JoyFoodly

  • About
  • Blog

Joyful 12

enter here

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Whole Foods for the Whole Family

Aug 13 by Chef Hollie Greene Leave a Comment

Facebooktwittergoogle_pluspinterestmail

IMG_20140816_131008

I’m thrilled to feature guest blogger Anjali Shah, food writer, board certified health coach, and owner of The Picky Eater, a healthy food and lifestyle blog.  I asked Anjali to share one of her favorite ways to get kids in the kitchen and trying new veggies, and she wowed me with this Easy Being Green Smoothie:

One of my favorite ways to get the whole family in the kitchen is to cook together! I have found that introducing kids to whole foods when they’re really young and getting them curious and excited about fruits and veggies makes it so much easier to feed them those veggies later on. Food for kids (and the family) should be like the rainbow: vibrant and full of color. And once kids realize that veggies can taste good, they will no longer recoil at anything green.

An easy way to introduce kids and picky family members to green veggies and whole foods is by making smoothies together. This healthy green smoothie recipe tastes absolutely amazing but has a ton of fruits and veggies in it making it a whole food extravagnaza!

You can get the whole family involved by giving each family member one fruit or veggie to prep (either cutting, peeling, etc.) and then everyone dumps their special ingredient into the blender at the same time. It’s easy, fast, fun and delicious!

IMG_20140816_125232-MOTION

It’s Easy Being Green: Smoothie Recipe
2015-08-05 12:58:08
Serves 4
Nutritional Info Per Serving: 113.7 Calories, 0g Fat, 24mg Sodium, 27g Carbs, 4.5g Fiber, 16.4g Sugar, 2.2g Protein
Save Recipe
Print
Prep Time
5 min
Cook Time
5 min
Total Time
10 min
Prep Time
5 min
Cook Time
5 min
Total Time
10 min
Ingredients
  1. 1 cup red grapes
  2. 1 medium orange, peeled and halved
  3. 1/4 cup fresh pineapple chunks
  4. 1 medium banana, peeled
  5. 1 carrot, halved
  6. 3-4 cups fresh spinach, washed
  7. 1 fuji apple, quartered and seeded
  8. 1 cup of ice
Instructions
  1. Put all ingredients into your blender (or Vitamix if you have one) in the order listed and secure the lid.
  2. Turn your blender on to it's lowest speed setting, and slowly increase the speed to high. Blend for 1 minute or until all of the ingredients have been pureed and the smoothie is the consistency you want it to be (our ideal consistency: no clumps, no grainy texture, totally smooth).
By Anjali Shah
JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

Anjali+Shah

Anjali Shah is a food writer, board certified health coach, and owner of The Picky Eater, a healthy food and lifestyle blog. Her work has been featured on Oprah.com, Women’ s Health, Cooking Light, Reader’s Digest, CNN, Food Network, Glamour, Ladies’ Home Journal, Whole Foods, SHAPE, and at Kaiser Permanente. Anjali grew up a “whole wheat” girl, but married a “white bread” kind of guy. Hoping to prove that nutritious food could in fact be delicious and desirable, she taught herself how to cook and successfully transformed her husband’s eating habits from a diet of frozen pizzas and Taco Bell to her healthy, yet flavorful recipes made with simple, wholesome ingredients. Through her blog, The Picky Eater, Anjali shares her passion for tasty, healthy cooking.

Filed Under: Guest Post Tagged With: guest post, smoothie, summer, vegetarian

Chef Koochooloo Adds Culture Education to The Mix

May 20 by Chef Hollie Greene Leave a Comment

Facebooktwittergoogle_pluspinterestmail

Today we have the pleasure of featuring a guest article from Layla Sabourian of Chef Koochooloo, a neighbor and ally in the cause of better food education for everyone. With the success of her after-school program, Layla is running an Indiegogo campaign to fund the development of her new app. Head over to her campaign to show your support (Joyful 12 memberships are available as a reward), and learn more about her story right here.

Chef Koochoolo is a social enterprise focused on teaching kids math, science and geography through one hour long cooking sessions, while raising awareness about worldwide causes affecting kids.

IMG_9451

I began working on my idea one year ago, after surviving a life-threatening situation. Like any parent in my situation, my biggest regret was the fact that I would not be able to spend enough time with my husband, and daughter. Having lost my parents at an early age, I was especially worried about my four year old daughter, knowing the type of life she would have ahead, not feeling loved or appreciated as a person. I worried that she would grow up facing the same health, and emotional issues I had experienced.

Growing up, I had to go from one relative’s house to another, struggling to fit in with my cousins and catch little glimpses of love from relatives. Needless to say, my self-confidence was completely shattered and I developed all kinds of emotional issues that manifested themselves via an eating disorder.

It began with the fact that I could not eat meat any more after discovering that a few animals I had grown attached to had been slaughtered and made into traditional stews (that were fed to me.) I felt a special sympathy towards the animals, and felt guilty for making their babies orphans, so I just could not eat meat items any more.

My relatives could not understand my ‘vegetarianism’ and one uncle would try to solve this issue by tying me down with a rope and forcing the pieces of meat down my throat. Up to this day, I have nightmares about those sessions. After months of trying to convert me into a carnival, another aunt stepped in to solve the issue by threatening me to go and see a physiologist.

My mother had suffered from mental illness and so the relatives would refer to her as the Crazy woman, and my aunt’s threats were to scare me away from seeing a Physiologist, because that would mean that like my mother, I was destined to be CRAZY .

I made the much feared trip to the Psychologist at age 10, he was a kind man who asked me a few questions about why I refused to eat meat. After hearing me say, because I don’t want to kill animals, he said, “Well did you know that plants are living organisms too?”

The way the physiologist painted such a vivid picture of living plants in my mind, I could no longer eat vegetables or fruits either after my visit, and my real nightmares began then. Every bite of food I would have to take was like torture to me, convinced I am killing some baby plants. There were times I had to be rushed to the hospital and hooked to IV’s to survive.

That is when I began surviving on processed unnatural foods. Candies and chocolate bars, anything that did not look like food was more comforting to me.

My first healing experience with food began in Mexico at age 21, I was working on a community development project, helping the poverty stricken communities in Guadalajara learn new talents, and somehow I got assigned to teaching a cooking class. I began teaching the ladies attending class traditional Persian recipes, and soon my class was packed. Children and men began attending, and as some of the children became adventurous chefs, urging me to try their creations inspired by my teachings, I began looking at food in an enjoyable way again.

Since my time in Mexico, I ended up living in many different countries and experiencing delicious international cuisines. Lying there in pain in the hospital, not knowing whether I would make it or not, I decided to jot down some of my favorite recipes for my daughter and husband. I divided the duties between big chef and little chef duties, and added fun stories about where I had first cooked those dishes.

_MG_3405

After surviving, I began cooking together with my daughter more often, teaching her each recipe, involving her in the kitchen and also customizing each recipe to be dairy free for my husband’s dietary restrictions.

During cooking, I incorporated fun facts about the country we were cooking from, so that I could keep up my daughter’s interest, and I also talked about some of the challenges those kids faced. I would tell her about the Mexican kids that were my students, and their strength how they overcame the many challenges they had faced.

Copy of IMG_9567 copy

My daughter was fascinated by these stories and would tell her friends and teachers about it. Before long, our house was packed with neighbors and friends who wanted to participate in our cooking sessions, and soon a few local schools heard about it and asked whether we wanted to try teaching in their classroom.

With the help of teachers and educators, we developed our recipes into a rich curriculum that now includes math and science as part of the culinary journey. Will you join us?

Thank you!

-Layla

While Layla takes a different approach to food education, we’re thrilled to have her as part of the better food education community. Thanks for sharing your story with us Layla, and let’s help this social enterprise bring their curriculum to more neighborhoods!

Filed Under: Chef Interviews, Guest Post Tagged With: guest post

Hey, I’m Chef Hollie!

Here at JoyFoodly we help families joyfully eat more fruits and veggies each season. I am passionate about helping parents feel good about the food they feed their kids.

Learn more about JoyFoodly

Search Our Site

Explore The Joyful Blog

by Season

Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring

by Meal

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Appetizers, Dessert, Sides, Soups, Salads, Meatless Monday

Our Favorites

Videos

Follow Us!

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
Official Meatless Monday Blogger
HeartofMarin 2016 Nominee
  • Home
  • Joyful 12
  • About
  • Our People
  • Press
  • Media Kit
  • Blog
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

The information on this website is designed for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for informed medical advice or care. You should not use the information found on this website to diagnose or treat any health problems or illnesses. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified healthcare providers (such as a pediatric dietitian) with any questions regarding a medical condition, nutritional issue or any eating/feeding problem.