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?

No Bake Chocolate Cherry Granola Bars- Girl Scout Cookies Never Had it So Good (or Healthy!)

This week has been an absolutly crazy week with clients, preparations for Easter, my in-laws arrival tomorrow, Grandparents Day at my son's school (where I will be helping out all day!) AND his Science Fair the day after Easter involving dry ice (don't ask!) so when my fellow Girl Scout Brownie Mom's asked me to come up with a cute idea for the kids to make for our next meeting I almost cratered...

The criteria were that they had to be something that would/could be:

1) Easy for the girls to make
2) Made without an oven
3) Made in under 10 minutes
4) Nut-free and healthy (I am taking this to mean sugar-free and wholesome ingredients!)
and
5) A snack the girls would like and actually eat!

Then, I thought, "I've got it!" No problem!" We will make my No Bake Chocolate Cherry Granola Bars!

Step 1: Add equal parts Oatmeal and Kashi Go Lean Crunch cereal

Step 2: Add unsweetened applesauce or mashed banana (I used mashed banana) and stir

Step 3: Add honey (I used a whole honey bear.) This is what sticks it together so be liberal about it!!!

Step 4: Add dried cherries (or raisons or cranberries)

Step 5: Add chocolate chips

Then, put them in a fridge to harden for approximately 20-30 minutes. Take out and slice into bars.

If this were not for Brownies and could include nuts a delicious addition to this would be to add almond butter or peanut butter to up the protein ante. But, this being kids and a school function and having nut-allergy kids in the group, this was strictly not allowed!

If I were also making them for myself or my crew, I would also add Sun Warrior Protein Powder in vanilla, perhaps some chia, hemp or pumkin seeds, and maybe even a bit of coconut butter to further up the flavor and the nutritional ante!

Something More than a Smoothie!

I love the quiet of the morning after the children have been dropped off at school and the house is absolutely quiet! This is the time I usually chose to have my breakfast when I can actually concentrate and enjoy what I am eating without getting up from the table a million times to clean a spill or for more orange juice or almond butter or whatever!

Most mornings I have my favorite green smoothie to start the day but this morning I woke up starving! Last night I had a larger than usual dinner delivered courtesy of Candle Cafe
so was a bit surprised I was so hungry. Sometimes, though, I find that we eat more or later than usual, we actually wake up hungrier!

Anyway, I am going on a 7 mile run today so decided to fuel up with my absolute favorite Macadamia Nut cereal from Laughing Giraffe topped with a handful of organic blueberries and my homemade almond milk. Laughing Giraffe only sources the highest quality ingredients and uses clear, real raw agave nectar for sweetness.

Here is a picture of my breakfast! Delicious and I feel clean and powered up to run! Will do the smoothie for lunch!