One of the common nutrition mistakes that I see parents making…serving their children juice to drink with their meal. Here’s why it is not a healthy practice…and what you can do instead.
Being a conscious parent is not about arriving at a destination…after which you have earned the title “conscious parent.” It’s not a designation to put on your resume, or a symbol of having achieved a certain level of mastery of its principles. It’s about the commitment to the journey – and it can start on day one. You can choose TODAY to be a conscious parent. It means you are committed to the never-ending journey that emphasizes growth, truth, authenticity, and presence. We can all practice these skills and achieve various levels of mastery, however the genuine intention towards the journey is the most important piece that matters. Conscious Parenting is not a checklist of external attributes….it’s about the process. It is not about being a “human being,” but about being a “human becoming.” It is about being authentic, vulnerable, and honest. While there is a full spectrum of what that looks like from the outside, the most important aspect of being a conscious parent is the intention.
First of all, I want to say thank you for this video. I completely agree, and we drink water all day and then at dinner, we have water, almond milk and coconut milk to choose from. I wanted to ask your thoughts on green smoothies though. We usually have a green smoothie a few times a week as a “treat”. I know there is still a great amount of sugar in these, but wanted to get your thoughts on it. They usually consist of kale, spinach, or swiss chard and frozen or fresh fruit with added coconut water or plain water and flax or chia.
You’re welcome! It sounds as though you are already doing such wonderful things for your family. As far as the smoothies go, keep that up! What I love about how you are doing it, is you are blending the greens, fruit, and coconut water all together, which maintains the fiber from the fruit and the greens, which prevents any sort of insulin spike that accompanies drinking a normal juice (where the fruit is not whole, it’s just the juice extracted).
The sugar content of what you have shared is really not too high, especially when you factor in the nutrient density of the foods you are blending. Per calorie of smoothie, you have packed in an incredible amount of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and good fats (plus the natural fiber) which makes the sugar slowly enter the bloodstream, instead of all at once. It regulates it if you will.
You also get extra bonus points for the chia in there, which as you know, is a great source of omega 3 essential fatty acids, which are vitally missing from most people’s diets.
If you want to send me the recipe, I would be happy to share it with my readers – and I know I myself would love to try it! Thanks for your comment and question.
In abundant health,
Erika
We do a different smoothie pretty much every day, and we each make our own using the NutriBullet cups, so the recipes really vary. I do about 50% greens and 50% fruit. I choose one of the following for the greens: spinach, kale, romaine, or swiss chard. Then I usually throw in a banana. And then frozen fruit which thickens it up. We use frozen raspberries, strawberries, peaches, pineapple, mango, acai, blueberries, kiwi, watermelon, cantaloupe, pretty much any fruit you can think of, and then we use a splash of coconut water to blend it or coconut milk, or almond milk, or water, or even a splash of fresh squeezed orange juice. Then we throw in some flaxseed or chia seeds. Sometimes I add a plant based protein too. My 4 and 5 year olds make one every day too. They add whatever they feel like, sometimes yogurt, sometimes honey, oats, granola, my 4 year old son even added avocado the other day. haha We also throw in broccoli, carrots, cucumber, celery, beets…really you can throw any fruit or veggie in and they’re so yummy!
You can use a blender to blend the smoothies and now I like to use the NutriBullet. I love the NutriBullet (or magic bullet) because it comes with multiple cups, so the kids and I all make our own smoothies, and the kids LOVE it because they get to make their own creations every day, and they all turn out so differently.
The smoothie I made today was 50% spinach, then I added a fresh banana, frozen peaches, just enough orange juice to help it blend, and some flaxseed. (We were out of coconut water, or I would’ve added that instead. Today is shopping day :)) It was soooooo yummy!
My 4 year old son made this green smoothie this morning: 2 cups organic baby spinach, a (4 year old) handful of broccoli, 1 frozen banana, a few fresh strawberries, 1/2 of a lemon (peeled), 1 Tbsp flaxseeds, 1 Tbsp raw cocoa nibs, and 1/2 cup coconut water. The kids like to throw in LOTS of ingredients and use the measuring cups and tablespoons. No matter what, they turn out super yummy!
My 5 year old daughter made this smoothie this morning: 1 cup fresh pineapple, 1 cup fresh mango, 1 cup fresh cantaloupe, 1 cup organic baby spinach, 1 cup coconut water, and 1 cup ice. If you use frozen fruits, then you don’t need ice. We just happened to cut up all this fruit so it wouldn’t go bad 😉
Normally I just get out a few frozen fruits, bananas, a leafy green like spinach, coconut water, and flaxseeds or chia seeds, and we don’t cut up all this extra fruit, so they are usually alot more simple, but since today is Sunday, we let the kids go crazy 😉
Kendra, how wonderful! Thank you for taking the time to put this together! I know many parents on this site will appreciate these ideas.
We have a magic bullet as well and I also think it’s a wonderful gadget for parents to have….though I was first introduced to it when I married my husband – it was one of the few appliances he owned as a bachelor. 🙂
As a little preview, I think you’ll appreciate the news segment I’ll be on tomorrow morning on San Diego channel 6 at ~8:20am. I’ll be posting it on my site as soon as it’s available.
In abundant health,
Erika