Going Green!

Mia's third round of blood tests showed she is still very anemic. And we are still waiting to hear back about the results of the stool samples...

So, since we need to get Mia on an iron supplement immediately, but are looking to go the "natural route," as opposed to giving her a Flintstones vitamins (loaded with sugar and tons of artificial ingredients), we stopped by Whole Foods this past weekend to see if we could find something there. We weren't able to find an "all natural" iron supplement for kids (also a gluten-free, dairy-free, eggless one), so I called our friends, the Antonellis, to see what they recommend. My friend, Georgiann, sent me this great recipe for a spinach smoothie - something she and her family (even the kids!) drink together every other day. Her daughter, Faith, loves it!

Well, low and behold, so does Mia!! I made a huge batch for all of us. My husband loved it so much he asked for seconds! We will definitely be adding this to our evening meal plans (every other night). It is even sweet and tasty enough to spoon feed to an infant. I can't wait to try it out on JJ. :)

I have also started giving Mia rice cereal in the morning which contains a ton of iron (45%). She then takes her calcium at lunch time - you can't take calcium and iron together because the cancel each other out. And then we are doing the spinach smoothies in the evening with dinner.

Anyhoo, here is the recipe for all of you out there who are also in the same boat as we are - fighting JRA the natural way!

FRUIT SMOOTHIES

• 1 banana
• 1 cup carrot juice (Costco & Wal-mart have the cheapest prices on Bolthouse Farms Carrot juice)
• 1 cup other juice (Orange Juice, cranberry, apple juice or grape; grape is the best)
• 2 cups fresh baby spinach already washed
• Frozen strawberries (Costco has beautiful large flash frozen strawberries)
• Frozen blueberries (Costco has a flash frozen blueberry, raspberry and marionberry blend that is wonderful)

Add the first 4 ingredients and blend really well. Then blend equal amounts of blueberries and strawberries adding a little at a time. Keep the blueberries frozen to make the smoothie cool and thick. Defrost the strawberries a little so the blender doesn’t have a hard time mixing. Rich with natural sugars, fiber and antioxidants. One blender full makes enough for a full glass for our whole family.

Can be frozen into popsicles for kids.

So, you see, it is possible to get your kids to eat their spinach! ;o)