This is a sponsored post from BlogHer and Tropicana.
Hi there!!!
Guess what???? Tropicana is back and offering to give away a SECOND $100 Visa Gift card to a lucky reader!
To enter just help me answer the question....
"What are some of the simple things you do to keep your family healthy?"
I know that many times I am trying to think of something "big" and "grand" that will change the way we eat.... most times I don't come up with any viable solutions.... I think too BIG, which makes the idea not really practical for the way my family works.
What I've discovered lately is that it's much easier to find small things I can do on a daily basis to improve my family's health... You know, stick with the "slow and steady wins the race" mentality.
Now I will tell you I am no expert when it comes to healthy families. We have candy in our house, my kids ate take out pizza for dinner last night, and I will admit to a personal love of macaroni and cheese (especially the home made kind). However I can tell you some of the things that we do that work for us. Maybe they will work for you too? Maybe not... but here are some.
-We try to lead by example. My husband and I exercise on a regular basis. Now neither of us is "super fit " but we do try to show a consistent effort to stay active.
-We also try to keep our kids involved in some type of extracurricular activity, my oldest daughter plays for her High Schools Field Hockey team and the little kids are always trying out new things. We have yet to find something that will "stick" for my son, but we keep trying, and more importantly keep him active.
-We keep fresh food in the house. I'll admit it's been hard this winter to keep fresh fruits and veggies around, but I'm buying what looks good at the supermarket. I always try to keep a basket of apples on the kitchen counter, and some baby carrots in the fridge.
-Kids will eat most anything if they can dip it! I found that a little bit of ranch dressing goes a long way towards getting a kid to eat some broccoli, carrots or celery!
-We try to use the rule of moderation. I've never been a big believer of depriving yourself entirely of one type of food. A few years ago we started "Sundaes on Sunday." Aptly named by my son, because he thought ANY dessert you have on Sunday is called a Sundae! The name stuck and it's become a fun tradition. We always try to have dessert on Sunday, then not so much the rest of the week. The kids (and me) look forward to our Sunday desserts and no one feels deprived.
I mentioned earlier on this blog that for the new year I was trying to eat protein at breakfast. One of the ways that I've found to get protein in the morning is to make smoothies! I especially like to do this for my teenage daughter since she is ALWAYS late in the morning, and she can drink it on her way to school.
Here's a recipe for one of favorites. It's a take off of the famous orange ones at the mall... (you know what I'm talking about)... but a healthier version. It also makes a great after school snack!
Ingredients
2 C. Tropicana Orange Juice
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
dash of vanilla
2 scoops plain yogurt (get organic or something unsweetened if you can, yogurt sometimes has a lot of added sugar- you could also use vanilla yogurt, just eliminate the extra vanilla)
2 cups ice (fill up the blender with it)
If your kids are super picky and want something sweet, you can add in 1 T powdered sugar... it's up to you and how much you are watching your sugar intake.
Dump all the ingredients in a blender and mix well.
Now for the giveaway....
Tropicana is giving away a $100 Visa Gift card for one lucky reader!! To enter just let me know,
-What's something simple that you have done to make your family healthier?
I'd love to hear, I'm always on the look out for simple things with lots of impact!!
Pledge to squeeze more fruits and veggies into your day & Tropicana will
help kids in need. Tropicana will donate one 8-oz glass of orange juice to
the USDA School Breakfast and Summer Food Service programs, up to 184,375
8-oz glasses.
Please pledge by going to http://bit.ly/gAU7Eq . Promo will end 12/31/11.
Rules:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry
methods:
a) Leave a comment in response to my question
b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment
on this post
c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on
this post
d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about
an alternate form of entry.
Giveaway dates from 4/11/11- 5/9/11
This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older
Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.
You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be
selected.
The Official Rules are available here
Also be sure to check out Tropicana on the web!!
Check out what more bloggers are doing to put the good in mornings on BlogHer's round up page!
I wrote this post while participating in the Tropicana Pure Premium/BlogHer program on behalf of Tropicana Pure Premium. I received product information to facilitate my post and monetary compensation for the time to write my post.
I wrote this post while participating in the Tropicana Pure Premium/BlogHer program on behalf of Tropicana Pure Premium. I received product information to facilitate my post and monetary compensation for the time to write my post.
