Getting kids to eat their fruits and veggies takes a combination of a lot of things! I think if you create a culture in your home where fruits and vegetables are fun and enjoyable it helps to reinforce the idea that produce is our friend! Play time is a great time to include fruits and veggies! In my opinion play is practice for life! Through play, kids can learn to appreciate fruits and vegetables and connect the fact that they are part of making healthy choices for themselves!

So when Hannah found some plasticine the other day, we had a great time making our favorite fruits and veggies! I think that any chance we get as parents to incorporate fruits and vegetables we should take it…even if it’s just during play time and no actual food is involved.

Play time is also learning time so it’s a great opportunity to bring fruits and vegetables into the mix!

Happy Healthy Playing
Kia

Kia Robertson is a mom, children’s book author and the creator of the Today I Ate A Rainbow kit; a tool that helps parents establish healthy habits by setting the goal of eating a rainbow of fruits and vegetables every day. Kia is passionate about creating tools that help parents raise healthy kids!

When I think Earth, I think blessed!

In the month of November, its common to want to count our blessings in honor of Thanksgiving.  When you think about Earth, what comes to mind?  As a nature and green enthusiast, I think about how lucky we are that someone spoke up for the rights of the animals, our oceans, our parks, and the solidity of our way of life.  More than a decade ago, people weren’t aware and took for granted what beauty we possess on this beautiful planet.  We took for granted what we consumed and fed our children and we took for granted that the swamps, oceans, lakes, and parks would always stay pristine.  I propose that this Thanksgiving, you introduce your love of the planet into your feast!  This is a great way to pass down the wisdom of the ages to your children.  It’s easy!  All you have to do is write it down, mention it aloud, or simply invite changes into your meal for everyone to notice.  You can do this by using a free-range turkey, composting your scraps, or by using your green bags to buy your Thanksgiving meal this year.  You lead by example and trust me, your kids and other family members will take notice! Stay tuned for up coming tips on how to go green for Thanksgiving but for now, just be grateful to have gone green and look up the cheap skip bins, they are a great way to start recycling,  Skip Bins Brisbane and their system will then give you the best price for one of our skip bins in your area from one of our many trusted and reliable suppliers.  Your awareness reduces your carbon footprint on the planet.  Now that’s something to be grateful for!

Buy your Thanksgiving meal with a nifty green bag!

Consider alternative fuels to reduce your carbon footprint

Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle bottles, newspapers, plastic bags, and more!

If you keep plants or plant a tree, expect clean air for years to come

Earth is really in the palm of your hands!

Be thankful that you decided to Go Green!

Blogger Laurali Star can be found on her blog, Charming Laurali Star, and on her site, The Damsel in the Attic, where she sells handmade and vintage clothing and accessories.  Another fab way to help reduce, reuse, and recycle!  Check it out!

Green Halloween® is a nationwide non-profit initiative started by mother-daughter team Corey Colwell-Lipson and Lynn Colwell. In 2010, Green Halloween became a program of EcoMom® Alliance and has events in cities across the U.S.

In our ongoing taste adventures, my daughter Hannah and I found a curious looking fruit the other day that we just had to take home and investigate!

The label said it was a prickly pear but when I picked it up I didn’t think it was very prickly. We got home and started washing it…and THAT is when we learned the hard way why it’s called a prickly pear! Our fingers felt like we had slivers up and down them but we couldn’t actually see them!!!  Not our idea of fun but we had to laugh!!  We decided to just ignore the slivers and give the fruit a taste.  Neither of us liked it very much! To be honest I don’t know that we gave it a fair chance because we were slightly annoyed that it gave us so many slivers! The texture was really odd and there wasn’t much flavor.  Not worth the pain in our opinion!

However if you do give a try be sure to wear thick gloves when handling them and give them a good scrub!  Slice both ends of the prickly pear off. Discard them then make one long vertical slice down the body of the prickly pear and peel back the skin.  You’ll be left with the edible prickly pear…you can just chop it up and eat it…seeds and all!

If you’ve tried prickly pear and enjoyed it I’d love to hear from you…maybe I just picked the wrong one…or maybe if I didn’t end up plucking clear slivers out of our hands for a couple of days after eating it I would have given it a more fair chance to win me over

Happy Healthy Eating
Kia

Kia Robertson is a mom and the creator of the Today I Ate A Rainbow kit; a tool that helps parents establish healthy habits by setting the goal of eating a rainbow of fruits and vegetables every day. Kia is passionate about creating tools that help parents raise healthy kids!