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!

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 One

#CPMGPickyEaters

Recently I attended an informative evening at Children's Physicians Medical Group right here in San Diego. The highlighted topic is one that many parents are faced with at some point in their parenting journey, picky eaters. Having 3 children with varying degrees of picky eaters palate, I can relate to some of the concerns new parents have and wanted to participate in the sharing of knowledge. Being that this was a special invitation for local bloggers with children, I knew there would be plenty of great minds to tap into.

Dr. Jaime Friedman led the discussion and kept it very casual allowing for questions and sharing of our personal experiences.

Sometimes moms just want to know they are not alone, and it was clear from the chatter both before and during the talk that we could all relate to the very real struggle of having a picky eater in the house.

Image courtesy of Children's Physicians Medical Group

Below are some of the fabulous tips and quips from the night:

Lead by Example. This may entail trying a new food yourself. Or even taking a bite or two of a food you don't like. This one resonates with me because while I am quite the opposite of a picky eater, my husband is and he has "bit the bullet" so to say in order to lead by example and eats more veggies now just to lead by example.

Eat A Rainbow. One we work on quite a bit ever since I became a mom.... though it is still work to get enough greens.

Have your child shop with you and cook with you. I have yet to work on this one with consistency, but now that the kids are older I am going to commit to doing this more. Kids are more likely to try something new if they helped prepare it.

Create a "Fridge Snack Box". This can either be the drawer or a storage container on a lower shelf that is filled with healthy items that your little ones can grab at their discretion such as mandarin oranges, apple slices, organic baby carrots, grapes, string cheese. This is something I got right to work on when I got home!

"Do not make them eat. This should not be a control issue" Dr. Jaime Friedman. We know that toddlers and preschoolers are striving for greater independence and if their perception is that you are taking away their ability to choose when it comes to food, you will be fighting around the dinner table for years to come! I grew up in a house where we had to finish what was on our plate and looking back I think this has affected my relationship with food, I have a hard time leaving food on my plate and recognizing that I'm fulfilled. It doesn't have to be that "over full" feeling. On the flip side of the coin, my sister fought tooth and nail to not eat things she did not like... as an adult, she still does not like certain things. The truth is, we don't ALL like ALL foods!

And one quote I love because it fits in a variety of situations, not just in relation to food....

"Fairness does not mean everyone gets the same thing. It means everyone gets what they need." Dr. Jaime Friedman. My kids are probably going to grow tired of hearing this and repeat it back to me. When I hear something phrased just right that is a lesson my kids need, I like to repeat it. A lot.

There was a lot of information shared that night and Dr. Jaime Friedman shares some highlights from her main points in this short video:

Helping my family eat healthy is something I'm passionate about and I love what CPMG is doing by offering educational events to equip moms with tools to handle important issues and developmental milestones in this parenting roller coaster.

Thank you to Jennifer Humora of The Moms Guide to San Diego for the special invitation! I hope there will be another event like this in the near future, because as moms we feel a connection to those that are supporting us in this journey.

Look for Part Two of my Real Solutions for Picky Eaters!

Bad Mommy Giving In

This evening I gave in. Again. I'm not sure whether to refer to it as giving in, I am so torn based on the information I read about setting boundaries for kids, helping them learn healthy choices, keeping my sanity, and ultimately not being a mean mom or a push over. What was the issue, you ask? Here is my facebook status that prompted this post:

I swear we are buying a fridge lock to stop this night-time-on-the-prowl-snacker-that-does-not-eat-his-dinner-4-year-old from opting out of dinner.

My first son, Kyle, who is 4, is a picky eater. Labels are bad, right? Ugh. But, really, he has a limited array of thngs he will eat... I've seen worse... but, still we have our battles... almost daily.

Early in the day I was ahead of things so I managed to ask myself the 5 o'clock question "what's for dinner" at 10am and then I thought "Hey, if I have the right ingredients on hand I can make a simple no frills crockpot meal!" I was super proud of myself because I used to be totally Type A personality and plan out everything. Then I got pregnant accidently (an oxymoron, right? cuz I was there and there was nothing accidental about the act itself...) with baby #2 and then again with baby #3... who does that? A future post for sure! So, here I am getting back to my meal planning. I've got chicken thighs, cream of chicken and carrots. Thought about doing artichoke or lima beans or even adding frozen peas, but I really want to keep this new crockpot adventure simple the first few times and have less hassles with the kids and hubby about not liking something "new".

Nobody liked the dinner. Except me. Well, hold on. Hubby took some to work and I haven't gotten his feedback yet. Kids had a Hawaiian roll to go with it, they had the option to have fresh baby carrots out of the fridge to replace the cooked carrots. I tried to say "It's like rotisserie chicken!" But that didn't fly.

I suddenly remembered that I had bought a bag of Ghirardelli Limited Edition Peppermint Bark to enjoy while doing Christmas activities (hold on while I go get the bag and make sure I'm spelling that right).




and since we forgot to get them out while decorating the tree today... and I wanted to put on Home Alone for them I resorted to that tactic "For everyone who eats a good dinner I have a chocolate for you." Amberly, who is now 6, usually does a great job with eating a balanced meal... she did in fact eat a little tiny bit of the chicken, ate two rolls, had a handful of baby carrots and we called it even. Owen, who is 2 and is still breastfeeding (so I don't have to worry much about his belly being full cuz he will fill it literally before going to bed), ate his roll, a few baby carrots, and would not touch the chicken, mainly because he heard Kyle saying it was gross. How I love parroting. Not. At least not in this situation, otherwise it is totally adorable and annoying at the same time, if you know what I mean. Kyle, obviously did not eat the chicken forfeited his roll to Amberly, don't ask me why. And he was the one who asked to switch out the cooked carrots for fresh carrots, yet he maybe ate 3.

That bag of Ghirardelli chocolates is calling my name. Good thing I only had one earlier and 3 is considered a serving ; ) Um, does Kyle have this thing about after dinner snacking problem from.... me? Crap. Can we say - LIGHTBULB!

I often will sit and monitor Kyle having a fair number of bites in order to have the treat. Having grown up in a "clean your plate" family, I do not use that method. I give choices about number of bites of foods from their plate and if there is one thing they for sure don't want that item doesn't have to be touched. They can generally have more of a given item so long as it is one of the higher nutrious items on their plate, which means extra roll or pasta doesn't cut it... extra veggies or extra protein totally works. Kyle is not anti protein. He just likes it in the more highly processed form. Hot dogs, chicken nuggets, cheeseburgers - and those he does not like when we grill it "only from a restaraunt". I've gone through my phases of having too much snack food in the house and phases of being ultra healthy. Now, I think we're at a happy medium. We're consistently cooking at home. Instead of the 2 or 3 times a week where we were asking ourselves where are we going for dinner, we're down to about once every 2 weeks, which is a huge victory for us. Problem though is that the kids are still adjusting. I'm still trying to figure out the balance of coming up with meals everyone likes that equals nutrition, not just a full belly. It is a journey. One that apparently has no end.

So, I told Kyle that Amberly and Owen had filled their bellies and he insisted he was not hungry. He has in fact chosen to go to bed hungry on a number of occassions. Those are successful when both hubby and I are here and can split the headache of being consistent. I think one reason this snacking thing came back into play is a babysitter recently advised us that he had gotten out of bed and said he was hungry and asked for a tortilla. Holy shit. That is literally the thought that came to mind but I just smiled and realized it wasn't her fault if I hadn't told her specifically not to allow any snacking after bedtime routine gets underway. It had been awhile since Kyle had played this game. 20-20 hindsight. Now I'll just have a standby written list of rules... guess I better work on that!

I gave Kyle the chocolate. Bad mommy. I totally know better. Don't worry those of you who are shaking your head and tsking. It came back to bite me in the ass.

Owen was really tired, I couldn't fight Kyle to lay in his bed and nurse Owen at the same time. I told him as soon as I got Owen to bed I'd come and get him to put him to bed. He said he was going downstairs to play with Legos. I knew though.

I came downstairs to discover Kyle trying to use a steak knife to cut an apple. WTF! So of course I over react because he has a KNIFE and HE'S FOUR! He wants me to cut it for him. I say no, he can eat it off the core. I tell him Mommy's role of preparing food is over after dinner is over. He does NOT like eating apples this way - yet. I offer him his plate that has not been cleared yet. Fast forward 20 minutes. Maybe longer. He's miserable. I'm miserable. My upset and his upset no longer seem worth it since afterall it is an apple and that is a more nutritional item than a tortilla (that was his old standby, which I'll write about in another post because it involved calling my MIL). At the same time I question my lack of fortitude to power through the upset is going to be a problem tomorrow night, and the next night, and the night after that....

My best friend struggles with a picky eater 4 year old son too. Her husband recently sent me a message on FB:

I attended a lecture which talked about how kids taste buds are genetically programmed and evolve with age. Such that, forcing kids to eat will not make them eat and "the 1950s style of eat it and like it" will not make them like foods any sooner than when their DNA tells them too. Key thing was most pickiness resolves itself with age as the genes allow more foods to wave through the taste buds. Pretty fascinating and seemed right up your alley. Theme was to try to give kids what they like to eat, within reason. Good to see science debunk the crazy myths of our parents.

I always think my situation is way tougher. Why? Cuz I walk in my shoes. But, really I know I'm not alone in this struggle to find "the right answer" so chime in and give me your slice of the pie. I'm a tough cookie, I can take some constructive criticism... maybe some more of us moms will have our eyes opened to some great tools even!