Celebrating...Naturally

For some reason holidays come with ad campaigns that would have us believe that without candy, chocolate and other "treats" we can't really celebrate. I think as a mom this has been the most challenging and also most fun thing about the no sugar resolution. It has forced me to be really creative and I like the opportunity to try some new things. I am trying to get to the point where the natural stuff is associated with the fun times, not the other way around. For St. Patrick's Day breakfast we made these green waffles with green whipped cream and kiwis. There were no complaints!

For my oldest son's birthday I took cake pops (very sugary!) to school, so I wanted to balance it for his party. We had popcorn, movie candy and root beer floats. We used OOgave Root Beer and Rice Dream Vanilla icecream for the floats. The Simply Fruit Roll-Ups and Fruit Nuggets took the place of the candy for some of the kids and the popcorn made a healthier alternative to chips. I am still trying to find the right balance with my boys, I offer them the naturally sweet alternatives and hope to counteract the less-healthy (but sometimes fun!) foods. They still have the occasional Happy Meal or sugar cereal, but hopefully they are learning there are better choices that still taste great and are fun.

Springtime Waldorf Chicken and Apple Salad

From my Basha's flyer:

2 cups cooked chicken breasts, cooled and diced
2 large apples, cored and diced
1/4 cup raisins (you could use grapes instead)
2 celery stalks, chopped
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped

Dressing:
1/2 cup Plain Low-Fat Yogurt (I use Cascade Fresh)
3 Tbsp Low-Fat Mayo
1 Tbsp Agave or Honey
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/8 tsp cinnamon
Salt and Pepper

Whisk together dressing ingredients. Combine salad ingredients and stir in dressing. Serve over lettuce leaves. Make six servings.

With 4g of fiber, 274 calories, 9g fat and 20g of protein this makes a fantastic healthy lunch.

Flax Seed Pancakes- Delicious

These are from the back of the package of Flax USA Organic Golden Flax bag. A friend told me they were good and they were! We substituted the sugar with honey, folded in some blueberries and drizzled with maple syrup. Even my pickiest eater devoured. Enjoy these for breakfast or breakfast for dinner.

1/2 ground flax seed
2tsp baking powder
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Mix all these in a bowl. In a separate bowl whisk together:

2 Tbsp honey
1 cup buttermilk or (1 tbsp of vinegar or lemon juice + just under a cup of milk, let it sit for 5min)
1 egg
1 Tbsp canola oil (sure these would be great with coconut oil too)

Combine wet and dry until just mixed. Fold in fruit if desired. Cook on a hot griddle. Top with maple syrup, cinnamon applesauce, natural peanut butter, apple or almond butter. Enjoy.