Fun, Family, & Friends!

The cold has set in and we have even had a few snow flurries here in Wisconsin but the nasty weather held off for our fun day at Honeydew Farm on Saturday! Honeydew Farm is owned and operated by our dear friends who kindly opened their home to all their family and friends on Saturday to share in food, fun, and how they are living a healthy lifestyle. I always love visiting our friends farm, I always feel at peace when I am there and forget any troubles in my life. Maybe it is being outdoors, maybe it is the animals, or maybe the wonderfully kind people but I always feel happier when I leave there. Late this summer I even got to have my first experience at chicken butchering. Despite the kind of grossness of it, it was a very interesting time, I may even do it again next year!

At Honeydew Farm they raise chickens for meat and eggs, pigs, and even a few cows. They also have a dog, cats, and rabbits and are going to even try raising rabbits for meat. On top of all the animals they have an enormous garden that they grow all their own veggies to freeze and enjoy all winter long.

My children had a wonderful time, their favorites were horseback riding and riding on a homemade train behind a 4-wheeler. In between fun we enjoyed delicious homemade soups, muffins, and deserts. Here are some of the pictures of our great day!

Here is my little girl Adelaide looking like a pro!

Leon riding for the first time!

Mommy was just a little nervous…… (Daddy and I walked along on each side)

And our oldest Haley looking like a natural.

And here is our oldest son Colton on the train, he isn’t as willing to try new things so he chose not to horseback ride, but loved riding on the train!

And Leon and Daddy having fun on the train too.

Since it was a day of homemade food and all natural living I was invited to share my Shaklee products with everyone. I made protein smoothies using Shaklee 180 protein powder for everyone to try and met lots of new people, including a new friend there sharing her business too!

We left Honeydew Farm with full bellies and completely exhausted, the sign of a fun filled day!

Have a happy day!

~Bonnie

 

Other great posts by Bonnie:

5 Steps to Getting Kids to Eat Healthy

Green Cleaning

Homemade Applesauce

Bonnie’s Home Tour

Chicken & Biscuit Casserole

Oven Makeover

All Natural Fruit & Veggie Wash

Making Breakfast Simple Yet Nutritious

As a mom, whether working or stay at home we all want our children to have a good healthy start to their day, especially if they are in school. So one way to be sure I get my children off to a good start is by making them something that will “stick to their ribs” as my mom always said. You may hear me talk about my mom a lot in this 31 day series, the reason for that is not only is she a phenomenal mom she has always been an amazing role model for me. She is why I am a stay at home mom, without her amazing example I wouldn’t be where I am as a mother!

So one thing I always do for my children is get their day off to a great start by making them a healthy, protein filled breakfast.

For those of you moms, especially working moms, who say you just don’t have time I will give you all a few tips to help make this happen more often than not. We all need those quick go to meals for those really tough days but if you set yourself up for success you won’t fail!

Tip #1: Make their lunches the night before. This has been a lifesaver for me! It is amazing how much doing this one thing will completely change your mornings.

Tip #2: Get up at least 10 minutes before waking the children. This will give you the few minutes you need to wake up and get your mind focused on the task ahead. If you are really ambitious get up even earlier and take your shower.

Tip #3: Set the children’s clothes out the night before. This assures no arguing in the morning about what they will wear and one less thing to stress you out.

Tip #4: Always have the same routine in the morning. Get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, brush hair and teeth. Or whatever works for you but have the same order everyday, that way the kids always know what to expect, no surprises.

So now that we have a few tips for you to set yourself up for success we will get back to healthy breakfasts. Our main go to meal for school days is smoothies! I would say 4 out of 5 school days we do smoothies. There are so many varieties they never get bored with them. Here are some of our favorites!

Some of our favorite ingredients are:

Frozen Blueberries

Frozen Strawberries

Frozen Peach Puree

Frozen Avocado Puree

Fresh Bananas

Greek Yogurt – I always add either this or the Kefir, that’s how it is high in protein and keeps them full.

Kefir – this is a high protein yogurt type drink

Milk

All I do is put 2-4 of the fruits and always one cube of avocado into my Magic Bullet, or a blender would work great too, and blend until smooth enough to drink it from a straw, no chunks. These are just the main fruits I have around at all times, you can really put in any kinds. My kids tend to dislike things like raspberries and blackberries because of the seeds but would also taste great if your kids don’t mind, mine just tend to be a little picky.

Why do we use so many frozen fruits? We use mostly frozen fruits because we like them nice and cold. Sometimes if we only have fresh fruit I will even add ice to make it colder. Its is also easier to keep frozen fruits, they last much longer. If I ever have fruit lying around that I just don’t get to using in time, before it goes bad, I will puree it and the freeze it in ice cube trays, then add it to the smoothies.

What I love best about making the kids smoothies is how easy they are to make, it literally from start to finish takes me 5 minutes. Now what healthy, homemade breakfast can you make in less than 10 minutes? Some of our other favorites are whole wheat pancakes with greek yogurt on the side and scrambled eggs. I also like to make breads and muffins the day before and serve them for breakfast. By using the tips above to make your morning easier it makes it possible to put a little more time into making something healthy.

Good luck!

~Bonnie

More health tips from Bonnie

5 Simple Steps to Get Your Kids to Eat Healthy

Tips to a Healthy School Year