Category — food

When you combine the cost of school hot lunches with the sheer lack of nutrition parents are looking for a better way to feed their children. Enter the lunchbox! When you pack a healthy, nutritious lunch for your kids, you know that they are getting the good stuff that they need – and you can save some money! For our 2 girls it would cost $100 per month to pay for the school-provided lunch of pizza, hot dogs or chicken nuggets. Why pay for junk food when you can send them to school with something healthy for less?

To this end I have been looking for a good lunchbox that would cut down on the about of waste that a typical cold lunch can create – ziploc baggies to keep everything seperate, aluminum foil, wax paper or plastic wrappers for the foods inside, etc. Did you know that it has been estimated that on average a school-age child using a disposable lunch generates 67 pounds of waste per school year? That equates to 18,760 pounds of lunch waste for just one average-size elementary school!

In my searching for a solution I recently discovered a new kind of lunchbox for my girls – one that cuts down on the amount of waste each day.

They are called the Laptop Lunchbox, and they are available online, or in many health food & eco-concious stores around the country.

What is a laptop lunchbox you ask? A very nice way to pack a lunch for your child – or your self!

Each laptop lunchbox comes with 5 containers inside – 2 with lids. They all fit together perfectly into the case, and they make you think about the lunch that you are preparing for your kids.

There are 2 large containers – one with a lid. They fit a sandwich cut in half very nicely, and I usually put some applesauce & granola in the one with a lid. There are also 2 smaller containers that are perfect for trail mix, carrot sticks, mandarine orange wedges, etc, and a mini container with a lid that is perfect for your child’s favorite dip. And they come with a fork & spoon.

All of the pieces go into the dishwasher – yay! – and clean up very easily.

My girls use these every day – I just wash out the containers in the sink & dry them to be ready to use the next day.

Things I love about the Laptop Lunchbox:
- multiple containers make me think about how to fill them with healthy food
- a dip container that holds just enough, but not too much
- a specific place for everything
- fun color combinations
- the recipe/lunch ideas book that comes with it

Things I think can be improved:
- I wish one of the small containers had a lid – they are the perfect size for yogurt or applesauce
- it took the girls a bit to figure out how to open them, but once they figured out “their way” it hasn’t been a problem
- if the cutlery section was a tiny bit bigger you could fit a cloth napkin in too

I have gotten each of the girls a small tote bag that their laptop lunchbox fits down inside – along with their water bottle or juice and an ice pack to keep the contents cold. They slip these into their backpacks and they have an easy way to carry their lunch over to the lunchroom.

Because everything has a specific place inside, it is obvious if something is missing. They have been using their lunchboxes for almost a month now, and we haven’t lost a single piece – pretty good for a kindergardener and a first grader!

If you are looking for a lunch time solution, I urge you to take a look at the Laptop Lunchbox. They have 4 different color combinations to appeal to a variety of tastes, and your kids will have fun putting their lunchbox puzzle back together after they have eaten a healthy, nutirtious lunch!

To order your sets, please visit LaptopLunches.com

ABSOLUTELY!!!!

If you live in the western US, you may have seen these at any of the more “health-concious” stores near you and wondered if they are all they claim to be. I can tell you that they are with a resounding YES!!!

These cookies are not your average cookie – they are healthy, and they don’t have any of *those* ingredients inside. Yes, I said they are a HEALTHY cookie.

To top that small feat, they are also delicious! I have not shared them with anyone who didn’t love them – from my 3 year old nephew to his grandma and everyone in between. Some of them are even safe for those choosing a vegan diet.

Thus far we have tried the following flavors:
Banana Flax (personal fav! – limited time though – boo hoo)
Lemon Berry
Double Chocolate Chunk
Oatmeal Raisin
Peanut Butter
Vegan Chocolate Chunk
Caramel Apple (yes, you want these!)
Banana Walnut
Fruit & Nut

My kids (5 & 7 – picky at times) love each & every one of them. If you are rushed in the mornings or are looking for a great “between-meals snack” I highly recommend these fabulous cookies. For those of you that don’t live out west, don’t dispair! Erin Baker’s Breakfast Cookies are also available online!

Visit BBCookies.com to get your family a baker’s sampler to try out! You won’t be sorry.

Did I mention that Erin also makes brownies with the same stringent anti-bad stuff ingredients list? Hmm, brownies, cookies & granola, Oh My!

What are you waiting for?!?!?!?!?

While some places may still be feeling the heat, it seems that fall is officially taken up residence in the Pacific Northwest – FINALLY!

This was the frosty dandelion that greeted me last week when I returned from taking the girls to school – the delicate seeds were clumped with little ice crystals – it was so beautiful (I know, the pic doesn’t do it justice).

Then there were the apples by the bushel – granny smith, gala, honey crisp, you name them, they are finally HERE. When one can get Honey Crisp apples for 74 CENTS a pound, you buy the box… and make applesauce of course!

Pumpkins will be about soon too… time for pumpkin cookies, pumpkin cake roll, pumpkin pie, pumpkin soup… hey, I warned you that this blog would have food in it!

We will be making banana bread today too – I promised the little one that we would bake today. Might even get to pumpkin cookies… but that might be too much goodness for one day (I still need to work too!).

We turned the fireplace on this morning too – we have gray skies and a chilly breeze to keep the air cooled down and crisp. The cheering that I received for the fire was a bit frightening – they have been wanting to use it since early May when we moved.

In other news, I officially look like a married woman again! I picked up my newly-shined ring yesterday, and I’m terrified that I’m going to lose it! I had them re-size it when they repaired it (only a 1/2 size up) and it feels so loose! It’s slipping & sliding around my finger & all wibbly-wobbly. but the sparkle! I haven’t seen it sparkle like this for 10 years! Even the little ones are sparkly! I will miss the men in stores being so helpful, but I’m so glad to have it back and be able to wear it!

Kid Update!
I’m still waiting to hear what the Dr’s think is going on with M’s lungs – the inhaler was making her worse (tasting blood can’t be good, right?) so they moved to the next test – she had a CT scan yesterday, so we are waiting for the results on that, then possibly off to the allergist, pulmonary specialist, etc. I just want my baby to be well! Oh well, I guess I need to have patience. I don’t have much patience…

The other one is doing better most of the time. Then her sister says something mean & it’s off to throw a tantrum – which brings about the tummy aches. We are trying the NO DAIRY thing, and the good news is that she loves the chocolate almond milk… the bad news is the cost of milk replacements! This could be a problem for pumpkin cookies too (1 lb. of butter anyone?) I really need to find a replacement for butter!

Any thoughts on foods or ways to treat tummy issues or lung issues are appreciated!

Well, it’s off to the sewing maching for me… I have bags to finish!
oh yeah, and bread to bake…

Well, we have been spending a little too much time focusing on Dr. visits lately… the girls are sick.

One of them may be treatable with diet – i.e. getting her off of dairy. Good thing I already know how to cook a few vegan meals! Speaking of which, I make some delicious *almost* vegan scones this morning – fluffy, moist and delicious… if only I could find a good substitute for butter – - no, margarine will not work.

The other is having issues with her lungs. She has had a cough off & on since April. She was checked in May, it got mostly better, then she got a cold in July… guess what stayed. What is happening to my babies! She is going in to see a pulmonary specialist next month at Children’s Hospital (that ought to be a fun visit) and in the interm they are pumping her full of drugs for ashma – - parental note here – - THE INHALER & STERIODS AREN’T WORKING DOC, THEY HAVEN’T WORKED FOR A MONTH!! PLEASE stop filling my baby with drugs!

“Hmmm let’s see, doing a regular dose didn’t do anything, I know, let’s double it!” Some specialist. After looking over her info that her Dr. sent over his first response was (and I quote) “wierd” So let’s throw some drugs at it to make it go away? Gee, I wonder why our society is so ill. I know, let’s refine food to the point that it is no longer food, then throw chemicals at the ensuing problems to make them worse – I mean fix them. God Bless America – please!

We desperatly need it.

On the cooking front, I came across this great post on cooking brown rice:
http://chrisfj.com/how-to-cook-brown-rice/ sounds pretty good to me, although it takes about twice as long as I usually cook it. I’ve been doing the “3 cups rice, 4 cups water” for such a long time now… This guy is trying the same experiment as some frineds of ours – going total vegan – after reading The China Study

It makes sense, you know, however I would have such a hard time giving up everything that is an animal byproduct (i.e. butter, eggs, yogurt, lamb, etc) Mmmmmm, gyros with tzaziki sauce… getting hungry again.

Anyhoo, that’s my update for today. Take a look at the scone recipe if you are interested… they are really good, and I put in the “normal” ingredients for those that don’t have access to the others.

Here’s another picture to really get your mouth watering…

Do you love to garden? We purchased a new home this year that came with a fabulous garden – garlic, herbs, trees, bushes… lots of beauty. Not one to leave well enough alone, I had to add more flowers to the bounty.

I received a catalog from Michigan Bulb and of course had to get some new plants.

I have to say I am impressed with most of what I ordered. They ship many plants just as a root system – something I hadn’t realized before. I trusted them and put these gnarly looking roots in the ground around our yard and prayed that something would grow.

As the Summer is coming to an end I have been blessed with 3 colors of balloon flowers, peony’s that should bloom in the next couple of years, and a hibiscus bush that is almost 2 feet tall. The only one that I had a problem getting to grow are the poppy’s. I have always wanted a large red oriental poppy bush, but I have heard that they are very finicky. I will be giving it another year to see if it comes out of dormancy, but I am hopeful! Everything else is beautiful, and already grown quite large.

If you are looking for a place to get your fall bulbs or some plants next year, I recommend Michigan Bulb. Did I mention that I have some Asiatic Lilies coming too? Gotta go get them in the ground this month!

During the food-filled weekend, I decided to try out a new recipe in a beautiful bread pan that I picked up some time ago, however I hadn’t used it yet.

The recipe I found was for Sour Cream Berry Bread and looked delicious.

I made a couple of changes – I used yogurt for half of the sour cream, and used frozen blueberries in place of the mixed black & raspberries. The resulting tea cake (which is what it really seemed most like) was delicious – and totally toast-able. I needed to spread the batter more evenly, however, and tent it with foil, as the center didn’t get totally cooked. Take a look at the delectable goodness! The modified recipe can be found here

My birthday is coming up in the very near future, and (since we are broke) I am getting a weekend of food, family and friends to celebrate.

Last night we made an amazing Chicken Tikka Masala and homemade naan. Followed it up with a rice pudding-esque quinoa thing.

The unfortunate thing about the way that I cook is apparent right now. E found a VERY basic recipe for tikka masala – one that was missing all the spices that make up the garam masala. We used that as a starting point, however I then looked up the ingredients of garam masala and added in a pinch of this and a spoon of that. It was one of the best tikka masala meals I have ever had… unfortunate as I don’t remember the ingredients. So not a meal I can serve to a vegan – and one reason that I will most likely never go full vegan (or even vegetarian).

The basic main ingredients of tikka masala (invented in the UK, suprisingly) are tomatoes, heavy cream, garam masala and chicken or lamb. And butter – ghee preferably. As E mentioned today while eating leftovers “if this was better for you I would eat it more often” Another downside to learning how to make your favorite foods – you see why it is that you love them so much!

I will look up a recipe later. If you get Cook’s Illustrated or are a member of their online forum, they have a GOOD one – we just couldn’t find the latest issue last nght when we were ready to cook.

The naan, however, did not turn out as splendid as hoped. I’m still looking for the perfect recipe – perhaps I can convince the guys at Cafe India (lynnwood) to share their secret? One can dream.

The quinoa pudding, however I can share!

1 cup red or white quinoa
enough water to cover it

boil this down until the water is almost gone.
Add in enough heavy cream to make it nicely stir-able, but not cover it.

1 cinnamon stick
4 cloves
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp honey
cinnamon
pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp vanilla extract

put all of these in while the cream is cooking down. When the cream thickens, add in a touch of chai tea – brewed a little longer than normal. If it cooks down too far, add in some milk (I use 2%).

When it gets to the thickness YOU prefer, serve it. It is very good with a dollop of fresh whipped cream. It is also good as leftovers the next morning with some blueberries or dried cherries stirred in.

We served it (of course) with chai – complete with the honey and cream. All in all, a delicious start to a birthday celebration. The leftovers were good today too – too good, as it is all gone.

If you are looking for a great gift for a family on your list – or your own kids – you need to take a look at a new book by Sara Ann Denson called Christmas Turtles. This great story is about Sara’s own grandmother, and the wonderful turtle candies that she used to make every year when Sara was growing up – even though her grandmother couldn’t eat them herself!

This is a wonderful and heartwarming story that may bring back fond memories for you Moms, Dad’s and Grandparents, and it includes a recipe for turtles and a wooden mixing spoon to help you create new memories of your own!

Christmas Turtles is available from Purple Sky Publishing, and if you use the coupon code “cottagegiftspecial” you can save 15% on your total purchase. Hurry over to check it out – there may still be a few autographed copies left to order!

Christmas Turtles is also available at Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com and borders.com, however the 15% off coupon is good only at purpleskypublishing.com

Do you want more info about the author & illustrator?

Sara Ann Denson has been a nationally published author since the age of 18. In 1995, she received the first place One-Act Play Award at the annual Alabama Writer’ Conclave and she went on to publish three books of scripts and play along with various magazine credits. She currently lives in Jefferson City, Missouri with her husband, Boyd, and their two sons, Samuel and Gideon. She is a member of the MOMpack.

Tara McMillen as always had a special love for art. Tara is a painter who has done numerous murals in the Kansas City area. Her attention to detail and her intuitive nature makes her the perfect illustrator for children’s books. Tara has been married for seventeen years and has two wonderful children, Ericka and Kyle, who have also been blessed with their mother’s artistic ability.

For additional information regarding the author and illustrator, as well as other authors and illustrators employed by Purple Sky Publishing LLC, please visit purpleskypublishing.com