HomeEducatorMom

Produce Guide Part 2: The Dirty Dozen Plus

September 5, 2012 by Betty

If you have a choice, eat organic. But not all of us can afford to eat everything organic. The chart below gave a list of produce that are in the dirty dozen plus. They are on this list due to the fact that they have high pesticide levels. On the contrary, the Clean 15 indicated a list that has lowest levels of pesticide. These two lists helped me to know when to buy organic vs. conventional. Hopefully this produce guide will be helpful to you too.

The above information’s taken from the EWG’s 2012 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticide in Produce.

Lemon Cucumber Invasion, a Math Lesson Part 2

September 4, 2012 by Betty

You must think we are nuts about lemon cucumbers. That’s probably true to a certain extend. They are usually gone soon after I pick them. Besides that, I, being a Home Educator Mom, try to turn everything into a learning experience. That’s the perk in homeschooling! So to continue with the theme of lemon cucumbers, my husband, Bubba, created a worksheet for Chico. First Mei and Chico counted the cucumbers together; then he colored in the appropriate number of squares on his worksheet like the picture below.

This exercise gives him a visual presentation of what he’s counting and allows me to ask him to compare between the days. Chico is only reading three-letter (one syllable) words so we went over the questions together. Click here to view or print a list of the questions.

Filed Under: Homeschool Tagged With: Lemon cucumber bar graph, Lemon Cucumber Math

What is Heaven Like? From a Kid’s Perspective…

September 4, 2012 by Betty

One of our morning routines after breakfast is to have devotion from Keys for Kids. Today’s topic is on Heaven. Before delving into our story, I was curious to know what my kids know or thought about heaven. So, I asked them, “What do you think heaven is like?”

Mei at age 3 said, “God, Food”.

Chico at age 4 looked up at the sky and said, “White, God, someone on top”

Buddy at age 5 looked up at the sky also and said, “Blue, a home for us, Jesus will take us to heaven, big, really big because God is really big.”

We had good a laugh talking about those responses.

So, “what do you and your kids think heaven is like?” I hope you share them in the comment section.

Filed Under: Humor Tagged With: Devotion, Heaven, Morning Devotion

Lovely Green Goodness, A Green Smoothie

August 31, 2012 by Betty

Hmmm… Doesn’t that look good? Our green smoothie today, Lovely Green Goodness was delicious. It’s found in Victoria Boutenko’s book, Green Smoothie Revolution. Her book is available at amazon.com or the Raw Family websit.The original recipe asked for Gala apple and Bosc pear, but all I had were a green apple and Bartlett pear and it tasted yummy!

Recipe:

2 bananas

1 Royal Gala apple

1 Bosc pear

1 cup kale ( I used Lacinato variety)

¼ cup water ( I used 1 cup)

If you are new to green smoothies, read how I started with green smoothies.

Filed Under: Healthy Drinks

Delicious Green Smoothies

August 30, 2012 by Betty

As a mom of three young kids, I’m always looking for delicious and healthy ways to pack in those green veggies. About a year and a half ago, I decided to give green smoothies a try after my friend, Heidi, raved about her green smoothies and her VitaMix. After a few combos, I was surprised that they tasted pretty good. Since then, we love our green smoothies and here are some of the reasons:

Blending breaks down the veggies so your body could absorb the nutrients faster than eating veggies whole cooked or raw.
Not very many of us eat the recommended 6-8 servings of fruits and vegetables in a day. Blending veggies in smoothies allows your body to intake greater quantity of veggies more efficiently.
Many of us tend to eat the same vegetables in our salads. In smoothies, on the other hand, it’s easy to put in a variety of veggies, especially vegetables that you wouldn’t normally eat.
Blending raw fruits and vegetables provides your body with live enzymes and all kinds of needed nutrients for optimal health.

Our whole family, including my five, four and three-year-old love green smoothies. It’s a great way to sneak in some fruits and vegetables into their diet.