Kids - My Wholefood Romance

Raw Chocolate Balls

November 28, 2013 By Meg With 16 comments

BallPopsHand Bliss Balls, Chocolate Balls, ‘Rum’ Balls, Tuffles; whatever you like to call them – they are delicious! There are approximately 4 million recipes online for different versions of these, and here’s why I like mine.

1. My recipe uses no dates. I don’t really have a problem with dates eaten in moderation, they are delicious and a natural fruit. They are however extremely sweet, and I find can often take over the flavour of raw desserts.

2. These balls are PACKED full of protein, good fats and nutrition from the nuts, seeds and tahini.

3. They are not overly sweet, and make use of the wonderful cinnamon, not only for flavour but to help with balancing blood sugar.

4. They are incredible easy to make, versatile, and use ingredients that you most likely have hanging around in your cupboard.

5. They are delicious and family friendly! If you need them for school lunches, just sub out the nuts with extra seeds.

BallPopIvy

So there you have it. Five great reasons to try out these balls. We have a birthday party coming up!!! (very exciting – any ideas welcome!) and so I fashioned them into ‘pops’ with the use of a fancy straw – kid appeal – very high – job done.

½ cup sunflower seeds

¼ cup hemp seeds (or quinoa flakes or pepitas)

¼ cup brazil nuts (or macadamias, cashews etc)

¼ cup tahini or almond butter (I used black tahini)

2 tbs chia or flax seeds

¼ cup coconut–desiccated, plus extra for rolling

2 ½ tbs raw cacao powder

1 tsp cinnamon

¼ cup of rice syrup or honey, or to taste

A pinch of sea salt

Up to a tbs water – depending on consistency

Blitz the nuts and seeds in a food processor or blender. …

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Pimp up your Popcorn

April 10, 2013 By Meg With 4 comments

I had the most delightful day with my daughter yesterday, we went to the movies, then to the park, then pretended to be different animals for the rest of the afternoon (she’s three years old – just to put it into context). I feel pretty lucky to be able to have days like this! But I digress. Going to the movies is an expensive outing these days, especially once you add in the food and drink that you might buy once you’re there. BYO is the way forward, not just economically but nutritionally. I love popcorn! It’s such a fantastic snack, but the stuff that you get at the cinema is not. I won’t go on about it, we all know it’s not great; trans fats, fake butter flavour, popcorn lung, you get the idea.

Why not make your own and be the director of your own ‘choose you own adventure’ popcorn story! It’s fast, inexpensive, versatile, and you can make it into a legitimate nutritional snack – score!

Here’s what we took with us yesterday.

Almond, buckwheat, chia, sesame, goji, sunflower seed, coconut flake, dried mulberry, dulse flake, coconut oil popcorn.

My daughter was thrilled as her home-made popcorn was immediately coveted by the girls next to us, and she then proceeded to tell them all about how to make it – so cute!

I always start with the same base, and then add to that depending on the occasion.
I use coconut oil as it is safe to use at high temperatures.

1/4 cup popcorn kernels (organic and non-GM if you can)
1 tablespoon coconut oil
pinch sea salt
1-2 tsp dulse flakes

Tip number one:
Heat the coconut oil in a saucapan to a med-high heat, not too high or you will end up with burnt

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Child friendly ‘green’ smoothies, and a Green Smoothie Challenge Update

January 13, 2013 By Meg With 2 comments

It’s day 12 of the Green Smoothie Challenge, almost half way!! I hope that those who have decided to give it a go are noticing the benefits! As a serial ‘kale/orange/ginger/version of’ smoothie junkie, I have found the challenge fantastic as it encourages me to branch out and invent new combos. Probably my favourite this week has been this basil, mango, lemon, passionfruit number below – recipe on the .

The next part of the challenge, starting tomorrow, is to rotate your greens! Whilst I am a kale over-user, typically others get stuck on spinach. Take this opportunity to mix it up a bit and throw in some rocket, bok choy, celery, beetroot leaves, green herbs (basil, parsley, coriander, mint) and cos lettuce / romaine, along with spinach and kale. Rotating them in this increases the diversity of nutrients that you are taking in, making sure you are not missing out!

Image from Simple Green Smoothies

I am a big fan of smoothies for kids. When my little one was small(er), her favourite thing was a blueberry, banana and coconut milk smoothie that I used to make her. It’s a fabulous way of keeping the good fats, vitamins and minerals going in during a time when eating is a bit comme ci comme ca. I am yet to get her to try one of my kale numbers, but she is happy to have a go at this Spinach, Berry, Banana smoothie as pictured above.

And what a fantastic hit of nutrients for little ones! Sure, it’s not exactly green, but it is delicious!

Kids Berry Spinach Smoothie

1 orange
1 cup of berries
1/2 large or one small banana
2 big handfuls of spinach
1/2 cup coconut water or water
Blend, serve, awesome!
Or, make this into ‘icy

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