During a recent visit to the pediatrician, Whistler’s doctor wanted to make sure that he was getting enough calcium in his diet. He stated an excellent fact that the critical time for calcium consumption in your life is between the ages of 9-18 years old. During these years, nearly half of adult bone mass is formed and the younger years are just as important. Building as much bone density now as possible will help prevent your children from having issues of osteoporosis later.

He let me know that children age 4 to 8 years old need 1,000 milligrams of calcium per day. He also gave me a chart of some example sources of calcium and what amount of intake they translate into.

Serving Size	Food or Beverage	Calcium
8 ounces (237 milliliters)	milk	300 milligrams
8 ounces (237 milliliters)	calcium-fortified orange juice	300 milligrams
6 ounces (177 milliliters)	yogurt	225 milligrams

For some reason this really hit home with me. It may be because I’ve always been a little concerned with Whistler’s growth as he is on the small side. As a mother, of course I don’t ever want to think that I could have done something differently to prevent something unpleasant.

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So I had this information on my mind while I tried to think of a recipe to use the frozen blueberries I had picked up from the store. Whistler’s favorite fruit are blueberries and we’ve used them as snacks for years. While many traditional blueberry recipes would be some sort of baked goodie, I also have the mom-who-doesn’t-have-enough-time-in-the-day syndrome so my mind also gravitated towards something super simple to make that Whistler will enjoy.

The following two recipes are hardly “recipes” at all, but they fit my need of making small changes that help ensure a healthier diet for my son. I hope they inspire you to make small changes that work for you and also to realize that it doesn’t always have to be a dramatic concoction that took hours to make to be a new loved favorite or healthy staple for your family.

Popsicles with Blueberries

It really can’t get much easier than this. I simply took 4 of the items I already had in the house that offered a high amount of calcium

• whole milk
• calcium fortified orange juice
• calcium fortified pomegranate/blueberry juice
• frozen blueberries

and mixed them all together into a fun home made treat using a popsicle mold.

The blueberry milk pops were the easiest – pour milk and add blueberries. The blueberry juice pops were just as easy, but needed an additional step. To get the 2 tone separation, just fill mold half way with one color juice and blueberries, freeze, and then add second juice and blueberries along with stick/holder.

Yogurt Covered Blueberries

Once again grabbing 2 items I already had in the house, these snacks are the hottest new food item in our house. They have become an excellent motivational tool to get Whistler to finish meals! To make, half thaw desired number of frozen blueberries. Use a toothpick to swirl in your favorite yogurt.

TIP: this is easiest to do when blueberries are still partially frozen. Place onto wax paper (you can use another toothpick to push off onto paper) and then freeze.

Once frozen, you can pop them off into a reusable plastic container or sealable plastic bag for enjoyment later.