Extraordinary Health 28 | Page 25

BETTER BAKING Prinze isn’t the only one turning up the heat in the kitchen these days. While he cooks or grills nearly all of the main dishes, Gellar has a flair for baking and recently started a new kid-friendly cooking and lifestyle brand called Foodstirs ™ . After our Garden of Life ® brand ambassador Jon Lee Brody introduced us to Prinze, we caught up with Sarah at a BlogHer convention in Los Angeles to learn more about her new venture. “With Freddie, I learned that the kitchen is where life slows down for a bit and all the simple pleasures take over,” she said. “I was his taste tester and probably put on 15 pounds when he was working on his cookbook! But I always liked baking and both of our kids loved being in the kitchen.” Photo credit Fox Broadcasting Company Following a play date with her daughter and some friends, Sarah recalled they all visited a grocery store to look for baking mixes so they could recreate some sweet treats they had spotted on Pinterest. What they found was disappointing and disheartening. “We discovered there were all these heavily marketed brands with genetically modified and unpronounceable ingredients in them. We didn’t want to give those to our kids, so we did some research and decided to launch Foodstirs as a healthy alternative.” After nearly a year, Foodstirs offers a variety of mixes on its website that are vegan, kosher, organic, Non-GMO, and free of artificial preservatives, flavors and colors. The mixes and food crafting kits are sold at Gelson’s, a popular supermarket chain in California, Whole Foods in Brooklyn, and there are plans to expand into additional stores on the West Coast. Gellar explained that the inspiration for Foodstirs stemmed from her kids. “Baking teaches kids so many things,” she said. “It’s about math, vocabulary, chemistry, and motor skills. And the confidence I see in my kids when they are baking with me is exciting!” Photo credit Ellen Silverman Photo credit Warner Brothers Pictures FAMILY TRADITIONS Prinze says he also loves it when the kids volunteer to pitch in and help, just as he did as a child when he stood on a stool and helped his mother years ago. “My mother had greener thumbs than Mother Nature and was big on growing her own food,” he explained. “I have memories of picking basil leaves for her, and now my daughter grows her own herbs and vegetables. I’ve learned that if they plant it, water it, and grow it, they will eat it, too! Also, I don’t know a kid anywhere who doesn’t like to play in the dirt!” Other tips for getting kids to try new foods and eat heathier include Prinze’s tried- and-true trick of wrapping a tortilla around anything foreign to them. The family also has a “Try It Ten Times” rule with hopes that if they keep serving certain foods, the kids will eventually like them. No matter what’s on the menu, Prinze sticks to healthy, flavor-packed foods most of the time and prefers cooking with extra virgin coconut oil because of its good fats and antioxidants. On busy days, he’ll mix up a protein shake in the blender and throw in a handful of blueberries and a tablespoon or two of honey to drink after his strenuous Jiu Jitsu workouts. After training in the renowned Gracie method for more than a decade, he knows a thing or two about recovery. “After you finish a strong workout, your body will crush anything you put into it,” he said. “If you go with healthy proteins, vitamins and minerals, you’ll get the same benefits actors and athletes get from taking their trainers’ advice!” Vol 28 • Extraordinary Health ™ 23