Girl Scouts & Chocolate Buckwheat Granola

You can eat it all and still look great! The big caveat...and, this is a big one- you have to make healthy food choices and eat real foods and a diet full of fresh fruits, vegetables and grains! I am preparing a talk for my daughter's girl scout troup about healthy eating. The focus is on hunger and how many children go hungry in America. While this is heartbreakingly sad and something should be done about it, almost as troubling is the record numbers of children that we have that are obese or have diabetes!

For me, it boils down to 3 Simple Steps:
- Eating foods in the rainbow (you want your plate to look colorful- the more colors the better!)
- The Rule of 5- avoid products containing more than 5 ingredients or ingredients you don't recognize!
- Eat  for nourishment and only when you are hungry (not because you are sad, angry or just plain bored)

If we grown-ups following these simple three rules and stop obsessing over calories and low-fat foods then we would be a much happier, skinnier nation.

So, onto my new favorite (and what I had for breakfast this morning), Kaia Foods Cacao Bliss Buckwheat Granola. Not only is this granola gluten-free, raw, but it does not contain sugar and is sweetened with agave nectar. The companies philosophy is "the belief that our health is best supported by eating an abundance of minimally processed whole foods. We sprout, mix and dehydrate our organic foods at low temperatures so that they remain 'raw.' No baking, frying, bleaching, or weird processing steps!" This granola was crunchy, rich and absolutely delicious!

Here is my cereal bowl this morning: Kaia Granola topped with sliced bananas and blueberries and topped with almond milk. Totally yum! Eating a diet full of whole foods leaves up feeling happy and satiated and certainly not reaching for that croissant in the morning meeting!

Who would feel deprived having a breakfast like this? 

What are your favorite breakfast cereals?

Yogurt Bar & Science Experiments

Our mornings during the week are sometimes rushed and I am always looking for quick, easy and nutritious ideas for the kids and I during the week! My kids love it when I put out a "yogurt bar" and they can make their own creations. As a vegan, I either use So Delicious Coconut Yogurt or delicious, homemade Coconut Cream (think Vegan whipped cream- yum!) My kids usually like the either the Fage Greek yogurt or the Maple Hill Creamery, which is grass-fed , sweetened with cane sugar and contains natural fruits.

For the "yogurt bar," I usually put out bowls of fresh and dried fruits and the kids also love to pile up granola, cereal and  trail mix on top!

My son piled the Cherry Chocolate Granola that I made a few days ago on top of his.

My kids also love to put the Bear Naked Trail Mix on top.

Caroline also loves to pile hers with Envirokidz Leapin Lemurs, which is gluten-free and sweetened with brown rice syrup and evaporated cane juice.

Here is what Caroline's yogurt bowl looked like!

Doing a yogurt bar is great for breakfasts and also kids adore doing this for after school snacks and treats.

While the kids love "experimenting" with their different concoctions in the kitchen, another set of concoctions took place in our house yesterday!

Science Fair + 10 year old boys + 10 pounds of dry ice = FUN!

Makes me feel like I am 10 again!



 Boiling & Teeming Mason Jar









Blowing Up a Balloon



Making a Gargantuan Bubble

Busy, but fun week. Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend with the family!