New Food Gadgets

I wrote in my last post how I have a wish list of lunch packing gadgets.  I ordered two things, and they came yesterday.  My daughter and I broke them out and used them today for the first time.  I am so excited about them!

The first item, Silicone Pop Makers, is what I plan to use to replace Gogurt in our freezer.  My kids love frozen Gogurt.  We have tried the organic brands, but they are so expensive!  I saw a post about these tubes from 100 Days of Real Food, and I have been wanting to try them. Today we made yogurt smoothies with the following ingredients:

1 oz. organic skim milk
3 oz. organic plain yogurt
1 handful of fresh blueberries
4-5 Frozen strawberries
1 whole banana

We also added a handful of fresh baby spinach leaves to 1/2 the mix which didn't change the flavor at all. 

We mixed them up in our mini smoothie maker, poured them into the tubes, and they are now setting in the freezer.  I cannot wait to try them and to see what my children think!

The second thing I ordered and received yesterday were these Ice Pop Molds for homemade popsicles.  If this works and my kids love these popsicles, I am ordering several more sets so that we will be ready for summer!

We mixed up the same fruits - banana, fresh blueberries, frozen strawberries, and fresh baby spinach leaves in half - and added 100% fruit juice instead of milk and yogurt.  Then we poured them into the popsicle molds and can't wait to try them tonight or tomorrow morning. 

I am so excited about these two finds for two reasons.  First, it will be cheaper to make our own yogurt pops than to purchase the organic brands each month.  Second, and more importantly, I know exactly what I put into these things!  I am excited to try different flavor mixtures with my kids and get them excited about making and eating these yogurt and fruit pops.  I asked my 4-year old daughter, "Do you know why Mommy wants to make these?"  And she replied, "Because you want me to be healthy!"  That's it, the bottom line.  I do want them to be healthy as they enjoy all the natural flavors of fruits and vegetables.

And, for the record, this is my recipe experiment for this month. 

Lunch Box Obsession

Photo Credit Google Images

I may or may not be obsessed with packing lunches.

The first step is admitting it.

So, yes, I have an addiction to everything related to packing a lunch - the box/bag, the gadgets inside to hold the food, and recipes or ideas for the food itself.

When I was a girl, I was a fairly picky eater.  My mom packed my lunch into Tupperware containers, placed them inside my red Tupperware lunch system, complete with carrying handle, and sent me off for the day.  Her reasons were two-fold: 1. A lunch from home was cheaper and fresher, and 2. I was a picky eater so she could send things she knew I would eat.  My main lunch was usually a sandwich - bologna with ketchup, butter with Grandma's grape jelly, or butter with cheese were the only kinds I would eat. She would pack some type of side - crackers, pretzels, or chips. Sometimes there would be fruit that I rarely ate. A sliced apple (that turned brown) because I wouldn't even think of eating the skins. Or maybe an orange, but only if it had already been peeled with every stray white skin piece completely removed. Finally, because my mom was born into a "big full meal" family, I would usually have some type of homemade treat like a cookie or rice krispie treat.  Not always, but often.

As I have said before, now that I am a Mother, GOD BLESS MY MOM!!

I am worried about what my kids eat and am blessed that they eat a variety of foods.  I'm sure my mom was worried about the same things, but I was a genuine pain in the ass when it came to eating!  And to think I missed out on so many wonderful foods for so many years of my life! I ate my first leafy salad at my senior prom, I didn't even think of trying strawberries until post high school, and don't even get me started on the numerous fresh vegetables I would never allow to graze my lips before the age of 30.  So much good food, so many wasted years.  I would like to think it is not too late for me to get on the healthy eating track, and I definitely believe my children will have a much healthier future because they embrace fresh fruits and vegetables. 

Which brings me to my obsession of packing healthy lunches for my children and myself.  In January, I read the book "Fed Up With Lunch" by Sarah Wu.  Like the author, I too work in an extremely low income school where, for some families, school lunch is the only "healthy" hot meal they will get all day.  Although my children go to a school where the food is prepared on site every day, and many fresh food items are included, there is still a lot of processed food in the hot lunches that I just cannot let my children eat.  I don't know where the food comes from or what sugars or other fillers are included in each item like I do when I pack lunch for them.  So I am trying to learn as much as I can about how to pack a good lunch!

I spent the second half of 2012 reading and trying recipes from a couple of blogs:  100 Days of Real Food and My Wise Mom.  Both have great resources for me as I learn about chemicals in our food supply, how to choose the freshest food, and how to pack healthy lunches.  I have gotten many great ideas for "gadgets", (mostly from 100 Days) to help me pack lunches as well as what to put in them.  I have appreciated their research, and willingness to share, on topics such as which food items I should spend more money on and buy organic, and where to find items for the least amount of money (mostly from My Wise Mom).

When my son started Kindergarten last year, we went to the store and picked out a lunch bag.  I ordered a few helpful containers from Amazon and we were ready for a year of packing lunches.  Over the last year and a half, I have added to our collection of lunch gadgets, and added more items to my wish list.  Here is a list of the items we use every week in our lunches:

*Snack Taxi bags to replace ziploc bags for all things.

*Easy Lunchboxes Containers - holds all the items for his lunch and fits in the bottom of a lunch bag with an ice pack under to keep it cold. 

*Klip It Containers - we have the sandwich size and the small rectangle size to hold sliced fruit and veggies.

*Thermos Food Jar - my son takes soup often in his lunch. We also tried noodles and ravioli in it and they stayed hot.  We need to get a couple more but without Disney designs so that they will be appealing at all ages.

*Thermos Drink Bottle - this keeps drinks cold for so long!  We used them all summer last year on vacation and I couldn't believe how long ice stayed in the drink on hot days.  We are definitely getting a couple more of these, again in non-Disney colors, because we use them all the time!

I also have a growing wish list of things I want to add to our lunch packing collection:

*Silicone Ice Pop Makers - my kids love frozen GoGurt, but I cannot stand all the sugar, dye, and CRAP in them.  The organic ones are super expensive.  My kids also love making fruit smoothies so I thought we should try to make our own GoGurts!  I just ordered these and cannot wait to try them soon!

*Silicone Cupcake Liners - I don't want these to make cupcakes but rather to divide things in my son's lunch.  He has been making his own "lunchable" with mini pepperoni, ham, cheese, and crackers.  I use paper cupcake liners to separate the items into the bigger container, what a waste of paper!  I just ordered a set of these and will try them as soon as they come.  I have mini liners on my list as well if this first set works out for us.

*I love these Bento Lunch Boxes, but do we really need them?  I am watching them for a sale and then may have to get some to try them.

My next step is to start planning lunches for my son that are more fun.  I am bored with his lunches so I can only imagine that he is bored also. I am always on the hunt for new recipes or ideas for easy things to pack in his lunch.  I recently discovered Weelicious for some fun new recipes.  I also got a new mini cookbook from Amazon, "Lunch Boxes and Snacks", that has some promising ideas in it.  I will post back some of our favorites as we try them in 2013, and of course keep looking for inspiration anywhere I can find it on my mission to prepare healthy lunches for my children!