Jello Juice

This is what I did a few years ago for April Fools for my Children, Jello Juice. It was the first time I did anything to them for the holiday. I don't like to do mean things, and this is another great holiday to use food to celebrate, without being too mean. :] Brin did not like it very much, but now she loves the different April Fools Day foods that I make for them.

I am living with my parents for the time being. More things are being fixed in our home. Luckily I posted this video on youtube to share with family so I have it to share with you today. Hopefully tomorrow I can get to my computer and post another food that I have made for my family on April Fools. If you have done anything with food for April Fools I would love to hear about it!

Jello Juice

Ingredients 2 packets Knox unflavored Gelatin 1 Can frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed Honey Glass glasses Straws Directions Make jello according to the gelatin directions. When mixing up the orange juice do not add three cans water, only add 2. When finished making, pour into glasses, add a straw to each glass, and put in fridge over night. The next morning, April Fools Day, Remove from fridge before the recipients come into the kitchen, and have fun!

Fun Food Find Friday!!

Our Fun Food Find for today is a drink, Zevia Natural Diet Sodas. They are naturally a diet soda because they are sweetened with stevia. I liked the taste it was nice. My kids loved it! I'm not a huge soda fan, I don't like the carbonation. So I liked it better flat. :] If you are a huge soda drinking person this is a great substitute for the ones that are chuck full of stuff that is not good for you.

I found these at the health food store.

Fun Food Find Friday!!

Merry Christmas Eve!!

Since today is Christmas Eve, I thought I would share with you a tradition we have in our family. My Grandma loved this drink. I have no idea if she thought it up or not, but she was the first one to introduce it to us. We only had it during Thanksgiving and especially Christmas. When she passed away the next Christmas we were all sitting around as a family talking about her and this drink. Someone, I'm not sure who, said we should call them Jeanie Teanie's after our Grandma who's name was Jean. We have called them that ever since.

Jeanie Teanie's

Ingredients
Fresca
Cranberry Juice

Directions
You can mix it anyway you like. Most like it about 60% juice to 40% fresca. For myself and my children I do more of a 80% to 20% or 90% to 10%. That way you get more flavor with just a little bit of the soda. :] Experiment with it and see how you and your family like it the best. Also you can get different types of Cranberry Juice. In the picture it is a mix of apples and cranberries. I really like the all fruit juice one that has raspberries and cranberries. The possibilities are endless.
Happy Holidays!!!

Fun Food Find Friday!!

Our Fun Food Find for today is Hansen's Natural Cane Soda. I know I've said this before but, I'm not a big soda fan. We don't really drink it in our home. But there are some occasions that we do have it. One of those is when we go camping. While growing up we always had lots of drinks when we went camping. It's fun to have lots of different drinks and juices besides water. So when I found these I was excited to be able to do that for my kids too! They don't have caffeine. The sugar they use it cane sugar. I'm not quite sure what stage of the sugar that is. But I like that they only have a few ingredients. My kids really like these. I think they have great flavor when they're flat, but I've always liked my pop to be a little flat without so much fizz. :]
You can buys these at the health food stores and at Costco.

Just a side note:
Tomorrow is when I'm going to take my kids trick-or-treating. I always have people ask me what I do about all of the sugar. So I'd thought I would share what I do with you.

I have a Halloween store. I buy toys and little things that I know my kids want. I even let them pick out some of the stuff. If it's a big toy, like one Santa would bring, then that is all they get. If it's a smaller toy they might be able to get more than one. So when they get home from trick-or-treating they use their candy as money to buy things out of my store. I let them also trade me for treats that I've shared with you on Fun Food Fridays, but only a few here and there.

So there you have it, that is what we do with all of the sugar. If we get home early enough I give out my kids candy (after they give it to me for their toys) to other trick-or-treaters that come by.

Peach-Mango Smoothie

My husband loves drinks, non alcoholic drinks. When we first started dating he would always mix us up some concoction. Anywhere from a virgin lime margarita to drinks I wasn't sure what was in them, I just knew they were good. So for his birthday this year I wanted to find a drink or smoothie that he liked. One of his favorite fruits are mangos, so when I saw this recipe I was excited to try it. I made it for him for to go with his breakfast, and it was a hit! Pretty easy to do too, which is always nice.

Mango-Peach Smoothie

Ingredients

1 small peach, peeled and sliced

1 mango, peeled and diced

1/2 cup rice milk

1/2 cup orange juice, or as needed

Directions

Place the peach, mango, rice milk, and orange juice into a blender. Cover and puree until smooth. Pour into glasses to serve.

Fun Food Find Friday!!

Our Fun Find For Today is Gus Grown-up Soda. If you like sparkling juices you'll like these. On the label it says, "not too sweet" and they're right. They don't have a lot of sugar in them and it is cane, not refined. I love that they contain juice too. My kids like these and so do I.

I bought these at the Health Food Stores.

Fun Food Find Friday!!

Since my last Wisdom Wednesday was on ph and I talked about drinking 'good' water, I thought I would share with you one of the waters that I like to drink. So our Fun Food Find today is Essentia. It has a ph of 9.5. My dad has a refractomoter that measures ph and it really was 9.5! I like that Essentia is also 'infused with electrolytes'. When my kids are a little sick I like to give them Essentia to help them stay hydrated with out all the extra sugar. When I've eaten too many foods that are acidic I like to drink a bunch of this water. It helps me feel better quicker than anything else. The other type of water I drink is reverse osmosis, I have a filter in my home.

You can buy Essentia on line, or at the Health Food Stores.

Green Drink

I love "green drink", as we call it in our home. I used to buy Odwalla's form of green drink all the time. Then I decided to make it at home so I could control more of what greens go in it. I love it I have it almost every morning for breakfast. I do share it with my children, but only one glass. It's so funny to me how much they like it and ask for seconds. If the color is a problem for you or your kids try putting it in a dark sippy cup or water bottle, and don't let them see you make it. You will really be surprised at how sweet and yummy this drink really is. One of the important tricks that I've found is that you need to freeze the greens. Well at least I do because I don't have a high powdered mixer. I just have the normal one that my husband and I received when we got married. When they are frozen they blend completely and you don't have little pieces of greens floating around. Also you don't have to add ice that way.

Green Drink

Ingredients

2-3 cups Kale, frozen

2 cups other leafy greens, frozen (I usually use spinach but I have used romaine, Chinese cabbage, and others)

2/3 cup apple juice

1/3 cup pear juice

1/2 cup rice milk

1 banana, peeled

1 cup strawberries, frozen

1/3 cup blackberries

1/2 cup blueberries

2-3 tablespoons honey

Directions

Put Kale and other greens into blender. Add rice milk and apple juice. Turn on blender to the highest speed. It will take a few minutes for the greens to blend completely. If your blender starts to struggle add the pear juice or use one of the frozen stems from the kale to push the greens down a little. Once the greens are completely mixed in and smooth, add the banana, berries, and pear juice (if not added before). Blend on high until completely mixed. Once it is all blended taste it before you add the honey, you might not need it. Serve right away and enjoy!

Variations:

I don't always have fresh berries on hand. If I don't then I just use a frozen medley of blackberries, strawberries, and raspberries. Sometimes I add a whole peeled pair and use what ever juice I have on hand. As long as you are using at least 4 cups of greens to just over 2 cups of fruit you'll be good. Sometimes I even add less fruit and my kids don't notice except for the color is more green than a purple green.

Fun Food Find Friday!!

Today the fun find is Oogave. This is a great substitution for soft drinks! The taste is very yummy. They only have 5 ingredients and are caffeine free, except for the cola. The sweetener is agave nectar from the agave plant. Agave is a low glycemic index sweetener. So this treat is great for diabetics as well as the rest of us. My favorite flavors are the esteban's rootbeer, watermelon cream, and luck lime. There are others I just haven't tried them yet.

The only place I've found these is at the Health Food stores. If you see them somewhere else please let me know.