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Healthy Snack Ideas For Kids! March 13, 2010 |
Superfood Evolution Ezine -- Issue #003
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Hello friends, Welcome again to Superfood Evolution! A big thank you to all my Superfoods-for-Superhealth site visitors for your attention and support! Here we go with my monthly newsletter #3. Many of you expressed great interest in learning more about superfoods, superhealth and achieving optimal states of aliveness! So here it is by popular demand! It is my intent to uplift and empower your true health potential to create the best life ever for you and your family. "You are what you eat" is the first rule of thumb here, the rest just falls into place!
6 HEALTHY SNACK IDEAS FOR KIDS:Are you looking for super healthy snack ideas for you and your family? Healthier alternatives to refined, processed snacks? Here are a few ideas that I have found to be much loved favorites for children that are fun, raw versions of classic snack foods.
1) Trail Mix - Make up your own blend of different exotic nuts and fruits or better yet let your kids pick there favorites. I usually start with 2 different nuts and 3 different dried fruits. Goji berries are often a loved one for this and some even enjoy cacao beans. Allowing children to get creative and make their own blends is a sure fire way for them to pick out what they like, enjoy the process, and savor their creations!
2) Dehydrated fruit - All fruit can be dehydrated and can be either placed in whole or pureed to make fruit leathers. You can make your own "watermelon" candy or mango/banana ropes. What about kiwi and strawberry cubes to make your own version of "jolly ranchers" that are way more jollier for your body?
3) Raw Pie - This is a fun activity when you have some time with your family. Instead of making a baked pie, make a raw fruit pie. You can first make your crust out of dates and nuts pressed into a pie pan and then add thin layers of fruit. Check out our cheesecake recipe for more ideas using nuts and seeds. Make a key lime pie or pecan pie using healthier sugar substitutes that give your kids the sweetness without the sugar up's and down's. 4) Granola recipe - We already have the basic recipe on our website but you can mix and match any kind of fruit puree base and nuts to dehydrate until you get the crunchiness and taste of your kids favorite cereals. Try to recreate versions of popular commercial cereals by using corresponding spices and fruits.
5) Puddings - No child can resist chocolate pudding. A raw chocolate version is easy to make with just a few ingredients. Mix avocado, dates or agave, cacao powder, vanilla, and a touch of Irish moss to thicken. (don't worry they won't taste the seaweed, but will get it's benefits)
6) Frozen pops - Popsicles were always my favorite summer time treat on a hot day and nothing could be easier to make. Simply take a smoothie recipe and pour into ice cube trays with toothpicks or use a popsicle mold. The smoothie consistency should be thick and the taste sweeter than normal.
Try to make some of your kids favorite junk foods better.
Have a Dehydration Day and make a bunch of fun snack foods that you can stock up on and store for several weeks! Healthy snacks can be quick and easy, but most people don't think of making a healthy version of their favorite snacks for their kids. Why? Because we're bombarded with food company advertising for the highly processed, plastic, fake foods. When you start children out young making their own raw sweets that have nutrition yet the flavor they enjoy, they will be more accepting of these alternatives later in life.
Eat Your Wild Green Superfoods!Tis the season, or at least where I live, to have a reason to wander your local forests and hillsides. In the spring time wild greens are popping up in abundance ALL OVER. They tend to like the cooler nights and warm days with a bit of occasional rain.It is a great time to venture out with the whole family. Besides the fact that kids love the adventure, foraging for wild food taps into a primal experience we have all but lost in today's fast paced world. I have personally never met a young child who did not show interest in the collection of wild edible plants as food.
There is something amazingly satisfying about shopping in nature's supermarket. It is so much more than harvesting food to eat. All aspects of connecting with the natural elements heal on deep levels.
Remember to use a guide book when you first get started to get familiar with what you are collecting. Here is one of my favorite wild edible plant guides with all the basics that grow in many parts of the world. A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants: Eastern and central North America (Peterson Field Guide)
Chickweed For Lymph Health
Chickweed (Stellaria Media) is my featured wild green plant this year. It is referred to as the "little star, in the midst". A hardy, courageous humble small green that endures, popping up after a snow melt or can be found growing out of shaded alley ways or cracks in a city sidewalk. This amazing little delicate, yet sturdy plant is an excellent tonic for the lymph system. It purifies the lymph and blood with properties that are perfect for spring cleaning. Again, always make sure you know for sure what you are harvesting. Chickweed often grows by other non edible plants, so you have to make sure when you gather this green you pick out any grass blades or buttercup leaves, etc. I am careful when picking but also go through my basket again to make sure. According to Susun Weed (author of Healing Wise), chickweed is very high in copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, silicon and zinc. It is high in calcium, chlorophyll, phosphorus, potassium, protein, Vitamin A and fat. And it is a good source of Vitamin C, riboflavin, niacin, thiamine and plant sodium. Chickweed is succulent and has a spinach-like taste. It can be steamed, juiced or blended into salads or green smoothie recipes. Check out our Chickweed Orange Julius drink!
BOOK REVIEW:Smoothie Recipes For Optimal Health
by Kevin Gianni
This recently released, unique smoothie book is a compilation of recipes from many leading edge living food, superfood health educators and chefs. It is divided into 3 sections: Smoothies, Green Smoothies and Elixirs. It includes helpful tips and nutrition facts from Kevin on the side lines of each page. It is a great beginner's book to the world of superfoods and smoothie recipes that includes all kinds of smoothie variations! With 165 plus recipes that are dairy free, gluten free, raw living foods. Includes favorites by Shazzie, Ani Phyo Rhio, Nomi Shannon, Daniel Vitalis, David Wolfe and many more. Smoothie Recipes for Optimum Health Recipe of the Month:Wild Superfood Smoothie Surprise
Make 2 cup nettle tea (dried or fresh nettle and hot water). Let cool. Blend in a blender the above ingredients. Serve and enjoy! This is a good one....with a few secret ingredients that make it especially mineral dense as well as wild and tasty. SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Film of the Month:Simply Raw - Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days
This is a revealing documentary that chronicles six Americans with diabetes that voluntarily participate in a 30 day challenge to eat only vegan, organic, uncooked food in order to reverse disease without pharmaceutical medication. Many come from a standard American diet background with obesity and other health issues. It is like a reality show documenting the journey of each individual as they transform on physical, emotional and spiritual levels. A must see for you or anyone you know who as any type of diabetic concerns. Living together for one month at the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center in Patagona Arizona under the care of Dr. Gabriel Cousins, this film is living proof that you are what you eat! Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days
Thanks for joining me on my third edition of Superfood Evolution. If you would like to subscribe or tell a friend click here.
Until next month... Here's to your Superhealth! Much love, Shira
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