Green Green Green

Ok, I know this is a blog for pictures of the kids, but I have to share the other big thing that is taking up our time and energy right now - getting healthy. We already ate pretty healthy before, but as our kids started eating real foods and not just milk, my aunt emailed me about a program her family was doing, and we decided to join. We are about 3 months into the 12 month Whole Food eating plan over at Green Smoothie Girl. The goal of the program is, over 12 months, to get you eating 60-80% whole/raw foods. I think Ryan and I are eating about a pound of produce a day now and our kids are learning that green things are normal - they have no reference point for anything else. Remember this picture?

What's all over Maia's face is strawberry, blueberry, kale, spinach, beet greens, collard greens, carrots, chia and flax. That's the type of thing we're eating every day now and the kids LOVE it. The one she ate was fruit-colored because the blueberries have a strong color, but they both drink bright green smoothies all the time and love them too.

This was breakfast this morning and the kids love it all except JD doesn't eat the eggs. The colorful hash is what they think hashbrowns are and it's my new favorite recipe. We started using the greens on the tops of beets in our smoothies, so I had to figure out what to do with the beets - I've never cooked them before. Here's all it takes: Dice 3 beets, two small golden Yukon potatoes, and 3-4 carrots. Cover with water and boil for 10 minutes. Run 2 cups spinach and 4 or 5 tsp parsley through the food processor, then add a small onion and run that through too. When the beets etc are done boiling, combine everything in a large skillet. Add salt and pepper to taste and pan-fry until it's getting a little crispy on the outside. The smaller you diced the root veges, the faster it will cook and the more it will mimic actual hashbrowns. So good and a great way to pretend it's fall (the beets & carrots are pretty this time of year....) even when it still feels like summer.