A Recipe of Lies

I can hardly believe it's almost the end of 2012.  With a new year comes a sense of starting fresh and renewal.  I don't know about you, but I personally have started to get away from the whole "resolutions" since they are usually over-zealous, over the top at times and tend to be hard to maintain - or at least the ones I've tried to keep up in the past.

My goal for most of last year and will be into 2013 is to be healthier.   As I mentioned, I'm a diet whore junkie and I've recently been following the Eat To Live plan by Dr. Fuhrman.  It's been going really, really great.  Aside from currently having a cold, I feel really good.  The weight is still not coming off as I'd hoped but I haven't weighed in again hoping for a bigger loss (fingers crossed!).  I'm also currently reading his books Super Immunity and Disease-Proof Your Child.  They're quite eye opening and informative.

Ok, back to the post and my recipe of lies.

So, for 2013 my goal is be healthier.  Not skinnier or fitter or anything like that.  I'm just striving for health.  Just this past weekend I actually got my husband on board with the whole cutting out processed foods and eating healthier idea also which is awe.some.  I've been on Pinterest for quite some time and I've come across some awesome blogs and resources for recipe, inspiration and so much more.  So as 2012 went on, I had already incorporated green smoothies and had been eating a more vegetarian diet.  Now, I'm almost borderline vegan (but not exactly) due to the Eat To Live plan.  And now with the hubby aboard the healthy train we should be in even better shape to achieve health in 2013.

Me eating healthier. Check.  Husband on board and agreeing to eat healthier, unprocessed foods.  Check.

Kiddos - Yeah.  Not quite a check there yet.

It's just going to be tricking the kiddos to eating healthier that I have to work on.  I started that plan today by making Zucchini Banana Muffins (recipe found on Pinterest on this blog) which I made without the glaze.  No offense, but the "glaze" in the pictures looks like ketchup and is so unappealing - but I altered the recipe a bit to make it a little more palatable for our taste.  So I turned the Zucchini Banana muffins into Zucchini Banana Applesauce muffins and they are yummy!  (Note:  I think they are but I can't taste anything really due to this darn cold!)

Without further adieu, I present the recipe of lies!

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1  teaspoon cinnamon(I added more since I like cinnamon!)

1 egg

2/3 cup of unsweetened applesauce (the original recipe called for butter but I didn't use any)

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4  cup of white sugar

1/3 cup milk – plus another splash as the mix was a little too dry after mixing

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups freshly grated zucchini

1/3 cup mashed banana (about 1 small banana)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350ºF and then get the muffin pan ready with either liners or non-stick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine together flour, baking soda, salt,and cinnamon.  Mix well.

In a larger separate bowl, whisk the egg and brown sugar until smooth and until there are no lumps. Add in white sugar and continue to mix.  Add vanilla extract, applesauce and 1/3 cup milk. Add more later if you find the mix is too dry.  Whisk again until smooth and stir in the previously grated zucchini and mashed banana. Once combined, slowly add the dry ingredients a little at a time, folding the batter until just combined.  Divide batter into muffin cups.

Bake for 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely. 

The finished muffin

Oh whoops, I forgot to put in the key ingredient.

THE LIE!

So, in the whole tricking the kiddos theme, my 4 year old daughter helped me bake these muffins.  I should note that she is a fairly picky eater and does not really enjoy trying new things. Or eating vegetables.  Or trying new foods.  Or - well, you get the idea. My 3 year old son is a bit more adventurous with trying foods and his overall taste for diverse foods.  So, when my daughter saw the green zucchini, she asked me what it was.

So, I sort of lied and called it a green banana.

Well, she totally bought it!  I was shocked.  This coming from a child who would shy away from parsley and green flecks in anything that was on her plate.

Then once the muffins were baked and cooled, she proceeded to eat it - green bits and flecks of zucchini and all.  (See image)

Am I proud that I lied?  No.  I mean, she saw with her own eyes that it was green - a color of food she normally is repulsed by.  Maybe because I quickly called it a green banana, it made it okay by her standards?  But for the sake of her long-term health and getting her to eat more green vegetables I guess I'd have to say it is a lie I'd tell over and over again.

And I just may.

While I consider myself an honest person, I'm kind of a huge fan of trying to sneak more veggies into foods that kids prefer to eat - such as chicken nuggets, cookies, muffins, chili's  soups and stews.  I really love Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious cookbook which I need to go back through and try more of the recipes again now that my kids are older.

Now tell me, do you struggle with the same "picky-ness" with your kids?  How do you or did you overcome it.  Did you ever tell lies to get your kids to eat new things?  I'd love to hear it?
~Carly

Homemade Granola Bars

Morning!

I'm on day 3 of South Beach again and I feel great!

Obviously this recipe is not for me - it's for my kiddos who do enjoy a granola bar. Not everyday, but a few a week. They are quick and easy snacks to take along on our outings and to eat on the go. So, like most people I buy them at the store pre-made. I've tried both Cascadian Farms brand but my kids didn't like them as much as the Quaker ones.

So, considering my obsession with baking combined with my love of Pinterest - I came across this recipe from Savor The Thyme for either bake or no bake homemade 5 granola bars:

I only had some of the ingredients in the house - the key ones anyways.  However, you can make any combination of ingredients - almonds, dried fruits, nuts, flax, chia seeds - anything goes.

I made ours out of rolled oats, honey, peanut butter and some chocolate chips.

After one hour of being refrigerated and then cut to size

Cut to kid-sized portions on wax paper

Wrapping them and then storing them in tupperware

The long list of ingredients in  the chocolate chip Quaker  brand.

It was super easy and they taste really good. (yes I taste-tested!)

The kids couldn't even wait to try them before I could cut them up!  

If that's not success with a picky 4 year old eater and a 2.5 year old, I don't know what is :)

So after seeing that crazy long list of ingredients, making these is a no-brainer!

What do you make homemade versus store-bought?

~Carly

If you can't beat 'em...

Yes, that old saying "If you can't beat 'em, join them."  We've all heard that used in reference to all sorts of situations.

A few months ago, feeling frustrated that (yet again) another day would go by without me exercising, I decided to pop in a work out DVD and do it with my kids in the room.

This may sound silly and ridiculous - but as any parent knows - the minute you sit down on the floor, couch, bed, chair or anywhere - if your kids are anything like mine - they plant their cute butts right next to you, on you or climb into your lap (or general vicinity).

The scenario pretty much went like this:

I started putting on my running/exercise shoes.

My three year old daughter enters the room and sees me doing this and says: "Where are you going?"
Me: "Nowhere."
Daughter: "Why are you putting on shoes?"
Me: "Because I'm going to do some exercise!"
Daughter: "Why you going to do some exercise?"
Me: "It's good to exercise - keeps you healthy and strong."
Daughter:  "Okay, Mommy. You go do exercising."  She wandered into the other room, then came back a few seconds later when she heard me putting on the TV.

Daughter promptly returns to room and continues with her line of questioning.
Daughter: "Mommy, who's that on the TV?"

Enter two year old son to the scenario.
Son: "Who 'dat, Mama?"
Me: "That's Jillian.  She's going to show me how to do exercises." (The DVD was Ripped in 30 for those who are curious)
Son: "Jill-ee-ann?"
Me: "Yes, Jillian."
Son: "Otay, Mama.  You do esserssisses."
Me: "Thanks, sweetie.  You want to do exercises, too?"
Daughter: "I do! I do!  Mommy can I do them, too? Can I?" I literally thought she was going to explode from excitement.

Here I was this entire time thinking I couldn't exercise because they were around.  My palm-to-forehead moment.

If I can't exercise without them, why not include them?

Brilliant!

So, that's just what I did.  They hopped around, did jumping jacks, crunches and other moves with me.  Did I almost hit them in the head a few times as they paced in front of me with my 4 lb. hand-weights?  Almost.  Were they "in my way" a bit? Of course.

But, it was an amazing moment for me as a mom - why would I NOT want to exercise around my kids?
I love that they see me taking time to exercise and work out.

I couldn't believe how long I had purposely avoided this!

So now, when I tell them I'm going to do exercises, they are actually my biggest supporters!

It's highly motivating to hear my daughter or son ask me "Are we doing exercises today?" or "Mom, can we go to the gym?"

How do you say no to that?