Getting a full serving of veggies while having fun!

This post was sponsored by Happy Family brands. All opinions are my own.
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A few weeks ago we scored an awesome deal on a Burley double bike trailer and I've made it part of our morning routine to head out for a bike ride after breakfast.

Let me be honest for a minute - yes, the bike ride is primarily a way for me to get some daily exercise in. Our house isn't set up very well for me to do a workout video during naps and I'm just not a gym person anymore. But, over the last year I've been inspired by my blogging-gal-pal to workout with both kids so the bike is where we're at right now.

But most importantly, and this is probably the clearest picture that I can paint of my season in life, this daily bike ride is my best guarantee for 20-45 minutes of peace and cooperation between the girls. That's not to say that it's the only 20-45 minutes I get each day, because I'd say that 60% of the time everyone gets along. But it's the 40% of not getting along that wears on me. So I'll do just about anything for that state of mind, and yes that even includes exercising! Gasp!

What are the key components to this peace and quiet that I'm able to achieve with fairly good consistency?

Entertainment
Just in case gazing out into the wide, wide world isn't enthralling enough, I like to pack books or their favorite dollies into the trailer with them. Two sets of each, of course, so there aren't any squabbles. Ruby gets her favorite board books and Penny packs her princess stories. Each girl gets her sister-appropriate Frozen princess and queen.

Food
Snacking on the go is also a peace keeper for my family. Mess free and safe snacks are especially important in the bike trailer, where I don't have immediate access to clean up a mess or heaven forbid aid in a choking emergency. So I'll pack reusable cloth baggies filled with snacks that both Penny and Ruby can share - pretzels, popcorn, apple slices, yogurt dots, as well as our very favorite food pouches - Happy Family brand, of course! And because of a recent bought of pickiness from both girls, I've been sneaking their veggies into their diet by way of the Love My Veggies line. We chose these pouches because they are the first toddler pouch to contain one full serving of vegetables* (*one serving of vegetables is 1/4 cup). Love My Veggies pouches are available in three varieties: banana, beet, squash & blueberry; carrot, banana, mango & sweet potato; spinach, apple, sweet potato & kiwi. Because my kids are already familiar with on the go pouches, it's easy to get them to slurp these down without any convincing.

Chatter & Interaction
Our typical bike route follows the neighborhood bike/walk trail, which is along a dike. A stream flows along with us and in the early morning we see ducks, frogs, beautiful spring flowers and even a heron the other day. While I pull everyone along, I point out different things we see so that the girls are paying attention to the outside world (and not only absorbed in their books or snacks). This is how Penny learned about stop signs, stop lights, left and right turns, and of course - where along our route we can spy mama's favorite flowers (lilacs).

For the month of April I took the #lovemyveggies challenge for myself and my kids - and we've incorporated more vegetables into each of our meals (whether they can see them or not!).

You can find 4-packs of 22 oz. Love My Veggies pouches at Target for $5.89.
Want a chance to try the new Happy Family Love My Veggies Pouches? Enter to win a fun prize pack below!

Entry-Form

Disclosure: The Pierogie Mama received product in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own. See giveaway details for full rules. The Pierogie Mama is not responsible for prize fulfillment.