I try to keep a supply of easy to grab healthy snacks in our refrigerator. We all, adults and kids included, do better when there’s something we like to eat that we can grab quickly when we need a snack. This week, I decided to make a chocolate variation on the Carob Fudge (recipe HERE) we often make. This version has a distinct dark chocolate flavor, but still contains a healthy assortment of raw nuts and seeds.… Continue reading
Get Moving: Go Fly a Kite
We’ve been trying for weeks to go kite flying. We’ve had our kite ready to go. We’ve had several afternoon playdates scheduled with friends at an open park that would be great for kite flying. We’ve even practiced running the kite around our yard (though not too much – we have far too many trees to be a good yard for flying a kite).… Continue reading
Fruit-Sweetened Banana Cardamom Ice Cream
Another hot afternoon means another round of ice cream at our house. We’re all enjoying having a cool, healthy treat on these hot summer afternoons. Today’s flavor of choice? Banana Cardamom. The bananas provide the sweetener, and the nut butter adds a richer mouth feel (as well as some healthy fats) that you wouldn’t otherwise get without adding cream. Here’s how I made it:
Banana Cardamom Ice Cream Recipe
2.5 cups Milk of choice (coconut milk works excellently for this, but dairy or almond milk would also work)
4 Bananas
½ cup Almond Butter (peanut butter would also work, but adds a distinctive peanut taste)
2 teaspoons ground vanilla beans (read about them HERE)
2 teaspoons ground Cardamom
¼ teaspoon Salt
Process Bananas and spices in a food processor or blender until thoroughly combined.… Continue reading
Thought for the Day: Kabat-Zinn
Today may we all be fully awake and completely present in each moment of our lives.
“Mindfulness is about being fully awake in our lives. It is about perceiving the exquisite vividness of each moment. We also gain immediate access to our own powerful inner resources for insight, transformation, and healing.”
– Jon Kabat-Zinn… Continue reading
The Health Benefits of Avocados
I love avocados. They are easily one of my very favorite foods. When I can find good ones, I consume them almost daily. I reach for avocados because they taste wonderful. Their rich buttery texture and distinctive taste pare wonderfully with an assortment of other foods.
In our family we consume them in a wide variety of ways. We eat avocados plain or with a sprinkle of salt.… Continue reading
Sautéed Mushrooms
Mushrooms are a wonderfully healthy, earthy delight. They have complex flavors. They can be prepared to have a variety of textures. And they adapt well to a variety of dishes. One of our favorite ways to prepare mushrooms is actually one of the simplest: we sauté them in coconut oil and season them with salt and pepper. This simple preparation yields a delightful side dish that easily accompanies eggs, tops a burger, or graces a salad.… Continue reading
Simplify Saturday: Decluttering Sentimental Objects
I have a group of stuffed animals that I’ve kept, not because I particularly like them, but because they came from the person who was my best friend from the time we were teenagers until he died unexpectedly a couple of years ago. I look at them, and they remind me of him. They don’t remind me of him because he liked stuffed animals (Honestly, he found them rather silly), but because for several years he ran an import/export business selling Beanie Babies on Ebay, back at a time when they were all the rage and people paid huge amounts of money for various specific animals.… Continue reading
Coconut Kale Curry
We all love greens in our house, so I’m always on the lookout for new and flavorful ways to prepare them. When I stumbled across THIS recipe, I knew I wanted to try it. The words in the title alone made my mouth water, and when I read through the ingredients, I knew it would be a hit.
As always, I modified the original recipe a bit.… Continue reading
Woolbur, by Leslie Helakoski
Woolbur is a fun, charming book about a young sheep who likes to do everything in his own way. If your little one prefers running with the dogs to standing still with the herd, you may see your child’s free spirit reflected in Woolbur’s own. This is a great story for helping kids to see that being who you are, even if it’s very different from everybody else, is part of what makes life – and the world around us – a delightful place to be.… Continue reading
Steamed Sugar Snap Peas
As we walked through the market, I saw a big pile of fresh, local, sugar snap peas. For me, these are definitely a food that shouts summer. So I had my 6-year-old fill our mesh produce bag full of them, and we brought them home to eat for dinner.
When produce is so fresh and ripe, I think it’s best to let it shine on its own, to let its own natural flavors take the spotlight instead of preparing them with a heavy sauce or another dominant seasoning.… Continue reading