Fake Out: Sweet Treats

I have mentioned before that I believe in feeding my kids the purest I can while still enabling them to enjoy food. I believe in the 80/20 rule where you eat 80% real honest food and then 20% is for the "life happens" category. I don't want my kids growing up never have tried anything - its important to test our palettes and as we all know our taste buds evolve over time. There are plenty of foods i never liked as a kid (or even a teenager) that now I love. As parents, its our job to help our kids test their palettes....and much of the time it can be a huge struggle. Don't stress. My advice would be to do your best and stick to it. It will happen and they won't be eating out of a box forever. Once you, as the adult, realize that there is no nutritional value in boxed and bagged foods you'll start to be more persistent. Kids get hungry, they're growing - so feed them! My kids aren't perfect eaters, believe me :) But I do my best to feed them with good/real food. If they're really hungry, they'll eat it!

Here are a few Fake Out Sweet Treats we have enjoyed this Summer. They're yummy & your kids will never know the difference - I promise!

Strawberry & Banana Almond Milk Ice Cream
1 Small Frozen Banana
1 Cup Frozen Strawberries
1/3 Cup Unsweetened Almond Milk

Add all ingredients to your blender and blend completely.  Pour into glasses & enjoy!

Pineapple Milkshake (adapted from Knead to Cook)
1/2 Cup of Chobani vanilla yogurt
3/4 Cup of almond milk
6 Ice cubes
1 Tablespoon flax seed meal
1 Small Banana (I freeze ripe bananas so this would be a good time to use them)

1 Pineapple, skin & core removed, chopped into large pieces (or use frozen)

Add all ingredients to your blender and blend completely.  Pour into glasses & enjoy!

Nutella Cherry Ice Cream Pops
3/4 Cup Nutella
1 Cup coarsely chopped cheeries
1 Cup organic whole milk

Add all ingredients to your blender and blend completely.  Pour into silicone yogurt tubes and freeze for at least 2 hours & enjoy!

Banana Almond Butter Ice Cream - My favorite and also adapted from Knead to Cook)
4-6 Ripe bananas (peeled and sliced)
3-4 Tbsp of almond butter
1 Tsp of vanilla extract
1 pinch of salt

Favorite Toppings:
Chopped nuts
Chocolate chips
Graham crackers
Mini Marshmallows
Sprinkles

Add all ingredients to your blender and blend completely. Distribute ingredients into freezable Mason Jars (about 1/2 way) and freeze overnight. Let stand at room temperature a few minutes before serving & enjoy!