Smoothie Heaven

So the hubbie recently bought the magic bullet and I have been hooked ever since. So now I have been on this crazy smoothie kick and I thought I would share my latest creation.

I always have frozen berries in the freezer, I usually go to the market and stock up on blueberries, blackberries and raspberries. I am allergic to strawberries so that is why it's not listed....yes, very very sad I know! I also usually have mango chunks (the ones you can buy pre-frozen from presidents chioce) too.

So for this time I put some organic plain yogurt, frozen blueberries and half a banana into my bullet. I then put a heavy tablespoon of almond butter and about 2 teaspoons of shelled flax seed ( I got this amazing product from the store called Omega crunch; it's a unique product whereby the hull is naturally removed from the inner flax kernel, therefore making it easy to digest and reap the full spectrum of benefits offered in the powerful seed..so good for the little ones!) and then I top it all up with a bit of almond milk. I blend it all together and then I have the most delicious and health benefitting drink ever!!!!!!!

Now this was just one of the many creations I have made so far. The amazing thing about having a blender is that you can create such a wide variety of drinks like this one. I often mix together a bunch of berries/fruits, always the flax (flax meal is often the easiest, I just happen to have the omega crunch at the moment), and I sometimes like to put oatmeal in too (thanks Tosca Rena for that one).

The extra amazing thing about smoothies is that kids love them. Well my son does, and I know he's getting some amazing nutrients this way. We're going to buy a juicer soon too...ooh I can't wait, I love juicing!!! It's also pretty amazing what kids will eat when it's all disguised in something like a juice. Just the other day I was out at one of my favorite juice places and I got Dylan a juice with beets, apples, carrots and ginger....he LOVED IT!

I have been putting the magic bullet to good use and am always mixing away. I actually think I'm going to make myself a frozen yogurt for dessert. I just mix whatever I want together, my yogurt and some ice instead of the milk. Talk about a yummy and healthy way to eat treat yourself after a busy day.

With all that said I'm off to make a new creation.

Macaroni and cheese anyone ?

So I was trying to decide what to make for dinner, and I opened the pantry and the first thing my eye made contact with was a can of chickpeas. I thought to myself..hmmm..what can I do with this? Then I remembered a couple weeks ago I was making humus and had left over chickpeas and managed to come up with this macaroni dish. So I just thought I would share.

I began by boiling some whole wheat macaroni. While that was cooking, I put about 1 cup of chickpeas into my cuisinart chopper grinder attachment with about a clove of garlic, some olive oil (just a bit) and blended it all together. Then as it began to come together I added some milk. I know I'm not using proper measurements, but like I've mentioned before I kind of just go with the flow, this is something you can do easily, just get it to the right smooth consistency. Once that is all blended (looks like creamy hummus), I put it in a small pot that had been heated already. I then add my shredded cheese (I used about 1/3 cup of cheddar, but you can use whatever you fancy and make it as little or as cheesy as you want) to the pot and mixed until it started to get nice and creamy. Once you get a nice cheese sauce you can add the macaroni. Mix it all together and voila, you have a yummy macaroni and cheese!

Now I know this one sounds pretty plain but you can jazz it up with your own flavour..I was thinking maybe some paprika would taste yummy. Whatever you want, be creative !!

I know Dylan enjoyed it!!

THIS IS YUMMY MOMMY!!!

Hello yummy healthy muffins !

So I meant to write yesterday but things got kind of hectic for me..I wonder why? Dylan (that amazing son I mentioned) has been in and out of the develepmental stage we call "walking". Though he hasn't quite mastered the skill of it, he is getting there slowly.That being said, his sleep has been all over the map and it doesn't help that he has the two top molars coming in. So he has his moments of crankiness, understandibly so. He has been more attached than usual with all that is going on and I think he can sense mommy's new baby coming. Though it's super cute when you ask him where the baby is, he goes to lift up my shirt and kisses my belly. Awe....the joys of motherhood!

He has gone down for his nap, which I think finally are coming together. We've been transitioning to the once a day nap which sometimes takes some work. I had a good week of up and down, due to the fact that I had to gradually move the morning nap later and later and it kind of interfered with the whole schedule he had going. All that being said I have now found that the one 1:00pm nap is working great!

So the one main thing I want to do with this blog is share my healthy eating tips. That being said, I am a firm believer that you should start your children off with healthy eating habits. We all know just how important is, so why is it so hard for parents to get there kids to eat right? I will add another one of my post from our Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies site for your reading pleasure.

Cooking is something I love to do. I even have more love for baking. What's even cooler is that I can experiment and create my own recipes that are actually healthy!!!!!

I often like to bake something for Dylan's afternoon snacks, and yesterday I made these delicious muffins that I just have to share. First off let me explain my baking style, I usually look online or through books for a base recipe, like for an example I looked for oatmeal muffins (I take the main ingredients that I want to use and search for the recipe, in this case it was oatmeal) and then I add my own twist and change the ingredients to  'healthier' options.

Ok..so I'm just going to get to the point and give you the recipe.......

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup oatmeal

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

2 eggs

1 cup plain yogurt

1/4 cup omega oil (a blend of flaxseed, grapeseed, and olive oil)

1/2 cup applesauce (I make homemade but if I dont have time I buy the organic unsweetened)
1/2 cup agave nectar
1 tsp pure vanilla
1 cup shredded carrots (I actually did a mix of zucchini and carrots)

Preheat the oven to 350 F
Mix the all the dry ingredients in a medium size bowl. In a larger bowl beat the two eggs together, then add the yogurt, oil, apple sauce, agave nectar, vanilla and carrots. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mix. Mix all untill blended and then add the carrots/zucchini. Pour the batter equally into 12 large muffin cups. Bake for 30 mins.

There you have it...yummy healthy muffins!! I usaully spread some apple butter on the muffin and Dylan just loves them. ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!