Healthy Foods & Snacks 101 Pt. 2

It's amazing how much good nutrition you can sneak into a drink. In fact, a single glass of 100 percent juice supplies one of the recommended five daily servings of fruit or vegetables.

Offer the drinks in mugs, cartoon glasses or wine glasses. Don't forget the crazy straws.

BANANA SCREAM

3 bananas (the riper the banana, the sweeter the shake)
2 tbsp. nonfat milk

Peel the bananas, cut in half width-wise, wrap in plastic wrap, and freeze until firm. Place in a blender,
add milk and puree until creamy. Serves 4.

JUNGLE JUICE

1 1/2 cups nonfat milk
1/2 cup grape juice
1 banana, sliced

Put milk, juice and banana in a blender and mix until smooth. For more vibrant color, add a few drops of purple food coloring. Serves 2.

MAKE-A-SHAKE

Combine two favorite drinks to create a refreshing new taste. Try grape juice and orange juice, strawberry nectar and pineapple juice, lemonade and soda water, or chocolate milk and 2 teaspoons of melted smooth peanut butter. For a frosty drink, add ice and blend.

Kayla's Mom on:

Kayla~Bayla's Lemonadestand

Healthy Foods & Snacks 101 Pt. 1

I learned the trick of serving frozen treats when my toddlers started teething. The cold felt good on their gums, and it got them to eat something. They loved to eat frozen fruit, suck on frozen juice pops and crunch fruit juice ice spooned from paper cups.

ARCTIC ORANGES

4 oranges
4 cups orange juice
4 cherries

Cut the tops off the oranges in a zigzag pattern. Hollow out the insides, remove the seeds and combine in a blender with the juice. Set the rinds in a muffin tin and fill with the mixture. Drop a cherry inside each orange. Freeze for 2 to 3 hours. Soften the treats for 5 minutes, then serve. Makes 4.

BANANA POPS

3 bananas
6 Popsicle sticks
1/4 cup peanut butter, softened
1/4 cup chopped peanuts or walnuts, granola, crispy rice cereal or sunflower seeds

Peel the bananas. Cut them in half, widthwise, and push a Popsicle stick through the cut end of each half. Spread peanut butter on the bananas, then roll them in the nuts, cereal or seeds. Wrap them in waxed paper and freeze for 3 hours. Makes 6.

FROZEN FRUIT SALAD

Freeze the following bites for a fast and frosty treat: grapes, pineapple chunks, peach slices, apricot slices, banana slices, apple slices, cantaloupe balls, watermelon chunks, peas, zucchini slices, cucumber slices, orange wedges and fruit leather.

SEA SHELLS

8 jumbo pasta shells
1 cup tuna or egg salad filling
1/2 cup grated cheese (optional)

Cook the pasta shells. Drain and rinse in cold water. Fill each shell with tuna or egg salad, then sprinkle with grated cheese, if desired. (Or stuff the filling into hollowed-out cherry tomatoes, green peppers or cream puff shells.) Serves 4.

PEANUT BUTTER PINWHEELS

Spread creamy or chunky peanut butter and a little bit of honey on a fresh flour tortilla (available in the refrigerator section of most grocers). Sprinkle with granola, roll up the tortilla, then slice it into bite-size pinwheels.

Kayla's Mom on:

Kayla~Bayla's Lemonadestand