Today an article by Dr. Colbert (you can find the link on my facebook as Kingdom Kids Nutrition) sparked my thinking about beets. We have been beet comsumers since we started this journey since there are very good for the liver, an organ that we really needed to address. (For more on our story you can order our book at www.kingdomkidsnutrition.com) I have found various ways to make beets that my kids have loved!
Our journey with beets began with smoothies, weird eh? Well, I learned that you could juice beets even the leaves and make this amazing PINK juice. So, I would gradually add a bit more and a bit more beet juice to our smoothies until we got use to the taste, they sure were beautiful! Here is a beet smoothie recipes from my book you can try with your family: (you can also use a processed beet juice blend from a co-op or Trader Joes)
1c. Organic Apple Juice
1c. Frozen Blueberries
1/2 c. Frozen Organic Raspberries
2 Ripe Frozen Bananas
3 T. or more beet juice
Put in blender, puree to smooth! Enjoy!
To make smoothie time easier here are some tips:
1. Juice your beets and freeze them in ice cube trays. When frozen pop from tray and put in large container in your freezer. When making a smoothie grab a 1-3 (or more if you LOVE beets) "beet" ice cubes and toss them in the blender with the other ingredients!
2. If you have a high power blender you can chunk up your beets in fourths and freeze them. Then just take a few frozen "beet" chunks and toss them in with your smoothie ingredients and puree to smooth. This adds the pulp of the beet in as well and adds a bit of texture. This took a while until my kids enjoyed our smoothies this way, kind of an "advanced" smoothie (hahahaha...)
3. Always use frozen fruit like bananas in chunks, strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, etc.... then you don't need ice and get a smoothie packed with nutrients!
Beet Muffins
Grate 1 large beet (organic peel and all)
Mix 2 T. Flax meal with 6 T. water and let sit until it turns into a gel, then dump it into a large bowl with 1/2 c. coconut sugar, 1/2 c. olive oil, 1/4 c. cranberries, 1/2 c. chocolate chips (Enjoy Life brand), orange zest from 1 orange (set aside)
Mix in a smaller bowl 1 cup Bob's Redmill all purpose GF flour, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. sea salt, 1/2 tsp. baking soda
Pour dry ingredients into wet, mix with a wooden spoon until mixed well- do not over mix.
Place in 10 lined muffin tins and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. (Toothpick test: insert toothpick, if it comes out clean- done, if not cook a bit longer)
FROSTING (Optional- good without it) 4 oz. Tofutti Cream Cheese, 4 oz. Smart Balance or Coconut Butter, 1 C. Powdered Sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla extract (GF) Cream Tofutti and Butter, add sugar and vanilla. Spread a small layer over cupcake and I refriedrgate them!
To make muffins easier:
Grate up beets and freeze each one in a ziplock bag. Write muffins on the front of it and then your beets are all ready to go all winter long! Make sure when they defrost that you add all the JUICE as well as the beet or you will get some dry muffins!
Grilled/Roasted Beets
My kiddos are still getting use to this one but I LOVE it. I slice my beets real thin and then toss them in when I roast or grill veggies. I put all my veggies in a big bowl (I usually use season veggies like summer: zuchinni, tomatoes, baby red potatoes, green beans, carrots/winter: winter squash, potatos, carrots, turnip) toss them lightly in olive oil and then grill or roast with a touch of sea salt and pepper!
Tip:
Slice up beets thin and freeze. Remove juice and pat dry before adding them into the other veggies.
Beet Chips
Slice beets really thin. Toss in olive oil lightly. Place in single layer on a cookie sheet and spinkle lightly with sea salt. Bake in 350 degree oven until crisp! Allow to cool and yummy!
NO MORE EXCUSES for leaving beets out of your diet! Enjoy! Facebook and tell us what way your family likes beets best! One of the above recipes or one of your own!
Making gardening a family thing is uniting as well as prosperous in the fall harvest time. Not only do the kids have a great time planting in the spring, caring for the garden learning responsibility for watering, weeding, and investigating problems that arrive, they LOVE the harvest! As little Benj is showing in the photo there is nothing like a tomato right off the vine and a carrot with the long green stem on it! One of my favorite tips for getting kids to eat better is to get them involved in the "cooking" process (for ideas on how to do this watch my youtube video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlbqjOu2Ti0&feature=share), another great way to get them interested in veggies is to have little garden helpers, they are so inspired to try the things they have seen grow from seed...to plant...to food! Even if they don't love it this year and only try it, next year they may just love it (or the year after, hehehe....)
Check out that grin! What a harvest for my 5 year old! He is my famer at heart. He goes out and checks the gardens everyday. Not only does he bring in veggies for us he tends to deliver them to the neighbors as well, rumor has it! This is my little guy who told me he wants to be a farmer when he grow up, I was so excited! I said,"Can I work on your farm, because I want to be a farmer when I grow up too." He said, "Yep, you can take care of the PIGS!" What a hoot!
It is amazing how much food our two little flower plots have put out this year. We have frozen up bunches of zucchini and green beans, carrots and peppers are next. I will be canning tomatoes next week. And we have had an abundance of fresh tomatoes, kale, and cucumbers at every meal!
So, use this winter to come up with a garden plan for your family. It will bring great family unity, fun, get them eating new and yummy veggies as well as make a dent in your winter shopping bill! Watch for my next post on preserving your harvest!
The day has come where all four of my older children are going to school. They began last week and had a great start at an amazing school called Life Academy in Bloomington, MN! The challenge for me (other than missing them terribly as they have been home schooled the last four years), was LUNCH! Wow, it took some time to plan and then implement a lunch plan that I felt good about, that fit our dietary needs, was nutritious, and delicious!
What I did to survive week one of school lunches....
The first thing that I did was create a Fall School Menu. The menu had breakfast, lunch, school snack, and after school snack on it. I then pulled all the recipes, printed them, and put them in a binder. I am still in the age of hard copies. Quick and easy in my kitchen and then I don't spill all over my computer. I created a master pantry list of everything that I need to create the meals and snacks that I was preparing. I then typed up that list and highlighted everything that I needed. Then off to the stores I went. Came home put everything away and awaited day one of school.
The night before school began I had a mini muffin making party with myself and made a double batch of chocolate chip banana muffins and beet muffins. I let them cool over night and served up one batch for breakfast with a protein shake on the first day of school. I then tossed the other 3 batches in the freezer and I have my Monday breakfasts done for the rest of the month.
On the first day I kept it simple with PBJ sandwiches (sun butter for one who prefers that to peanut butter), carrot sticks, strawberries, and a crispy energy bar. For snack at school I sent a trail mix with nuts, craisins, and raisins. After school they feasted on guac and chips! A successful and relatively easy day one!
Day two was hamburger rice hot dish in the thermos, (I just threw it together the morning of so it was piping hot going into the thermos), organic grapes, pea crisps, and crispy energy bar (they were a hit)! The school snack was craisins and cashews. After school snack was homemade sweet potato fries.
Day three was "meat" sandwich day with a cucumber and tomato salad, organic raspberries and a date ball that we call "almond joys" they are yummy and packed with nutrition. The school snack was apple sauce. The after school snack was kale chips.
The last day of the week for us this week was day four (nice way to start the year, short and sweet). The main course was pesto pasta in the thermos, fresh strawberries and blueberries, carrot sticks, and dark chocolate covered almonds with a note from me telling them what an awesome job they each did on the first week of school! The school snack was apple sauce again. After school snack was nothing as they all ran in the door, changed, and ran out the door to play with friends!
A successful week one of school. Next week will be even easier as we have done it once already! I will use this menu until winter in which I will create a whole new menu to fit the winter season! Next week I will blog on the breakfasts that we are eating to start the day off right!
I know many of you start school this week after the Holiday weekend. I pray that my ideas will help you send delicious and nutritious lunches for your kiddos! I am excited that these meals will keep our kids healthy, energized, and well nourished!
FOR THE BRAIN....
One last quick note. Make sure your kids are taking a quality fish oil like Nordic Naturals everyday for optimal brain functioning! WATER is also critical to brain functioning so make sure your child is drinking 1/2 their body weight in oz. of water each and everyday!
Happy School Year!
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