Kid Friendly Green Smoothies/Popsicles

Creamsicle Green Smoothie

1 cup water
1 cup of rice or almond milk
2-3 large spoonfuls of orange juice concentrate
1 large bunch of spinach
1 tsp vanilla
approx 2 cups of frozen peaches

Blend until smooth. Serve as a drink or freeze in popsicle molds with leftovers.


Peanut Butter Chocolate Green Smoothie

2 cups of rice or almond milk
1 large bunch of spinach
1-2 tbsp of organic peanut butter
2 tbsp of honey or agave nectar
2 frozen organic bananas
handful of ice
small handful of organic chocolate chips

Blend until smooth. Serve as a drink and freeze the rest in popsicle molds.

Planning ahead for sporting events

My children are both involved in different sports and activities. My son plays hockey, loves to ski, was on the school volleyball team and he is on his school running team. My daughter figure skates, takes a yoga class, acro class and is playing soccer this summer. Having activities at different times of the week and weekend can be a challenge feeding them healthy options before leaving or while at the activity.
Tomorrow morning my son has to meet his running club downtown at 7:30 am and we need to pick up his friend at 7 am. Planning ahead for events like this make a big difference. I know that he will not be hungry before leaving here at 6:50 am but will need to eat before the race. I have packed a picnic in our cooler backpack for the car for the 3 kids to eat,and have drinks for them for before and after the run. I have also made breakfast for my husband and I so we can have a quick breakfast before leaving. I got the organic coffee ready, a must for early mornings. I also prepared a container of vegan overnight oats. This was the first time making this recipe so if it turns out well I will post the recipe. I am also packing water for us for the event.
I find planning ahead whenever possible saves a lot of time, extra expenses and you can pack foods you know your children will eat and enjoy.

What's For Dinner?

This is a common question in many homes everyday. Trying to find a meal that everyone enjoys, that does not take too long to make, and is healthy can be a challenge. I will begin next week sharing our weekly menu plan for dinners and will continue offering suggestions for meals. If you have specific needs for meal ideas please let me know so I can offer suggestions. I can provide meal ideas for gluten free, dairy free, vegan, and other requests. If your family has foods they love I can also make suggestions.
I will start off this What's For Dinner series with an easy summer dinner meal.
~Summer salads; A great way to get the kids involved in preparing the meal and serving themselves. Start with a green such as lettuce, spinach, or mixed greens and place them in a bowl or on a plate after you have rinsed them. Pick a protein, this can be any kind of grilled meat, cheese, rinsed canned beans,cottage cheese, hard boiled eggs cut up, nuts or seeds. Then some fresh vegetables or fruit such as berries, peppers, carrots, cucumbers, fresh herbs,etc. All the items you have chosen can be put in separate bowls or a big plate for serving. Pick a few dressings to choose from, store bought or you can make your own. Have lots of variety and let each person make their own personalized salad. Leftovers can be used the next day for lunches or snacks.

Our Journey to Real Food

Our journey to changing the way our family eats and more natural living began about 4 year ago. It has been a learning process all along the way and still is. My son Connor, who is now in grade 5 experienced some health problems in grade 1 that changed the way we eat and live for the better. We ate like most typical families would eating a variety of processed and whole foods. We ate a variety of homemade foods, fast food, restaurant, frozen foods, boxed or canned foods, and fresh foods. My son Connor started experiencing some headaches, fatigue, dizzy spells with vomiting, then full migraines. He had every test done and test after test would come back normal but he was still very sick and missing school. We decided when we had ran out of every possible test to do that our doctor could think of that we would go to an alternative doctor to hopefully get some answers. We discovered Connor was very sensitive to many foods including all food colouring, artificial flavours, wheat, yeast,chocolate, dairy,some fruits and vegetables and a lot of other things. He was only concerned that his favourite food in the whole world, potatoes was on the list of foods he should not eat. They recommended a very restricted diet to begin to heal his body and was on some supplements. We began to notice a change in him almost right away and the dizzy spells and migraines were almost gone. We changed the way our whole family ate and almost overnight I learned to prepare foods with grains I had never heard of, read labels, we switched to a lot of organic foods and gluten free foods, ate more fresh foods.
We decided since we are a family we would all eat the way he does and changing my daughter who can be a very picky eater was just as much a challenge if not more.
The road has had many ups and downs. When my son was in grade 2 we knew that he was not learning like the other children were. He has some difficulties with his fine and gross motor control, and with learning. We spoke with his teacher who felt we should have him tested so we went to our family doctor. She offered Ritalin for him and sent us off with a prescription. We decided we would prefer to look for alternatives and made an appt with a psychologist.We had him tested and he has developmental coordination disorder and a learning disability. He has gone through some occupational therapy and had some tutoring. He eats a very natural diet and has supplements. I am very proud of him, he is such a blessing to me and has the biggest heart. He is now in grade 5, he loves to cook and eat and wants to become a chef. He is currently taking cooking lessons at a local restaurant. He plays hockey and skis and loves cars.
This journey has lead me to want to help other families and children going through this as I know it is not an easy one at times. I know the stress, worry, tears and uncertainty this journey can bring at times as well as the joy. I have gone back to school to become a registered Nutritionist. I have finished school and waiting for my marks to graduate the end of June. I hope to do nutritional counselling for children and families to share my passion for nutrition and more natural living.

Hot weather after school snack

Snack after school today for the kids started with a big glass of water, followed by popsicles and slices of watermelon :)What is your favourite hot weather snack?

New Juicer

I received a juicer for my birthday and my family has been having fun making fresh juice. We have juiced organic carrots, watermelon, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and apples. We all loved how fresh they taste and I think the carrot juice was my favourite. I look forward to trying new combinations of fruits and vegetables. What are your favourite fresh juice combinations?

Welcome

A Mom's journey to feed her family real food. I am on a mission to feed my children real food that tastes great. I look forward to sharing recipes, family favourites and ways to get your children involved in the kitchen. I look forward to you joining our family on this journey.