Friday, November 21, 2014
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Amazing smoothie for pumpkin lovers
One rule about cooking with Girl Scouts: Make sure you are watching what they're doing.Suddenly, I was stuck with three opened, partially used cans of canned pumpkin after Tuesday's cooking experiment of Pumpkin Pie in a Cup. And with two kids at home, several games and practices on the schedule, and a sick husband, I was pretty short on time.
My solution? Make a breakfast smoothie.
Amazing Pumpkin Smoothie
Ingredients
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1 1/2 cups milk or vanilla almond milk
2 drops cassia essential oil
or cinnamon essential oil
2 scoops vanilla TrimShake
Instructions
Mix ingredients in blender. Add ice and blend to desired consistency.
Note: This post does include affiliate links, in case you need a source for those ingredients.
Friday, November 14, 2014
Free e-book Friday: Clean Eating Ideas
I have fallen off the diet wagon. Work stress, hectic schedules with physical therapy and kids activities, and a sick husband has made things quickly fall apart. And I don't just mean the house.
Far too often than I care to admit, I've gone to grab for candy or other quick-energy but unhealthy choices. And I'm paying the price. I feel sluggish and tired. And just plain miserable.
So I'm redoubling my healthy eating efforts. I found this great video to get me started, that outlines easy ideas for planning snacks and lunches for the office.
But I'm also doing research and reaching out for new inspiration and ideas for cleaner eating. This week's Free E-book Friday focuses on ideas and recipes for clean eating, whether you're new or seasoned at this.
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Get Moving on our Energy Journey (Girl Scouts)
Our Junior Girl Scouts are going to "Get Moving" on their energy journey this winter. As a leader I admit it's sometimes been tough transitioning the journey leader guides into something manageable, enjoyable and not like school.
This week, we formally kicked it off with a talk on "people" energy and energy balance - calories in and calories out.
It's About Balance
We found a great starting point on Energy Balance 101 lesson plans from Discovery Education. The girls learned about calories and energy, then discussed how to figure out how much exercise it would take to balance out extra treats.
Because I'm very sensitive about weight issues, we also talked about ways our body uses energy without formally "exercising" - everything from watching TV (breathing, heart beating, etc.) to walking between classes to even sleeping, noting that some actions use more energy than others.
The girls learned about label reading too, and calculated how much energy they were going to take in with their Thanksgiving-themed snack (Pumpkin Pie in a Cup). I'll note that the recipe in the lesson plan did not go over well, as it seems it wasn't sweetened enough for the girls' tastes. I'd adapt it this way:
Pumpkin Pie in a Cup
Mix in a cup:
1/2 cup canned pumpkin (note: a can serves about 3 girls)
2 tablespoons marshmallow creme (or more, to taste)
2 tablespoons whipped topping or whipped cream
cinnamon and/or pumpkin pie spice
Serve with graham crackers.
Balancing Out Our Snacks
After the girls snacked, we "balanced" the energy and playfully learned about stress management by playing our family's Yoga 4 Kids Board Game
. Lots of giggles happened while the girls tried to learn yoga poses, and several girls made comments at the end of the meeting about how relaxed they were,
We also launched a steps contest. Each girl got an inexpensive pedometer and were asked to track their steps daily until the next meeting. The winner would get a prize. I have to chuckle that they all started working on their steps immediately, and one mom shared on Facebook her daughter was making laps around the house!
Badge match-up: Get Moving! Energy Journey, Staying Healthy steps 1, 2, 3, Simple Meals step 5.
How do you teach your kids about fitness, nutrition and energy? Share your ideas or questions below!
This week, we formally kicked it off with a talk on "people" energy and energy balance - calories in and calories out.It's About Balance
We found a great starting point on Energy Balance 101 lesson plans from Discovery Education. The girls learned about calories and energy, then discussed how to figure out how much exercise it would take to balance out extra treats.
Because I'm very sensitive about weight issues, we also talked about ways our body uses energy without formally "exercising" - everything from watching TV (breathing, heart beating, etc.) to walking between classes to even sleeping, noting that some actions use more energy than others.
The girls learned about label reading too, and calculated how much energy they were going to take in with their Thanksgiving-themed snack (Pumpkin Pie in a Cup). I'll note that the recipe in the lesson plan did not go over well, as it seems it wasn't sweetened enough for the girls' tastes. I'd adapt it this way:
Pumpkin Pie in a Cup
Mix in a cup:
1/2 cup canned pumpkin (note: a can serves about 3 girls)
2 tablespoons marshmallow creme (or more, to taste)
2 tablespoons whipped topping or whipped cream
cinnamon and/or pumpkin pie spice
Serve with graham crackers.
Balancing Out Our Snacks
After the girls snacked, we "balanced" the energy and playfully learned about stress management by playing our family's Yoga 4 Kids Board Game
. Lots of giggles happened while the girls tried to learn yoga poses, and several girls made comments at the end of the meeting about how relaxed they were,We also launched a steps contest. Each girl got an inexpensive pedometer and were asked to track their steps daily until the next meeting. The winner would get a prize. I have to chuckle that they all started working on their steps immediately, and one mom shared on Facebook her daughter was making laps around the house!
Badge match-up: Get Moving! Energy Journey, Staying Healthy steps 1, 2, 3, Simple Meals step 5.
How do you teach your kids about fitness, nutrition and energy? Share your ideas or questions below!
Looking for more Girl Scout ideas? Visit my new scout leader resource site, Use Resources Wisely.
Friday, November 7, 2014
Free e-book Friday: It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
Need a little inspiration without spending hours on Pinterest? This week's free e-books feature focuses on DIY gift ideas for Christmas, Hanukkah and other gift-giving needs.
And don't forget to check out Cherie Lowe's Keep the Happy in Your Holidays. Read my review here before you buy.
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