Monday, July 20, 2009

Tips

We all know that what takes 15 minutes while you're kid-free and have the energy takes 45 minutes when your kids are hanging on you and your energy level is low! Making dinner, or at least doing all the chopping and prep work, during lunch time/kid's nap times makes dinner a breeze. Just when evening is hitting, your energy is at its lowest, and kid-chaos is setting in, your prep time is slashed in half and you can just pop dinner in the oven, or saute it up! Kids are happy. You're happy. Ahhhh.

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When you make homemade pizza, double the dough recipe. When you roll it out, freeze half of it rolled up like any pre-made pie crust you could buy at the store. Then you can have homemade pizza in a pinch anyday! Cheaper and yummier than store-bought!

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We eat smoothies at our house almost every night. It's a great way to get fruits (and veggies!) into your kids, as well as round out a vegtarian meal.

This recipe is extremely forgiving and fluid (as you will notice) - so just use what you have, sometimes I even throw in canned peaches if I have to.

Simply throw some combination of the following into a blender:
1 Banana (a must-have)
A bunch of fresh and or frozen strawberries
Blueberries
Blackberries
Whatever fruit we have on hand (kiwis, peaches, apples, etc.)
I have even been known to throw in mint!

Then come the disguised veggies:
A small tomato
An avocado
Some babycarrots

Sometimes I throw in sprouts and bell peppers, too! You can even try a little flax seed meal! Smoothies are great disguises for all kinds of healthy foods.

Blend it up with some milk, yogurt, and maybe some juice (My Favorite is Bom Dia! juice - a mixture of Acai berry and Blueberry juice, which you can find at Costco) to the desired consistancy and serve! We put it in a cup with a straw for the little ones and they slurp their veggies right on down!