In our ongoing quest to be food adventurers we decided to try Longans.  They are a cousin to the more popular Lychee. Their light brown skin encloses a delicious translucent, juicy soft flesh that is similar to a peeled grape.  They have a large black inedible seed in the middle so you just eat the flesh around the seed.  It has a very nice sweet taste that we all enjoyed!

If you’re going to give these a try, buy longans that are still attached to the branches if possible. The fruit should be plump and having a slightly pliable shell. You can store longans in a breathable container or bag in the fridge for around 5-7 days.

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!

Pumpkin Seeds make a great tasting and healthy snack.  They provide our bodies with zinc which is perfect at this time of  year to help ward off colds!  We love roasting pumpkin seeds and trying different combinations of flavors. We always do some with sea salt, then we mix things up a little by using things like garlic salt and Worcestershire, or for a sweeter flavor we sprinkle on cinnamon and nutmeg! It’s fun to get your kids involved and let them create fun combinations! We’ll share our favorite recipe and cooking method you!

What you’ll need:

Medium Pumpkin
Olive Oil
Sea Salt

What to do:

* Preheat oven to 400 F. Cut open pumpkin and scoop out the insides into a big bowl. Add water to the bowl to help separate the seeds from the stringy flesh (a lot of the seeds will just float up to the top!) and then rinse seeds in a colander.

* To make the seeds nice and crunchy we boil our seeds before putting them in the oven. You can skip this step if you’d like as it’s not essential. In a small pot add the seeds (for a medium pumpkin is around 1/2 cup) to approximately 2 cups of water. Add 1 tablespoon of sea salt. Bring to a boil and then let it simmer for about 10 minutes.

* Remove from heat and drain.

* Spread Olive Oil on the bottom of a roasting pan or rimmed baking sheet then spread the seeds (try not to have the seeds touching). This is also the time to sprinkle on some extra flavor if you’d like!

* Bake on the top rack until the seeds are golden brown, 10 – 20 minutes, depending on how brown you like the seeds.

* Take out of the oven and allow seeds to cool. Then enjoy this tasty fall snack!!

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!

At our daughter’s school each class has a Halloween party.  They pick four families to bring a “treat” and four families to bring something healthy!  Last year our family was asked to bring in a healthy treat for our daughter’s class party so we found this great and easy to make Vegetable Skeleton. I wasn’t sure how popular it would be up next to all the sweet treats but I was pleasantly surprised at the end of the day to see that the tray was pretty much empty…just 3 mushrooms left AND there were still plenty of cakes and cookies left uneaten!!!

Here is the picture my husband took of our veggie skeleton!

This is all it takes to make a veggie skeleton:

• Head of cabbage or iceberg lettuce
• Zucchini slices (rounds)
• Bell Pepper slices (cross-cut)
• Celery stalks
• Sugar snap peas
• Carrots (peeled)
• Broccoli florets
• Cauliflower florets
• Cherry/Grape Tomatoes
• Healthy dressing of your choice!
• Olive slices

Directions:

Step 1. Line half of small bowl with lettuce for the skeleton’s hair; fill with dressing. Place at one end of large tray or baking sheet for the skeleton’s head.

Step 2. Arrange vegetables on tray to resemble skeleton’s body

* We added the fake spiders for a little extra fun

Halloween parties can have a balance of sweets and health…by spending a little extra time you can make veggies just as fun as any junk food!

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!

Kale is one of those veggies that are SO good for you…but for people like me who are really sensitive to bitter flavors…kale can be quite a challenge to eat!  At least they used to be a challenge…that was until I discovered making kale chips!!!!  They end up being these crunchy pieces of goodness that I cannot get enough of and they’re a healthy snack!  The other thing I love about making kale chips is that it’s the perfect recipe to make with kids!

Ingredients:
• Bunch of kale
• Olive oil
• Sea Salt
• Garlic Powder (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Wash and dry the kale leaves.
3. Remove the leaves from their stem by holding the base of the stem and with your other hand slightly pinch and rub up the stem. Just like we do in our video
4. Rip the kale into smaller bite size pieces.
5. Place the kale on a baking sheet and pour on the olive oil.
6. Be sure to really massage the oil into all the leaves or have your kids paint it on!
7. Sprinkle with Sea Salt. We also like to add a pinch of garlic powder.
8. Spread the leaves around so that they aren’t touching – you want a single spaced out layer on your baking sheet.
9. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 – 15 mins. Every oven is different so for your first batch keep a close eye on them so they don’t start to burn!
10. After they’ve cooled down you can easily earn your green magnet enjoying by your healthy, crispy, tasty Kale Chips!

Here is our new video on how to make a delicious batch of kale chips with your kids!  In the Rainbow Kitchen

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!

On the weekends and during summer holidays my daughter usually wants a little snack between breakfast and lunch so we usually come up with something healthy to snack on.  I am a big believer in presentation…it only takes an extra couple of minutes but it can make a meal or a snack so much for fun!  We like using cute trays, small glasses and  fun little bowls to jazz things up a little   We all eat with our eyes so when you have time why not make a healthy snack more appealing by making it cute and fun!  Cute and fun works for all the processed food aimed to get your child’s attention so you might as well do the same when it comes to healthy food!

Try slicing produce in different ways and display it in things like small glasses or poke a toothpick through it to create a fun element to the snack!  Take a look at this colorful healthy snack I made with my daughter yesterday!

• Glass of water
• Apple slices with cinnamon
• Green bean sticks
• Sunflower seeds
• Peach chunks
• Nectarine slices

At our house snack time always means fruits and/or veggies!  If you set the habit that those are the items available for a snack in between meals it’s really easy to get in the minimum 5 fruits and veggies your kids need to be eating every day!!!

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!