Brrrr, baby it’s cold outside! There’s no better time than a cold, winter day to throw together a big pot of chili and enjoy.
My favorite part about chili is that it’s super flexible in terms of add-ins. Have zucchini and carrots on hand? Shred them and throw them in. Bell peppers, onions, fresh tomatoes? Sure, why not!
We love muffins around here. My children would live off of my homemade bread and muffins if I let them. And these muffins are one of our favorite! They have definitely been a staple around here lately. Sometimes I double the recipe to make extra for the freezer….except somehow they never make it there.
It’s back to school time for many kids (and a lot of parents are saying ‘yessssss’ right about now) which means that it’s time to get creative with the lunchboxes again. I thought you could use a little school lunch inspiration!
I was grocery shopping the other day with my two little ones when my 5 year old, Allison, pointed to a Lunchable and asked what it was. To which I replied “ohhh, that’s just a package of chemical filled junk”. I get it though – they’re quick, easy, and kids eat them (hey, I ate them as an adult a kid too!). But they’re not doing your child any favors and they’re far from what I would consider a healthy choice.
Instead, make your own at home by purchasing a quality lunchmeat, sliced cheese off the block, and organic crackers. My goal is to always keep my children’s food as ‘real’ as possible. This starts by turning the package over to look at the ingredient list and asking myself “would I stock all of those ingredients in my pantry?”. You can find a great post by Lisa over at 100 Days of Real Food on this very subject.
I have a few favorite websites that I would recommend for school lunch inspiration:
100 Days of Real Food – Pictures of her daughter’s lunchboxes and a linked up recipe index that includes many of the recipes pictured.
Weelicious – Awesome lunchbox inspiration pics on Catherine’s Facebook page so I’m linking to one of her albums there.
Super Healthy Kids – Lots of fun, kid-friendly recipes to try out!
Although we don’t officially pack ‘school lunches’ everyday, I do still pack a lot of meals to take with us while we’re out of the house. It’s the easiest way for us to avoid the temptation of grabbing something while out.
Also, our kids love packing their PlanetBox Rovers. I try to get Allison and Nolan involved in their meal prep as much as possible. They’re more likely to eat it when they’re the ones who picked out and prepped the food in their boxes.
Bonus – don’t forget the cute printable lunchbox notes and jokes (like this one or this one). Just a little something to bring a smile to their face 🙂
Do you know what I love about food documentaries? They’re enlightening, full of facts, and super motivating! They usually go deep inside the matter at hand to expose things I wasn’t aware of.
I also like that I can generally find them for free or cheap on Netflix, Amazon Prime, or at the local library.
A common question I get asked is if I have any recommendations on food documentaries to watch. Why yes, yes I do! You’ll never look at food the same way again. Trust me!
1. Food Inc. – An oldie but goodie! This film shows where our food comes from, sheds light on factory farming, and points out the controversial connections between the big food corporations and the government, and the subsidies that promote unhealthy food to take over our supermarket and diets.
2. Supersize Me – Under the supervision of doctors and a nutritionist, Morgan Spurlock eats only McDonald’s for 30 days and then examines the detrimental health results.
3. Food Matters – Focuses on the connection of ultra-processed food and our declining health as well as why the health industry doesn’t want us to change our eating habits. [Read more…]
These homemade Strawberry & Coconut Cream Ice Pops are made with just three ingredients and are super simple to make.
My kids love them! Bonus – they think I’m the coolest mom ever when I let them have one for breakfast.
To them it’s an amazing, special treat and I have no guilt about what chemicals or food dyes they might be consuming.
Also, I love that by using frozen fruit and canned coconut milk, the ingredients are easy to keep on hand and we can throw these ice pops together quickly.
Look for full-fat coconut milk, like Natural Value brand, that is in a BPA-Free can and has no additives or preservatives. The only ingredients in this brand are coconut extract and water.
[Read more…]
First off, let me just put this out there….honey sold in grocery stores is almost always pasteurized. This process kills all of the enzymes and beneficial compounds that make raw honey so nutritious.
It’s said that pasteurized honey is just as unhealthy as eating refined sugar or high fructose corn syrup. So for the record, we’re definitely not talking about the store bought honey bear here.
On the other hand, raw honey contains pollen, enzymes, antioxidants, phytonutrients and many other beneficial compounds that researchers are just beginning to learn about.
There are so many benefits and uses out there for raw honey, especially local raw honey. Find a local beekeeper and make friends with them!
There are tons of uses! Here are 6 common uses that you might find helpful: [Read more…]
When I first started our family’s journey towards ‘clean eating’ I immediately headed to the organic section. I wanted to reduce our exposure to as many chemicals as possible (hello – some studies show these toxins disrupt brain development and are toxic to the nervous system. Yikes!). However, I also realized that going from where we were at in our food budget (a.k.a. super-couponer) to strictly organic could be quite costly.
Enter the Environmental Working Groups ‘Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce‘. Each year they analyze pesticide residue in the most commonly purchased fruits and vegetables then create a list in order of highest to lowest pesticide residue. This is helpful because it places emphasis on which produce you should buy organic and which is ok to lean towards conventional.
You can read more great info in the Environmental Working Group’s summary on their website. On a side note, if you find yourself at the store without this list, I like to use this general rule of thumb…..if you’re going to eat the skin/flesh then buy organic, if you’re going to discard the skin/flesh then conventional is probably ok. [Read more…]
Yay for a tasty green smoothie! Have you jumped on the smoothie train yet? If not, you should! They’re super easy to throw together, delicious tasting, and packed full of good-for-you vitamins and minerals!
No time to prep in the morning? Pop the fruit and greens in a freezer bag, pull out in the a.m., and blend with liquid. Ta-da – you’re out the door with your healthy breakfast!
We’ve worked green smoothies in to our daily routine for over a year now and love them! I find Costco to be the best value for organic greens and frozen fruit. If you live in an area where local fruit is in abundance then consider buying in bulk, prepping, and freezing it (and I’ll be super jealous that you have access to such wonderful local fruit. Ha!). [Read more…]
Ok, so this is a long one about food additives! But stick with me. The take away from this post is that you have to read labels and be aware of what you’re consuming. Know what to look for and avoid on food labels.
Reading labels is one of the things that jump-started my interest, education, and career in nutrition. After our daughter had a reaction to Red-40 food dye we immediately removed all food dyes from our diet. At that point, I became increasingly aware of the amount of chemicals put in to our food and what additives we should avoid.
Packaged and processed foods are convenient, portable, and they stay fresh for a long time (thanks to all those preservatives). The additives put into processed foods to make them look and taste better include unhealthy amounts of salt, fat and sugar – and those are the ones you can pronounce. These additives, however, have a price that may include side effects, food allergies, increased waistlines, decreased absorption of minerals and vitamins, cancer and more.
Below is a list of the 10 most pervasive and detrimental food additives and substances you can eat, in no particular order: [Read more…]
Do you use cloth baby wipes or know someone who does? Read on!
I was a late bloomer in the cloth diaper game….we used disposables for our first child and up until almost 2 years old with our second child. I had intentions of starting sooner with him but we had a long year of moving and traveling so I wanted to wait until we were settled.
Once I splurged on cloth diapers, I figured it only made sense for me to use cloth baby wipes as well. They’re really not bad, promise! You’re already washing dirty diapers so what’s a little more laundry?!
I decided to use the spray bottle method for getting them wet (I’ve also seen others dump the solution in a wipes container and keep the wipes wet). I accordion fold the wipes, store in an old Huggies container, then pull out and spray individually as I use them. The spray is super easy to make! [Read more…]
