Back in the Groove

Well, I blinked and the summer is over!  We had a fantastic summer filled with lots of swimming/competing, family visits, summer camps, trips and sleep away camps.  We are going into this school year with a 5th grader, 3rd grader, Kindergartner and Preschooler. That’s A LOT of snacks and lunches!  Here is my first post to get things started – a day’s worth of food for my preschooler:

Snacks (in handmade sandwich bags at the top):  one has sliced carrots with mini pre-packaged Sunbutter, other has a fig bar and mini container of peanuts

Lunch:  Vanilla Almond Milk, half a Tofurkey/Veganaise sandwich on wheat bread, popcorn, sliced cucumbers and a Clementine

This entire lunch/snack combo was packed the night before.  Think about your child’s day and what his/her needs are, as well as what you have to work with.  For example, the containers you might use for a preschooler would be different from the containers you would use for an upper grade schooler.  Size of the lunchbox is a factor.  Do they need an ice pack?  Snacks probably will be in a backpack or perhaps not refrigerated.  Carrots are a great veggie to pack for snacks because they can last in the backpack until morning snack. Pair them with a nut butter, and you have great brain food to power your child through until lunch.  Most preschools provide snack, but I still choose to send my own for numerous reasons.  My daughter will only attend 3 days a week, but I still want her to eat what I would give her at home.

Interested in handmade lunchbox napkins, sandwich bags and other creations?  Check out my Etsy store here or click on the link below:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/WholeFoodFriday/items

 

Fall in Love with Healthy!

I feel that one of the most important messages you can send your children is to love feeling good and being healthy.  For me, this translates to feeding them healthy, home cooked whole food meals (MOST of the time; I am not shooting for perfect!).  We have very little processed foods in our home, no candy, chips, sodas, juice, sugar snacks, etc.  We have very little cereals (other than granola).  These things do make an appearance (except for the soda, never soda), but it is on a very limited basis. Most of the junk my kids eat is done out of my home.  Your children will eat what you eat, and what you provide for them.

If cooking from scratch every day feels overwhelming or unrealistic given your schedule, then I would encourage you to start with one day of the week to dedicate to cooking and eating whole foods with your family.  Breakfast is a very important meal, and one that is often overlooked or not given the attention it deserves given most families busy mornings.  One thing I do to ensure that my children eat a healthy nourishing breakfast before heading off to school is to make a huge batch of pancakes, waffles or muffins on Sunday. Freeze them in small portions, and then throughout the week you can just pull a muffin out of the freezer and defrost it, or pull a pancake/waffle out of the freezer and heat it in the toaster. Pair it with some fruit, and you have an awesome whole food breakfast that will start their day off right.

You can find the recipe I use for pancakes here.  It is really simple, and there is no excuse to not have made from scratch pancakes from now on!  Need some other ideas for a healthy, nourishing breakfast for your kids before school?  Try some of the ideas below:

• yogurt with fruit, nut butter & granola
• whole wheat muffins like the ones here
• oatmeal with fruit, honey and granola
• apple slices or banana with nut butter
• whole wheat waffles like these (leave out the blueberries if you want)
• overnight oats

Enjoy your day, and remember, fill your body and your kid’s bodies every day with LOVE!

Whole Food School Lunch

It’s been awhile since I have posted a school lunch.  Getting 4 kids out the door in the morning in a timely manner is a challenge, 3 of them going to school, so I am not able to take photos that often.  This morning I did manage to quickly snap one before leaving!

• fresh mango
• sliced cucumbers (peeled – they were not organic)
• homemade blueberry muffin
• organic cinnamon bears

Reusable BPA free lunch sets and cloth napkins found here.   Also, coming soon I will have build your own lunch sets.  Let your kids pick out their lunch sets and get them involved in packing healthy, delicious school lunches!

Eating Healthy While Traveling

I know, I know, it’s hard enough sometimes to eat healthy at home, and now I am about to carry on about eating healthy while traveling.  I don’t know about you, but I really don’t like eating out.  It always makes my stomach hurt, and it’s just not something I make a habit of for this reason.  It also just doesn’t make financial sense for a family of six living on one income.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy occasionally eating out.  If I pick the right place, it is usually a positive experience.  Traveling is a different story for me.  I would rather eat healthy familiar foods and eat less than eat out 3 meals a day.  You never know what your options will be, and I would rather be prepared and play it safe.

I am writing this post as I am currently traveling to an out of town swim meet with my oldest child.  With a little planning and forethought, it is fairly simple to feed your child (and fuel your athlete, in my case) with healthy foods.  Driving to your destination makes it that much easier.  Flying is a whole different story which I will address in a later post.

Some of my Travel Stash

Pictured above is some of the stash I brought.  We will be gone for 3 days.  I brought the following, some of which is not pictured here:

• lentil soup (with an easy off lid that doesn’t require a can opener)
• minestrone soup
• Kind bars
• everything pretzel crisps
• almond butter
• loaf of whole grain seed bread
• apples
• oranges
• papaya (with a sharp knife to cut it)
• pasta with loads of soy butter (cooked earlier today)
• French bread with a little tub of soy butter
• MEGA protein drink
• homemade oatmeal raisin cookies
• whole wheat crackers
• vanilla soy yogurt
• lots of carrots, peppers and cucumber slices
• hard boiled eggs
• quinoa/brown rice blend

We live an 80/20 lifestyle, so we will take advantage of the breakfast served in the morning at the hotel.  While it has additives and other ingredients I am not a fan of, there will be oatmeal available.  Oatmeal, fruit, bagels, toast, eggs, etc. will be breakfast choices.  The food I brought will carry us through the rest of the days.  I will most likely need to get my son some additional food, but I will be fine.  You can look at traveling as a good time to do a little mini purge, if you will.  Eat plenty of raw fruits and veggies, nut butter, and lots of water, and you will feel great when you go home!

Make sure you remember to bring a sharp knife to cut your fruits and veggies.  You can find plates, bowls and silverware in the hotel lobby. Make sure you reserve a room with a fridge and microwave, and you will be all set!  Oh, and if you are a coffee snob, make sure to bring your coffee and creamer as well!

Now, I will enjoy my late night snack after driving all evening.  Have a great night ya’ll!

 

FREE GIVEAWAY!!!

Perfectly Pear Lunch Kit

OK people, here we go!  I am offering a free giveaway of a Perfectly Pear Lunch Kit (pictured above) featured in my Etsy shop OR a $15 gift card to my new Etsy shop.  You will receive a brand new Easy Lunch Boxes sectioned lunch container, 2 silicone reusable cupcake liners, an Easy Lunch Box condiment container, handmade (by ME!) reusable cloth napkin & handmade (by ME!) reusable sandwich bag.  Simply do one or more of the following to be entered in the FREE giveaway:

1. LIKE my Whole Food Friday facebook page
2. SHARE a link to my Facebook page on your wall
3. SIGN UP to my blog email list  (Click FOLLOW button on the left sidebar of this page)

Make sure to leave a comment here on this post letting me know that you did one or more of these things!  I will randomly choose one winner on Sunday, October 4, so check back then to see if you are the lucky winner!  Let’s get the word out there that healthy, whole foods eating is the way to go for our families!

Facebook Page:  Click Here

Sign Up For Whole Food Friday Email Updates:  Click The FOLLOW button on the left sidebar of this page!

Good Luck Everyone!  I know you will LOVE this lunch kit!!!  It makes packing lunches so much easier for grown-ups and kids!

Whole Food Friday Lunch Kit

Happy Whole Food Friday Everyone!

School Lunch: 9/25/15

• Almond Milk
• Dark chocolate covered walnuts
• carrot sticks
• cantaloupe
• PB&J on whole wheat bread

If you want to order reusable snack/sandwich bags and school napkins like the ones pictured above, go here.

New Web Address / New Look

Hello everyone!  I have finally obtained my own site for Whole Food Friday. Yay! You will be redirected if you go to the wordpress site, but here is the new URL.

http://www.wholefoodfriday.com

I am in the process of moving content over, so please be patient.  I am trying to continue to post recipes and such as I can.  Along with my regularly scheduled insanely busy life, I have new things on the horizon.  I have opened up a small Etsy shop selling some awesome reusable sandwich bags and cloth napkins. I am adding new patterns daily, so check in frequently.  Currently everything is being offered with FREE SHIPPING!!!

I am also working on a short e-book of whole food school lunch ideas.  I will keep you posted. Exciting stuff!

Week Long Recap on Snacks and Lunches! Pictures!

Snacks:

Vegan Goldfish Crackers / Pumpkin Muffins

Sun Butter & Rice Cakes

Vanilla soy yogurt, sun seeds, berries, raisins, peanut butter

Sun Butter sandwich, cucumbers, carrots

Lunches:

Crackers/Chickpea Salad, sesame sticks, carrots, dried fruit, blueberry kabobs

pasta/carrots/banana muffin, pineapple, bell peppers

SunButter sandwich, cucumbers, graham crackers, cantaloupe

Back to School Whole Food Lunch!!!

Back to School Lunch

• chickpea salad with Matzo strips
• sesame sticks
• raw carrots with veggie dip
• dried mango/pineapple
• blueberry kabobs

Whole Food Friday Lunch (April 2) AND Awesome New Bread Find at Publix!

• Nut butter sandwich on Grainiac Organic Whole Wheat Bread
• raw carrot sticks and hummus
• honeydew

I saw this bread in Publix in the produce department and just had to try it.  Bread usually has a ton of ingredients, including GMO’s and preservatives.  This bread had neither of these things, and it turned out to be very tasty. This is definitely something I will buy in the future.