Product Review-Copy Kids DVD

"Copy-Kids is a DVD series designed to get very young children excited about eating fruits and vegetables.

Simple.  Adorable.  It shows kids having such a good time eating fruits and veggies, that when children watch it they want to join in.

Featuring well-known pediatrician, Dr. Jay Gordon, this product is a positive approach in the quest to get children eating healthy from the start."

The dvd is broken down into chapters featuring 1 fruit or vegetable. There are bell peppers, carrots, blueberries and bananas...just to name a few. From the main menu you can pick the individual chapter you may want to play to get your child to eat that particular fruit or vegetable. Or you can play the whole dvd while they watch for fun.

 

I watched the dvd with my 3 and 5 year old. At first my 5 year old was like, "Why is that kid eating food?" But they both enjoyed the movie and asked for each vegetable or fruit when it came on.

Haley wanted to enjoy some blueberries...

She even ate a carrot, which she normally isn't too excited about!

Find out more about Copy Kids-HERE
You can also visit their Facebook
And their Youtube Channel

Teriyaki Salmon with Siriracha Sauce

I made a yummy, healthy dinner last night of salmon with a cream sauce, rice and roasted asparagus. Haley loves asparagus so much, she eats them like candy and will steal them off our plates if we aren't looking. I have never seen a child enjoy a vegetable that much! (I only have the final masterpiece of dinner, because when I went to photograph the process of cooking I found my battery had died. Bummer.)

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

2 tablespoons honey

2 salmon filets

 

Cream Sauce Ingredients:

 

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2-3 tablespoons Sriracha

1 1/2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk

 

1. In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and 1/4 cup water; set aside.

 

2. In a small saucepan over medium heat, add soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, garlic powder, honey and 1 cup water; bring to a simmer. Stir in cornstarch mixture until thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 2 minutes; let cool to room temperature.

 

3. In a gallon size Ziploc bag or large bowl, combine teriyaki marinade and salmon filets; marinate for at least 30 minutes.

 

4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly coat a baking dish with nonstick spray.

 

5. Place salmon filets along with the marinade onto prepared baking dish and bake until the fish flakes easily with a fork, about 20 minutes.

 

6. While the fish  cooks, whip up the sauce. To make the Sriracha cream sauce, whisk together mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons Sriracha and condensed milk in a small bowl.

 

7. Idea: Serve fish atop rice and spread a spoonful of sauce over all.

No Bake Healthy Energy Bites

My kids love this snack and my oldest stepson requests this all the time to take with him to work. Its easy to throw together, healthy and full of protein.

Ingredients:

1 cup dry oatmeal
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I use unsweetened dark chocolate, its the best for you)
(You can also replace the chips with raisins, dried cranberries ect.)
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup flaxseed
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla extract

Throw all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

Place a sheet of wax paper on a cookies sheet, roll mixture into balls (You can also shape into a granola bar shape) place on cookie sheet and chill in the fridge for at least an hour.

Lemon and Rosemary Chicken Pasta

The temperature has been climbing steadily out here in the desert! It's only April and in the 90s! This is a great meal for a hot day. Although it requires a little use of the stovetop, at least you don't have to turn on the oven.

Ingredients

1 lb spaghetti noodles
1 lb chicken breasts

Chicken Marinade
2 tsp thyme
2 tsp rosemary (really good if you use fresh!)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Garlic Sauce
1/2 stick butter
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2-3 tablespoons flour
2 cups chicken stock
1 tablespoon basil
1/2 tsp. pepper

1. Cut up the chicken into 1 inch pieces. Add all the marinade ingredients with the chicken, seal in gallon ziplock bag and marinate a minimum of 20 minutes. (You can also marinate overnight for a more intense flavor)

 

2. Boil noodles with a dash of salt and olive oil. Cook until al dente. (Which means not mushy)

 

3. Melt butter in saucepan, saute garlic until soft. Add in flour slowly and mix well. Cook for a minute then slowly add in chicken broth stirring continuously.

 

 



4. Simmer until thickened then add in basil and pepper. If it looks too runny add a tiny bit of flour a pinch at a time until desired thickness.

 

5. Mix sauce with cooked noodles and set aside. Saute marinated chicken until no longer pink. (I like mine a bit brown)

6. Add chicken in with the sauce and noodles, toss until evenly distributed. Top with cherry tomatoes and a few shakes of grated parmesan cheese. Yum!

Healthy Oatmeal Banana Muffins

Well heyy looky here! I found an old post I never published. With the busy-ness of the move it got lost and forgotten. (Which is why my counters look different, I made this in our old house)

Here is a great muffin recipe that requires no flour, butter or oil. These muffins are delish and a perfect take-along snack or lunch item. My hubby even liked them! (Which is a big deal considering he rolls his eyes at anything containing the word "healthy")

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup greek yogurt (I used the Chobani chocolate because I was curious how the chocolate would taste with the banana. It was a good choice, but the plain will work just as well)
2 eggs
1/2 cup of sweetener- brown sugar, honey, stevia (Although I have regular brown sugar in the pic, I've switched to using all natural unprocessed cane sugar or Stevia.)
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 ripe bananas mushed

1. Preheat oven to 375. Spray muffin tin with non stick spray or use foil liners. (For some reason paper liners do not work well with oatmeal.)

2. Place all ingredients in blender and blend until oats are smooth. I have actually made this once in the blender and once just mixing ingredients by hand. Either way tastes good, but blending will make the texture smoother.

3. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full and bake 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned on top.

 

Healthy Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

It's Pumpkin season! Pumpkins are an incredibly healthy but often overlooked food. Here are a few benefits:

Loaded in Vitamin A which helps your vision.
High in Fiber which helps in weight loss by making you feel full longer
Low in calories
Contains lots of potassium which makes it a great food to eat after a good workout. It will help restore the balance of electrolytes.
High in Vitamin C.

I made up this delicious and healthy pumpkin smoothie for the girls and I for breakfast.

Ingredients:
1 cup pumkin puree
1 cup nonfat yogurt plain or vanilla (I like vanilla)
1 cup nonfat milk or soy milk or rice milk
1 banana
A few shakes of pumpkin pie spice
Icecubes

Throw everything in the blender and blend. You can add more milk if you prefer your smoothie runnier. I added a few pinches of brown sugar to offset the slight bitterness of the pumpkin.

Roasted Vegetables

Roasted vegetables make a great side dish. They are very easy to make. Line a baking sheet with tin foil for easy clean up. Toss veges in olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake.

Sweet Potatoes and Onions

 

 

Squash, Zucchini and Onions

 

 

Brussel Sprouts

Detox Water

I really love this detox water; also called "sassy water". It's supposed to remove impurities from your system and help you maintain a flat belly. Its very refreshing! I have to warn you though, the first time I tried it, it definitely FLUSHED my system.

 

You will need a cucumber, a lemon, and several sprigs of mint leaves. Remeber to wash ingredients beforehand. You can add everything to a large pitcher or split it up between jars. I split my ingredients up between four jars.

 



Fill with water and steep overnight. I usually drink a jar, refill with water, steep and drink again before throwing the cucumber, lemon and mint away.

Granola Energy Balls (Pinterest Success!)

To help me power through this busy week, I made this recipe I found on pinterest for Energy Balls. It's pretty healthy and packed with protein. They taste pretty good too! I doubled the original recipe (teenagers and Marines eat a lot!) and spread mine out into bars instead of balls.

Here is the original recipe http://themarathonmom.com/granola-energy-balls.htm
(By the way I love her blog, so many great tips!)

Here is what mine looked like