Ever since Sophia got her juicer for Christmas in 2010, we’ve been experimenting with different juice recipes. A friend posted some information on Facebook about, ‘The Big Book of Juices and Smoothies,’ and I had to check it out for myself so I ordered one up for us. We’ve tried a few of the recipes for juices and there is this tea-based drink called ‘Full Spice’ that I love, but today we’re going to share our thoughts on two recipes: Orange Blush & Sharp Citrusberry.

We used our juicer for both of these recipes, but because they are primarily citrus, you could just use a citrus juicer or press and a blender. However, if you are interested in juicing, we recommend getting a juicer. We use a Juiceman Jr. that was given to us after our original juicer broke (due to the mom adding a little too much pressure juicing a carrot). We actually prefer the Juiceman Jr. that we have now to the newer model we had, but do some research before picking one.

You’ll notice in the picture that there are some veggies, too. That’s because the mom here also tried a juice called, ‘Root Tomato’. Although the kiddies wouldn’t even taste it it was super delicious. It would be good to use in sauces and soups, as well, so that might be coming in future recipes…

The Orange Blush we tried was nice because prep was very easy. All you have to do is peel the citrus fruits,  clean your raspberries and wash & cut your apple to size. We used frozen raspberries, but if you have fresh, that would work too. Then you just run them all through your juicer. If you don’t have a juicer just use a citrus juicer or press for the citrus. You won’t peel the oranges and grapefruit, just cut it in half appropriately and juice. Also, substitute apple juice for the apple.

Because we used frozen raspberries, we transferred the citrus/apple juice blend to our smoothie blender and finalized the juice there. We just tossed in the raspberries and blended away. You do get the raspberry seeds in the juice, but if you like raspberries, you’re used to that.  Otherwise, if you do use frozen raspberries, we recommend  making sure they are completely thawed before running through the juicer. Although we’ve never juiced fresh raspberries, our semi-frozen ones resulted in all the good stuff just remaining in the juicer as frozen raspberry smush.

For the Sharp Citrusberry, you could do this one completely without a juicer. It only has a lemon, grapefruit and raspberries.  Again, after juicing the citrus, we finished it off in our smoothie blender.

The kids loved both juices. They said the Sharp Citrusberry reminded them of the fresh raspberries they pick with their dad at the cabin.  The Orange Blush was my favorite.

When you juice with fresh fruits like that, there is a thickness to the juice that makes them smoothie like. And, the ripeness of the fruit adds enough sweetness that no additional sweetener is necessary. Because of that ‘thickness’ I mention, you can thin the juices out with water–bubbly mineral water, plain water or tonic water. The kids tried both with tonic water as sort of a juice cocktail. Alex preferred them without the water, but Soph liked them both ways. With the Root Tomato juice I tried, I did thin it out with La Croix Lemon Sparkling Water, which was super good.

I know that juicing can seem like a lot of work, but it really isn’t that bad. Plus, the benefits are well worth it…the kids consumed about 4 servings of fruits just trying these recipes. The book, ‘The Big Book of Juices and Smoothies,’ also has sections for creamy smoothies, fruit smoothies, tea-based quenchers and frozen-fruit quenchers–and for none of these do you need a juicer.

Anyway, if you’re interested in trying juicing and need some recipes, we recommend checking out, ‘The Big Book of Juices and Smoothies.’

Happy Family Cooking Everyone!

Kelly, Alex and Sophia

P.S. Please let us know if you have any recommendations for a juice or smoothie recipe or a juicer by sharing a comment!

Last week we shared our thoughts on some of ZisBoomBah.com’s games.  Well, the site is more than just games. I has a Parent dashboard that lets you interact with your kids through their ‘Goals’ area. Since we parents must approve our children’s accounts with ZisBoomBah.com, we have the opportunity to have our own parent account that attaches to our kid’s accounts. This means that through the site you can assign daily, weekly and/or monthly challenge goals to each of your registered children. Once they’ve completed a goal, they get a reward that you set. The also receive points from Zis Boom Bah that they can use for various things on the site.

I have only one goal for Alex and Sophia right now–eating a minimum of 4 fruits and veggies a day for each week they are at my house. If they do, they get $5 at the end of the week. My challenge to them is food related, however, the goals can be related to any area you’d like to emphasize with your kids–homework, chores, reading, outdoor time, whatever you decide.

The reason I think it’s so cool is because the kids go in and visually track their status. It feels more like a goal instead of an rule because it’s not just a ‘mom-made’ chart on the fridge, it’s on a real website. Having the goal in writing also encourages us to talk about it regularly. For us that means every day after school I get a rundown on fruit and veggie consumption so we know where we’re at for the day before we eat dinner. It’s been fun watching them take an active roll in planning when and how they will get in their fruits and veggies instead of me just setting a rule.

Now Challenges and Games are not the only reasons to check out ZisBoomBah.com. There is lots of fun and information out there for both kids and parents. We hope you check it out and if you do, please let us know your thoughts.

Happy Family Cooking Everyone!

Kelly, Alex and Sophia

P.S. Stop by Zis Boom Bah and check out Alex and Soph’s Chef Page!

Today we are lucky enough to bring you Amy Rosekelley from SuperHealthyKids.com. Amy is one of our favorite food bloggers, always providing great information, tips and recipes for raising healthier kids. She is also the creator of the Super Healthy Kids Plate, which allows parents to visually reinforce food portions and types in a kid-friendly way (Sophia loves her plate ).

Read on to learn more about Amy and how she’s raising Super Healthy Kids…

1. What prompted you to bring your healthy eating message to the web?

I went online to share my message about healthy eating because my sister and best friend is a complete computer geek. LOL. She talked me into starting a blog almost 5 years ago as a means to promote my healthy kids plates, and the blog completely consumed me and became more exciting to me than selling plates.  So, while I’ve maintained both (selling plates, and blogging about recipes) I actually prefer blogging!

2. You’ve indicated that your kids have been  picky eaters, but now they try most things. How do you encourage kids to venture out, & try new foods without presetting expectations? (Alex & Soph will try anything, but many times, Soph has decided she doesn’t like it, even before the spoon hits the mouth.)

My kids were super picky before I started blogging.  Now they will at least taste almost anything I make.  I once read that a child who is offered a variety of foods to eat over time, will be less picky. In other words, not just offering spinach 12 times in hopes that they’ll someday enjoy spinach, but also offering Brussels sprouts, broccoli, kale, lettuce, and all other vegetables.  This variety will expand their tastes and lead them to be more adventurous and accepting.  Beyond that, I truly believe parents are short sighted in this effort, or they give up too quickly. Kids tastes and attitudes change frequently, and it’s important to not get upset about it, but just to keep pressing forward.

3. Do you have any tips for encouraging kids to make healthy food choices outside the home—when we (the parents) aren’t controlling the food they eat?

Yikes! That is a tough question.  I feel that if you teach kids properly, when you aren’t looking over their shoulder, they’ll choose healthy food on their own.  The most important lesson here is to help kids understand how they feel when they eat healthy food.  They have more energy, they can think better, they’ll grow bigger and stronger, etc.  My poor 8  year old is super short for his age.  He eats healthy because he really feels like it will give him the most advantage to getting stronger and smarter.  Even though he understands he may never be the tall kids, he knows he can be the fastest or the strongest.  This is enough to keep him on the right track!

4. One of our biggest challenges is getting healthy food when we’re super busy – when both the kids have activities and commitments. What do you recommend for on-the-go families when it comes to avoiding unhealthy foods (i.e. how not to stop at McDonalds for dinner)?

Eating healthy in a hurry can be just as quick as stopping through the drive through.  Our busy nights, we make sandwich, or we throw a bag of frozen veggies into a pot of boiling pasta, and then shake parmesan and butter on top when it’s done.   We do this a lot!  When you are at home and busy, as long as there is healthy food available to prepare, rather than junk food, it won’t be a hard choice.

5. Do your kids cook with you ever? Or for themselves? If so, what are your/their favorite things to make?

My kids love to cook! They are carboholics, so you will find them making bread, pancakes, waffles, toast, and cookies- usually several times a week!

About Amy Rosekelley:

Amy is founder of SuperHealthyKids.com, is a mom of three and and graduated from Brigham Young University’s Health Promotion program. As a counselor with Utah’s Department of Health for ten years, she advised state employees on healthy lifestyles. SuperHealthyKids.com won the Jamie Oliver Food Revolution Blog of the Month in January 2011. She lives in Lehi, UT with her family.

I’d say that about once a month I find either Alex or Soph at the microwave with a bowl full of chocolate chips ready to start melting them. Why are they melting them, you ask? Well, I’d like to say it’s for some fancy recipe, but they just like dipping things in melted chocolate. In an effort to channel their chocolate melting habits into something that they won’t immediately eat, I thought, let’s make some chocolate covered pretzels. Chocolate Covered Pretzels can easily be dipped for eating at a later date; or, wrapped up all cute and given as a gift to a fellow chocolate connoisseur.

Here’s the ‘recipe’…more like instructions…for how we make our Chocolate Covered Pretzels. Enjoy!

January is really perfect for Soup Month. Here in Minnesota it’s usually bitter cold and filled with snow. Though this year is non-standard with 50 degree days and barely any snow, but, just like a cup of hot cocoa, soup is one of those foods that warms you up, even when it’s not that cold.

We don’t make a ton of soup here at the Two Kids household, mainly because the two kids don’t eat it–actually mostly the girl kid.  We do have a couple that Alex and I enjoy, that you can find here: Corn Chowder, Two Kids Squash Soup.  BUT, you really don’t need a recipe to make soup.

Yep, I said you do NOT need a recipe. And for us, no recipe means lots of experimental fun. There are some tips for making a soup we list at the end, but you can choose as a family what to include and what not to include. Here’s what you do:

Pick a Base:
Broth Based – For broth based soups, you can use chicken, beef, vegetable, or fish stock. Or, if there’s a stock/broth type I’m missing, you could use that, too.
Milk/Cream Based – For a creamy soup, you can still start with a neutral broth, like vegetable, and supplement with milk, half and half, condensed milk or cream. You can also a non-dairy milk substitute.

Meat (or not):
If you decide to add meat to your soup, pick your favorite kind: chicken, beef, pork, fish, venison, turkey…whatever you prefer. Soup is good without meat too, so don’t rule out an all veggie soup.

Select a Starch:
Technically, you don’t have to add a starch, but personally, I don’t know why you wouldn’t. The standards are Potatoes, Rice, Noodles or a combination. There’s also things like dumplings, if you want to try making them and beans or even barley.

Veggies:
With veggies, you can add a lot of different kinds, or a lot of only one or two kinds, it’s up to you. Depending on the ‘theme’ or flavor of the soup you’re making, certain veggies are better than others.

To make your do-it-yourself sup, all you have to do is pick something from each category and you’re ready! Add all your ingredients to a big pot, cover with your liquid of choice, bring the soup to a boil and then let it simmer away until all the veggies are cooked through and the liquid is to your desired consistency.

Here are some tips:

• If you use meat, you can cook it first, but it’s not necessary (this is a great use for leftovers)
• Try and cut all your veggies to a similar size.
• For super small veggies, like peas or corn, add them closer to the end of the cooking time so they don’t get mushy
• Add startches like noodles or rice at the end. If they are uncooked (i.e. not leftovers), once you add them, cook the soup the additional amount of time equal to their cooking time. Otherwise, just ’til they warm up.
• Remember to season with herbs and salt and pepper.
• Build your soup on a theme, for example: Creamy Fish Chowder would be great with a cream base, a white fish, potatoes, onions, corn and some thyme, salt and pepper

Soup making is perfect for doing with the kids, because with all the various ingredients, there’s always something someone can chop, pour or measure. So, grab the kids and pick out some ingredients from the pantry to whip up your own batch of Do-It-Yourself Soup!

Happy Family Soup Making Everyone!

Kelly, Alex and Sophia

The kids are with me every other week. Most weeks, we try to cook at least one meal together if our schedule allows. If we’re taping a show, the menu is preselected by the topic, BUT, other times, we get to decide what we’re going to make during our time together.

Sometimes these family time cooking recipes come from one of the kid’s cravings, sometimes they come from our list of ‘must-try’ recipes and sometimes they come from a recipe book or magazine. Here are three simple ways to get your kids involved in recipe and menu selection:

1. Ask them what they’re in the mood to eat/cook that week. On the weeks the kids will be with me, I try to do a menu plan for the week. I say ‘try’ because some weeks I am better at this than others. BUT, even on the weeks when we don’t have a formal menu plan, I ask the kids for ideas on what we should eat that week, and if there’s anything in particular they’d like to make.  In addition to helping me come up with dinner ideas, it gets them excited for the meals we’ll be cooking and eating together.

2. Go through some recipe books or magazines. If you want to do something special or new, and you and the kids are strapped for ideas, we find that paging through our recipe books and cooking magazines always generates ideas. You can find some of our favorite Kids Cooking Books right here on the site. Some of our favorite magazines include: FamilyFun, ChopChop, Taste of Home, All You, and Fitness.  Fitness might seem a bit odd, but they have lots of healthy, tasty recipes in there.

3. Keep a list of those ‘must-try’ recipes. Whenever I’m reading a blog, magazine or cookbook and a recipe strikes me, I make a note of it. I have a folder in outlook called ‘recipes to try’…I just email myself links to the recipes I find online. If they’re in a book or magazine that I own, I make a note and email it to myself with the magazine title, issue, page and recipe.  Back before I was technologically inclined, I used to just clip out the recipes from a magazine, glue them to another sheet of paper, three-how punch it and stick it in a binder…I still have that ‘recipe book’. Sophia does the same thing and usually writes up an ingredients list to be sure we’ll have everything on hand–if she finds something she wants to make, we usually try it right away. Alex is less aggressive with the recipe searching than Soph, but he does call my attention to particular things he finds from time to time. Sophia’s finds are usually desserts, Alex’s are usually meat related–big surprise

Next time you have no idea what to make for supper, get the kids involved…I’m sure they’ll have plenty opinions on what to make.

Happy Family Cooking Everyone,

Kelly, Alex and Sophia

Do your kids like to play games online? And, do they like to cook? If so, you should check out ZisBoomBah.com.  It is filled with lots of information for kids who love cooking…including games! There’s really only two web-based games, but there are several printable games and activities for getting the kids away from the computer.

Pick Chow!
Pick Chow! is an online game that lets the players pick a plate and then build a meal. There are gauges measuring the Protein, Carbs, Fat and Fiber of the meal, as well as the Three S’s–sugar, saturated fat and sodium. With each item you add to the plate, the gauges move. The goal is to get them all in the green zone so you can pick a dessert. Playing the game earns the player points that they can use for the ‘Flip It’ section of the site.

Flip It!
Flip It! is sort of a way to keep track of what you’ve done on the site. You earn cards by doing other things on the site and then you get to flip them over, unlocking recipes, videos and more. It is technically a game, but I think it acts more like a progress indicator for what the player has done on the site.

Go Play!
In this section of the site, there are pictures of Indoor and Outdoor Activities for various kinds of weather. By clicking on the pictured activity, the player gets an overview of the game and rules on how to play it. It also lets the player print the activities rules so they have them on hand when they’re away from the computer.

There are also some printable activities and downloads available on the Dashboard, in the lower right corner.

Overall, the games and activities on the site are aimed at ages 7 to 11. However, the activities that ZisBoomBah.com shares information about are good for kids of all ages. Soph (age likes the site more than Alex (age 13), but once we’ve got the rules for an activity printed and go play it, Alex will join in for sure.

I’m going to keep exploring the site and sharing thoughts…and hopefully get Soph and Alex to let us know their opinions, too!

We hope you go explore ZisBoomBah.com with your kids…let us know what you think with a comment once you do.

Happy Family Cooking Everyone!

Kelly, Alex & Sophia

Some of you may know that in addition do the online show, we do a monthly, longer-format version of Two Kids Cooking on our local Public Access Station (Suburban Community Channels-15). We were recently interviewed on their Access SCC program so we thought we’d share. Here’s the full show, we’re one of the first segments.

It was a bit weird being interviewed, but the kids did a great job and my ‘Ums’ aren’t too bad…let us know what you think!

Every parent knows that life with kids is always busy. Be it a birthday party or a dance class or a baseball game, there is an unending supply of activities that need to be attended. Parents also know that kids grow up fast…the time really does fly. That is the reason why I enjoy the time the kids and I spend cooking together. I cherish every moment I can squeeze in with those kiddies.

Plus, everyone has to eat. That means, if the family cooks together, they get to spend some quality family time together AND they get to eat!

Incorporating family time into the cooking process without adding stress can be more simple than you might think. There are three three simple tips I always follow when the 2 Kids and I are in the kitchen:

1) Choose a day and a menu together
Pick out a day of the week that works best for everyone. Alex, Soph and I cook together a lot, but there are days that we prefer, like Mondays or Fridays, when we get home from school earlier. Whatever day will allow the most relaxing, non-rushed experience is the best to pick.

Choosing the menu should also be a group decision. If everyone in the family actually likes the menu, or at least parts of it, the whole experience will be much more enjoyable.

2) Go over the game plan before starting
Just like with any group event, when everyone on the team knows what the goal is, the whole process goes much more smoothly. Every time the kids I make a recipe, we run through what we’re going to be doing first. Then, once we’ve all got the same picture in our heads, we divide tasks and work our way through each step. By choosing tasks in advance, we also prevent arguments over who will do what while we’re in the middle of making the meal–and we all know that’s a good thing

3) Plan for fun, not perfection
If you’re looking for everything to go perfectly smoothly…well it won’t. Even with the amount of time Alex, Sophia and I spend in the kitchen, we still end up with extra salt in the marinade, or half an egg in the bowl, or a tipped-over bottle of lemon juice, or–I think you get the picture. The thing is, it’s these little imperfections that make the whole experience fun. Plus, the memories you make will be priceless.

Yes, life is busy, but we all know that kids grow up fast. Family time is precious and cooking together is one way to get some of that time back.

Now go, get those kids and cook something together!

Happy Family Cooking Everyone,

Kelly, Alex and Mom