Where did the summer go? This month we are wrapping up our summer adventures with one last trip to Bear Lake (pictured above!) and getting Lily ready to start second grade at her new charter school. With so many exciting things going on, I need fast, healthy, and easy snacks to keep me and the kiddos going! Apples and grapes are always a hit at our house so my littles couldn’t wait to dive into this yummy package from Chiquita Snacking.

As a busy mom, I love that Chiquita Bites are:

• Washed and ready to eat
• 30–80 calories
• A half-cup of fruit or vegetables per serving
• A great source of nutrition

They come in  single-serve bags, multipacks, and family packs – whatever size suits your family best! They are perfect for grabbing from the fridge when you are on your way to a dance lesson or – better yet – when it is your time to bring team treats for sports!

My family enjoyed eating them as is, but it was fun searching the Chiquita site for yummy and creative recipes! My little ones love it when their snacks are fun! We made these simple fruit cars for a birthday get together with cousins. They were a hit!

Apple Cars – healthy, easy and fun snacks!

We served the apple cars along with princess wands made from the grapes! Pair that with crown-shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and you have happy kiddos!

To go along with the apple cars, I made our favorite fruit dip! Every time I serve it to company, I always get asked multiple times for the recipe. People are shocked when I tell them it is only two easy ingredients – honey greek yogurt and peanut butter! You can substitute any nut butter as well as different flavors of greek yogurt to change the taste. It is a protein-packed snack dip that I can feel good about my kids indulging in. Perfect to serve with the apple and grapes!

I am excited to try a few more of the recipes from the Chiquita web-site for our after school snacks! Don’t these look delicious?

Love that back to school snacks just got a little easier and healthier at our house! The Chiquita Snacking company loves making life easier for moms! T

What is a favorite after school snack at your house?

How do you get ready to go back to school?

I received this product for free from the manufacturer. I agreed to use this product and post my opinion on my blog. My opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the manufacturer of the product.

The post Healthy and Easy Back to School Snacks appeared first on KeepMovingForwardWithMe.

Just wrapped an incredibly inspiring weekend at a blog conference in Salt Lake City. I stayed at my mom’s house to lessen the commute and got to enjoy some great breakfast chats with her over this yummy dish – Breakfast Quinoa with Blueberries. We are both a few weeks into the The Fast Metabolism Diet (see how I lost 5 lbs in a week!). During Phase 1 grains and fruits are important – making this breakfast the perfect way to start your day! Quinoa definitely makes an appearance in our dinner and snack menu plans. Quinoa and Parmesan Cheese-Stuffed Tomatoes – yes, please! But I have yet to try quinoa for breakfast so I was intrigued when my mom shared this dish with me.

The dish is so simple to make!

Arrowhead Mills Organic Gluten-Free Quinoa Rice & Shine Hot Cereal

1 cup of rinsed blueberries
Stevia
Cinnamon

Prepare according to the box instructions. Just add water – it’s super simple! Mix with fresh blueberries and top with sprinkles of cinnamon and Stevia. Enjoy!

I love recipes like this for Phase 1 of Haylie Pomeroy’s Fast Metabolism Diet. The quinoa adds a slightly nutty taste and the protein keeps you full for much longer.

You can find the Quinoa Rice and Shine at Harmon’s or also on Amazon.com at the link below. Love free shipping and you get 5 percent off when you add it to your subscribe and save order!

I am still loving this book and the results I am seeing from it! I took a mini-break while I was at the blogging conference, but now I am back on board!

This post contains affiliate links to Amazon.com. I love getting my groceries delivered right to my order so I am happy to share!

Linking up with Nomday Monday!

What are your favorite healthy breakfast recipes?

The post Breakfast Quinoa with Blueberries appeared first on KeepMovingForwardWithMe.

This month we are swapping greens into our meals thanks to Green Moms Meet and Fresh Express! From breakfast, to snack, to lunch, to dinner … I am excited to transform some of our favorite meals into healthier salads. We started our week with this delicious Tex Mex Salad! All you need is:

Fresh Express Tex Mex Salad

Fresh Express 50/50 Mix

Lake Country Asiago Cheese from Costco

Grape Tomatoes

Black Beans (drained)

Corn

Southwest Tortilla Chips

Lime for squeezing

Add all the ingredients together and enjoy! Simple, right?

Now I need to find 29 days more worth of salad swaps! Luckily, I am not alone in this endeavor. Fresh Express has made it uber easy for me and has even created an app to help me add greens to my daily meal plan.

I’ve been playing with it all morning and I love the suggestions! Once you sign in, you can select certain meals that you crave – from Chicken Alfredo to Grilled Cheese – and Fresh Express will provide you with a healthier green alternative. Know what my guilty pleasure is? Junior Bacon Cheeseburgers from Wendy’s! Clicked on it in the app and I was immediately directed to a yummy recipe! Try it here.

The app also helps you track your calories and exercise – perfect for me because I am headed to Florida in six weeks and getting in shape! Now for my favorite part, you can input the codes from your Fresh Express salad bags and they will send you valuable coupons. Win – win!

To prepare for my month of salad swaps I headed to Target to stock up on Fresh Express salads. Holy salads! I was greeted with a wall of options – more than even fit in my picture! Loved the variety from Baby Kale to Spinach to Spring mixes and more. These salads are all table ready. Fresh Express salads are thoroughly washed, rinsed, and gently dried, then sealed in patented “Keep-Crisp®” breathable bags to keep their just-picked freshness, without preservatives.

Yesterday we began our salad swap! One of my favorite ways to add veggies to breakfast is by adding them to eggs. I sauteed onions, grape tomatoes, and Fresh Express spinach before adding my eggs in to scramble. So simple and so delicious.

I’ve also been known to sneak greens into smoothies. So easy to add a handful of spinach or baby kale – especially when Fresh Express does the prewashing and drying for you!. Here is one of my favorite green smoothies – this recipe has lots of yummy mix and match options! My Berry Oatmeal Smoothie would also be delicious with some baby kale thrown in – I am excited to try it.

And if you are looking for a delicious seafood salad – check out my Grilled Tilapia Salad that can be made with Fresh Express baby kale. It is one of our family favorites!

Do I have you seeing green yet? Join in on the 30-day Salad Swap challenge and be sure to download your free app to help get you started!

Be sure to LIKE Fresh Express on Facebook to stay up to date on their latest offers! You can also follow Fresh Express on Pinterest for a plethora of salad recipes and ideas! They have a board for every month of they year – check it out!

You can stock up on your own Fresh Express salad kits with coupons available from Green Moms Meet.
I received this product for free from the sponsor of the Moms MeetSM program, May Media Group LLC, who received it directly from the manufacturer. As a Moms MeetSM blogger, I agreed to use this product and post my opinion on my blog. My opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of May Media Group LLC. or the manufacturer of the product.

What is your favorite salad?

How do you get greens into your family’s diet?

The post Fresh Express Tex Mex Salad + Coupons and a free app! appeared first on KeepMovingForwardWithMe.

Today I needed some major Cool Mom Points (CMP). In between salvaging my neglected house from the weekend of sickies and refereeing the children who had been cooped up for way too long inside, I read a fabulous post by The House of Smiths. While a puppy is not in our immediate future, I did hope that a fun trip to Jamba Juice and the park would earn me some quick points!

My babies love their fruit smoothies and I’ve been dying to try out the new Fruit and Veggie Smoothies as part of the Mom’s Meet program. I’m a green smoothie gal myself – love me some kale – but it’s always nice to get the kiddos on board with the veggies, too. I had my husband order me the new Tropical Harvest smoothie. It’s made with a fusion of mangos, peaches, and passion mango juice blended with juices from butternut squash, sweet potato, and carrot. Packed with Vitamins A & C. I’ve never had butternut squash and sweet potato in a smoothie so I was intrigued as to what it would taste like. At first sip – I was certain my husband had handed me his smoothie instead. The flavor was oh so delicious and refreshing – this mama couldn’t even taste a hint of veggies. Major bonus points!

I peeked over at my children to see how they were liking the Jamba Kids Berry Beet It! Smoothies. Their smoothies were made with a delicious blend of strawberries, mangos, bananas, and mixed berry juice with carrots, beets, broccoli, spinach, kale, and lettuce. Standing ovation for a smoothie that is an  excellent source of Vitamins A, C, B6 and fiber! My kids devoured their smoothies. It was hard to sneak one away from them to get a sip. Inwardly I was celebrating the two servings of fruits and one serving of veggies in each of their smoothies. Even better, their smoothies were made from only real, whole fruit and vegetable juice—no added sugar.

As the mom to an adorable three year old who is often quite selective with his food, those servings of fruits and veggies mean a lot. Especially when he happily drinks it and asks for more! That’s my kind of snack! You can even pair a smoothie with one of the whole grain items and make it into a Kid’s Meal. Perfect for a summer meal on the go.

All three of their Jamba Kids smoothies quickly disappeared during the ride to one of our favorite playgrounds. It seemed the fitting conclusion to our Jamba Juice evening. Jamba Juice is a proud sponsor of “Team Up for a Healthy America” in the fight against childhood obesity. For our family, the more we can get outside to run, jump, and play the better! Fueled by their smoothies, Lily, Cort, and Kyle played happily all over the park (and quickly fell asleep when we got home!) Thanks Jamba Juice for a yummy and healthy family night that earned me some Cool Mom Points! If you want to treat your children to more delicious fruits and veggies you can connect with Jamba Juice on Facebook and Twitter!

What is your favorite Jamba Juice flavor?

Do you drink fruit and veggie smoothies?

How do you help your kiddos eat fruits and veggies? (I love links! Always looking for ideas!

The post Family Night with Jamba Juice appeared first on KeepMovingForwardWithMe.