Getting your Kids to Eat their Fruits and Vegetables

As a mother I want my children to live a healthy lifestyle. I want them to eat their fruits and vegetables. More importantly, I want them to learn to make good choices on their own. Fortunately, getting them to eat their fruit was never a problem. They crave that sweet taste and enjoy many different kinds of fruits. My daughters love vegetables, too! My son, on the other hand, will turn his head away from most of them. But, this does not stop me from putting them on his plate each day.

 Do you have this problem? I challenge you to make it a priority to include fruits and vegetables in your family's daily diets.

Serve It Up 

• Cut up fruits and veggies for easy access. A whole pineapple or an orange sitting on the counter may easily get passed up by everyone. Do a little prep work by cutting up your fruit and vegetables when you return from the grocery store. Store them in see through containers, or snack baggies. Kids and adults can grab and go.

• Make your fruits and veggies look delicious. My kids love when I make their fruits and vegetables into different shapes. One of my favorite ways to serve up fruits or veggies is by letting them "eat the rainbow." Offer different colors of fruits and veggies and shape them into a rainbow.

Name It

• Make a fun name for a fruit or vegetable. Broccoli is not just broccoli for my kids. Broccoli bites are "trees," and cauliflower is the "cousin."
• Pretend you are an animal eating your veggies. Eat carrots and lettuce for your "bunny food." 

Dip It

• Offer some ranch dip or other dressing. I love carrots. Simple and delicious. My oldest daughter, however, will not touch them...unless I add a squirt of ranch dressing on the side.
• Try hummus. Hummus is a favorite dip of mine. I do not buy it as often as I would like to, but I will enjoy a plateful of veggies with hummus.
• Enjoy some fruit dip. Make an easy-peasy fruit dip by adding honey to some plain yogurt. Mix it up and get ready for some yummy dipping.

Mix it

• Smoothies and milkshakes. Remember my post about our favorite green smoothies? Smoothies are a great way to mix in both fruits and vegetables for your children and yourself.

• Muffins and breads. Blueberries, carrots, squash...there are plenty of delicious fruits and veggies that can be added to your favorite homemade breads. Try them in muffins, loaves, and pancakes for starters. 
• Dinners. I do not have a problem with mixing in vegetables with some of our favorite dishes. Add shredded carrots to sloppy joes or add a layer of spinach to your lasagna. A little addition here or there may help spark their taste buds.  

If you have trouble getting your child to eat their fruits and vegetables, do not give up. They will learn to love them eventually. :)

Mix them, hide them, do whatever you have to, but keep serving them!

100th Day of School Lunch Ideas

In a couple of weeks my children will be celebrating their 100th day of school at their elementary. Most of the day will be devoted to 100th Day activities in the classroom (at least, in the lower grades). They can bring a collection of 100 things and wear t-shirts with 100 objects or pictures on it. (Note to self: I really need to get working on my son's 100th Day of School shirt soon.) But, today I wanted to share a couple of ways I made my daughter's past lunches special for her on the 100th day of school.

It can actually be pretty easy to change your regular lunch into a fun, 100th Day lunch!

• Make the number "1" with simple food items (Pretzel sticks, carrots or veggie sticks, Twinkies, string cheese/cheese sticks)
•  Make the number "0" out of everyday foods (Mini donuts, Ritz crackers, cookies, peanut butter crackers, Cheerios or Fruit Loops) 
• Find snack packages with the number "100" on it (100-calorie snack bags are perfect for this or treat them with a "100 Grand" fun-size candy bar)
• Use your cookie cutters, shape cutters, or a knife to shape food into numbers (Sliced cheese, cold-cuts, strawberries & Kiwi slices.etc)
• Make a snack mix of 100 pieces of different snacks (Goldfish, marshmallows, raisins, Cheerios, Rice Chex cereal, pretzels, M&Ms or Skittles, Cheeze-Its, peanuts, etc.) Our kids usually do this as one of their classroom activities, so I don't add that to their lunches.
• Add a "Happy 100th Day of School" note or make cute cards with the number"100" on it.
• Include a treat of 100 mini-stickers for later!

My son has already chosen what he wants to take for his collection of 100 things. We counted it three times! 100 army men. I didn't know he had that many, but that explains why I am perpetually finding army men in the house!

Does your child's school celebrate the 100th day of school? If a 100th Day celebration is in your child's future, don't forget to pack them a lunch and send them off with 100 kisses!

Delicious Green Smoothie

Some of my favorite drinks to make are smoothies. I love the taste and the health benefits from a good smoothie. The color of your smoothie will turn a bright green once you start blending in a green vegetable like spinach or kale. Personally, I prefer the taste of spinach over kale, but I still try to vary my vegetable and fruit intake. I think the frozen mixed fruit really adds to the flavor, too. Today I made my smoothie using a package of frozen mango, papaya, and strawberry fruit. Here is my own, favorite recipe that I love to make in the mornings. 

Ingredients:
1 Cup Almond Milk
1 Ripe Banana
1 Cup Fresh Spinach
1 Cup Frozen Mixed Fruit
1 Tablespoon Milled Flax Seed
1 Tablespoon Peanut Butter
1 Teaspoon ground Cinnamon

All the ingredients are approximate because I usually just throw everything in without even measuring. The great thing about homemade smoothies is that you can add in whatever you have on hand. If there is something that you don't like or you are allergic to you can omit it. Blend all ingredients together.

A smoothie is a perfect way to get in your fruits and vegetables each day. Some kids (ahem, my son) find a bunch of spinach leaves intimidating and "yucky." I am still trying to convince my six-year old boy to drink this, but he does not want to try it because it has "vegetables in it." My little boy prefers that I stick to the milk, banana, peanut butter, and cinnamon smoothie. Whatever works..at least, he is a fruit lover! On the other hand, my seven and three year-old daughters drop everything when they hear my blender running. This is one of their favorites!  My busy husband is also a fan of this smoothie, and this is a quick way to squeeze in breakfast before work.

What are your favorite add-ins to your smoothies?

FunBites Review and Ideas

I first saw the FunBites cutter on Pinterest a couple of years ago. I am such a sucker for Bento supplies and tools to make cute lunches for my kids. So, of course, the Fun Bites caught my eye! I emailed FunBites to ask if I can try out a FunBites cutter. FunBites was kind enough to send me the new FunBites Triangles to try out and review. I couldn't wait to see what I could come up with and how I could use this in my lunch preparations.

If you are unfamiliar with the FunBites product, let me tell you a little bit about it. It is a cutter designed to make bite-sized pieces of food. There are two pieces: the "curved blade cutter" and the top puncher to "pop out" the fun designed pieces created by the cutter.

FunBites currently  has three shaped cutters. The first is the original cutter that punches out bite-sized square pieces. The pieces are just right for little hands and they make food fun and fancy. The next shape is the heart shaped cutter. I love this design because it can be used year round, but makes birthdays and holidays (like Valentine's Day) extra special. The newest cutter is the FunBites Triangles. Punch your lunch through to create several sized triangle pieces. I was hoping for this design because I think it allows for a grand imagination from parents and children alike. Put the pieces together like a puzzle or make different and fun shapes out of the many triangles.

Use your FunBites to:

• Spell out Words
• Create faces with your food
• Make different shapes
• Put your lunch together like a puzzle
• Get your picky eaters to eat
• Teach your toddler to feed herself
• Mix and match different colored foods (i.e. wheat and white bread, cantaloupe and honey dew, mozzarella and cheddar cheese, etc.)
• Make your child's meal fun and inviting

Quesadillas

Triangle Quesadillas and Triangle Strawberries

Triangle Mini-Ham and Cheese Sandwiches

Triangle Peanut Butter Sandwich Kabobs and Stacked Triangle Bell Peppers on a toothpick 

What Did I Think of FunBites?

I was sent a FunBites product to try out for free, but all opinions about this product are opinions of mine alone. I only post and recommend products that I honestly believe in and want to share with others. This post does contain affiliate links to FunBites and a coupon code below for 20% off your entire order.  

I was quite impressed with the FunBites Triangles cutter. Here is what I loved best about it:

• Easy to use! (Rocking back and forth on the handle ensures your pieces will be cut nicely)
• Easy to clean (Hand-washing is best, but it is also dishwasher safe. Yay!)
• Safe to use, but sharp enough to slice the food into fun shapes
• Food does not get stuck in the cutter (the top popper pops the food right out of the cutter)
• Reasonably priced for a great product
• Makes meals AMAZING for little hands and little eyes!

I think putting a big sandwich on my three-year old's plate is a little intimidating...and, boring. When I started using FunBites, she was excited about her lunch and she easily cleaned her plate. Happy mom and happy kid!

If you are as impressed with the FunBites cutter as I was I recommend you order one of your own, too.

  Click here to order your favorite shape FunBites cutter today!

 Use coupon code below for an EXTRA 20% off your entire order!

COUPON CODE: FunBitesValentines

Do you own FunBites already? What is your favorite shape to use? How do you make your kid's meals fun and exciting?

Fall Snack Mix

I am a huge fan of trail mix and other snack mixes. They are simple to throw together and you can modify your snack mixes to fit your cravings or whatever you have in your pantry. I like to make snack mixes when I am planning out snacks for the kids, too. I can toss them into a baggie or container and take them anywhere. They also make fun and tasty gifts.

My children have two wonderful teachers this year so I wanted to make a Fall Snack Mix this week to show my appreciation for them. I ended up making individual baggies to give as treats for their classmates as well.

Here is what I put in this Fall Snack Mix:

• Autumn candy mix (candy corn, candy pumpkins, etc.)-1 bag
• Quaker square cereal
• Stick Pretzels
• M&M’s (Autumn mix)
• Cracker Jacks (3 boxes of caramel popcorn and peanuts mix)
• Cheerios (for the kids' bags)

I purchased some mason jars (any airtight container is fine) so the snack mix could stay fresh. I used a hot glue gun to add some ribbon and bow around the lid. I then traced a circle out of cardstock and glued it to the top. I personalized each jar with the teacher's name spelled out in cute stickers. Here is a tasty treat and cute gift to share!