My kids have really evolved on our journey to raw foods. A snack used to be some sort of processed granola bar, a yogurt cup, fresh popped popcorn, a Fruitabu organic fruit roll, or a couple cookies maybe. Now they seem very content with fresh and dehydrated fruit. My job is really simple now…just keep fruit on hand and sprinkle with some extra nutritional goodness like crushed nuts and seeds or granola. Pair this with a small cup of green smoothie, heavy on the greens, and we have an awesome nutrient packed snack. They gobble it up and ask for more until it turns into an early lunch. Keeping it simple is a lovely and healthy thing.
I’ve always hated cooking and didn’t see the point of spending so much time when it gets eaten in 5 minutes or less. I’ve also found the simpler the better – and all the nutrition stays in the meal when it’s not cooked. How simple is that?!
We really need to try a green smoothie, thanks for the inspiration!
Keeping it simple…such an idea :) I will be checking out green smoothie recipes!
In my quest to become 100% raw, my kids see me drinking green smoothies and they want to drink it too. If I love it, then they want to love it too. Every time they have some green smoothie they will drink a little more and have now moved on to eating all sorts of veggies that they would have never touched before. Our bodies are craving the nutrients. Our kids mirror us as parents and the best thing we can do to help them make healthful eating choices is to do it ourselves.
One word – YUMMY! :)
One of my little guy’s fav snacks is sliced bananas with “sprinkles” (dehydrated coconut shreds). We add flax meal “sprinkles” to yogurt and other things too.
I can’t quite get him to drink a full glass of the smoothies, but he has been drinking more and more now that daddy started making them in the morning. :)
me and the kids stay away from white flour and sugar. Once you are off these everything tastes so much sweeter! I don’t have to add any sweets to fruit or smoothies. Also they love herbal teas. I am lucky that I started this way because now I don’t have to worry about taking things away. For pop cycles I make herbal teas like chamomile and lemon balm- this is awesome for my teething son:)
I was prompted to start healthier eating when I saw my 21 mos old addicted to chocolates. She’d run to the stash anytime we were in that room. Stop the madness! Now, she comes running with a cup when she sees my green smoothie mixture. I was a junk food junkie, My diet majorly consisted of white sugar and white flour. Now, I crave (I’m serious) green smoothies.
Tiffany, I have been interested in flipping the scale and eating more raw foods than not. My concern is that if we do this as family, how will I know my 10 month old baby and my 9 year old daughter are getting ALL the nutrients they need to grow and be healthy? Can you direct to me to some good resources about raw diets and kids/babies. I know you have the raw kids cookbook, but I need a more than this. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you for motivating us to live healthier!
Melissa I recommend Shazzie’s book called Evie’s Kitchen. It is AWESOME! This sounds like a great post topic for me though… will work on that.
that looks yummy!! and I think I will pick up a copy of that book Evie’s kitchen. Sounds like a good resource!
My friend went to an acupunturist & he is having her put this green stuff into all her drinks to make them a “green drink”. Is this the same stuff you are talking about? Also we drink mostly decaf black tea in my household but I would like to switch to herbal teas. How safe are they for my 3 yr old on a daily basis? I know some of them are for certain things & have certain effects on your body (like chamomile shouldn’t be taken with ibuprofen cause it thins your blood. Any truth to that?)
Lisa,
Green smoothies are a mixture of leafy greens and fruit blended together. My whole family loves them!
As for tea and coffee I know nothing about that subject. I despise both substances, LOL. Soooo…it is not something I have researched much, sorry! BUT herbs do have medicinal effects so it makes sense that you would need to be careful about dose and what you mix them with.
Thanks for letting us know about the book. I will check that out! I will look forward to a future post about going raw for babies and kids!
It’s difficult to get my older son to eat certain things (e.g. he hates bananas and won’t touch any kind of berry) but I don’t go crazy trying to find snacks for him because he doesn’t mind eating the same things over and over: an orange, some grapes, some raisins, etc. That’s fine. I hope that by watching our examples (salads, green smoothies, fruit smoothies) he’ll one day want to give it a try and he’ll find he enjoys it!
I’m so grateful my Mother did this for me as a child. I totally enjoy green drinks!