Didn't We Just Eat?!

Lately I have been hearing, "I'm hungry." and "I'm starving!" or "Tengo hambre." And all I can think of is that we just ate an hour ago!! So this week since we have company and no school, I decided to declare war on hunger! I have planned every meal of the day and two snack times at 10 and 3 for the next week. I thought I would share some of the snack ideas I found in my search because sometimes we need some ideas to get us out of our food ruts.

Homemade Trail Mix--these are less expensive than store-bought, easy to throw together, they'll always be a hit since you can put the ingredients they like in it. Some of the mixes I've done: peanuts, pretzels and craisins; almonds, chocolate chips, pretzels, Rice Chex and banana chips; really the possibilities are endless!

Apples, Almonds, String Cheese

Yogurt Parfait--again your only limits here is your creativity and your kids' taste buds. I've done layered granola, vanilla yogurt and strawberries. My mom threw together frozen blueberries, yogurt, almonds and a dash of cinnamon.

Veggies and Dip--one recipe I'm trying this week: Peel and chop 1 ripe avocado; place in a medium bowl; mash with a fork. Stir in 1 cup plain yogurt, 1 tbsp lemon juice and 1/4 tsp cumin or oregano. Makes 2 cups. Serve with cut-up raw vegetables.

Another recipe I found--Apple-Cheese English Muffin Pizzas
Split and toast 2 English muffins, slice1 large apple and cut 4 square slices of Cheddar cheese in half. Spread each muffin half with 1 tbsp of cream cheese; top with apple slices and 2 pieces of cheese. Heat in toaster oven 30 seconds or until cheese melts. Dot with dried cranberries.

Green/Fruit Smoothies--My friend Tammie has delicious smoothie recipes on her blog Simple, Healthy, Tasty

Homemade Protein/Energy Bars--I'm trying some recipes here (if you look on the left side bar there are more recipes like that one). I've yet to try them but they look good.

Any good ideas? Please add to the list! Have a great snack!

Can't Be Beet!

I bought seeds for my garden way back in February and my husband did most of the planting. I had been cutting greens off a plant that I thought was swiss chard but upon closer inspection I realized it was really beets!

So I tried this fun smoothie from Tammie's blog called Can't Be Beet Smoothie. ALL my kids loved it! It is unusual to have unanimous approval. Don't skip all the wonderful nutritional information about beets before the recipe. The son that is "inspired" to get dressed on Sunday mornings said I HAVE to post it! He's really getting into this : )

This morning while weeding the garden my other little boy said he was going to pick a carrot. He pulled with all his might and up came his "carrot" (it was really a HUGE beet). He was so proud of his find he showed everyone in the family and everyone was begging for the smoothie. Try it...you'll say it can't be beet!

Eat Your Vegetables!

I haven't met a kid who doesn't like ranch dressing. My kids love it on their salads or to dip veggies in. I always have slight misgivings since by eating the dressing I'm wondering if it cancels out the benefits of eating vegetables! Wonder no longer. Tammie has this yummy recipe for

Ranch Dressing

that tastes great (even better than regular I think!) and my kids loved it! I put the "healthy" ranch and the other ranch on the table and all but one said they wanted the "healthy" ranch.

Thanks Tammie!

Kids LOVE Spinach!@?

Well I'm still in the process of finishing this semester but I wanted to quickly share something yummy! Have you ever wondered how you could get your children to eat more veggies? My friend Tammy has a fantastic and inspiring blog called Simple, Healthy, Tasty and she recently posted this YUMMY Creamsicle Green Smoothie. My kids LOVED it and begged me to make it again! I called it a Monster Smoothie and they fell for it hook, line and sinker. Enjoy!