Back to school has arrived and as a parent you are struggling between choosing a delicious snack your child will eat and giving your child healthy protein, high fiber and all the daily required nutrients for a strong immune system. You take your time grocery shopping (which cuts into YOUR personal time but you haven’t had much of that since…..oh you can’t even remember since when!) and make sure you read the labels of these so called healthy snacks.
Unfortunately, the list of ingredients goes on and on and some words you can’t even pronounce not to mention you check out the nutritional label and the sugar content is in double digits while the fiber and protein content is…. Well…..it isn’t! ZERO fiber and protein.
At this point, you find yourself exhausted, demoralized and appalled. You feel like you have no choice so you give up and give into mass marketing and buy the closest thing to a healthy snack: processed creamy cheese spread colored orange with refined flour crackers or some sweet pastry with “real” fruit in it. As morbid but true as this may sound, you can’t buy healthy, delicious snacks and the ones that are out there can only be found in select health food stores and do break the bank!
The good news is that I have the solution for you that will have you doing your happy dance every time you and child prepare lunches for school. Today we feature one of a series of three tried and tested recipes by children aged 2-18 inclusively and all have not only eaten them willingly but asked for seconds and thirds.
I hope you and your child will enjoy making these simple, delicious and nutritious snacks together that I will share over the next while and share the recipe with other moms, dads and friends and family – guilt-free! Today’s feature:
PINEAPPLE MANGO SMOOTHIE
High in FIBER, ANTIOXIDANTS, CALCIUM, B VITS, OMEGA 3 & PROTEIN
Serves 2-3
1 ½ – 2 cups FRESH/FROZEN pineapple, peeled, cored and cubed
1 FRESH mango peeled or 1 cup frozen mango
2 cups coconut water (add pure filtered water if you don’t like it thick)
½ avocado
1 tbsp. chia seeds
1 tbsp. hemp seeds
2 tsp cinnamon
1” piece ginger (more if you like it spicy)
*You can add a natural sweetener like stevia (1/8 tsp), raw unpasteurized honey or maple syrup (1 tbsp) or 4 soaked medjool dates if you like it a bit sweeter.
Blend the above ingredients in a high power commercial blender for 45 seconds. Sip slowly and enjoy as a mid-morning or afternoon snack
