Snacks for those munchkins!

GREAT ALTERNATIVE to fruit snacks.  Stop buying all the processed food especially fruit snacks. Don't be fooled by the label when it says made with real fruit.  They might have a small amount of real fruit but will also have food dyes, sugar, and chemicals. Try making these instead . . .  

I don't know anyone that doesn't love fruit leather.  They are just so good.  I bought them for a long time until I realized how easy they are to make.  I use the dehydrator but you can use your oven on low heat. Perfect for your diaper bag or snack on the go.

Puree the fruit you want to use.  Our favorite leathers are plums.  I have jars of pureed  plums that are all ready to go.  They work better if there's some chunks and you don't want them too watery.

Spread out onto trays. Leave in dehydrator for around 6 hours or longer.  Check them every couple hours.  I usually lower the setting and keep it going all night.  If you use the oven bake for 3 -4 hours.


Look at my cute little 2-yr-old making them.  Told you it was easy.

My Cookie recipe, perfect for lactose & gluten free

I made up this recipe for Raw Cookies.  I've made them probably 50 times over the last year and keep some in my cookie jar.  My younger kids love eating these little treats.   I love that! So here's how you do it. 

2 T coconut oil
1/4 c oatmeal
1 c almonds, cashews, pecans, sunflower seeds, walnuts (I just mix a bunch of these together)
1/2 c almond butter
1/4 c water (sometimes more if it's really dry)
1/3 c Agave Nectar
1/4 c Cacoa Nibs
1/4 c Coconut
1/2 c  Coconut Flour
1/4 tsp Salt 
1/2 tsp Vanilla sometimes I use maple
                                                    1/2 c organic chocolate chips made with agave or organic sugar

Put all the nuts into the food processor.  If you don't have one of these then use something that will chop the ingredients into a pulp.  My kids won't eat them if there's chunks of nuts.  I love having the chunks but it's all about them.  I used a coffee grinder for the past year til I got my sweet food processor for Christmas (thanks honey).

Then in a bowl mix all the ingredients together. 
Shape into balls then smoosh them down in the dehydrator trays.  If you don't have a dehydrator then you can use the oven on the lowest setting for 1/2 hour.  I leave them in the dehydrator for 2 hours.  

This makes 2 dozens unless you eat the dough.  Sometimes we make these just for the cookie dough.  Yummy!

Best Chocolate Smoothie. IT Rocks my World!

Have you ever heard of raw chocolate? I love it.  I make cookies, smoothies, chocolate sauce, etc with it and it's even good for you. Lots of antioxidants and magnesium.

Today I made the best protein shake. I watched a video on superfoods http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1RuaqbtuHE&feature=related and raw choc powder is the absolute best thing just packed with tons of vitamins and minerals. I felt so much energy after drinking this.  So here's the recipe for the best protein shake ever (congrats to me for coming up with it).

1 cup coconut milk                                                                        
1 cup organic rice milk (try chocolate flavor--It's GOOOOOOD!)
2 cups water
handful of ice
handful frozen strawberries
2 frozen banana or fresh (doesn't matter)
1 scoop brown rice protein
1 T raw cacao (chocolate) powder http://www.sunfood.com/buy/1/5/504/Cacao--Chocolate--Powder--16-oz--Sunfood--raw--certified-organic-/1004.aspx
1/2 T maca http://www.sunfood.com/buy/1/88/518/Maca--16-oz-1lb--raw--certified-organic-/1167.aspx
1 tsp.probiotics
1 T flax seed oil (can use avocados instead)
 handful of raw almonds. I usually soak these overnight. (yummy)
6 servings

 Look at all the vitamins and minerals my girl is drinking.  I love to see that!

don't look back! just toss the junk

It's time to clear the junk out of the house.  Here's a funny story that might inspire.

I had a jar full of mini marshmallows I had for potty treats.  It was more like leftovers from a party or something so if Tallyoop went potty she'd get 1 mini marshmallow. Oohh!  It was funny.  I've been making dried fruit for the last week and love having the fruit in jars on the buffet in the kitchen for me and the kids to snack on.  I had already filled up all the jars I had but still had a dehydrator full of fruit.  I saw the jar of marshmallows and sat there with what seemed like quite the dilemma the way I was acting.  “Should I throw out the marshmallows?” “Oh I couldn’t waste them, it’s food (well kind of).” Back and forth I went for a few seconds as my husband walks in and asks me what I am doing?  I told him I was trying to decide if I should throw away the marshmallows so I could use the jar for dried fruit. I had pulled them out of the jar and shoved them back into the jar 2 times already.  He just laughed, called me a freak, and walked out.  Thanks for your help honey.  Ultimately, the marshmallows were tossed into the garbage. I had to make room for the dried fruit.  Looking back, should I have really had to think about it so hard?

 

So here's your chance...Don't even think about it.  Throw out the junk food. Make room in those cupboards for the good stuff.

I love good bread. Here's my recipe.

There's nothing better than coming home to hot bread just out of the oven.  Don't you love the smell!!  Unfortunately that never happens to me but I like to think about that as I'm making bread for my family. My mom would bake whole wheat bread several times a week while I was growing up.  The smell today still reminds me of coming home from school smelling my mom's bread and tasting it with butter and honey.  It was my favorite snack. Now as I pull a hot loaf of bread out of the oven that memory shatters when I hear my kids say, "OH, not HOMEMADE bread again, why can’t we just buy bread like everyone else?"


I try to explain to them that the bread found in the stores is full of chemicals and preservatives unless it costs like $5 a loaf.  Expensive.  That's why I started making my own bread.  I've gotta say I used to be scared to make bread.  I felt like it was going to take me ALL day so I had to plan out this HUGE block of time.  That's such a fallacy.  Once you bite the bullet and do it a few times you'll see that it's very EASY.  If I can do it, so can you.  That's the truth.  I learned to make bread from my wonderful sister and mom.  Thanks ladies!

The best thing about this recipe is it's lower calories than regular whole wheat bread.  Not only that it's a low gluten bread making it easier to digest.  This is perfect for those with wheat sensitivities. For gluten free substitutes click the link below.


Here's the recipe:
Put these ingredients in your mixing bowl
3 cups hot water
1 T salt
1/3 C Olive Oil or I use Safflower Oil
1 heaping Tablespoon of Honey
2 Cups Flour  (I use Wonder Flour) http://www.chefbrad.com/grain/articles.php?article=Wonder%20Flour&qid=5
Start mixing 
While mixing add 1 T yeast and 1 T dough enhancer or liquid lecithin (added nutrients that also make bread moister)
Add 4-6 more cups of flour til dough  pulls away from sides of the bowl.
Mix on medium speed for 15 minutes.

Shape dough and place in tins.  Let rise.

The cool thing about the dough enhancer or liquid lecithin is that it rises faster.

BAKE at 350 for 45 minutes.

Enjoy it despite what your kids might say.

My OH MY!

I saw on a commercial the other day that children now need 90 minutes of exercise a day to prevent the risk of being overweight.  Wow.  That's almost ridiculous.  My kids lose focus after about a 1/2 hour. I've got a better idea.  How about cutting out the high fatty foods and highly processed foods from their diets?  Go here to read the stats...http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/childhood/index.htm

If you've just joined me on my blog, I posted earlier about keeping a food journal.  This is an important step to making a health change.  It's a big eye opener to see how much we eat and don't realize it.  If you don't do it already start writing down what you eat and how much.  Get an idea of how many calories a day you are taking in and how many your kids do as well.  Here's a good site I use: http://pediatrics.about.com/library/bl_calorie_calc.htm    How many calories do you think a kid needs each day?  Check out the link and see.

I started being more aware of the calories I intake and my children intake.  Portamus Prime is 7 and he looks like he's 10.  He's a foot taller than everyone in his class and is big boned.  He also loves to eat.  He's got my husband's mold.  My husband is a big AND VERY HANDSOME guy.  Love you honey. (check him out on this site http://www.thefatshed.blogspot.com/  Anyways, I know if my son came home from school and there were chips or donuts or other high fatty and processed foods in the cupboard or if the dinners I made were from boxes or driving to a  fast food place that he'd be overweight.  He's just got that body structure and metabolism.  I'm giving him this gift and knowledge now so that he doesn't end up with a disease down the road from being obese. 

On average a boy between the ages 4-8 needs 1400 calories. If you eat 3 meals and 3 snacks each day then that is around 233 calories each. (Did that one in my head.  My math skills are superb!!!  Good thing since I teach math).  However, usually our meals are a bit more calories then snacks.  So I usually figure that a meal will be 350 calories and snacks will be between 100 and 150 calories.  Think about what you are feeding your kids.  

Let's say you have pizza for dinner.  A slice of pizza has around 300 calories more or less depending on the restaurant.  I've seen my kids eat 2 pieces at a sitting and try to eat more.  That's almost 1/2 of the daily calorie needs right there at one meal.

Take a Happy Meal at Wendy's.  It's close to 350 calories for the Happy Meal with apples and milk.  Double that for the pop and fries and frosty--that's around 700 calories. AHHH!

A peanut butter sandwich on white bread is close to 325 calories.  If it were on whole wheat it's closer to 250 calories.

Go here to add up the calories you eat.  It's easy all you do is type it in.http://caloriecount.about.com/

SO TIP OF THE DAY!!!! START TRACKING THOSE CALORIES.  IF YOU CHOOSE HEALTHY ALTERNATIVES THEN IT'S POSSIBLE TO STAY WITHIN THE DAILY CALORIC NEEDS.  IF YOU DON'T THEN YOU WILL MOST DEFINITELY GO OVER... WAY OVER.

A little too much education

I've been teaching my older children about the calories that food has, the purpose for calories, etc.  My kids always want to eat my high protein meal replacement bars I eat when I'm working out hard.   In which I always respond that they are for adults and that they have too many calories for children.  Today my 2 year old asked my sister for a granola bar.  Tallyoop said it's okay because they didn't have any calories and that her mommy would let her eat them.  She assured my sister that there wasn't any calories in it.  How cute is that?  My sister is beginning to think there's something wrong when a 2 year old is talking about calories.  She's also been known to tell my family that it's okay if she has candy because it doesn't have sugar in it.  I guess you never know what little ears are listening!  Am I nuts?