Strawberry & Mango Popsicle Recipe

Man, is it hot down here in Houston this weekend! Days like today, and probably every other day until October-ish, make me crave something refreshing to snack on. After a long day of playing with our new water table in the backyard (thanks Ya-Ya and Papa!) my son and I retreated into the house for some air conditioning and a snack. Luckily, I had whipped up a batch of Popsicles the day before.

This recipe was super easy, and made up on a whim. I just used what I had in the my refrigerator and I am sure with a little experimenting, you could use any fruit that's in season. Next time, I'm going to try and sneak some type of veggie in my pops!!! These would  be really great for a teething baby or toddler, possibly frozen in an ice cube tray and used inside of a mesh feeder.

Now lets talk price:

Lime               $0.30
Strawberries $0.99 for conventional or $2.99 for organic
Mango            $ 0.33

Depending on which strawberries you choose you are either looking at $1.62 for the conventional recipe or $3.62 for the organic recipe. Either way you go, these are a much better alternative to most Popsicles found in your grocery store.

Strawberry & Mango Popsicle Recipe

Makes 4 twin pops

1 Mango, peeled and cubed
1 lb of strawberries, tops removed and sliced
Sweetener of choice, I used maple syrup
Juice of a lime

Puree mango in either blender or food processor, set aside in bowl. Juice 1/2 lime into the bowl and mix it up! Now, puree your strawberries and sweetener together. I used 1 tsp if maple syrup and they tasted great, but if you want a very sweet Popsicle I would recommend adding a little more. Now squeeze the other half of the lime into the strawberries and mix.

I wanted my Popsicles to look pretty, so I layered the mango and strawberry separately using  a funnel. I have the Tovolo Twin Pop Mold and really like it! (Also the price on Amazon was cheaper than what I found in store, bummer!) Just be gentle with the Popsicle sticks and run your mold under water before trying to pry them out.

Happy Summer!!

Confession Time...

Okay, so I must admit something. My Whole30 challenge was a complete fail, I lasted about a week and then gave in and ate a muffin. A very healthy, delicious muffin. But still, a fail. I can chalk it all up to not being prepared what so ever and having a crazy weekend. My family came to stay the weekend with us to help me attempt Once a Month Cooking. We spent the better part of two days shopping, chopping and cooking and I was famished. I had nothing prepped for my special diet and was starving and light headed at the end of the second day. So, I grabbed a muffin.

I wish I had stuck it out because I felt AMAZING during the week that I was Whole 30 compliant. Tons of energy, no moodiness and zero tummy bloat. It was amazing, so I'm going to give it shot number 2. I am much better organized to start this again. I just went to Sprouts and went grocery shopping for the week and have my menu all planned out. I am surprised at how inexpensive my grocery bill is and I'm excited to share my menu plan with you a little bit later.

Clean Eating Chocolate Sauce

We ate pretty well tonight for dinner; steak, a small baked potato, asparagus and salad. After dinner I was craving a little something sweet. My family loves frozen yogurt for dessert on the weekends and it might seem like a pretty innocent treat, but I have no way of telling what is in my cup of yogurt. There could be high fructose corn syrup, food dyes and the milk they use is most definitely not organic. The unknown is pretty scary to me and I have just learned not to eat something that I can't easily identify. So usually I will just buy some organic ice cream and have a little here and there, but that gets kind of boring after a while. The best part of a frozen yogurt place, at least to me, is the toppings bar. I needed a little something to top my ice cream off with tonight and that is how the clean eating chocolate sauce came about, and it is delicious. Much better than Hershey's chocolate syrup and certainly much better for my body.

What exactly is in Hershey's Chocolate Syrup???

HERSHEY'S Chocolate Syrup

Ingredients

HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP; CORN SYRUP; WATER; COCOA; SUGAR; CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: POTASSIUM SORBATE (PRESERVATIVE); SALT; MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES; XANTHAN GUM; POLYSORBATE 60; VANILLIN, ARTIFICIAL FLA VOR Eek!! I'm not sure why they need all of that in their syrup, but what I made tonight had 4 ingredients in it total and was delicious! Here's the recipe: 1/4 cup organic maple syrup (the real deal! not pancake syrup, read your label) 1    Tablespoon Unsweetened 100% dark cacao 1    teaspoon organic unsalted butter 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract Heat the maple syrup over low heat, add the cacao. Mix together well. When thoroughly heated add butter and vanilla. Let cool and drizzle over your ice cream or dessert. This recipe makes 4 generous servings at 61 calories per serving, according to myfitnesspal. Enjoy!

Homemade Citrus Dressing

I went on a one day rampage where I threw everything out that had an iffy ingredient in it...GMO, flavor, added color or preservatives. It left me with brown rice, fruits and veggies and not much else. I think the most common ingredient I threw away was salad dressing. I really love having a salad before my dinner but was not sure what to do as far as a dressing that wasn't crazy in calorie content or hard to make.

Well guys, I have fallen in love with this dressing!! You probably have everything you need to make it in your pantry already..which is awesome because who wants to run to the store just for some salad dressing?? The best part is this is low-cal so if you are like me and trying to loose weight, this will be a keeper! I recycled a bottle of Honest Tea that my hubby drank to use to keep the dressing in and it is quite convenient.

So the recipe is:

8 Tablespoons of freshly squeezed citrus juice. (I used a grapefruit because they were on sale.)
2 Tablespoons of oil, I used olive oil
2 Tablespoons of honey
2 Tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
2 to 3 teaspoons of mustard, I used an organic brand from Kroger's

Put everything in your bottle and shake, shake, shake!!! A little tip: add the oil before the honey, it will make the honey slide off the measuring spoon easier.

And that is pretty much it, super easy and probably takes 5 minutes at the most. This stuff is good!! According to my fitness pal recipe maker it is about 62 calories a serving, if this recipe made 8 servings. Oh, don't forget to store this in the refrigerator.

Veggie Latkes for My Sweet Pea

My little sweet pea, my son, turned 9 months old yesterday!! He has one little tooth barely sticking out on his bottom gums and likes to "chew" food now. It is so cute to watch him pick up little pieces of food and chew away. He thinks he has teeth though and is over eating purees which has made mealtime a little difficult. I usually just give him a little bit of whatever we are eating and mush it up for him but that is not always possible and sometimes we are eating at different times. So in honor of his 9 month milestone I decided it was time to introduce him to a new food, veggie latkes.

 

 

 

 

Veggie Latke Recipe

 

1 potato, preferably organic

1 head of broccoli, preferably organic

1/2 to 3/4 cup carrots

whole wheat flour

 

First, steam your broccoli and carrots. When the veggies are done steaming put in a food processor until they are in small enough  pieces for your baby or child. Mix the veggies together in a mixing bowl. I added a little flour to thicken everything up and formed small patties.

I used a very tiny amount of EVOO in my pan so that the patties wouldn't stick and cooked them for a couple of minutes on each side.

After letting my latkes cool, I put them in a freezer bag so I have some easy lunches and dinners on hand that are full of vitamins and nutrients that are so good for my growing son.

Onions would be a great addition to this recipe if it was being made for grown ups or an older kiddo.

 

My son gobbled these up!!! He ate an entire Latke with some applesauce for dinner and loved it. It was a very healthy 9 month celebration. Bon Appetit!

 

 

 

 

 

Clean Eating: What is it and How do I Start??

Clean Eating in our house means:

• Not consuming ingredients that we can't pronounce or cook with ourselves. Read your labels! You would be surprised as to what is really in your food. This includes food dyes (which can cause hyperactivity in children) and natural flavorings, some of which have been linked to Alzheimer's disease. You can read more about that here .
• Lots of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans, meat and whole milk.
• Buying as much organic food as possible. We buy organic meat, dairy, grains and follow the dirty dozen list and only wild caught seafood. Obviously, not everyone can afford to buy organic food and it is not readily available to everyone. You have to do the best with your budget; eating conventionally grown fruits and veggies is better than eating frozen pizza and ramen noodles.
• No sodas, no energy drinks, no Crystal Light, no fruit juices. Water, water, water!!! I do drink coffee and green tea once or twice a day. I also start my day off with a glass of room temperature water with freshly squeezed lemon juice.
• No refined sugars or flour. No Splenda, corn syrup or cane juice. I use honey or maple syrup in place of sugar in recipes. I have yet to find a bakery close to me that bakes fresh, clean bread so we use Ezekiel bread for sandwiches and toast in the morning. I MIGHT attempt to bake a loaf of bread one day, I am a horrible baker and burn everything!

How we started:

1. I threw anything and everything away that had a funky ingredient in it. No more preservatives, flavorings, food dyes, High Fructose Corn Syrup, cancer causing ingredients.
2. Made a meal plan, a list and went to the grocery store. I live in Houston and am fortunate to have access to tons of grocery and health food stores. I love Costco, HEB and Trader Joe's. We buy our meat, eggs and some produce from Costco. Everything else I will buy at HEB or Trader Joe's if I feel like driving to the galleria area.
3. The trial and error process began and still continues to this day. Sometimes my dinner is a hit and other times, my hubby's Persian palate is disappointed. He likes everything to have a lot of flavor and I could care less if I'm eating a piece of bland chicken and brown rice.

And, that is where we are at today in our journey. We haven't quite perfected our clean eating and there are times when we do eat something that isn't up to our standards but we try our best to give our bodies the best fuel possible. What are some things that your family does to eat cleaner?