Baby & Mommy Yummies

Mommies want the best for their baby's tummy, but often overlook their own. With the following simple and creative recipes you can turn homemade baby food into a snack or meal for mommy too!

My son, 8 months old

Rice Crispy Treats ~ Livin' Light Style

Living Light doesn't mean dessert deprivation! 

I have great memories of making the traditional Rice Crispy Squares when I was a kid and licking the gooey remnants of the sticky marshmallow bowl....and then having a sugar stomach ache an hour later! 

So, I've taken the traditional ingredients (white rice krispies, marshmallows, butter and vanilla) and have swapped them for more health promoting ingredients. 

We are keeping the feel-good memories, but subtracting the sour stomach.

This recipe is Toddler Approved :)

Here's the super simple recipe:

In a medium Dutch oven over low heat melt honey, brown rice syrup, sunflower seed butter in large bowl. 

Add in brown rice crispies and stir until even. If you are a chocoholic add in some dark chocolate chips too. Add to a baking pan (coat with some grapeseed oil to prevent sticking) 

Cool for 20 mins before eating.

Makes 1.5 dozen 1- inch squares

1/2 Cup Brown Rice Syrup

1/2 Cup Sunflower Seed Butter or Almond butter

1/2 Cup Unpasteurized Honey (not safe for babies)

3 Cups Brown Crispy Rice

70% Dark Chocolate Chips

Having a hard time getting to sleep at night?

Get your zzzzzz's with these foods 

Miranda on The Marilyn Denis Show - January 25, 2012 

Check out these sleep Q&A's 

Sleep Panel Q&A - Miranda on The Marilyn Denis Show - January 25th, 2012

Here's some extra info on the Do's & Don'ts of Eating for a Better Night's Sleep

Do’s

·      Choose foods at dinner that are easier to digest and higher in Tryptophan, Melatonin, Calcium, Magnesium & B Vitamins: Beans, lentils, whole-grains (quinoa, millet, brown rice, wild rice) raw & cooked veggies (leafy greens) lean proteins (chicken, turkey, tofu, eggs, shrimp, halibut, tuna)

·        Eat 4 hours before you go to bed. Your stomach should not be too full, but not too empty. Digestion slows down while asleep, and a full stomach may interrupt sleep.

·         Choose lower glycemic foods (gradual rise of blood sugar) brown rice, sweet potatoes, beans, and fruits and vegetables. Lower then 55 on the rating scale.

·         Eat a small unrefined complex carbohydrate with protein post-dinner snack 1 hour before bed to help increase production of sleep inducing brain chemicals and to fortify the body’s nighttime energy reserve.

Don’ts

·      Eat a heavy meal late at night.

·      Eat hard-to-digest proteins, (beef, pork) eat these earlier in the day

·      Go to bed on an empty stomach, as a completely empty stomach may wake you up with a grumbling belly.

·      Drink coffee, tea, and cola with your dinner. The caffeine will be sure to keep you up. Don’t drink a caffeinated drink past 4 p.m.

·      Eat sugary snacks and foods with food coloring or other artificial flavors. They can give nightmares and can cause interrupted sleep.

·      Eat any food that doesn’t sit well with you personally. If you eat something and it often gives you a physical or emotional reaction, avoid it or it may disrupt sleep.

·      Eat spicy foods late at night

·      Eat gas producing foods, keep you and your partner awake

**Eating every 3-4 hours throughout the day will help to keep you feeling balanced and you won’t gorge at dinner. Choosing easy-to-digest foods will help you to ease your body into rest mode to encourage detoxification and repair**

 

Safe Snacks

·      Banana – contains Tryptophan & Magnesium, potassium: all helpful for activating the calming and sleep-inducing brain chemical serotonin.

·      Almonds/Almond milk -supplies tryptophan, magnesium and protein that can help maintain a stable blood sugar level while sleeping.

·      Whole Grain Hot or Cold Cereal

     Hot: Oatmeal, Brown Rice Cereal (Bob’s Red Mill)

     Cold: Millet Puffs, Whole O’s

         With unsweetened almond milk or rice milk or plain yogurt

-       Contains B vitamins, calcium & tryptophan to ease the body into    

relaxing and encourage sleep.

·      Ancient Grain Crackers (Mary’s Crackers) add some goat cheese, or hummus to dip - Complex carbohydrate-rich foods increase the availability of tryptophan in the bloodstream, increasing the sleep-inducing effects

·      Edamame Beans, soy milk, soy nuts, - helpful in fighting hot flashes at night due to the estrogen-like compounds if that’s keeping you up

·      Hard Boiled Egg  -a quick, rich protein snack helpful in keeping your blood sugar stable throughout the night. (don't forget to have it with a small complex carb..spelt crackers)

·      Brown Rice Cake with Pumpkin Seed Butter  - high amount of tryptophan in pumpkin seeds, great complex carb for increase of tryptophan

 

·      Nuts/Seeds  -  Sachi Inchi seeds have 8 times the amount of tryptophan then turkey.  Chia seeds have good levels too. Omega 3 fats are helpful for reducing stress and relaxing the nervous system.

·      Sour Cherries, fresh, dried or pure juice are one of few food sources of melatonin, which has been found to promote better sleep and lessen the effects of jet lag. Since melatonin is found in small quantities in the body, a slight increase can produce great results. There is 13.5 nanograms (ng) (one billionth of a gram) of melatonin per 1 gram of cherries, which is higher than the amount normally found in the blood.

·      Grapes  - Nebbiolo grapes have the highest amounts of melatonin – found in Barolo wines.

·      Lemon Balm Tea (my fav!) - helpful in calming and reducing anxiety. This herb is used for nervous agitation, sleeping problems, functional gastrointestinal complaints.

Healthy Lunch Box Ideas for Everyone!

Miranda Making Jax Snacks - Healthy Smoothie

Live Light Juice Bar In the News

http://www.mytowncrier.ca/coffee-shop-gets-juicier-and-healthy.html

Check us out in the Town Crier Leaside-Rosedale

Don't take their word for it come by as see for yourself!  

Located in Mountain Bean Coffee Co. 660 Eglinton Ave East Toronto (Bayview & Eglinton) 

• 10 Health-Designed Fresh Juices & Smoothies
• Healthy Snacks 
• Wraps & Sprouted Salads 
• Weekly specials
• Private & Group Grocery Tours
• Individual Consults 
• Wellness Seminars

Grilled Cheese ~ Livin' Light Style

My son adores grilled cheese sandwiches like most kids do. 

I've changed it up slightly to make it easier to digest, but still gooey-good.

Traditional grilled cheese sandwiches  call for butter, those conveniently packaged cheese slices or what I like to call food-colored fake cheese and white bread (sugar). It's so simple to take a traditional item like a grilled cheese and swap the unhealthy ingredients for more health promoting ones. 

 

   

Instead of White Bread substitute for an alternative like Spelt Bread. Stone Mill is popular in most mainstream grocery stores. Spelt is higher in B vitamins and a light enough bread that your kids won't think it's that healthy ;)

Instead of food-colored fake cheese swap it for cheddar goat cheese. Goat cheese is the easiest dairy product to digest. It's properties are closest to mother's milk and it melts well!

  

  

Instead of butter try grape seed oil. It's high in anti-oxidants and has a high smoke point. 

Instead of sugary Ketchup

try letting your kids dip it in some healthy hummus

or salsa. Usually, as long as they are dipping all is good!