Fit Kids - keeping our kids healthy, the fit kid toolbox with Hivita

Being a fit, healthy family in these modern times can be quite the challenge!
Many families find it a challenge and even when you do get it happening well, and you all eat well you can still be falling short of certain minerals and vitamins. It is hard!
Families and especially kids are busier than ever so it is more important than ever to give our bodies everything it needs to work at peak performance.

As a mum, passionate about healthy, active living and a dance mum of a very active competitive dancer and cheerleader, I know nutrition and health is so important.
My youngest from a tiny age was filled with passion and drive to dance and stretch and lunge about our house like a Yogi. It is this amazing drive in her that I also see in lots of other kids these days as well.
Not a very big TV family I have always encouraged outdoor activities, dancing, yoga and sports for all the confidence and health benefits. My youngest loves it so very much.

We eat well, loads of vegetables and fruit every week but when your child is also learning for many hours a day at school and then training 3-4 afternoons a week or doing different activities they need a really great action plan to support them.

For my little ballerina and for other kids that do sports, dance, cheerleading, swimming or are just active kids wanting to be healthy this is my action plan!

• Good sleep.
  I make sure she gets 12 hours a night, for her age, level of training and school this ensures she is well rested.
• Hydration.
  We actually generally pack two bottles of filtered water for school so we can monitor just how much she is drinking there and so she drinks more.
• Relaxation time.
  I make sure she gets soaking relaxing baths with kid appropriate essential oils, Epsom salts magnesium baths, massages, chiropractic adjustments if needed and downtime days of relaxation.
• Green time.
  It might sound obvious but we actually have to make a mental plan to get enough of this in some weeks when we are really busy! This includes beach time, bush walking, a trip to a waterfall, river walks, park plays, tree climbing, muddy puddles! Fresh air + sunshine + dirt!
• Nutrition.
  Lots of raw vegetables and fruits, green smoothies before school, healthy protein sources, good fats. Healthy snacks to give longer sustained energy and lots of diversity in vegetables.

An extra boost.
At the moment we are doing this with HIVITA for KIDS
I have found this to be a really useful extra tool in the parenting toolbox actually. I was sent some to review and I noticed the first days that it gave her a boost in energy levels, (not like the sugar boost that has an awful after effect crash but the great sustained energy boost we might see from power juices and things as adults.)
My daughter found the taste pleasant and it had a full range of minerals and vitamins, unlike many multivitamins that forget about the all important minerals we need too!
It would also be equally great I imagine for the fussy eaters, the low immune kids that seem to catch every cold that goes about, myself and my oldest more studios daughter are also currently taking Hivita as well and do actually feel a lot better for it.
I think it can be so easy to forget about all the extra minerals that humans actually need to be in top health, they don't even get that much of a mention in the media but they are so important for our health and wellbeing.

To find out more about Hivita check out their website HERE

AND my readers you can get 50% OFF!! To try it yourself

TRY Hivita Liquivita for Kids using code "bekkids" at the checkout of the online store!

And you can see my tiny ballerina in action on her Instagram, account HERE

*This was a sponsored post by Hivita. Opinions and reviews completely our own.

Cherry Bomb Goat's Yoghurt Ice Creams

Every year it always feels like Summer and Christmas and all things happiness when cherries start to appear in the shops. The little, pretty red balls are such a refreshing dash of flavour and colour.

And nothing makes it feel quite like Summertime than beautiful ice cream.

This year my first new ice cream recipe for the Summery, Christmas season involved not just cherries but an ingredient that flavour wise matched them perfectly, a beautiful, creamy yoghurt I had not tried before CapriLac Goat Yoghurt.

This yoghurt is lovely and creamy and the natural flavour has just the right amount of tartness to make it a fantastic ingredient to work with. Goat yoghurt is said to be much better tolerated by a lot of people in regards to digestion as a healthy alternative that is easy to digest and can reduce tummy bloating (and all girls want that in the Summertime!).
It has the beneficial live and active cultures and the CapriLac brand is preservative free and naturally A2 and gluten free.
Found in Coles and Woolworths makes it readily available for families and it turned out to be popular with my kids too!

Cherry Bomb Goat Yoghurt Ice-creams

Ingredients
1 x 500 gm tub CapriLac Goat Yoghurt

1 & 1/2 cups cherries pitted. (Can use frozen too)

1/4 frozen cherries.

2 tablespoons raw honey
2 teaspoons organic vanilla paste
paddle pop sticks (food quality)

Method

• Divide the yoghurt in half.
• Prepare mold suitable for ice creams, (even plastic cups are fine)
• In a blender combine one half the yoghurt with the honey and vanilla. Blend well, set aside.
• Blend the other half the yoghurt with the cherries.
• In  the molds pour a layer of the dark yoghurt mixture and drop some frozen cherry pieces in.
• Top with the opposing coloured layer and keep going until the container is full.
• Use the pop stick to very gently swirl the two colours lightly together - only just!
• Freeze covered with cling wrap or a cover like 4Myearth until frozen.
• About 10 minutes in or when just starting to freeze add the pop sticks in, (they should stand up ok in the mixture by themselves).
• Run under warm water on the outside to loosen, remove and enjoy!

Notes

• To get a more jazzy and defined look freeze the separate colours one at a time and store the mixtures in the fridge. This will take some time but does look fantastic.
• You can add sweetener to taste for either layer as desired like raw honey, stevia, maple syrup, rice malt syrup.
• Try and add frozen cherry pieces in as well as they give a lovely texture contrast.

Toddler Tips

• Adjust to your child's preferred sweetness tastes. I find with little kids that the less sweeteners you use when young the less they need, give them a chance to taste sweet and tart foods with little added sweetener and then adjust from there as needed.

One of Bek's professional recipe creations. (c)2015RebeccaMugridge
Note: This was a sponsored post with Caprilac Yoghurt

Once Upon a Time with Disney Junior the Channel & Book Week

Disney Product Talk Draft

Story Telling is a magical part of life.

From a very young age children look on in awe at the stories and characters that unfold before them in books. They meet fairies, princesses and dinosaurs from the comfort of their own home and in the safety of mum or dads arms.
As the stories unfold they learn about believing in themselves, being a true friend and overcoming obstacles to reach their happy ending. Morals of stories stay with us through our life, which is why all cultures, all over the world have always enriched their children lives with story telling.

As we have just started our book week here, my house is full of excitement over books and characters and dress-ups for school parade and it is so wonderful to see kids interested in books and story telling. It warms an author’s heart!
Which is also why as an author and as a mum I am very excited about the new Disney Junior’s once upon a time story telling series.

“Disney Junior’s The Book of Once Upon A Time” is a locally-produced, interactive story-telling series hosted by Australian actor and playwright Kate Mulvany. Tune in for a story every day at 7:10pm on Disney Junior The Channel (Channel 709 for Foxtel subscribers), or anytime on the website

The second season of “Disney Junior’s The Book of Once Upon A Time” will launch in Book Week on Monday 24^th August with “Snow White and the Great Jewel Hunt”. (I know, awesome timing right??)

Later episodes will include new Disney stories from “Winnie the Pooh”, “Aladdin”, “Sleeping Beauty” and EVEN  “Frozen”!!! I can hear my two girls screaming now!!

And one of the most exciting features as well is how it is set up so that it is easy for parents to make storytelling part of children’s bedtime ritual because Disney Junior invites parents to settle down and share a magical moment with their little one every evening on Disney Junior around bedtime.
Then the “Land of Once Upon A Time” lullaby follows each episode, encouraging children to prepare for bedtime.
I can’t wait to try this out with my youngest.
I love that this helps busy parents establish that beautiful calming and enriching night time routine, let’s face it we just don’t all have the time to go to the library all the time and select and read through first appropriate books and then establish a routine.
The Disney Story room is such a great, easy way for parents to bring that routine into their children’s lives and calm them down for bed time at the same time, all the hard work is done, you just get to enjoy this quality time with your kids and then let them drift off to sleep with a mind full of wonder.

Check out the Disney Story Room HERE

The Book of Once Upon A Time features Disney stories that are available as eBooks from the Disney Story Central app, available to download from iTunes

DISCLOSURE:"Brought to you by Nuffnang and Disney

#reading #healthykids #sponsored #Disneystories #Disneystoryroom #books

Happy Storytelling!

Bek xoxo

Silverbeet and Kale Feta Rolls - Healthy, Happy Lunch boxes

Silverbeet and Kale Feta Rolls

I love packing my kids full of greens.
Right from babies I have got them growing their own in our garden and in pots, greens are just so versatile in cooking and so incredibly jam packed full of nutrients. In face when you look at eating styles and trends there is always one constant in them all!
Eat more green leafy things!!

Paleo, Vegan, Raw, Low Carb, Michelle Bridges 12 week boot camps they all seem to agree green leafy things are especially good for humans!
So as a mum I have always given my two girls lots of greens and found so many delicious and clever ways to feed them to them! Because, lets face it too not too many toddlers are going to eat a pile of lightly steemed spinach quite joyously?

My little Violet as a wee thing with a silverbeet she helped grow that was not so wee!

One of my kids FAVE ways to get a big greens fix and a recipe that I LOVE to make for LUNCHBOXES is this super easy and cheap to make,

Silverbeet and Kale Feta Rolls.
Why Kale?
I know it has become trendy of late and sometimes you might think oh kale this and kale that....BUT it is for a very good reason!
Kale is a sensational power vegetable and was in fact a very popular vegetable in the middle ages and is a popular food source in many, many parts of the world. During World War II it was also in the Dig for Victory initiative in the UK because of its nutrient content, where everyone was encouraged to grow it in there gardens.
Kale is extremely good for you and is a source of beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin A, vitamin C, magnesium, potassium, copper, vitamin B6, and rich in calcium and according to *Mind, Body Green has more iron per calorie than beef.
It is also a source of two carotenoids, lutein and zeaxanthin and has other properties which are said to have anti cancer and DNA repair in cells properties.and the combination with fresh basil and a great Parmesan and feta is beautiful.
Kale (Brassica Oleracea) is a green leafy vegetable considered to be one of the highest in nutrients with many health benefits including it is said, to have anti – cancer effects so it is well worth tracking down or growing your own.
It is also a "cousin" to other nutrient rich veggie super heros like broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, savoy, collard.
There are many varieties available now including beautiful pruprle leafed types and it is also excellent in things like juicing, green smoothies, all kinds of fresh salads, spinach and kale cheesey scrambled eggs and often made into kale “chips”.
I also put it fresh, shredded very finely in my kids salad wraps, coleslaw.
(Note; if you have diagnosed thyroid issues always lightly cook it first before eating - even in smoothies, just steam then cool and freeze in portions, check with your naturopath for more information.)

It is also extremely EASY to grow!
Look out for organic seeds or seedlings and grow it in a really nice sunny spot (at least 6 hours), in good compost rich soil with plenty of organic matter and good drainage. Water deeply once established to promote a healthy root system and feed with diluted seasol once a week as a baby and then every 2 weeks once established. Harvest as a whole plant or just the leaves you need as you need them.
Grow them amongst marigolds, chives, spring onions, sage, thyme for companion planting.
If your worried you will plant and "forget" and they will die, plant a pot near your front door, amongst your flowers, somewhere were you will see them everyday and remember to water them.
I know for me I love taking 5 minutes of peace in the garden of an afternoon or early morning to have a cup of tea and water, it is actually very relaxing!

Grow things and get the kids growing things from babies

Silverbeet and Kale Feta Rolls Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh silverbeet finely chopped and firmly packed in (or 1 pkt frozen spinach, thawed and drained well will also work fine)
• 1 cup fresh kale, washed and finely chopped. (You can find in Coles and Woolies now or farmers markets and places like Jeffers market on the Sunshine Coast.)
• 3/4 of a 250g pkt feta cheese. (You can use less if you find feta too salty for your palate or more see notes).
• ¾ cup grated cheese.
• 2 sheets puff pastry ( I use butter puff pastry or wholegrain when I can find it and sometimes gluten free puff pastry)

Method

• Pre heat oven to approximately 180`c.
• Combine spinach, kale, feta and grated cheese together.
• Semi defrost pastry sheets.
• Cut each pastry sheets in half to make two long rectangle.
• Line each one down one side with a long strip of the mixture. 
• Pinch the two sides of pastry together right along both sides to make it an enclosed ‘parcel’ or roll over on to itself to make a roll shape.
• Chop up into desired sizing rolls.
• Brush top of pastry with milk.
• Bake them in the oven on baking paper until golden and pastry is visibly cooked.
• Serve hot with fresh salad

Notes

• For a more ‘adult’ version you can add lightly sautéed onion, chilli or spring onion.
• Perfect for school lunch boxes.
• Freeze rolls before cooking for ready to go meals and lunches
• Adjust the amount of feta to you and your kids taste buds. Use a lot less if you generally find it too salty and more if you like a strong feta flavour. I find in general kids do not like a too strong feta flavour but rather just a hint of feta so I often will use 3/4 of a packet, depending on the amount of greens. I would suggest the first few time you make the recipe to tweak to make it with a 3/4 packet and then tweak if needed the next time. I prefer to use a Australian hard feta and just crumble it.

Toddler Tips

• Make them half the size again so they are handy toddler sized sausage rolls.
• Serve with a toddler friendly salad of things like cheese cubes, avocado cubes, cherry tomatoes, hard boiled eggs, capsicum slices and carrot sticks.

For more Healthy, Happy Lunch Box IDEAS please LIKE my new FACEBOOK page!!

>>> HEALTHY, HAPPY LUNCHBOXES
Happy Cooking!

Bek xoxo

Recipe and writing (c)RebeccaMugridge2012

Gluten Free Vegetarian Pasta Bake

There is just something about the old classic, the pasta bake...
It instantly reminds me of my mother and dark, rainy nights snuggled in front of a cosy fire when we lived in the country. Happily eating her pasta bakes covered in crochet blankets!
Warm memories.
I love the way food is such an experience that certain foods are linked for us with events and times of our lives. Food really does tell a story and for me the pasta bake was one of my first comfort foods.

Now I make it for my kids too, but with a healthy twist, now we are also not gluten intolerant but I like to do a large amount of our meals and snacks gluten free as I believe it is more kinder on the bowels!!

This dish can be whipped up in not very long at all, it freezes really well and makes fantastic leftovers and school lunches too or a bring a plate dish for the next BBQ!

If you like pasta bake or macaroni cheese you will love this healthy version.

Gluten Free Vegetarian Pasta Bake

Ingredients

• 1 box of gluten free pasta, cooked according to packet directions.
  (I also find it helps to add a little dash of oil in the boiling water with gluten free pasta to stop it all sticking together.
• 2 tablespoons gluten free flour
• 500ml almond, soy or dairy milk ( I used almond.)
• half a teaspoon nutmeg ground
• 2 teaspoons paprika (look for a really good quality one - it makes a lot of difference!)
• !/2 cup broccoli, very finely chopped.
• 2 carrots peeled and finely grated.
• 4 stalks celery, finely chopped.
• 3 large tomatoes. 2 chopped one sliced.
• 1 zucchini, peeled and grated.
• 1 cup grated cheese.
• Freshly chopped parsley to taste ( I used about a good handful ).
• Fresh and thinly chopped chives to taste. (I used about 9 stalks).
• 2 teaspoons wholegrain mustard (or to taste)
• 1 free range egg.
• 1/4 cup of sundried tomatoes (optional)
• pepper
• himalayan salt - to taste
• 2 cloves garlic finely chopped.

• Cook gluten free pasta according to directions, rinse very lightly and then drained and set aside.
• Very, (extra very for fussy eating kids) chop the broccoli
• Grate the carrot and zucchini.
• Place the vegetables into a mixing bowl or even straight into the baking dish.

• Place the butter into a saucepan and melt slowly over a low heat.
• Once melted add in the flour, stir constantly for 1 minute.
• Add small amounts of the milk stirring the whole time until they are combined with the flour mix, keep doing this until all the milk has been used and it is a nice consistency. Use a whisk of needed to make sure it is nice and smooth.

• Season with the nutmeg, paprika and a pinch of himalayan salt and add in the mustard. Taste. 
• Add in the cheese and stir through until melted in. Taste again add more mustard or salt and pepper if needed.
• Let the sauce cool a bit and then whisk in the egg.
• Mix everything together except the sliced tomatoes and a small amount of the chopped mixed herbs.
• Pour into a deep baking dish top with the sliced tomato and some of the fresh herbs.

• Bake at 180' fan forced for 20 minutes or until nice and golden on top.
• Serve on its own as a simple dinner or with a nice fresh salad with a zesty dressing and optional garlic bread for a great tasty meal.

Notes

• This dish is great for leftovers and school lunchboxes.
• Make and freeze ahead for those tired nights.
• Add some chili for more punch.
• Add mushrooms at the last step before cooking.
• For VEGANS, leave out the egg, make the white sauce with olive oil in place of butter and leave out the cheese, add another half cup of milk when making the sauce and instead add savoury yeast flakes for a lovely cheesey flavour.

Toddler/Kids Tips

• Kids love the cheesey flavour. You can make it even stronger my adding a strong flavoured cheese that is suitable or more grated cheese.
• Freeze lunch sized amounts in container for easy lunchboxes and pack on the day with a fresh salad or chopped raw crunchy vegetables.

Live Well. Eat Beautiful. Stay Calm. Be Active.

Bek xx

WATER. Hydration for Health & Happiness and a water filter review

WATER
Beautiful, life sustaining water.
I think in modern times, and even especially now that healthy eating has become so very in, we often forget the simple things and one of the most important ingredients of all for a healthy, happy life, WATER...

Up to 60% of the human body is water, every cell in our body uses water. We need water to function, to live and yet so many people don't drink enough water! And don't worry for many years that was me too...
More and more studies have been done that show dehydration to be found in almost every known disease to mankind and it also makes almost every illness's symptoms worse.
Think about it, when something is seriously wrong what do they do in hospital? Put you on a drip! Because they know how important proper hydration is.
Last year I read an incredible book on this very subject coming from decades of medical research called, "Your not sick, your dehydrated."

Wow, what an amazing book and eye opening read.

It wasn't long after reading it and being inspired to include much more water into my day that I began to really notice and worry about the chemicals and toxins found in tap water.
I can totally understand why they are in there. Council's have to make sure no moulds, bacteria or anything harmful gets into people's drinking water, no easy feat when it usually comes from lakes and dams I can imagine.
BUT, if I am making all this healthy, chemical free, beautiful food and trying really hard to have a chemical free house then surely these chemicals are counterproductive?

It was right when I was thinking this over and wondering also at the state of the inside also of my rainwater tank which the owner told em he wasn't sure had been ever cleaned (eek, I know right) that I was contacted about reviewing an amazing, high tech, extremely efficient (and complicated)  in home water filtration system that conveniently is all inside a handy jug!

It is just the perfect size for a family, would fit into any household and is portable so also very convenient for anyone who is renting.
And while the process it undertakes to clean and energise the water is highly complex, you don't have to do much of anything! (Perfect for a busy mum like me) who has little time for more complicated things in life.

It is even designed into an attractive jug that would not clash with any kitchen decor either for that matter.
Which funnily enough has always been of great importance to me and my kitchen purchases ;)

I also LOVE that the company you buy it from is created by Joanne Musgrave, a certified health coach who uses her own training along with naturopath Julie McNab to offer a range on her website that you know has been really well researched, not just the ingredients but the company itself too and their ethics. What is there is beautiful products and you know you can trust what you find at Shop Naturally.

Now this means a lot to me, and I really place a lot of value in businesses that take their products and their word on said products seriously. This makes my life so much easier as a shopper and busy mum and also gives me great respect and admiration for their integrity and passion.
I am just delighted to say that Shop Naturally is one such business.

I don't have hours and hours of spare time to research everything, I just don't so when I can trust a beautiful business that makes my life and shopping experiences so much better.
On the Sunshine Coast I have this trust with the Jeffers Market stores where I know Stephen Jeffers would not stock anything he had not extensively researched and now I have it online at Shop Naturally now I have discovered them too.

The water jug I reviewed and fell in love with is called

Waters Co Bio Mineral Pot Ace 1.5L Water Filter Jug
Check out out here 

It is 1.5 litre, adds minerals back into your water, has a nine stage filtration system, alkalines the water and filters out chlorine and fluoride.

" The 9 filtration stages are: prefilter, activated carbon filter medium, ion exchange resin, bio organic alkaline minerals, organic germanium, far infrared and magnets. They filter out chlorine, heavy metals, fluoride, nitrate, odours, sediment, bacteria, cysts & viruses. At the same time, the filtration system adds around 60 bio organic trace minerals & restructures the water molecules to significantly increase cellular hydration, adding 'Ki' (Life energy)." Website quote. 

It even comes with a PH testing kit, something as a horticulturalist I was very impressed with and interested in.
I have long since suspected the Sunshine Coast water to be acidic and I found out I was right and considering research also sais that cancer can only live in an acid environment I think we all want to improve our bodies PH to be more alkaline and one of the easiest ways to do this is drinking alkaline water everyday.

Improving your hydration and becoming alkaline improves your skin, eyes, hair, weight, mood, bowel movements and is said to be powerful healing for everyone and especially people with auto immune diseases, arthritis, Ankylosing Spondylitis, Reactive Arthritis, asthma, chrons, eczema etc etc

Drinking more water always sounds simple but in reality so often ends up being a bit slap dash!!
I find this jug not only gives me better tasting water that is so much better for me and my family but it also keeps me accountable too as I know just how many times I should be refilling it and drinking from it for me and my two gorgeous girls everyday!

Thank you goes to Shop Naturally for this review and for introducing me to an easy way to beautiful, clean, alkaline healing water for me and my children.

Eat Beautiful, Be Active, Live Well, Find Calm AND stay hydrated!

LOVE Bek XX

Dinosaur Biscuits. Gluten Free, Refined Sugar Free, Nut Free, Egg Free.

Dinosaur Biscuits

Gluten free, Refined Sugar Free, Egg Free


My little miss 4 is a funny little thing. While she belts out Frozen songs as much at the next girl and does ballet and loves barbie dolls she also absolutely LOVES dinosaurs, dragons, bugs, crocodiles, sharks and trucks and motorbikes.
Myself and my miss 9 often just look at each other mystified as we are both very much girly girls.
Violet's bedroom greets you with dinosaurs and dragons. her favourite colour is green and when she grows up, she wants to be a DRAGON.
Yep.

For her fourth birthday of course it was a Dinosaur Party - you can see the food and party ideas for that one HERE 

These biscuits both my 4 and 9 year olds can make and they both love! Though my 9 year old often makes hers with a love heart instead.

Ingredients

100 grams butter

½ cup coconut sugar or Natvia stevia

1 & ¼ cups gluten free plain flour or spelt flour plain – note spelt is not gluten free only low gluten)

1 teaspoon vanilla paste or essence

¼ teaspoon baking powder (gluten free)

3 tablespoons almond, coconut, soy or dairy milk

¼ cup jam with no sugar added. You will find many of these at supermarkets and health food stores or better yet, make your own yummy jam!

2 tablespoons water

1 potato (or very clean dinosaur)

Method

Pre heat oven to 180’c or 160 if it is fan forced.

Line a baking tray with baking paper, I use non bleached If You Care brand.

Heat jam in a saucepan with the water, stir and set aside.

Cut a large potato in half. Then take one half and score/cut a dinosaur shaped foot print into one side so that it sticks out.

Beat butter, sugar and vanilla until it looks fluffy and well together.

Gently fold in the flour and baking powder with a wooden spoon.

Once mixed well roll into small balls and place on the baking tray.

Flatten down slightly.

Use the potato (or dinosaur) to put a footprint indent into each biscuit.

Fill indents about ½ to ¾ with the jam.

Bake for around 12 minutes or until nice and golden looking and firm.

Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

Notes

You can of course swap the dinosaur foot print for a love heart, star, circle etc have fun with it! 

The Power of Juicing for a Healthy, Happy Life

Juicing has to be one of the most exciting elements I have added into mine and my children's lives.
I had always heard amazing benefits of juicing and its ability to heal our bodies...but I only ever had the odd juice.

Then one day in a moment that felt like synchronicity during a period of stress an ill health I happened across Joe Cross's documentary, Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead  and the whole world went quiet as I watched. Not something that happens very often when you have 2 kids and one is a young, toddler!
I was just totally captivated and inspired by it.

It was living, filmed proof off the power of juicing for a healthy, happy life.

 

Not just beautiful, juices are life energy in a glass.

Juicing is this incredible way we can give our bodies amazing healing and heath boosting nutrition in a way our bodies can access incredibly fast with little effort.

What are some of the benefits if juicing?

• Weight loss.
• Increased Energy.
• Immune boosting. Our immune system is our own personal army and defence system, anything we can do to support it and protect it is .
• Drastically increases your intake of fresh fruits and vegetables easily which is always a great thing!
• Liver Cleansing and Support. Your liver is such an important part of your body. Your liver cleans your blood and removes harmful and dangerous toxins from your body, you need it in a really great healthy state. The sad thing is they say it is actually quite common for a large proportion of us all to have fatty deposits and livers not in the best state, and this is not a good thing at all. Plus giving your liver a detox improves general wellbeing and even improves your skin in so many ways and helps skin conditions like acne.
• Lusher hair. Due to all the nutrients it is said that juicing can improve hair growth and condition. 
• Digestion. Due to the fact that juicing gives your body a large amount of nutrients while your digestive system has to do little work this is amazing for resting your digestive system and allowing it to heal and look after itself, which is so beneficial for everyone and especially anyone with an autoimmune disease, bowel or digestive issues. 
• Cancer fighting abilities. Due to the extreme amount of antioxidants juicing is said to help prevent and fight cancer, so it is enormous benefit to everyone. There is amazing research out there on this field alone.
• Cold and flu fighting. Due to all the nutrients in a powerful raw easy to access formula juicing is an incredible way to help your body and immune system fight off all sorts of colds, flu's and bugs.

If you have kids juices are a fantastic and easy, fun way to get a big does of vegetables into the kids!!

This Christmas and with the new, fresh year coming up upon us I think one of the best investments we can make for our family and our own health is actually fresh homemade juices using something like the Vitality 4 Lifes Juicers. I use my juicer so often it s honestly one of the best investments I ever made in my home and for my health too.
 I also make small juices in glass bottles for the kids to take to school sometimes and I just love the feeling of giving them a juice with their breakfast in the school morning, or after school on the way to sports or dance knowing what a powerful does of nutrients their bodies are getting.

Plus if your keen to get Summer beach body ready then juicing is your new friend! It can help you drop dress sizes, reduce bloating and clear up skin so you can GLOW this Summer!

We have a few favourite juice recipes but this beautiful, rich Healthy, Happy Life juice is a current favourite!

A Healthy, Happy Life Juice

 

Ingredients

2 cups chopped watermelon

1 large beetroot

1 &1/2 cups fresh green kale

1/2 large cucumber

1/2 cup baby spinach greens

1 red apple

1 green apple

4 long stalks celery

 

Method

• I juice the beetroot, watermelon and red apple together.
• Then I juice the kale, spinach, cucumber, green apple and celery.
• In serving glasses I pour some of the red juice then top with some of the green and while it ends up dark you get this lovely swirling effect of the two colours on top, which adds to decorative effect - not essential you can absolutely just juice it all together of course!

Toddler Tips

• I purposely left the ginger out of this one as my kids often find ginger in a juice just too much, sometimes you can hide it but it is nice to have some juice recipes that are ginger free for them too.
• I highly recommend letting the kids make the juices with you!! Kids love putting the fruits and veggies in and turning them to liquid and this fun element means they are going to be excited about trying them
• If kids, especially older kids are new to juicing, you will want to start with extra fruit in there like apples and then slowly reduce the fruit and increase the veggies over time.

Notes

• For an extra anti inflammatory effect you can add a little fresh turmeric.
• Make yourself a large batch and keep one in the fridge for an afternoon pick me up.

 

This is a sponsored post with a fantastic company called Vitality4Life, "Vital ingredients for a healthy home and environment." Check them out for juicers, dehydrators and more!

 

 

To help you bring the power of juicing for a healthy, happy life into your life we are giving you the chance to WIN $50!!

 

To enter simply:
Simply comment below what kinds of fruits and/or vegetables you like to juice and the most creative answer selected wins the prize!

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Recipe, styling and photography (c)rebeccamugridge2014
This is a sponsored blog post with Vitality4life.
Information on this blog is general interest only and based upon the authors own experiences and should never be taken as medical advise or replace the expert opinion of your doctor or medical professional.

Roarrr its a Dinosaur Party, Swamp Dip Guacamole & a Dinosaur Cake

I love a good theme, its so much fun and I love any reason to celebrate, party, cook and....decorate!
Yep, I love Christmas, Easter, Halloween, Fancy Dress Parties

Its also always a great, fun opportunity too cook and create new things.

As a mother of two girls I never thought I'd be doing a dinosaur theme, and I have to say I am so glad my youngest is such an eclectic girl, the type who wants to wield a lightsaber while wearing a tutu! Its fun.

My little V loves dinosaurs, so it was only natural she would want a dinosaur party! So Kindy and ballet friends invited the dino planning fun began.


Meet Rex our party door greeter

Discovering the non fiction section on dinosaurs at the library has been a highlight of V's year!



Big sis and grandma taste testing the party food

Face painting by Fun Face Events



Dinosaur Jumping Castle by Jump Sunshine Coast

TAKE HOME BAG IDEA ***Dinosaur arts and crafts - great little addition for the take home bag that is not sugar and additive laden lollies is a paint your own dinosaur plaster of paris figure and cut out dino shapes, its personal, the kids love making them and who doesn't like glitter :)
 In our take home bags we also had garden whirls, printed colouring pages of dinosaur pictures and a box of crayons, a mini dinosaur toy, the usual blowers and balloons, some dinosaur shaped glitter sprinkles, box of organic sultanas, dinosaur crackers, dinosaur temporary tattoos and stamps. We really wanted to steer away from the usual lollies. 

Not the best shot (boy does that time go fast when you are setting up!) But you get the idea, lots of green and jungle features.



Adding some simple cut outs to the party hats to make them dinosaur - miss 4 actually did these 

Dinosaur footprints lead the way

 And such a fun part - the party food! Now I do believe in living life pretty much 80/20, yes my kids eat very healthy a large percentage of the time but I will also let them have abought icecream on a hot day out, fish and chips at the beach and a normal cake for their birthday! But I do still try and have lots of party food that is home made, additive free, fresh, wholefoods and refined sugar free as much as possible. In fact I even had the face painter comment at V's dino party just how calm and happy all the kids were - and yes, the kids were all still munching away happily! It is just that, yes its a party so you have some treats but you can also have lots of fun and delicious food that is healthy too.


Dinosaur footprint biscuits! These are fun and simple! I'll blog this recipe soon - why not sign up over on the side so you don't miss it.

Dinosaur eggs - these are my bliss balls made small get the recipe HERE

Flower Fossils - gluten free , get the recipe HERE

I found this idea on pinterest, I just made little mini spelt muffins, turned them upside down, cut them flat and then when cold topped with melted white chocolate that I mixed a few drops of food colour & beetroot juice into.

Viola iceburgs - these made the kids drinks of cold water funky, always a great idea to provide lots of iced cold water at parties, if you want you could add some cordial, there are also stevia varieties out there. 

We also served a sausage sizzle right before the cake, we had gluten free meat sausages and vegetarian sausages (cooked separately) and gluten free and fresh baked bread. We served with the Natvia refined sugar free tomato and BBQ sauces (find in Coles). Always a reliable hit for kids (and parents) and everyone loves the smell of a cooking bbq and onions :)



Swamp Dip - Guacamole
Yes, I didn't get a shot before the kids had tried some haha!

Swamp Dip Guacamole

4 large ripe avocado's

1 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons sweet chili sauce (I used homemade refined sugar free, made with stevia but bought is fine)

1 cabbage

Cut up carrot, celery (leave some with the leaves on to look jungley), red capsicum slivers and we also had gluten free corn chips 

Blend together avocado, sour cream and sweet chili - taste test, tweak if needed.
Kids love this dip and it is not hot so don't be frighten of the chili sauce in it!

Cut your cabbage in half, trying to leave any funky outside leaves in place for the dinosaur/jungle look. Using a knife score the pieces of cabbage and then remove with a spoon (give your self a few minutes to do this part)

Fill with the smooth guacamole.

Serve.  

The Dinosaur Cake
Ok, yes it does look a little like a chameleon haha but the kids didn't notice - I blame the eyes!

To make a Dinosaur cake I made 2 of my chocolate yoghurt cakes with organic sugar (but you could use whatever kind you liked really). One round, one rectangle. I got the idea from a food ideas magazine and then tweaked and played around with the design. I drew the shapes I wanted on baking paper to use as a trace to cut out the pieces, waited until the cake was stone cold and then used green butter cream icing to decorate and cut down ice cream cones for spikes and horns, you could actually put spikes right along the back of the dinosaur as well.
The frill was cut as one piece and slipped over the head.
I recommend making the cake the day before if that works for you timing wise. I didn't decorate mine with lollies like the food ideas magazine but you could if you wanted too, I was just trying to keep additives to a minimum, but that are brands out there that are additive free and you could of course make this with a gluten free cake mix as well - if you were looking for an easy, instant one I recommend Tania Hubbard's from Gluten Free Grain Free.

 

Bek Xxx