Hubby and I have been taking a parenting class with a group of our friends in hopes of finding better strategies to keep the peace with our kids when times get challenging (can anyone relate to that?). We rotate houses each week and whoever hosts provides a light dinner to fill everyone’s bellies before we sit down to some pretty intense — but fun — conversation. One of my friends is a total closet gourmand and while she couldn’t be more humble about her culinary talents, just one taste of her food betrays how awesome she is in the kitchen.

As we sat around eating before class started, my hubby turned to me, offered up his drink and said, “Catherine, taste this, it’s delicious!” I took a sip and agreed completely. The drink had a beautiful purple color and was unbelievably refreshing — only I had no idea what it was. I asked my friend and she said it was an agua fresca. It sounded so fancy, but she said it couldn’t be more simple to prepare. All she did was make a simple syrup (sugar and water) with fresh ginger and mix in frozen blackberries. I knew I had to try and replicate it for weelicious.

The next day, I set out to make a much simpler version of agua fresca for a group of kids coming over for a pool party. Kenya was ready as ever to be my taste tester as we took to the blender and whipped up my own version of a blackberry agua fresca. Kenya took one sip and exclaimed “it tastes like pomegranate juice”! Only my kid.

After I let it chill, I offered the kids glasses asking, “would you like to try some blackberry agua fresca?” The kids looked at me totally perplexed until their mothers leaned in to them and said, “it’s juice.” That’s all it took. Within minutes it was all gone, the only evidence being the purple mustaches on everyone’s happy little faces. My husband, however, was less than happy to discover the empty pitcher when he got home from work. I’ll save that for our next parenting class.

Blackberry Agua Fresca (Serves 4)

1 1/2 Cups Blackberries, rinsed (or Frozen Blackberries, defrosted)
4 Cups Water
2 Tbsp Agave
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice

1. Pour the blackberries, water and agave in a blender and puree.
2. Pour the blackberry mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a pitcher.
3. Stir in the lemon juice.
4. Refrigerate until cold.
5. Serve.

Every Sunday when we go to our local farmer’s market, Kenya fervently looks forward to two things — a pupusa with tons of cabbage slaw and a big flavored lemonade. It’s so incredible for us as parents to watch how monumental this ritual is for him. Many of the central and south American food stands at the LA markets feature huge clear barrels of various naturally flavored lemonades. In addition to the tried and true original lemon version, there is also raspberry, strawberry, watermelon and various other fresh combinations, their gorgeous colors luring anyone who passes by — as well as Kenya.

As the weather gets hotter, so does our family while we shop the market, and we inevitably find ourselves wilting in the heat every summer weekend. There have already been numerous days these past two months that were so hot, shopping for food became difficult and we all started salivating as we (along with Kenya) looked at those gigantic clear vats of lemonade calling our names. I’m always more then happy to indulge Kenya with this special treat, especially considering how thirsty the rising temperatures makes us this time of year. But I also know these lemonades are made with a good deal of sugar and so when possible, I try to sway Kenya towards a nice tall bottle of water, so we can make homemade strawberr-wee lemonade with our food purchases from the market when we get home.

As soon as the produce is unpacked, Kenya is up at the counter rolling the lemons (one of his favorite kitchen jobs because he knows that’s the best way to release the juice). With just a rinse of the berries, a touch of natural sweetener, a quick puree and a brisk stir, our healthy lemonade is ready for us to gulp down and enjoy!

Strawberry Lemonade (Serves 4)

1 Cup Chopped Fresh Strawberries, stemmed & washed
1/2 Cup Lemon Juice
1/4 Cup Agave or Honey
2 Cups Water
Ice for Serving

1. Puree strawberries and honey (or agave) in a blender or food processor until smooth and transfer to a pitcher.
2. Pour the strawberry mixture, water and lemon juice in a pitcher and stir to combine.
3. Chill and serve over ice.

When I was pregnant with Kenya, I had 2 cravings: vegetable stir fry for breakfast (weird, I know) and sparkling water. Not once in my life had I ever desired a sip of fizzy water and there I was, for nine months straight, chugging gallons of it morning, noon and night. Throw in the juice of one lime and you have no idea how happy a 16 oz. glass of sparkling water could make a human being. I felt as if I was enjoying the most delicious cocktail known to man. I became so addicted to it that after two pregnancies, it’s still my daily drink of choice.

We’re not big fans of juice or soda in our house, but I still want the kids to have fun, tasty and hydrating drinks that are also good for them. Kenya loves watching me make my lime “soda” and recently got in on the act by creating his own version because he thinks mine is “a little too sour”. It’s delicious. With just a squeeze of juice and a bit of agave or honey, you too can turn ho-hum water into a cocktail any kid would love!

Kiddy Cocktail (Makes 2 Servings)

1 Tbsp Lime Juice (about the juice of 1 small lime)
2 Tsp Agave Nectar or Honey
2 Cups Cold Soda Water, Selzer Water or Sparkling Water
Ice

1. Pour the first 3 ingredients into a pitcher and stir until honey or agave nectar dissolves.
2. Pour in two glasses with ice.
3. Serve

**Tip: if you drink a lot of sparkling water in your house, I recommend getting your own sparkling water maker. I can’t abide buying bottled water anymore. It costs too much and I think is a waste of plastic. If you invest in a sparkling water maker it pays itself off pretty quickly and your cost per bottle is literally pennies. Plus, there are few jobs in the kitchen more fun for kids than getting to pump one of these. I got mine at www.sodaclub.com

We’ve been going to a small, but fantastic, farmer’s market near our house on Saturdays in order to satisfy my husband’s recent obsession with tropical fruit. One of the vendors there sells pineapples, papayas, mangos and bananas that taste so fresh, you’d think you were on a tropical island. By mid-week, if I’ve cut up all of the fruit but there’s still some left in the fridge, we love making smoothies with it. Not only are smoothies nutritious and fun for kids of almost any age to help prepare with you, they’re also a great use of any fruit you have laying around that may be overripe and otherwise going to waste.

In these economically tough times, going on vacation may be hard, but whipping up a batch of these creamy smoothies can bring the vacation to you!

Tropical Coconut Smoothie (Makes 3-4 Servings)

1 Cup Coconut Milk (regular or low fat)
1/3 Cup Plain Yogurt (I use Greek Yogurt)
1 Banana
1 Cup Pineapple, cubed
2 Tbsp Agave or Honey*
Hand full of Ice

1. Place all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth.
2. Serve.

*Do not add honey for children under 12 months for allergy reasons.

We’re big on making smoothies in our house. Frankly, I don’t know many kids that object to tossing foods in a blender and then getting to press the “on” button to pulverize them. As I’ve said time and again, if you want to get your kids to eat food that’s good for them, get them involved in the preparation process. Making smoothies is one of the most perfect, fun and simple opportunities to do just that.

Recently, Kenya and I have been switching things up a bit in the drink department and making lassis instead of smoothies. A lassi is a Southeast Asian yogurt-based drink containing milk, honey and/or spices. It’s technically not a smoothie, but you’ll never know that from the way it tastes. I thought that adding cumin (a traditional lassi ingredient) might be a bit too bold for this recipe, so I opted instead for a bit of lime zest and loved the refreshing result.

So, power up the blender, grab your little one and have a great time preparing a uniquely delicious and nutritious treat for the whole family.

Tropical Lassi (Makes 3-4 Servings)

1 Cup Blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1 Cup Mango, chopped (fresh or frozen)
1 Tsp Lime Zest
1/2 Cup Yogurt
1 Cup Milk (you can use rice, almond, soy or cow’s milk)
1 Tbsp Honey
12 Raw Almonds
1 Large Handful of Ice

1. Place all the ingredients in a blender on high and puree for 1 minute or until smooth.
2. Serve.

No matter how much you try to impose moderation in your home, when it comes to Halloween and kids — it’s all about the sugar. You can hope for the best that your neighbors will be pushing dried fruit over M&M’s, but if you’re a realist you’ll accept the fact that chocolate and candy will be the treats of choice and that this is one day of the year that is very likely out of your control.

When you know your kids are going to be overdosing on the sweet stuff, you also want them to get something healthy and delicious in their little tummies. Making the foods you give them fun and exciting enough to compete with all those sugary sweets will definitely help your cause. These pumpkin milkshakes are really easy to prepare and a great way to get your kids (and you) involved in making something festive for the holiday.

Pumpkin is packed with vitamin A, potassium and beta carotene which is important for eyesight (especially important for little ones when they’re out chasing candy in the dark!).

So, when you want to make a special treat for your little pumpkins this Halloween, think like a pumpkin and try whipping up some of these milkshakes. They won’t cure your kids of their cravings for candy, but they should disappear just as quickly.

Pumpkin Shakes (Serves 2)

1/2 Cup Pumpkin (I used canned)
1 Cup Rice, Almond or Cow’s Milk (I used vanilla rice milk)
Pinch Cinnamon
Pinch Nutmeg
1 Tbsp Agave Nectar

1. Place all the ingredients in a blender.
2. Puree until smooth.
3. Serve.

One thing that grows in our garden year round is fresh mint. It’s such a hearty herb and one that I find most kids love.

We’ve never been big fans of giving Kenya store-bought juice because of all the sugar and additives, so instead we’ve given him all kinds of different herbal teas to drink since he was one. One of his absolute favorites is mint tea. He drinks it at least twice a day. Most days I use tea bags, but when we want something special, we go to out the garden together, pick some sprigs of mint and brew up a pitcher of this delicious treat.

Lemon Mint T-Wee (Makes 4 Cups)

4 Cups of Boiling Water
1 Cup Fresh Mint Leaves, packed (you can also use 3 mint tea bags if you don’t have fresh mint)
2 Tbsp Agave
Juice of 1 Lemon

1. Poor the boiling water over the mint leaves in a pitcher.
2. Let the water cooking cool to room temperature.
3. Add the remaining ingredients and chill.
4. Poor over ice and serve.

Mothers teach us SO many things — some would argue everything. For me, childhood trips to the grocery and learning about the general nutritional and health benefits of fruits, vegetables and other foods definitely came from my mother — so did my ability to always find the best bargains (see Mom, everything). I remember the first time my mother held up this brown, fuzzy piece of fruit to me and told me how special it was. That was probably 30 years ago, when kiwis were harder to find, and today I truly realize how lucky we are to have gorgeous, reasonably priced kiwis readily at our disposal.

We came up with this recipe for a contest we’ve entered with Zespri Kiwifruit. Kenya and I are HUGE kiwi fans not only because of their bright green color and yummy taste, but because they’re also packed with vitamin C and E, potassium and folic acid. So when we heard about this contest, we knew we had to do something!

So today, in honor of my mother’s birthday and her favorite fruit, we’re making up a huge batch of these refreshing kiwi smoothies. Cheers!

Kiwi Smoothie (Makes 2 Servings)

2 Kiwis, peeled
1 Banana
1/2 Cup Vanilla Rice Milk (you can also use almond, soy or cow’s milk)

1. Place the ingredients in a blender and puree.
2. Serve.

We used these to make this recipe:

Cuisinart DLC-2 Mini Prep Plus Food Processor

We recently featured a product I came across called Amazing Grass Kidz Superfood and I got tons of emails from parents afterwards asking for recipes using it. Kenya (frighteningly) loves to eat the powder on its own (something I wouldn’t recommend because of the mess — but it is delicious and nutritious)! I love making smoothies like this Frozen Chocolate Berry one with Kenya because it gets him involved in the cooking process. He loves peeling the bananas, pouring the chocolate powder into the blender and then switching the “on” button to whiz it up.

Getting your kids involved in cooking, in my opinion, is the the most fun and reliable way to get them to eat all of the yummy creations you prepare!

Frozen Chocolate Berry Smoothie (Serves 2)

1 Cup Frozen Mixed Berries
1/2 Cup Milk (any type will do)
1 Scoop Amazing Grass Kidz Food (it’s chocolate flavor)
1 Banana, peeled

1. Place all the ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth.
2. Serve.