Monthly Archives: May 2015

“Bite Size” Documentary

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My Amazon Prime has been getting a workout this week. I purchased a book titled “Who’s the New Girl?”, and also purchased a documentary.

The Swirlies and I stayed up late last night watching the documentary called “Bite Size”. The topic is childhood obesity and focuses on 4 children and the steps they take to manage their weight. It just came out this year and I first saw the information on the Kurbo Health blog (more on the Kurbo program in a future blog entry)

It’s heartbreaking at times….I think I was crying 5 minutes into the film. And it’s inspiring. It reinforces the importance of family support, and how the entire family needs to make positive change in order for the kids to be successful with healthy change.

I highly encourage parents to watch this film. The film has it’s own website and FaceBook page. I purchased it through my Amazon Prime Instant Video for $8, and you can rent it for 4 days for $4, I think. I believe it’s also on iTunes. I rarely promote stuff on my page, but this really moved me. The Swirlies are inspired as well to continue with learning healthy habits…I heard them talk about goals, as well as ideas how to help other kids once they reach their own health goals. ❤

Watch it. Buy it. Support the independent filmmakers that are bringing this to us. Support the brave children and their families who shared their stories. And maybe one of our own Native filmmakers will tell our story of our own Native youth and health someday soon.

http://bitesizemovie.com/

https://www.facebook.com/bitesizemovie

2 Smoothie Recipes from The Swirlies

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What an extremely hectic April and May we had!!! Too much to write about so I’ll just cut to the chase.

We ended our indoor powwow season last weekend with Haskell’s Commencement Powwow. Two weekends in a row of working powwows (for me), and 2 weekends in a row of my kids dancing. I got a rude awakening once again at how difficult it is to maintain healthy eating habits during powwow season. Fry bread everywhere you turn, fatty/starchy soups, candy, Gatorade and soda/pop…..*sigh*  And I didn’t have time to prepare and bring healthy snacks like my own fruit, veggies, cheese sticks, turkey, boiled eggs, etc. Making time to prepare before every powwow will be my priority this year.

So, in an effort to get back on track, the Swirlies (my 2 daughters) decided to have smoothies for breakfast this week. They both have their own recipes, and both are delicious! And very simple to make.

I keep forgetting how small their tummies are, so I made too much the first day. By this morning I had the ingredients down to where they fit into a regular size coffee cup (8 oz, or 1 measuring cup), which is the perfect amount for them. Myself, I can always knock out at least 12-16 ounces of one of my smoothies.

Shelby’s Smoothie – Strawberry Pineapple

  • 1 C-heaping, sliced fresh strawberries and pineapple combined
  • 1/3 C fat-free vanilla yogurt (I buy the Dannon Lite & Fit vanilla because it has much less added sugar than other non-fat vanilla brands)
  • 2 Tbs (1/8 C) water
  • Add ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. Fits in the coffee cup.

Sara’s Smoothie – Pineapple Apple

  • 1 C-heaping, sliced fresh pineapple and apple combined (I leave the skin on)
  • 1/3 C fat-free vanilla yogurt
  • 2 Tbs (1/8 C) water
  • Add ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth

I was amazed at how sweet the Pineapple Apple smoothie was. Almost tasted like a treat!

I am going to try to talk the girls into having a “Smoothie Party” for their combined birthday parties. Let them and their friends have fun creating and get many different fruits (and veggies) in their systems!

No picture this blog entry, but will try to summon up my amateur photography skills on the next one. 🙂