Last week’s CBS Los Angeles‘ “FAB mom on 2” segment was all about kicking our minds into the right direction for how to get kids to eat healthy. This topic inspired by First Lady Michelle Obama and the 150 deserving, lucky-duck mom bloggers hosted at the White House last week. What? Don’t know what I’m talkin’ about? Aha. Let’s take a mini-commercial break: Watch this video to get up to speed, then regroup below.
Obligatory & shameless note: Keep watching our “FAB Mom on 2” segments EVERY Wednesday night on CBS Los Angeles Channel 2! Share the videos! Jump into the #CBSLA convo on Facebook & Twitter! Leave comments about more topics you want to see talked about on TV! Write to the station! Do it! I’ll love you forever if you do!
Up to speed now? Good. Commercial break over.
Back to that ‘Ice Cream Breakfast’ I mentioned on-air and how I fool my kids into eating healthier at home (even when they don’t want to): Of course we enjoy chips, of course we do real ice cream, of course I slam together macaroni-and-cheese in emergency situations. The key? I remind myself that those things are for RARE SOMETIMES, not all times. Birthdays, holidays and celebrations call for chips and ice cream, regular lunches do not.
That dip, by the way, is made from Greek yogurt (not sour cream) — no one was the wiser.
Finding fast solutions is my freak specialty, so here are some of my favorite no-frill tricks to keep healthy options alive and fun at home:
Freeze grapes. The born and raised Fresno, CA girl that I am makes this an easy go-to snack. Wash red or green grapes (or both!) and pop ’em in the freezer. Give it a few hours. Pop ’em in your mouth when they’re frozen solid. Just like mini-popsicles…
Swirl bananas. I learned about this sneaky trick from PBS’ Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood — that little feline is fierce! Peel bananas, toss into a plastic bag and freeze. Once solid, blend in blender until smooth. It’s a bit bumpy at first in the blender (just keep stopping, scraping down sides, then starting up again) but then suddenly turns into an ice cream-like dessert. Seriously: Just like ice cream!
Frosty OJ. For the past few years, my girls have been obsessed with our cheap shaved-ice machine that I picked up at the drug store. Instead of buying that technicolor-like syrup to flavor our homemade snow cones, I soon figured out I could freeze real juice in those circular molds to then shave up into a snow cone (instead of freezing water to shave up, and then dousing with syrup). Yum yum.
Those are my fast go-to tricks. You want better (legit) resources to guide you? Absolutely. Check out Weelicious (delicious, easy recipes for the whole family), Mamavation (fascinating, research & information about organics vs GMOs) and First Lady Obama’s ongoing Let’s Move! initiative. Lots of good stuff in all those places.
Happy Eating to all… and happy feelin’ good too. What’s your fastest healthy trick?
