We are truly fortunate to live in the Okanagan Valley and enjoy the bountiful, healthy summer harvest that every year brings.  Berries and cherries, crisp greens, peaches and plums, garlic galore, popping little tomatoes and radishes et cetera, et cetera!

This the BEST time of year to apply what I am calling the Rainbow Regime:

1. Eat as much fresh, local, raw, organic fruits and vegetables as possible!
2. Grow as much fresh, local, raw, organic fruits and vegetables if possible!
3. Can and freeze as much fresh, local, raw, organic fruits and vegetables if possible!

Why local?  Seriously all food tastes better and is healthier when it is fresh & ripe, with a low carbon footprint and supports the local economy.

Why raw?  We cook enough nutrients out of food; let’s celebrate the righteous crunchy goodness of raw eating. Mega rainbow magnets for this one!

Why organic?  Hmmmm – who wants to eat pesticides that once were nerve gases in WWII? If you can’t eat all organic food at least eat organic when you are consuming the whole food & skin – cherries, berries, greens, grapes, tomatoes, peppers etc.

Why can and freeze? It is so satisfying to open your own jar of homemade salsa & pickles in the middle of January. Trust me.  I recently poked the pits out of 2 lbs of gorgeous cherries with a chopstick so I can make my family cherry smoothies in the dead of winter. 

Cheers from Wendy – Working the local organic summer rainbow into a winter rainbow!

Check out Okanagan Greens for more info on the 5th Annual Organic Okanagan Festival!

We were fortunate enough to come across the extrememly talented Mama behind the bento box creations via twitter and I was so thrilled to have her review our Today I Ate A Rainbow Kit!

A very big “Thank You” to Shannon and her adorable kids! We’re so happy to add you to our Rainbow Eating Family

Happy Healthy Eating!
Kia

I needed another way to use up the oodles and oodles of “these here” tomatoes:

So, I twisted and tweaked an old Paula Deen recipe to make it a bit healthier.

Here is what I came up with. It met with approval on all fronts, except I was told I didn’t cut the tomatoes small enough.

Note to self: cut the tomatoes in itty bitty bits the next time.

4 cups chopped fresh tomatoes (red, yellow, and purple)**
1 1/2 cup shredded cheese (we used a mix of cheddar and mozzarella)
8 oz frozen spinach, thawed and drained thoroughly
1 onion, grated or very finely chopped
1/2 cup finely shredded carrots
4 eggs
1 tsp kosher salt*
1/2 tsp black pepper*
1 tsp dried basil*
1/2 tsp coriander*
1/2 tsp garlic powder*
1/2 sleeve whole grain crackers, smashed to bits

*You can sub in about 2 tsp “Italian seasoning” if you have some you like for all of the other seasonings…I just haven’t ever found a blend I like better than my own…I’m a food snob…I know….

**On the Rainbow issue, if you don’t have purple tomatoes, use a purple onion instead. If you don’t have yellow tomatoes, try a yellow bell pepper.

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly spray a 9 x 11 baking dish with cooking spray.

Dump everything (EXCEPT THE CRACKERS) in a bowl. Mix it all together.

Pour into the baking dish.

Sprinkle on the crackers.

Bake for 45 minutes. Serves 8.

My sad photographic attempt to show the colors after baking. Really, I STINK with the camera. KW, you need to be stationed with us and take all my pictures. I promise to feed you everything you photograph (except maybe the kids…they don’t taste that good !

Serve warm.

This blog post was brought to you by…The Queen of Brussels Sprouts!

The tip for today: Simply offer more side dishes! I mean it. If you serve steak, that is fine. But, each person does not need and entire NY strip to themselves. Cut each one in half. Then, offer more than just russet potatoes as the side.

Try steamed green beans, corn, and sweet potatoes as well as steak. Mix it up with some pearled barley or even brown rice. Or, maybe some roasted veggies straight off of the grill (a fav around here). Even if you only eat a small portion of each side dish, you are still filling up the belly. Go ahead and enjoy some steak, just watch how much you eat, and don’t forget the veggies too!

This blog is brought to you from The Queen of Brussels Sprouts

We’re so happy to be able to share fantastic recipes from our new friends at  Can I Get the Recipe!

Recipe from Watermelon USA
Prep Time: 10 min/Total Time: 10 min.
Makes 2 smoothies.

Can I Get the Recipe Tip: Smoothies are a quick and easy good to go snack that the kids will love. Keep watermelon chunks ready in the fridge for even faster prep.

Ingredients: 
2 cups seedless watermelon chunks
2 kiwis, peeled and chopped
2 cups vanilla yogurt
1 cup ice
Sprigs of fresh mint for garnish
Directions:
Place all of the ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Pour into 2 glasses and garnish with a sprig of fresh mint.

Check out their site to see what they had to say about our charts!

A big thank you to the team at Kindervibe for such a great review!

Kia

Check out the review here http://weangreen.com/blog/flavor-of-the-week-today-i-ate-a-rainbow/ then come back and buy your Today I Ate A Rainbow Kit!!!

Happy Healthy Eating!
Kia

1. Remain Calm. If you child picks up on your stress about their eating it can sometimes end up escalating into a battle of wills and can even become a control issue.

2. Serve Small Portions. Their little stomachs do not need much to get full and especially when trying a new food it can be far less intimidating for them to see just a small amount on their plate!

3. Respect their Hunger Levels. It’s best not to force your child to eat past where they feel full. Children tend to eat when they are hunger and stop when they are full…trust that they know their bodies.

4. Serve a new food with a Favorite. This way they can feel comfortable knowing there is something that they like on their plate to enjoy. They can mix up the two items if it helps. I still do that myself sometimes with food that isn’t my favorite but I know is good for me, I’ll only eat asparagus if I can mix it with rice!

5. Offer fruit or vegetables for snacks. In between meals let them snack all they want on healthy fruit and vegetable slices.

6. Watch the clock. Make sure to stop all snacks about one hour before your meal. That way they’ll be hungry when they come to the table.

7. Make it tasty! Serve vegetables with a yummy dip or fruit with some yogurt. Little ones love to dip their food! Try serving veggies raw and steamed – they may have a preference!

8. Get them Involved. Getting your picky eater to help you purchase food and help prepare it can be fun for them. Of course this isn’t possible all the time but occasionally make the whole process an experience they can be a part of, it can be really fun!

9. Keep it Separate. Sometimes it’s all about food touching! If this is an issue for your picky eater then when possible keep ingredients separated (think, salads, stir fry etc) Maybe like me, they don’t like their cool salad touching their warm rice or potato. This makes perfect sense to me! Those divider plates are fantastic, for some picky eaters that’s all they need to be able to enjoy their meal!

10. Food Talk. When you’re talking to your child about food try to avoid using taste as an indicator of whether a food is good or not. Instead talk about how healthy it is, it’s colour, shape and texture.

11. Role Model. If you want your children to eat healthy foods then you need to as well. This isn’t easy for a recovering picky eater like myself but it definitely works in encouraging your child to eat healthy food! Since having my daughter I’ve learned to enjoy foods that I never would have considered eating before her…Brussels Sprouts for example!

If you are very concerned about your child’s eating habits then consult your doctor or a nutritionist. Otherwise just keep plugging away and eventually your child will in most cases outgrow their pickiness. I speak from experience because am pretty sure I was one of the most picky eaters on earth as a child!

Happy Healthy Eating!
Kia

1. A product out of the USA called Choopa Board http://www.choopaboard.com/index.html It’s a metal board that comes in a couple of different sizes with suction cups on the back that you place onto the fridge door.

2. You can buy magnetic paint and create a magnetic area out of a convenient cupboard door or an easily accessible wall if you have space.

3. Ikea has a couple of magnetic wall hangings ranging from $9.99 up! We bought a round one and it looks great on the wall and fits all the Today I Are A Rainbow pieces!

4. Office Depot has a few options for magnetic boards, the brand is called Foray.

5. Staples has a couple of magnetic boards as well, based on their website they have some starting at about $10!

6. Many ’stainless steel’ refrigerators are made differently on the front than they are on the sides. So try the side of it ‘” if your kitchen arrangement allows easy access to it for your children!

We hope this information is useful to those of you with stainless steel appliances! If anyone has any other suggestions please comment below!

Happy Healthy Eating!
Kia

It has been 3 years, and I can say that my crew will eat just about anything now. They at least give things a try.

Step #1: (This was on accident) Move to the boonies! Yep, it is a LOT harder to go out to eat, pick up take-out, or run to the store for little things when the options are over 30 minutes away (45 for REAL choices) in one direction. Cooking became the only viable (and affordable) option.

OK, so most of you aren’t going to move to the boonies. But hey, give it a try if you can

Step #2: Make sure each meal has 2 veggies and one whole grain offering. Never force a child to eat anything. My children were required to take one bite of each offering on their plate. If they didn’t like it, ok, but that is all they were offered. I refused to prepare separate dishes for them. I did make sure that I knew at least one of the offerings was something they would like. If dessert was offered that evening, only the people who ate all of their veggies and grains were allowed to partake in the sweets. I must admit that I am not above using a little frozen yogurt with fruit to “convince” someone to eat their veggies

You’d be amazed how, over time, the “one bite” rule becomes more and more bites…and all of the sudden, the plate is clean. There have actually been studies done on this one. A study I saw used avocado (and kids who claimed to hate it). They had kids take one bite a day for a month. After that, the majority of the kids actually claimed to like the avocado. Sometimes, it is a matter of training the tastebuds.

Guest Blog Post by The Queen Of Brussels Sprouts