overly processed food as the easy grab and go option become the norm. It was my goal to help parents see the value of healthy snacks and see that it didn't really take a lot of time and that our kids would really eat them. I'm of the mindset that we can effectively impact their long term health by providing opportunities to eat healthy, especially when they are among their peers, whether that be at playgroup, birthday parties, team sports or school lunch. 

I know I don't want to lug a cooler to the fields when it's my turn to bring team snack. An easy solution is to get an insulated carrying case that you might use for picnics. We happened to win this one at a silent auction filled with goodies from Humphries Half Moon Inn & Suites a few years ago and it has gotten its fair share of use!

This reusable Hot & Cold Pack from Rite Aid has been an integral part of our Healthy Team Snack Bag because I'm usually packing something that needs to stay cold.... and it's not drinks.... this season I explained that the kids had their water bottles in the dug out and they don't need sugary drinks.

Recently, it was our turn to bring team snack. This particular week I did have a couple of organic items on hand that were perfect for team snack. It was actually organic baby carrots from Costco that served as my gateway to buying organic.

The Organic Valley "Stringles" is just one of the small changes we made in our food purchases after I attended ShiftCon.

Costco doesn't have organic grapes (at least the one I live closest to), so I normally give them a water-vinegar bath. I was out of vinegar this particular day and used Apple Cider Vinegar with water to rinse off some of that chemical residue. It's an important step because grapes are on the EWG Dirty Dozen. Sometimes I can't remember which items are on the Dirty Dozen and find myself second guessing myself when I'm grocery shopping. Well, the EWG has made it easier for us mom....  offering a free Consumers Guide to Pesticides in Produce bag tag when you support them with a $10 donation. I just did this and will be sure to share when I receive it!

I'm glad I got turned onto Braggs ACV and had it on  hand because I end up using it for a bunch of things.

 As I've mentioned before, clementines are a staple in our house, so adding one of those to each snack bag would ensure there was something in there that every kid liked. Really, when you think about it, generally kids like all of these things!

Putting 12 of these baggies together took about 20 minutes because I had to let the grapes soak. Keeping the team snack cool is critical if you want it to be well received.

We don't keep score, so at the end of the game everyone is a winner. And I feel like I'm a winner too when I can help a bunch of kids embrace healthy eating! 

I've linked up here....

Real Solutions for Picky Eaters - Part 3

Finding that happy balance between the kids having snacks they want or love and mom feeling good about what she's serving can be like walking a tight rope. My kids' idea of a snack and my idea of a snack are sometimes farther apart than I would like to admit. I'd love to gloat and say that my kids come home from school asking for carrots and broccoli, but they don't. They generally want something sweet. Or something that is essentially all carbs. We have to meet in the middle in order to have some sanity in our house.

Last week I shared how we implemented our Healthy Fridge Snack Box and it was a huge hit!

There are so many reasons why this was the perfect move for us and we plan to keep it going. To be honest, the "snack box" really became a "snack drawer". I had to empty one of our produce drawers in the fridge to accommodate all the healthy snacks. Anyway, the kids emptied the drawer in a matter of a few days. Well, I couldn't get to the store right away to replenish everything, which means the kids had a lot of repeats of things that are easy like bananas and clementines and organic baby carrots, things we always have on hand.. Finally, I made time to go to Costco. But not before having the kids help me create the grocery list. We have found that to be very helpful in getting them to eat a variety of foods. 

Our kids know then that there is something coming home from the store that they chose. I think kids are no different than adults and like to have some feeling of control. This gives them some sense of control. Everyone gets a say in what we put in the shopping cart!

The kids specifically wanted more blueberries and more strawberries! That makes this mama very happy to oblige. Owen piped up that he wanted celery so we could make ants on a log. Easy. Done. We talked about getting green versus red apples and I said I wanted to get the organic prepackaged apples again because apples are at the top of the Dirty Dozen list, it saves me time not having to slice them and they don't turn brown. This is what we came home with from that Costco trip:

I love how many more organic items I am finding at Costco! Plus, they have made it so much easier to spot organic items by using green price labels on the warehouse shelves.
About half of what I bought this trip was organic! It makes snacking that much healthier. I've been talking to the kids about why we've been switching to organic, how it helps to reduce our chemical exposure so they can grow up healthy. When I teach my kids about their food, it seems to make a difference in their becoming conscientious about their choices. I will also teach them about blueberries being high in antioxidants, getting enough vitamin C and vitamin D to keep colds at bay and keeping a strong immune system overall with eating (or drinking!) our greens. I use the educate approach because when kids understand "WHY" we are diligent about eating our fruits and vegetables, they have a greater tendency to hop on board with picking the foods that they know these fun facts about.

Several days a week I work and don't get home until well past the time school lets out. On those days my husband, who works from home, picks the kids up from school and gets them started on their homework and oversees after school snack. While I want to be sure they are eating healthy, my husband doesn't necessarily like me to give too much direction in my absence.... so creating this Healthy Fridge Snack Box has been a great solution for us as parents in several ways.

I spent about an hour preparing the fruits and veggies for the next several days. That means washing them in a vinegar wash to remove any residue left behind, getting items into single serving containers and putting everything away to both optimize the space and still see what choices are available.

When we restocked this week, we had some duplicates from last week, but lots of new things to keep a sense of variety. This also helps the kids remember another important tip.... Eat A Rainbow! Rather than being particular about which foods they eat, I try to make the entire rainbow of fruits and vegetables available.

I find that when there's lots of color on the plate, I automatically am excited about what I'm about to eat.... and kids are no different. There's all kinds of ways you can serve up a rainbow and I love pinning anything the reminds me to put color on the plate.

When I get started preparing everything I make sure I have a bunch of clean individual size containers clean and ready to go.

Organic carrots and broccoli veggie packs are perfect for lunch boxes! To be honest, I don't know that I could get my kids to snack on broccoli.

The kids promised they would eat those veggie packs since I bought this organic ranch dip... oh my gosh, it is so good!

No one is being set up for success when parents have the "It's my way or the highway" mentality when it comes to their kids' food choices. Ultimately, our job is to provide the right balance of nutrition and the child gets to choose what they eat from those options. 

By providing a large selection of healthy snacks that are ready to go I've seen my kids reaching for more wholesome, nutrient dense foods instead of their typical snacks. I have just a couple of their favorites on hand and resisted buying more of the junk food at Costco since we're really committed to this goal of healthy eating, and the kids have really not been asking me "Where's the (fill in the blank with their favorite junk food)?" 

Cherries! The kids would finish the whole Costco package in one sitting if we let them. They didn't ask for cherries, but I knew putting them in the cart would be a hit. They did ask for grapes, so I grabbed those too, but I sure wish Costco had organic grapes since they rank on the Environmental Working Group's Dirty Dozen list.

 

The kids specifically wanted applesauce in the drawer so I made a special stop to buy this and was impressed I could buy organic applesauce and put it into reusable containers for pretty much what I would pay for the prepackaged indv. disposable cups that have extra sugar. 

Attending the Children's Physicians Medical Group picky eaters discussion was beyond valuable even for just the idea that Jaimi at The Stay-at-Home-Mom Survival Guide brought up.... having a healthy snack box in the fridge. Going off of that one idea has helped us in so many ways! I hope some of the other pointers above will provide you with real solutions to help your picky eater. I know these have helped us! What are your tips on helping your picky eater expand their palate? I'd love to hear in the comments below as I am looking to share more ideas in the next post in this series.

Did you miss part one? Read it here.

Did you miss part two? Read it here.

Real Solutions for Picky Eaters - Part Two

Introducing our "Healthy Fridge Snack Box"!

I am so excited to have tackled this simple yet brilliant idea that I got from attending the Children's Physician Medical Group Picky Eaters discussion.

What makes it simple? I didn't have to really make anything new, buy anything new or put in a lot of energy to put this together.

What makes it brilliant? These foods are already things we tend to have regularly stocked, now it just going to have a SPECIAL label and have everything centralized to make my job easier in the long run.

From time to time I have taken time to prepare a few healthy snacks that are easy to grab for the kids, but to be honest, most of the time that meant it was a shelf in the pantry that had some sort of processed or carb loaded food. It has been on my radar to shift away from the processed snacks and I knew I needed to have a game plan but just hadn't devised one yet. And now, Viola!

With this new game plan in mind as I did my grocery shopping at Costco I completely bypassed tempting snack aisle. I'm like most moms, I buy those things because they are total time savers.... but more often than not they lack the nourishment growing bodies need and are high in sugar. So, what exactly did I fill it with?

Organic Blueberries. YUM!

Organic Sliced Apples, pre-packaged to save some time.

Organic Cucumbers

Organic Strawberries

Hard Boiled Organic Eggs

Organic String Cheese

AND I already had organic baby carrots, cherry tomatoes and mandarin oranges on hand!

Even with the goal of steering my kids towards healthier eating options, sometimes I just don't want to prepare the item right at the moment they come running to me for a snack. So, how did I solve that? I spent a few extra minutes while preparing dinner emptying one of our produce drawers and filling it with all the things that I want the kids to have easy access too. It did take a few minutes to pre-rinse and pre-cut a few things and then package some of the things into single serving containers. That small amount of time is going to be so worth it when I can simply direct the next Snack Attack to the centralized Healthy Fridge Snack Box.

Oh and the bonus? Total time saver when I prepare lunch for the kids since many of these items duplicate as healthy lunch items. In fact this Healthy Fridge Snack Box has been helping in so many ways.

After putting this together more ideas have been percolating for changing up what I put in there next week so be sure to stay tuned for a future edition of Real Solutions for Picky Eaters!