Nuts and seeds can be an excellent addition to anyone's diet. Not only are they a great source of vitamins, essential amino acids, and protein, but some (such as flaxseeds, hemp seeds, chia seeds, and walnuts) are also a good source of omega-3 fatty acids.

Chia seeds have been around for a very long time but have recently started to become more popular because of their high nutrient content. If you have read Christopher McDougall's Born to Run, you might be familiar with "chia fresca" or iskiate; a drink made by the Tarahumara Indians that is said to help them refuel after endurance runs.

There are countless ways to use chia seeds: add them to salads, oatmeal or breakfast cereals, smoothies, or baked goods. They are small, crunchy, and a bit like poppy seeds. I invented a chia yogurt snack that I really enjoy. Here is my recipe:

Chia Yogurt Snack
1 cup soy yogurt (cherry flavor is especially good but any will work)
1 heaping Tbsp raw cacao powder
1 Tbsp chia seeds

Add all ingredients to a medium sized bowl and stir slowly until all of the cacao powder has been mixed in (to avoid it "poofing" out of the bowl). Then whisk like crazy until it reaches a pudding-like consistency.

I noticed that chia seeds are now available in the bulk food section of my local Whole Foods Market. They are also available from various online sources including Amazon.

We eat a lot of pancakes in our house. Mostly because my kids love them but also because they are pretty portable and it is easy to sneak in some healthy ingredients. I make my pancakes from scratch rather than using a mix, so it is easy for me to tweak the ingredients list. I am not 100% on-board with the "sneaky mama" approach to getting kids to eat healthy things as I believe that we should feed them how we want them to feed themselves later in life. If they know what they are eating, it will be easier for them to choose to eat that again. I do, however, like the fact that I can make a few changes to things to get more nutrition onto my kids' plates while they are young and growing.

Here is my basic pancake recipe plus a few ideas for upping the nutritional value.

Basic Pancake Recipe:
1 1/4 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
2 tbsp oil (your choice, try: canola, olive, coconut, melted margarine)
~1 1/2 cup non-dairy milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp real maple syrup (optional but I like to add this because my kids don't use syrup and this makes the pancakes just a bit sweeter)

1. Combine all of the dry ingredients in a medium bowl (sift them if you wish).

2. Whisk together the wet ingredients then gently stir them into the dry. Don't over-mix or your pancakes will be like rubber!

Options:
My kids don't like pancakes with "chunks" of any kind (even fruit). So, instead of whisking the wet ingredients together, I put them in the blender. That way I can add things to the batter without adding any lumps or bumps.

For protein and iron: