.HaPpY ThAnKsGiViNg.

There isn't anything that I'm not thankful for. I'm thankful for my great husband, my gorgeous girls, my health, my home, my family, my friends, my amazing country, and my maker that has given all of this to me. Life is so rushed, hectic and stressful, but at times like now, when I'm at home with my little family, in our pj's, staying up late and watching Elf together, I forget about everything else that's going on. There's nothing better than family and simplicity.

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving! :-)

Starting My Day Off Right!

I got a new juicer, and let's just say, I'm A LITTLE excited to use it.
 Juice #1 : strawberries, banana, and blue berries.
 Juice #2: Cucumber, tomato, carrot, and mint! :-) YUMMY!

Recipe Of The Day: Baked Vegan Mini Donuts.

I'm Obsessed With These!
(100 calories each with frosting & sprinkles, 80 without.)

Dry Ingredients 1 Cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Sugar (I used raw cane sugar, but feel free to use white)
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp (scant) Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
Wet Ingredients
1/2 Cup Soymilk (I’m sure this would work with any milk or non-milk substitute)
1/2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar (I believe you can substitute this for regular white vinegar)
1/2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
Egg Replacer for 1 Egg (If you don’t use egg replacer feel free to use 1 egg)
4 Tbs Earth Balance (regular margarine should work too)
Icing Glaze:

• 1/2 cup powdered icing
• 1 tbsp soy milk
• sprinkles

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Take all the wet ingredients and put in a small pot on the stove top on low. Whisk ingredients together to blend well. Do not let the mixture get too hot, it should just be warm to the touch. Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the wet to the dry and mix until just incorporated. Do not over mix. The batter will be 1) Very very sticky- but don’t worry, and 2) It tastes like a dream- try not to eat all of it.
Now comes the tricky part. Putting the batter into the donut pans. After a few trials, what I found worked best was taking a tablespoon’s worth of dough (if using the mini pans) and scooping it directly over the individual mold. Then take your fingers to press it out and make the middle pop through.
Bake for 12 minutes. You don’t want them brown, but they should slowly pop up when pressed with a finger. Cool on a wire rack and then decorate!
Makes 20 mini donuts.

Also, I found some really yummy all natural peanut butter, that with 100% whole grain bread and grapes is a perfect lunch for toddlers...or adults ;-)

A post for moms with picky kids: chicken nuggets & fries, a healthy version ;-)

CHICKEN BITES

Ingredients (you can find all of this at Wal Mart, took me a while to find wheat germ though, ended up being in the cereal isle)

• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts weighing about 6 oz.each
• 1/4 cup / 60 ml of oat bran
• 1/4 cup / 60 ml of wheat germ
• 1 Tbsp / 15 ml coarsely ground flax seed
• 1/4 cup / 60 ml coarsely ground almonds
• 1/2 tsp / 2 1/2 ml sea salt
• 1/2 tsp / 2 1/2 ml white pepper
• Pinch garlic powder
• 1/2 cup / 120 ml water or low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 large egg white, lightly beaten

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Prepare baking sheet by lining with parchment paper or coating lightly with best-quality olive oil.
2. Cut chicken breasts into nugget-sized pieces, about 1.5 inches square. Set aside.
3. Next, combine all dry ingredients in a large container with a tightly fitting lid. Shake well. This is your coating mixture.
4. Combine water and egg in a medium bowl. Dip each piece in the water/egg-white mixture. Then dip each piece in the coating mixture. Make sure each piece is well coated.
5. Place on the baking sheet. When all of your chicken has been coated and your baking sheet is full, place in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden.

FRIES :

2 medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed and dried ( you can use any kind of potato you want, but obviously sweet potatoes are the healthiest choice, unfortunately, I think they're disgusting, so I just use normal baking potatoes for the fries!)

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika

** I add rosemary sprigs to mine

1. Heat oven to 425° F. Slice each sweet potato lengthwise into 8 pieces. Toss with oil, salt, and paprika. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake until lightly browned on the bottom, about 15 minutes.

2. Turn slices and bake until bottom is browned and potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes more. Serve hot.

*BAKED BANANA DOUGHNUTS*

Ingredients:

2 ripe bananas, mashed
2 egg whites
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1.5 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
1 tbsp. white sugar
2 tbsp. chopped walnuts (optional)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425F and grease baking sheet.

2. Beat bananas, egg whites, oil, and brown sugar in large bowl. Add flours, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice. Mix until well blended.

3. Let stand for 5 minutes to let dough rise.
4. Scoop out heaping tablespoons (my scoops were probably 2-3 tbsp’s each doughnut) and place on baking sheet equally spread apart. Take a buttered knife and finger to form doughnut holes in the centre of each. Smoth edges of dough into a round doughnut as much as possible. It will be difficult as the dough is sticky. Do not feel discouraged- they don’t have to be perfect (see mine below for proof!). Sprinkle with 1 tbsp of white sugar.
5. Place in oven for 7-8 mins. at 425F.
Yields: 12 Doughnuts @ 165 calories each



I don't have doughnut pans, so they aren't perfectly round, but definitely taste good! Tastes just like banana bread, in the shape of a doughnut, to me! :-)



"When you have a child, you have the unique opportunity to mold a developing person."

I'll admit I have a bad habit of reading health books and getting pulled into every word, at this point I should know better than to read them in the first place. When I was looking for healthy family recipes online I came across the Eat to Live website, so I clicked on it and started reading through everything. I went to the children's sections and saw this : "the modern diet that most children are eating today creates a fertile cellular environment for cancer to emerge at a later age. Trying to prevent breast, prostate and other cancers as an adult may not be possible because most risk factors cannot be changed at this late stage. The bottom line is that in order to have a major impact, we must intervene much earlier, even as early as the first seven years of life." As a parent, that information makes me feel sick to my stomach. It isn't something that I was unaware of, it's just hard to read, and makes me question my children's and my own health and our daily choices.

I realize that I've fallen victim to the "American way"; unbalanced meals, snack foods, fast food, and anything that can be made in a microwave. Now, for all of the non parents who want to throw the "well, that's just being lazy" card, which yes, I've heard. That is far from being the case. I, like most moms, am TIRED, sometimes we go weeks without actually being able to sit down at the table and eat a meal together because Guy is always working,  Kinzi has the attention span of about 3 seconds, and it seems like we always have an endless amount of errands to run. Our days usually involve me making Kinzi about 20 different options throughout the day, just trying to get her to eat anything (which usually results in easy mac and chicken nuggets) and me, MAYBE having time to eat a sandwich and a plate full of chips, along with about 2 pots of coffee. Then Guy gets home, sometimes 11pm, and I'm so famished that we run and get McD's. Definitely not a picture of good health.

I never thought this would be something I would be saying. I remember before we had Kinzi I used to say "my kids will never eat this, or never be allowed to drink soda, they'll only eat organic food, etc.." Now, looking back, I cannot believe how clueless I was! I'm not making excuses for myself or for our poor eating habits, I'm just putting it all out there.

The point of this blog is, I think my little family needs a change. None of us have weight or health problems by any means, and I can only speak for myself when I say : I just don't feel well and I'm tired of it!

I refuse to ever be the parent that diets or restricts everything my children put in their mouth, I've seen firsthand what that does to kids, ESPECIALLY girls. I don't want my girls to ever suffer with eating disorders or self esteem issues. It's taken me 23 years, 2 kids, and a great husband to learn to be completely happy with my body, even at 9 months pregnant I thought I looked pretty good, it's just a matter of being comfortable, confident, and completely secure with yourself.  I want to teach my kids, and even Guy and me, how to enjoy REAL food. Eating is supposed to be fun, and it's supposed to be a family event. I love to cook, it's just with McDonald's right around the corner, I sometimes feel unmotivated, going through a drive thru is much faster.

So, my personal challenge is to give up fast food. Forever? No way! It's something I like and think should be enjoyed in moderation, but no longer on a daily or even weekly basis. Just give up my addiction to the convenience of it is what I mean. I've looked up about 1000 recipes that I'm excited to try; vegetarian, vegan, whole grain, and whole food recipes. I own several "Eat Clean" recipe books, and they're full of yummy ideas!

This all may seem silly to some people, but to me, it's really important. I've worked with a lot of kids, and I feel like I've seen it all. Kids who are always sick, kids who in ELEMENTARY school are obese and are constantly the target of cruel jokes, and I actually had a little girl tell me once at Prime Time that she couldn't eat our snack (cookies) because her mommy told her "they'd make her fat." I don't want that for my kids, I want them to have a good relationship with food, and a good relationship with themselves. I want them to feel confident, and go out into the world and do whatever they want, and not be held back by health or self esteem issues.

So, as much as people constantly posting pictures of food drives me crazy, I have a feeling I'm going to turn into that person! I'm going to try to take my family's and my own favorite foods and find healthy alternatives!

For everyone who knows me pretty well, you probably know of my OBSESSION with Krispy Kreme donuts, when I was pregnant I'd go get a dozen and eat all of them in one setting, yeah....I know. So, Recipe #1 is baked banana doughnuts! The recipe is out of a whole grain recipe book, and the only "bad" thing in them is 1tbsp of sugar and 1 tbsp of oil (for the WHOLE recipe!) So, I'm impressed! If they turn out good, I'll post a picture and the recipe! Fingers crossed, because they almost sound to good to be true ;-)

 

Lunch: A HUGE chicken salad.