vegetables

Healthy Green Smoothies that Kids will LOVE!

For our smoothies we tried cups of green: a "Green Monster". We drink a lot of smoothies and shakes at our house. We have learned some tricks along the way and now have girls that wake up and ask for these healthy treats for breakfast. A "spinach shake" just doesn't have the appeal of a "Green Monster"!

To make our "Green Monster":

1cup almond milk (you can use any kind of milk)
1 ripe banana
approx 1/2 c of baby spinach
three ice cubes

If your banana isn't sweet and ripe, you can add a little honey. You can increase the amount of spinach a bit at a time - you don't want to turn them off of green shakes by going "too green" early on. The Junior Chefs at momstown Milton had fun taking turns adding ingredients to the blender.

It is a good idea to blend the spinach and milk until there are no recognizable pieces of greenery left. This makes for a great green colour, and most kids won't be thrilled sucking up pieces of spinach through their straw! Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth.

The varieties are endless and you can ask your child to help create the fun smoothy names (Monkey Milk is a fun one for banana flavours!). Banana is great for sweetness and spinach is great for nutrients. Adding 1/2c of baked sweet potato, or pumpkin (cooked fresh, or canned), berries, 1c of fresh or frozen mango, or unsweetened apple sauce all add sweetness and nutrients to your drink. The kids got a kick out of drinking the delicious green smoothie! Some asked for seconds (and thirds)! Makes a perfect afterschool snack for older kids!

Posted by momstown team on 05/23/2013 - 09:32

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Glazed Carrots

glazed carrots

During the holidays my family gets together and each of us are in charge of bringing a dish or two. Glazed carrots is a family favourite! Here's the recipe I've been using since I can remember.

2-3 cups baby carrots (or large carrots cut into small pieces)
1/2 cup butter
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
fresh minced parsley or chives

In a medium skillet, melt butter. Add brown sugar, honey, nutmeg and cinnamon; mix together. Add carrots. Cover; cook on medium low to medium heat for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. When finished cooking, the carrots should be firm, not mushy.

Remove from skillet and sprinkle with fresh parsley and/or chives. Serve.

Thanks to Ester from momstown Winnipeg for sharing her great side dish!

Posted by momstown team on 01/13/2012 - 00:33

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Oh Broccoli Tree

Oh Broccoli Tree...Oh Broccoli Tree you're so Green and Crunchy! What a great idea from our Guest Blogger Kia Robertson from Today I Ate a Rainbow.

With Christmas around the corner, it's time to start planning ways to incorporate fruits and veggies into your festive meals! We all tend to indulge at this time of year so it's always a great idea to balance that out by eating a rainbow of fruits and vegetables.

Around here eating and serving fruits and veggies has to be fun! This broccoli tree with tomato decorations and a star made out of a yam makes a delicious and healthy centrepiece! Put out some dip and watch the tree disappear :)

To make these trees you need a styrofoam cone shape...we used one the was 98mm (3-7/8 in) x 301mm (11-7/8in) and trimmed a lot off of the bottom in fact I would suggest cutting the cone half way down so that it doesn't take up too much broccoli! We used 6 large heads of broccoli for our tree.

I recommend using extra long tooth pics so that you can trim them down for the top of the tree and then use the full size on the bottom...this helps to make the tree extend out at the bottom! You could easily sprinkle in some cauliflower in there to make it look like some snow on the tree. I cut our star out of a piece of yam...but feel free to use anything that you have on hand!

We hope this Holiday Season is full of love and laughter for you! Wishing you Health and Happiness in the new year!!!!
Happy Healthy Eating,
Kia

Posted by Eating a Rainbow on 11/05/2011 - 21:58

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10 Pumpkin Recipes: more than a jack-o-lantern

pie pumpkins

Lots of Pumpkins around these days! All over front steps and ready to carve for Hallowe'en! What about in your kitchen??

Those giant porch pumpkins are best for jack-o-lanterns as they are too stringy for eating but the delicious small "pie pumpkins" are perfect for a vast number of dishes. Pick up some pumpkins now that they are plenty and store them in a cool, dark place with other squash like Butternut, Acorn or Buttercup to use all winter long.

momstown has collected our favourite archives for Pumpkin recipes and assembled a handy round up to use for Pumpkin Kitchen inspiration!

Pumpkin Soup - easy, creamy and no cream!

Pumpkin French Toast - a twist on a classic SUnday favourite!

Vegetarian Chili with Squash (or Pumpkin!), Black Beans and Peppers - one of our favourites on a cold night

Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese Spread - quick to whip up for sudden company or for hungry kids at snacktime!

Pumpkin Cheesecake - delicious any time of year but especially in the fall around the holidays

Halloween Pumpkin Cupcakes - a win for any party with a dash of vegetable tossed in!

Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Cake - a great submission from our momstown birthday cake recipe contest!

Crustless Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie - make everyone happy with this pie for dessert!

Ultimate Family Pumpkin Loaf - this is such a common bread in our house all quick breads are referred to as "pumpkin bread" - super way to sneak in extra veggies into an already family favourite

Peanut Butter Cereal Bars with Pumpkin Seeds - super after school snack (can't pack in lunch due to peanut butter though)

Posted by momstown mama on 10/26/2011 - 23:09

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31 Thanksgiving dinner ideas

Hosting Thanksgiving this weekend? We bet you're planning your tried and true recipes to make sure it's a delicious and family friendly dinner. momstown members are awesome at sharing their best recipes with us and here's our Thanksgiving feast round up complete with meal ideas and free recipes!

Company is arriving and you need to serve up a little starter to pass around for the nibbles.

Start off with Warm Brie with Mushrooms and Onions and an assortment of crackers. An easy task to delegate to someone pull together and pass around while you finish up the last minute elements in the kitchen. pumpkin soup

Once sitting, begin your meal with this creamy (yet fat free!) Pumpkin Soup. Great to make ahead and then gently warm up on Thanksgiving day.

Onto the main meal and a variety of side dishes are needed. momstown has you covered!

Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes

Glazed Fall Vegetable Medley

Sweet Potato and Apple Casserole

Butternut Squash Gratin

Maple Glazed Squash and Green Beans

Roasted Turnips with Squash, Sweet Potatoes & Shallots

Broccoli and Cheese Casserole

Acorn Squash and Feta Casserole

The BEST Thanksgiving Gravy

turkey thanksgiving One thing you need is the Turkey. Who better to give Turkey 101 than Canadian Living's Cooking School with details about how to prepare the perfect turkey and 21 different Stuffing Recipes and Ideas!

Dessert is a priority at Thanksgiving too. This recipe has been shared on momstown many times and always gets great reviews. Our member Lisa swears by this Pumpkin Cheesecake and she is known for it at her famly functions. Or try a twist on tradition with a Gluten-free Crustfree Pumpkin Pie. momstown Brampton has a secret ingredient in her Nanna's Chiffron Pumpkin Pie that's delicious!

Happy Thanksgiving! Don't forget to decorate your table with items like these Paper Pumpkins and other fun craft ideas on momston arts and crafts blog.

Please share a comment below what your best Thanksgiving recipe or food is - we love new ideas!

Posted by momstown mama on 10/05/2011 - 08:50

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Broccoli and Cheese Casserole

Do you need a Thanksgiving side dish? This recipe is a favourite of momstown Burlington moms.

Take 3 heads of broccoli, cut it up into small pieces, and steam for about 3 mins until bright green.

Put into your casserole dish.

Mix with:

2 cans cream of mushroom soup
grated cheese (not sure exactly, but about a small 375g package)
1 egg, beaten
2 tbsp mayo
1 onion finely chopped

Top with bread crumbs and some pats of butter.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 mins. Yummmmmmmm :)

Posted by momstown mama on 10/05/2011 - 08:49

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Butternut Squash Gratin

This Kraft recipe was shared on a momstown Burlington's message board when talking about popular Thanksgiving and fall recipes! Soft and yummy, this is a great casserole to share with the kids and can be easily pureed for babies or used as a finger food.

1 butternut squash (2 lb./ 900 g)
1 Tbsp. butter
1 small sweet onion, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp. flour
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 cup 25%-less-sodium chicken broth
1-1/2 cups Kraft Old Cheddar Shredded Cheese, divided
1/3 cup Oscar Mayer Real Bacon Recipe Pieces (or fresh bacon chopped & fried)

HEAT oven to 350ºF.

PEEL squash. Cut lengthwise in half; discard seeds. Cut each half crosswise into thin slices; place in large saucepan. Add enough water to cover squash. Bring to boil on high heat; simmer on medium-low heat 8 to 10 min. or until squash is tender.

MEANWHILE, melt butter in skillet. Add onions; cook and stir 5 min. or until tender. Stir in flour and pepper; cook and stir 1 min. Gradually stir in broth; cook and stir 2 to 3 min. or until sauce is thickened. Remove from heat. Stir in 1 cup cheese.

DRAIN squash. Arrange half in 8- or 9-inch square baking dish; cover with half the sauce. Repeat layers; top with bacon and remaining cheese.

BAKE 30 to 35 min. or until squash mixture is heated through and squash is tender.

Posted by momstown mama on 10/03/2011 - 11:24

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How to get kids to eat fruits and vegetables

Kids love rainbows! What's not to like, they're so bright and colourful! Did you know that you can take that love of rainbows and put it on a plate filled with fruits and vegetables?! Using a rainbow as a guide, you can ensure that your children benefit from a wide range of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients in their diet.

Phytonutrients are natural chemical compounds found in all plants; they protect against disease and promote health in plants and humans. Many phytonutrients also give fruit and vegetables their bright colour. By breaking produce down into colour groups of fire-engine red, bright orange, sunshine yellow, emerald green, and rich purples you can make eating fruits and vegetables fun for your kids! Even at a very young age, kids can easily grasp the concept of eating a rainbow.

As parents we "know" that our children should be eating a minimum of 5 servings a day of fruits and vegetables however getting them to actually eat their fruits and veggies is a different story!

Here are some suggestions on how to get them to eat their fruits and veggies:

1. Keep Fruits and Vegetables in Sight: Stock your fridge full of washed and ready to eat fruits and veggies. Having them cut up in slices makes it even easier for your kids to reach in and grab a quick healthy snack.

2. Remove the Competition: If you provide only healthy options they will get eaten! Leave the junk food for an occasional treat!

3. Prepare Meals Together: Bring kids into the kitchen starting at a young age. Toddlers can wash and rip lettuce, preschoolers can measure and stir, and older kids can find recipes and help create meals. Children are far more likely to dig into a new dish if they helped prepare it!

4. Take them Grocery Shopping: When you have the time, take your children grocery shopping with you and let them pick out a fruit or vegetable. Challenge them put a rainbow in the shopping cart!

5. Serve a Fruit or Vegetable with Every Meal: Every day and every meal, fruits and veggies should be on the menu. Eating this way makes it easy to get the minimum 5 servings of produce a day!

6. Keep it Simple: Veggies taste best when you don’t do too much to them. Eating them raw seems to be a favorite with kids. Add some yummy dip and your done!

7. Be a good Role Model: If you expect your child to eat vegetables, you need to be eating them, too!

8. Eat the Same Meals: Make one meal for the family. Don’t start the habit of serving different menus for everyone as you’ll end up with a house full of picky eaters and a lot of extra work in the kitchen!!

9. Keep trying: Kids need to be exposed to, and ideally taste, a new food as many as 10 to 15 times before they’ll accept it. Just getting them to take one bite is a victory!

10. Make it Fun: Kids are fun people and they love playing games. Keep that in mind and make healthy eating a fun challenge rather than a battle.

Happy Healthy Eating!

Try some of our colourful and yummy momstown recipes:

Bright Orange + Emerald Green - Maple Glazed Squash and Green Beans with Walnuts

Fire Engine Red + Emerald Green - Strawberry & Spinach Salad

Fire Engine Red + Bright Orange + Sunshine Yellow - Grilled Balsamic Peppers

Sunshine Yellow - Banana Bran Muffins (great recipe for kid helpers!)

ALL Colours - Vegetarian Chili with Butternut Squash, Tomato, Black Beans, Corn & Peppers (black beans = purple?)

Sunshine Yellow

Posted by Eating a Rainbow on 07/04/2011 - 20:39

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Raising Healthy Eaters

Raising healthy eaters is easy to do when you get your kids involved with the food they eat! I think the key to success is to make food and everything to do with it a fun experience because let’s face it kids are all about fun!!!

When my daughter was a baby I’d let her play with food, for example she would sit in her high chair and have a great time exploring an avocado. Feeling the bumpy texture of the skin with her little fingers, bringing it to her nose to smell it, smearing it around her tray like a painting, it usually ended up all over her face and in her hair! As much as possible we encouraged her to feed herself so that she would get to explore get to know her food…is was a messy fun filled experience!

zucchini kids

Now that she’s older she helps out with every aspect of our family meals. We plan meals together, she helps write out our shopping list, she gets her own little cart to fill at the store and is our produce picker at the farmers market. After years of “playing” in the kitchen she is now quite comfortable with a knife and helps to prep our fruits and veggies. We made a casserole last night and I didn’t have to chop a single vegetable :) Our new mission….we are growing a garden this year!

My advice to parents is to let food be a fun hands on learning experience!

1. Let your babies play with their food! Watch them explore their food and engage their 5 senses!

2. When time permits, take your children grocery shopping, let them help you pick out a rainbow of fruits and veggies!

3. Trust them with tasks in the kitchen – it’s the only way they’ll learn and gain skills. Get them washing the produce, ripping lettuce, cutting soft things with plastic knives and working their way up to using a real knife, setting the table, and doing other jobs that help boost their confidence in the kitchen!

I think it’s important that we engage our children in the entire process of their food. Learning where it comes from and how it grows. Helping to select, prepare and cook it. This gives parents the opportunity to have great chats about why we choose healthy foods for our bodies and how the choices we make effect us and the whole planet! By setting healthy habits at a young age we are giving our children the skills they will need to make wise choices later in life.

Happy Healthy Eating!

Posted by Eating a Rainbow on 06/12/2011 - 21:52

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What to make with Rhubarb?

rhubarb patch

Rhubarb anyone? I'm a big fan of rhubarb and have fond memories of going out to my Grandma's giant patch and pulling fat stalks out of her garden, washing and cutting them up for her famous strawberry rhubarb pie. Part of that rhubarb plant now grows at my parent's house (whose leaves are as big as my daughter above!) and some in our garden but my lack of a green thumb means it's kinda scrawny in comparison. Regardless, it's a super crop to grow with your kids.

Rhubarb stalks are full of fibre and vitamin C (don't eat the leaves, they can be poisonous!). It can be added chopped or stewed to muffins or loaves, makes excellent crisp or pie and be stewed as a sauce or poured over ice cream or yogurt. Here's a yummy muffin recipe that's a great way to first introduce this vegetable (although we treat it like a fruit!) to your children - chop the rhubarb very fine if you want to hide it. Get kids involved in cutting off the leaves with a dull knife and chopping the stems to involve them in the process (and have a better chance of eating it!).

Rhubarb Muffins rhubarb muffine

1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/4 cup salad oil
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups finely diced rhubarb
1/2 cups pecan pieces
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Topping:

1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp melted margarine

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 24 medium-sized muffin cups. Combine in large bowl: brown sugar, oil, egg, and vanilla. Beat until well mixed. Stir into mixture buttermilk, rhubarb, and pecans.

In another bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add this mixture all at once to rhubarb mixture and stir until all ingredients are moistened. Do not over mix.

Fill prepared muffin pan 3/4 full with batter. Quickly combine topping ingredients and sprinkle on top of batter in each muffin cup. Bake in preheated oven on center shelf 15 to 20 minutes.

Enjoy these 5 other Rhubarb Recipes:

Rhubarb and Sticky Ginger Crumble

Rhubarb Compote

Rhubarb Jam

Rustic Rhubarb Tart

Rhubarb Sauce, Smoothies and Shakes

Posted by momstown mama on 05/26/2011 - 11:22

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