Today’s healthy meals idea is going to be a little different.  SHK reader Christine was looking for some toddler menu ideas and so, rather than a family meal plan, this week I’ve got a meal plan specifically for preschoolers!

A few weeks ago, Blue Mountain Organics sent me a treat to try!  It was the snack bar Coco Joy.  I did not share it with my kids! It was too delicious, and I needed a treat.  It’s raw, vegan, organic, and contains only the most simple ingredients, yet soooo yummy.  The only thing in these snack bars is:

Coconut, Cashews, Dates, Almonds, Agave, Cacao, Vanilla.  

So, if you are looking for some raw, vegan, organic, awesome food, check them out.

*Don’t forget the printable meal plans are here.

(Bringing our lunch at Disneyland)

This is how we garden at our house, and it actually works surprisingly well!

• Step 1: bury a few seeds (however deep we feel like)
• Step 2: Set up the automatic timer on the sprinklers
• Step 3: Wait for the harvest!!
• Note: We never weed after we plant.  We’ve weeded out too many vegetable plants that way, thinking they were weeds.  We also don’t thin our plants (too cumbersome) but this practice cost us our pear tree…dead after one season for having too many pears)

And that is how we have ended up, year after year with a run-away crop of CHIVES!   Despite our best efforts to dig it up every year, it keeps coming back in more and more abundance.  But I love the chive plant.  It makes a beautiful centerpiece, and delicious aroma, and they are good for you!!

This morning, we went out to cut a few for Omelets.

Trimmed with scissors (perfect job for the kids)

Chopped with help:

And mixed in with our Omelets.   (not how the Healthy Plate is intended of course)

Interestingly, you can eat any portion of the chive plant (including the flower).  With it’s light onion flavor, chives are perfect in many ways:

• Mixed with some light cream cheese or sour cream for a dip or a spread
• Add to your potato bar
• Add to potato salad or mashed potatoes
• Add to salsa
• Season cooked vegetables with chives, such as cooked carrots
• Make your own ranch dressing
• Add to potato soup

If you haven’t stopped by, I finally indexed my recipes!!  Head over to check it out.  In the coming weeks, I’ll try to add photos to the subpages.

If you’ve been in the yogurt section lately, you may have noticed Yoplait has Greek yogurt now for $0.99.  We like Greek Yogurt (extra protein, and extra creamy!).  Also, Yoplait’s flavored Greek Yogurt has regular sugar, as opposed to the High Fructose Corn Syrup.

I’m not aware if these coupons rotate or not, but currently there is a coupon for $0.30 off Yoplait Greek Yogurt on the coupons.com site!  So get it before it rotates away.Click Here

Post note: Dear Kim- We also like Dannon! We aren’t picky

I got a sweet note from a preschool teacher following my presentation on healthy eating several weeks ago.  Just goes to show you… kids are super teachable!

We are learning the letter Y this week.  Yesterday I put the words "Yum" and "Yuck" on the board and asked them to each name a thing that is yummy and yucky.  They named for our "Yum" list:  apples, strawberries, oranges, carrots, bananas, grapes, etc.  All good!:)  For our "Yuck" list they named a can, a piece of wood, carpet, etc.!  After a few weeks they still remember your lesson, especially the book about the goats and all the bad things they ate!  For 4 year olds that’s really good.  You made a great impression on them.

Thanks!

Heather

After every life event I have the same thoughts,

After my next test, I’ll spend more time in kitchen….

After TJ’s birthday, I’ll make more bread…

After the PTA fundraiser, I’ll soak my beans, rather than get them out of a can.” 

And what happens next: Another bigger and more time consuming thing!

So as a result, this menu plan is going to be Crockpot week or:

“I have no time to be in the kitchen” plan, but if possible, I’ll stick the kids in the kitchen in my place.”

If you have a healthy recipe you think our family would enjoy for future menu plans, feel free to email me a link, or the recipe, and I’ll be happy to link to your recipes in future meal plans! Thanks!!!

Disclaimer: All my children are in school, and I actually send them sandwiches in their lunch every day. These lunches are ideas if you need variety! 

Printable Meal Plans

If there is ever something in my menu that I didn’t post the recipe or link for (generally because its in one of my cookbooks), feel free to email me, and I’ll get it to you. amy@superhealthykids.com

What to look forward to this week: (subject to change if something doesn’t turn out right)

• Party/ Finger food
• Red Cabbage
• Coconut nests
• Crockpot recipe
• Indoor activity idea

Here is a new menu plan… If you get a chance, go check out the cute sidebar image for the link to the printable menu’s!

Also, we need your help!

This group; XX1st Century Kids 1st foundation is trying to win $50,000 to provide low income kids in the Chicago area with healthy food and lifestyle choices.  They just need your votes to win!!  Go here to vote!

Here is next weeks menu for all those who like them.

And the printable menu plans on my side bar, or menu archives.

And a big announcement: I won a major award!!

Thank you Michelle from Family Fitness.

If I can narrow down the blogs I want to award to a few, I will pass it along. Such a tough task!

Also, I’d love for you to check out a website from my new friend Traci (Online friend, that I hope to meet someday )  Traci, who posts grocery bargains on HEALTHY FOOD on her website Healthy Deals and Steals!!  Thanks Traci for doing all the legwork for us.

Headed out tonight to see my friends very talented daughter starring in Les Miserable at her high school.  I’ve actually never seen it (not even the movie), so I’m excited.

Like I said, this week’s menu has got to be easy meals. Without much time in the kitchen, this week’s menu plan is going to have to do. Not exciting, but very necessary.

Head over to the sidebar for the printable version.

I’ve been having fun in my Nutrition class at the University of Utah.  One interesting point the teacher brought up was the necessity of a balanced diet.  When you eat fruit and not veggies, you are getting a good amount of vitamins, but not minerals.  The reverse is obviously true… eat vegetables and no fruit, you have a great source of minerals, but not necessarily vitamins.

I plan menu’s in two ways. First and easiest way, is sit down with my list of our favorite meals, and simply assign them a day.  When I’m rushed, this is my preferred method.  Second method is take out a cookbook, and randomly choose meals I want to try to make, or that sound good.  If I stick to one cookbook per week, then I get less confused as to where I found a recipe.

But now I have a third way!! Instead of one cookbook for the week, I am using ONE WEBSITE!!!  I chose to spend a lot of time browsing Meal Makeover Mom’s!  These ladies are amazing!  Not only do they put out great recipes that my kids will normally gobble up, they test the recipes before they are put out to the public.  They are professional and smart, and I completely admire them!

So, every single recipe in this weeks menu is from Meal Makeover Mom’s! You must check them out if you haven’t already.

	Breakfast	Lunch	Snack	Dinner
Monday	BLT with More	Ham and Cheese wrap	Baked apple with walnut and dried fruit	Chicken Pot Pie Bundles
Tuesday	Raspberry Breakfast cake	Peanut butter swirl sandwich	Goji raspberry frosty	Tuscan Minestrone Soup
Wednesday	Little Monkey Muffins	Crunchy Quinoa with almonds and apricots	Crazy Face Fruit Kabobs	Sausage Mushroom and Cannellini Pesto Pizza
Thursday	Pineapple, applesauce, pumpkin muffins	Turkey and cheese pretzel sticks (to assemble at school)	Krispy PB and chocolate treats	BBQ Pulled Turkey Sandwiches
Friday	Berry Good French Toast	Mac & Cheese and Carrots	Fruit with peanut butter dip	Broccoli bean, and cheddar soup. Whole wheat rolls

Don’t forget the BIG GIVEAWAY LATER THIS WEEK!

Your kids need more beans!  They are such a perfect food.

After a conversation with some friends last night who declared “My kids would never eat beans!”  I got to thinking…. Is it the kids, or is it the parents  (You know who you are!) bad attitude towards beans that leaves them uninterested.  Maybe a little of both.

My kids were such picky eaters before I started this blog.  However, I wasn’t exposing them to a variety of foods like I do now.  Now, when there are no other options, and since children don’t like to starve… they eat!

So, onto my bean dish.

I want to start using my $50 Costco blender more.

I posted this recipe for Black Bean Burgers moons ago.   But this time, I put in my blender

• 1 can of black beans
• oats (because I was out of bread crumbs)
• salsa and an egg!

I know it looks gross, but, it is what it is.

Then I added the cooked rice separately because I wanted it a little chunky.

Then I poured about 1/3 to 1/4 cup on my cast iron skillet.

And then of course put the patty between some delicious whole wheat buns (with a bunch of ketchup).

Then TJ added more ketchup to the TOP of his bun. Such a strange kids sometimes.

We topped it off with some homemade french fries, and the kids Gobbled it up.  Most kids won’t notice you used black beans instead of beef.  You will notice, but its still delicious.

More beans our in my blog future!!! They are cheap, low fat, good for you, high in protein, high in THREE kinds of fiber, and did I mention CHEAP!!  Way cheaper than ground beef.

Other awesome bean posts!

Beans 101

On Cathy’s blog I noticed her taking part in Meatless Mondays! What a great idea.  My spouse is not on board with becoming vegetarian, but I want to reduce my family’s consumption of meat.. and save money in the process, Meatless Monday is a perfect compromise.  (or any one night a week)

I guess our garden isn’t a total waste.  My daughter and her friend spent Friday night searching for the ripest tomatoes they could find, and they actually came out with about 45 small Roma tomatoes.  Quite frankly, I was shocked.  I didn’t want them sitting on my counter forever, so I decided to make some tomato soup.

I used to not like tomato soup, until I had some at Paradise Bakery!  It was so delicious!  Tons of flavor, and thick like spaghetti sauce.  My version was not quite as thick, but it was still delicious!  Cereal boy loved it and had two bowl fulls.   Ketchup boy wouldn’t give it a chance, although I told  him, it was pretty much the same thing as ketchup!!  He wasn’t buying it.

Unfortunately, I have to post my recipes in my blog posts for awhile.  When my laptop died, I lost my web design program with it.  I’m so sad!!

WARNING:  From plant to table, this process took me 1 1/2 hours!!  It was Sunday though and we didn’t have church till 1pm, so I had some time.  But I probably wouldn’t try this during the week.

• 30 small roma tomatoes.  I plunged them in boiling water.  Waited for the skins to crack.  Then I took them out and put them in a sink full of cold water.  Then I removed the skins and put the flesh in a big bowl.  I ended up with about 48 oz of tomato flesh.
• In large pot, saute two chopped onions and 2 cloves of garlic.
• Then add about 50 oz tomatoes.
• 8 oz can tomato sauce
• 6 oz can tomato paste.
• 3 cups water with 3 chicken bouillon cubes (or 3 cups chicken broth).

Bring all ingredients to a boil, simmer for 30 minutes.

Take all ingredients out of pot and puree in blender.  Not too long if you like it a bit chunky. (I did this 2 cups at a time.)

Return to pot and add

• 2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 cups of milk.

Cook for 5 minutes longer.  Serve with Saltine crackers, bread sticks, or we used strips of tortillas grilled slightly on a hot skillet.

Other things to do with all your tomatoes:

Deal of the Day