(giveaway has ended)
My children love their morning glass of juice.  It has become a morning ritual that they look forward to.  I am not a huge fan of unnecessary sugar deposited into my kids.  Especially right before they are going to sit in a classroom all day.  But, their pediatrician actually recommended they enjoy one glass in the morning to alleviate morning time hypoglycemia.  So it was easy for this health loving mama to give them their one glass without guilt.  To keep the juice healthy I buy organic apple juice for them, and sometimes I get wild and crazy and pull out orange juice.

A few weeks ago I received a fabulous fellow blogger’s new cook book in the mail, Best 100 Juices  for Kids (The Harvard Common Press).  The fabulous author, Jessica Fisher, writes the popular blogs, Life as Mom, and Good Cheap Eats. Both blogs have been an inspiration for my own blog.  She is witty, brilliant, and gracious.

I was lucky enough to sit next to her at Camp Blogaway last year.  Immediately I liked her.  Shortly after we met, she took me under her wing.  As a new blogger I needed help to make my blog into what it is today.  She gave me the tools to improve my blog without batting an eye.   So when she asked who would like to review her new book, I eagerly shot up my hand.  It was the least I could do after all the help she has given me.

From the moment I cracked open 100 Juices, I was in love.  FishMama openly shares her journey through their family’s eating habit reform.   She talks about her days as a former soda junkie, something I can most definitely relate to.  About how that addiction led to unwanted dental visits for the family.

There was one line that really grabbed me hook line and sinker in her intro.  She mentions that even though feeding her six children (FishKids) can be expensive, she wanted to make “every bite count”.  I internalized that statement.  Pondered what it meant for the G family, and my two kids.  I got the concept of the book in its entirety, as applied to our life.

After some quick research I found the organic apple juice I was buying from the store contained 15g more sugar than a freshly juiced apples.  Even though I thought I was making a healthy choice for my kids, I was not making every bite count.  Switching to freshly juiced apples would meet that goal.  The 15 g of hidden sugars wouldn’t exist and I would spend less money by making my own.

Even though this was the best choice, would my kids follow suit and drink the fresh concoctions?

I had the boys become official Best 100 Juice taste testers.  To my surprise and joy, they loved it.  Not only did they approve of the recipes, they loved the process of making them.  They are still enjoying the same morning ritual, but it has been improved.  Less sugar, more nutrition.  Just the way I like it.

I like that beyond writing 100 recipes Jessica also added in advice on how to juice on a budget, types of juicers, how to get the most juice out of them, and how to clean them.  Oh, and wonderful tips on making the experience fun for kids.

Among the juices are smoothies, popsicle, sports drinks, fizzy drinks or sparklies, fruit/veg drinks, and slushies too!   Such a fun array of recipes for parents that want their kids to learn healthy eating habits.

I am looking forward to making a new recipe every day of summer break with the boys.  Only 15 more days till that glorious day!  But, who’s counting?

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Recipes from 100 Best Juices for Kids

This is a great recipe for my two boys that are always on the go.  I personally despise the store-bought sports drinks.  Typical ‘ade’ drinks contain two kinds of artificial sugar, artificial flavoring and preservatives. These are not items I want my child rehydrating with. For FishMama’s clean version, I had all the easy pronounce ingredients on-hand.  This is a sports drink I will say YES! to.

Lemon-Lime Sports Ade

3 1/2 cups water

6 tablespoons Honey Syrup (1 cup honey to 1 cup water, boiled)

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1.  In a pitcher, whisk together the water, honey syrup, lemon and lime juices, and salt.

2.  Store in a covered jar or container in the refrigerator.  Serve chilled.

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I want to share one more of her brilliant recipes.  Not only could this be a fun breakfast for the kids, but also for mom and dad.  This fiber and protein filled smoothie will please everyone.  It has three of my favorite ingredients, banana, chocolate and peanut butter.  Yum!

Chocolate & Banana Nut Butter Blast

Serves 1

1 cup crushed ice

1 small banana, broken into chunks

1/2 cup milk

1 tablespoon natural unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tablespoon peanut butter or other nut or seed butter of your choice

1.  Place the ice, banana, milk, cocoa powder, and nut or seed butter in the blender cup or pitcher.

2.  Blend until very smooth.

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GIVEAWAY!

Do you love these kid approved healthy recipes as much as I do?  I thought you would!  Well you are in luck my friend.  Harvard Common Press is giving away a copy of this incredible book.  To enter follow the rafflecopter link below.

Click here to enter Best 100 Juices for Kids Giveaway!

Disclosure:  I did not receive any compensation to write this post.  All opinions are my own. 

Photo Credit:  Harvard Common Press