Green, Clean, and Inspired…for our children’s future

I am not one to make New Year’s Resolutions. But I do think January is a great time to set goals to make realistic, positive changes toward changes you want to make in your life.

This year, I kept it simple.

One thing that has been bothering me lately is that fact that during these cold winter months, our diet is less than nutritious. When we lived in California it was easy to keep the fridge full of leafy greens and colourful veggies, but somehow it is not as simple up here in the cold northern climates.

So my goal for this year is to get more raw fruits and veggies into my kids over the winter months—in a way they will actually like. And I don’t mean the kind that is crushed up and put in a tablet. I mean the kind you get from the fresh produce section in the grocery store, take home and put directly into your body. I am a firm believer that fresh fruit and vegetables that are in their natural state in which Mother Nature made them, provide a wealth of vitamins and minerals and have much more to offer, than a powdered capsule or man-made tablet, no matter what the label claims.

Sounds easy…but how do we get our kids to agree?

For my family, the answer juicing. Juicing gets a whack of wholefood nutrition into kids growing bodies and there are endless combinations so it never gets boring. Mind you, we also take a wholefood multi-vitamin, extra Vitamin D and Fish Oil but there is nothing that touches a freshly squeezed glass of juice to get some goodness into your kids.

Here are the main reason I prefer to juice are:

1. We enjoying the juicing process and we make it fun. The kids stand on chairs and help push the veggies through the machine. When we’re done, the juice is more of an accomplishment than a drink and they gulp in down proudly. Note: The dreaded cleanup (which actually only takes about 10min) is well worth the work for the amount of nutrition my kids consume.

2. My daughter is not a big veggie eater, so when she drinks a fresh juice, I don’t feel guilty if she doesn’t eat her beans with dinner. Raw fruit and vegetable are MUCH more nutritious than cooked ones so mama is happy. And isn’t it true that is mama when is happy, everyone is happy!

3. There are many good juicers–we happen to have a Champion. These machines are made like tanks and last pretty much forever. I like it because we use it to make ice cream after dinner. We simply put frozen berries and bananas through and out comes the most delicious and natural ice cream in the world—pure raw fruit in a bowl. The kids think it’s a treat and I love being able to say (guilt free) “Who wants ICE CREAM?!” Sometimes we even add a little ‘chocolate’ sauce. (raw cacao and agave syrup) David Wolfe, who is one of the leading authorities on raw food and juicing, has a website where he recommends several different juicers.  I love our Champion but there are several great ones on David Wolfe’s Sunfood Nutrition page.

What are your goals for keeping your family healthy this year?

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