Healthy Snacks for Kids

Snacking at Home:

• Fresh fruit - any
• Hummus with raw/steamed baby carrots, cucumber round, other sliced veggies 
• Slices of pear or apple topped with SunButter*, almond butter or other nut butter
• Organic Plain or Vanilla yogurt - plain or topped with berries
• Organic Greek yogurt - plain or topped with berries
• Cubed goat mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, cucumber rounds
• Gluten-free crackers dipped in hummus, SunButter or nut butter  
• Lightly steamed baby carrots

Cookies:

• ShaSha Co. Ginger Snaps - Spelt
• Annie’s Gluten-Free Cocoa & Vanilla Bunny Cookies
• Enjoy Life Snickerdoodles (Gluten-Free)
• Homemade Banana-Coconut-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies 
• Kinnikinnick Chocolate KinniKritter Animal Cookies (gluten-free)
• PC Organics Animal Cookies for Toddlers (not gluten-free)

Individually Packaged Snacks:

•  Happy Squeeze Twist or other strained organic fruit & veggie squeeze pouch
•  Nature’s Path Envirokidz bars (gluten-free) 
•  ShaSha Buckwheat Snacks (higher in protein than most other snacks)
•  Barbara’s Snackimals (cookies packaged for on-the-go)
•  Organic Applesauce (don't forget the spoon!)
•  PC Organics Fruit Snacks (Strawberry Mango, Blueberry Pomegranate)
•  PC Organics Orange Mango Sweet Potato Fruit and Vegetable Snack 
•  Jennie’s Coconut Macaroons

Crackers: 

• Mary's Gone Crackers, Organic Gluten-Free 
• Nabisco Rice Thins, Unflavoured (gluten-free)
• Lentil chips (boxed but also available in snack sized packs)

Salty Snacks:

• Beanitos Original (The Original Bean Snacks)
• Snap Pea Crisps
• Chia Crisps (Lesser Evil brand)
• Neal Brothers Foods Extremely Tasty Tortillas (100% organic nacho chips)
• Popcorn – Organic from PC Organics or Nativa (Shoppers DM)

Juice Boxes:

• Kiju Organic Orange-Mango
• PC Organics Apple or White Grape Juice and water blend

Candy:

• YumEarth Organic Pops 
• YumEarth Organic Fruit Snacks, Gummy Bears or Sour Beans
• Smarties (no artificial colours or flavours)

Prepared by Lisa Tsakos, RHN, LisaTsakos.Blogspot.com

Banana-Coconut-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Who doesn't love a good chocolate chip cookie? And when a cookie is jam-packed with superfoods (like dark chocolate, flaxseed and goji berries), doesn't it taste even better? 

The best part is, my kids LOVE these cookies and we make (and bake) them together almost weekly (they don't last very long!). It's a fun family activity for us and in my opinion, it's never too soon to learn about cooking and baking. I gush with pride when little Ben (only 1 year old) mixes the dry ingredients without spilling a crumb or when 3-year old Olivia fills the measuring cup right to the half-cup marker. Their favourite part, of course, is adding the dark chocolate. Somehow, their faces always end up covered in chocolate (1 for the mix, 2 for me). 

Benjamin caught red-handed!

The first time I made this recipe, I used 1 cup of organic white flour*, but since then I've gradually replaced all of the white flour with coconut flour and have recently added tiger nut flour (which is nutritionally similar to almonds). Even without any white flour, the cookies are deliciously chewy and rich thanks to 3 coconut sources: coconut flour, coconut oil, and shredded unsweetened coconut (my favourite part). If you don't have one (or all) of these at home, you can substitute butter or Earth Balance for the coconut oil, white or spelt flour for coconut flour, and leave out the shredded coconut. You can always add in other 'extras' such as walnuts or pecans, and replace the goji berries with another type of dried fruit (dried cranberries are fantastic!). 

*Why use organic flour? Read the surprising facts about the scary ingredients used in bread making.

Here is the recipe:
 

Dry ingredients:

½ cup organic white flour
½ cup of coconut flour (or ¼ cup coconut flour, ¼ cup tiger nut flour)
¼ cup rolled oats (not instant)
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. sea salt
1 tbsp. ground flaxseed (optional)

Wet ingredients:

½ cup brown sugar
2 ripe bananas, ripe
½ cup coconut oil or butter, softened
1 egg
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Extras:

½ cup dark chocolate chips (I chop up an extra-dark chocolate bar and mix in some raw cacao nibs)
¼ cup shredded unsweetened coconut
¼ cup dried goji berries (or dried cranberries)

1. Preheat oven to 350°C.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a bowl, mix all the dry ingredients.
3. Blend the bananas with the sugar until well mixed. Add the remaining wet ingredients and mix well.
4. Pour the wet mix into the dry mix and stir.
5. Add the chocolate, goji berries and any other extras. Stir until mixed.
6. Drop 1-tablespoon mounds of cookie dough onto the baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes until bottom of cookies are golden.

Top 10 Healthiest Snacks

1. Greek yogurt. Greek yogurt is an excellent source of protein & calcium – more so than regular yogurt.   

2. Hummus & raw veggies. A super-healthy snack for on-the-go, at work or at home. Two tablespoons provides only 70 calories and plenty of fiber and protein.

3. SunButter. Made from roasted sunflower seeds, SunButter is an excellent choice for people with peanut allergies. It is completely peanut-free, tree-nut free and gluten-free. 

4. Dark chocolate. If you need a vice, this is it! Packed with more antioxidants than almost any other food, dark chocolate with 60% or more cacao content may lower blood pressure, reduce inflammation, and improve heart health.

5. Beanitos. Made with uber-nutritious pinto beans, it will be love at first bite.

6. Trail mix / trail mix bars. Brands: Back to Nature, KIND, Earnest Eats Baked Whole Food Bar, 180 Snacks. Make your own trail mix.
  
7. Chia Crisps by Lesser Evil. Chia is a superfood. It's rich in omega-3, fiber, vitamin C, minerals and antioxidants. Chia is a great food for diabetics, reducing blood sugar and inflammation. Milling chia to make organic, non-GMO Chia Crisps makes the seed even more digestible!
  
8. Jennie’s Coconut Macaroons. When you don't have time to eat, one of these macaroons will keep you going until your next meal.
  
9. Snap Pea Crisps. A healthy substitute for potato chips, and a great way to sneak another veggie into your day.
  
10. ShaSha Co. Buckwheat Snacks. Providing 7 grams of protein per 1/3 cup serving, this great gluten-free snack is made with antioxidant-rich buckwheat.

Our 21-day juicing challenge is on!

It's week one of our 21-day juicing challenge and so far so good (though we already missed a day). My mom-in-law invited us to join the Challenge with her and the thousands of juicers participating in the Challenge put on by All About Juicing.

By the way, by "us" I mean the whole family: hot hubby Jason, 3 year old Olivia and 1 year old Ben. We've been battling the most stubborn flu and are determined to build up our immunity, so we're in this together.

I'm finding so many amazing juicing recipes on All About Juicing's Facebook page, but since it's just week 1, we've been juicing the produce (all organic) that's already in our refrigerator and will get more experimental next week.
 
So far, these are the recipes we have tried. I named them based on the reactions from the team (aka my fam): 

1st Recipe: Can you say fresh?
4 carrots (washed & peeled)
2 kiwi (peeled)
1 cup kale
1 pear (cored)
1 apple (cored)

This was our kick-off juice and it was a huge success! My husband guessed all the ingredients except for kiwi - which really made this recipe extra-delicious. The kale blended in very well, too. I couldn't taste it but it felt really good to know it was in there. 

2nd Recipe: Crazy for cucumber?
4 carrots (washed & peeled)
2 cucumbers
2 pears (cored)

This juice was ok, but not as taste as the first recipe. The cucumbers overwhelmed all the other flavours. Next time, I'll include only 1 cuke. 

3rd Recipe: You're my zing
3 stalks celery (washed)
1/2 large cucumber
3 apples (cored)
1/4 lemon (rind & all)
1/2 cup parsley

I just had to add parsley to this drink - not sure why - and it was awesome! The kids loved it and even asked for seconds! It was the first time I had ever tossed a whole chunk of lemon - rind and all - into the juicer and was caught off guard when it bounced right back out! It added a really nice zing to the juice and I can hardly wait to try it in different recipes.

4th Recipe: Orange-You-Glad it's Friday?
Today we experimented with one of my favourite sources of beta carotene (which converts to vitamin A in the body), cantaloupe!
1/2 cantaloupe (minus the rind)
1 large orange (peeled)
2 carrots (washed & peeled)

After a recent bout with the flu, I'm counting on this juice to help heal my respiratory system.

5th Recipe: Tropically Sweet Saturday
3 kiwi (peeled)
1/2 cantaloupe (minus the rind)
1 cup strawberries (stem and all)

We all voted on a fruity juice for a Saturday morning. You can probably guess that the kids loved this one the most! 

It's been such a fun week and we all look forward to making our juice every morning. For week two, we'll introduce some beets and more greens, and we'll spice things up with some fresh herbs. 

Have a great weekend!

-Lisa

Unjunk Your Diet in 2014

Wow, it's hard to believe that the book I co-authored, Unjunk Your Junk Food, came out two whole years ago! 

To celebrate the two year anniversary, I invite you to watch our interview on 'The Better Show'. It was recorded when Andrea Donsky and I went to New York City. I was 7 months pregnant (can you tell?). Of course, I wasn't thrilled to be seen on nationally syndicated TV when I didn't feel or look like myself, but we had a blast anyway!  

I'm thrilled to report that several products listed on our "Bad Choice" pages have removed or replaced some of the unsavory ingredients that we disapproved of. Still, it's important to read every single ingredient on the package before you buy. 

Cheers to eating clean in 2014!