Picky eater? Smoothie recipes for kids! (And their parents too!)

I am on a constant quest to find ways to get healthy foods into my kids bodies. Our girls are good eaters, they love fruits and veggies. Our youngest, the boy, will eat certain fruits, but wants nothing to do with anything green or vegetabley (is that a word?) I try to think of fun ways to present him with veggies and green things, and sometimes he will take a bite, but then spits it right out. So frustrating.

Our society, and specifically the children are severely malnourished because of all the processed foods and lack of raw food in their diet, which is a big part of why kids these days are always so sick! Making smoothies helps solve this problem!

For years I have been wanting to jump on board the smoothie train, but could never make good ones that anyone would actually drink.... until now! I am so excited about all the nutritious things I have been putting into their little bodies, and they love them too. My husband even drinks them! A few smoothie staples that you must have on hand:

• Kefir (I like to use goats milk kefir)- Kefir is an amazing probiotic which helps increase gut health and build a strong immune system
• Frozen organic fruit (I use mostly berries because they are low in sugar and full of antioxidants)
• Coconut oil- There are too many benefits of coconut oil to list here, but for more info click here
• Chia seeds- Chia seeds are full of omega 3 fatty acids and are a great source of soluble and insoluble fiber
• Raw honey-Once again there are too many benefits to list here but if you want more info click here

With just the things listed above you can make a delicious smoothie, here is the base recipe (you can add more or less of each thing based on your taste preferences):

1 1/2- 2 cups kefir
3 cups organic frozen fruit
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup chia seeds
raw honey to taste (if you want to use less honey, get a pure stevia extract and add a couple drops)
handful of ice cubes
1/2 cup water

To make my smoothies even more power packed with nutrition you can add any of the following foods to the above base (I always add at least one veggie):

Avocado
Kale
Turmeric root
Fresh squeezed orange juice
Carrots
Spinach

When doing kale, I prepare mine ahead of time and puree it with a little bit of water then freeze it in pre-made portions. You can use cupcake tins to freeze it, then just throw your kale pellet in the blender with the rest of your ingredients and blend! I haven't tried it with spinach yet, but I am sure it would work great this way also.

**As a side note, we could not feed our family of five as much organic and healthy foods if we didn't shop at Costco! You can get almost all the ingredients for smoothies there, for half what it would cost you anywhere else!

I make a batch for my whole family every morning and many times they don't want anything else for breakfast because they are too full! These smoothies are great for moms too, when I miss a morning I am always sleepy by the afternoon and have to drink coffee to get through the rest of the day without a nap. It is crazy how much of a difference it makes. My only regret is that I didn't start this habit sooner!

Please share any smoothie recipes that your family loves! I would love to hear from YOU!

You are not the underdog, stay at home mom.

Happy New Year everyone! I am super excited about what this year is going to bring us! As a follow up to my Faith and Finances post, I am very proud to announce that this month our last credit card will be paid off and we will be done with the first part of our debt snowball plan!We are well on our way to being debt free! To read that original post and help get your finances in order click here!

On another note....

Lately I have been shocked at how stay at home moms are attacked and made out to be inferior to those who go out into the work force and get a "real" job. Our own president was recently quoted saying that being a stay at home mom is "not a choice we want Americans to make."

We as moms know our job is important, but sometimes it feels like we should be doing more. I am here to tell you, what you do is enough.

I recently did a study on David from the bible and I got some great revelation for stay at home moms that will empower and encourage us to keep up the good fight. 

We have all heard the story of David and Goliath. David the underdog, with Gods help and favor killed the giant, which reminds us that with God's help we can do anything. That is a great message but there is more to it. The bible says that David was "a man after God's own heart."

How can I be a woman after God's own heart and do great things like David? I speak toddler all day and I feel like I never leave my kitchen!!

In order to understand how David was a man after God's own heart we have to go back to the beginning before he even killed Goliath. When he was anointed by God to be king, he was just a lowly shepherd. He spent his time doing doing something that most people thought to be the lowest job on the totem pole. Even after being anointed as king, he went back to tending sheep, he did not go to war with his brothers against the giants. What kind of king is that? Think about how that must have felt? 

Sometimes when you are kissing boo boos and wiping snot it does not feel like we are doing anything important, but watch what happened to David...

While he was shepherding his sheep he had encounters with a lion and a bear, and he slayed both of them. These were trials that nobody knew about, which built his faith. While his brothers and everyone else were at war seeing these big scary giants, he was secluded and alone with God, doing a job that didn't feel important, but it built his faith for his appointed time.

See where I am going with this?

When it was time for someone to fight Goliath, all the other people were scared because they had been exposed to the giants, causing unbelief. Meanwhile David had the proper perspective and understood that his God was bigger than any giant. He had been building up his faith, and was seeing Goliath through his spiritual eyes, not through fearful physical eyes.

While doing the humbling job of tending sheep, David was being built up to do one of the most important jobs in history. What if he had complained and gotten arrogant? What if he would have refused to tend sheep after being anointed as king?

Confidently, David went in and did the job nobody else could. He slayed Goliath and saved his people. This one thing changed the course of his whole life, and he never could have done it without the humbling time he spent with the sheep.

You mom, in your pajamas at noon, showerless and changing a poopy diaper, are David. You are a woman after God's own heart. God is building you up for something great. Use this time to build your faith because you will do things that nobody else could ever do. You will slay giants. Consider every trial a joy because it is only preparing you for something great.

XXOO