Haven't done this in a while...

A long day running around requires lots of snacks.
-Zucchini/banana bread
-Boiled egg
-Blueberry fruit strip
-Raw energy bar squares
-Organic corn chips
-Strawberry/banana smoothie with homemade coconut milk
-Peanuts and raisins with a chocolate lego (I need to work on getting the air bubbles out better)

The chocolate lego was the hit of the party, obviously. 

Easy lunchbox lunches

-Fruit sauce
-Boiled egg
-Raisins
-Rice crackers
-Tuna (Wild Planet tuna has BPA-free cans!)

This is the boy's new favorite lunch.

-Wellshire turkey dog on Udi's bun
-Clementine half
-Dates (for the boy), Prunes (for the girl)
-Tiny ketchup
-Popcorn


I like packing into the Easy Lunchboxes, at first they seemed to be an awkward shape, but they actually fit our needs well. The one-piece design is convenient, and the kids can open them on their own. My only complaint is that the lid isn't super snug. I wouldn't be able to pack anything wet like applesauce, and cut fruit would leak juice into their bag. I got these from a friend who wasn't using them, but I would probably buy these if I needed to replace our current supply of lunch containers (and didn't want to spring for the Planet Box).

Lunch Love

-Boiled egg half
-Cherry tomato heart
-Sunbutter and jelly on Rudi's gf bread with hearts cut from a blueberry fruit strip
-Chocolate hearts
-Smoothie with coconut milk, banana, strawberry, almonds.
-Giant heart stickers that I've been saving for so long

I wish I'd been able to arrange to come to school for lunch tomorrow so that I could be there when they open these. Even though neither one is eating tomatoes right now, and the girl is on an egg strike, I think this will be a fun lunch for them. The fruit strip hearts are glued to the bread with little dots of sunbutter so they won't fly around the container, and they each have a tiny marshmallow hidden inside one of their chocolate hearts.
The eggs didn't turn out very well, I think they were a little too fresh and a little too small to fill out the mold all the way. There is such a fine line with those. Store-bought eggs tend to be too big, but our eggs generally fit them pretty well. But, with the recent cold weather, the chickens aren't wanting to go out to play quite as much and their eggs are smaller. The smoothies are also different since we ran out of cashews. I'm planning a bulk order though, and should be getting enough to last through the end of school. I can't wait to make cashew butter with the kids!
The girl has been asking me to make chocolate hearts for weeks, so she'll especially appreciate those. They are so simple to make. I melted about 1/4 cup of Enjoy Life vegan chocolate chips with about 1/4 teaspoon of coconut oil, and poured into a silicone mold. If I'd had more time I would have filled them with peanut butter, yum!

Smoothie and a Sandwich

Favorite smoothie (plus blueberries) in progress

-Favorite smoothie
-Wellshire turkey and Mindful Mayo on Rudi's GF bread
-Tiny container of raisins
-Falafel chips

Books in the Hallway

-Home made gf/df cornbread
-Bell & Evans organic hot dog pieces (in square container)
-Favorite smoothie

We needed a little extra-fancy since it was such a cold, grey day. Stickers to the rescue.

 My lunch:
-Snowy Cranberries This is a great recipe by my friend Rachel from Hounds in the Kitchen. Good blog, check it out.
-Home made cornbread. I used coconut milk that was left over after making the kids smoothies and eggs from our chickens. It was yummier than usual, coconut milk is so good.
-Turkey roll-ups with daiya jack cheese and Applegate turkey. I think this would also have been good with chicken breast and a sweet sauce of some sort.

 It was time for the sunshine bulletin board to come down. The colors had faded and the hallway needed a change for the new year. The kids are learning about authors and literature, and the book fair will be starting soon. I thought a book themed board with 3D books would be a good way to make a bright and colorful bulletin board for the kids, and it was fun to make. I'm hoping to have time next week to make a matching "bookshelf" for the opposite side of the board.

Milk for Monday

-Turkey sandwich on Rudi's gf bread with Mindful Mayo
-Tiny container of organic raisins
-Half of a Kit's Organic fruit & nut bar
-Favorite smoothie (made with homemade coconut milk!!)

I've planned to try making my own coconut milk for so long, but never made the time to do it. I can't believe I waited so long! It took so little time and is so much tastier than anything from a box or can (not to mention not having any creepy ingredients).
I started with the recipe at Whole New Mom. I then used the milk to start a batch of slow cooker rice pudding for the kids breakfast tomorrow. It turned out so much richer and creamier than it does when using store-bought milk, and I immediately decided to make a second batch for smoothies. It only keeps for about 48 hours in the fridge, but freezes well (just needs a good shake when it thaws). I don't think we'll be buying packaged milks again.

Butterflies, Burgers, and Rainbows

-Butterfly sandwich with Rudi's gf bread, peanut butter, strawberry jam (no butterflies were harmed)
-Square container of homemade slow cooker rice pudding (with less sugar than the recipe says)
-Tiny container of raisins
-Bare Fruit organic cinnamon apple chips

-Hilary's Eat Well adzuki bean burger on a gf bun
-Square container of corn chips
-Honest Kids organic apple juice
-Organic apple-strawberry fruit strip

We stumbled across the adzuki bean veggie burger recently, and it quickly became one of the kids' new favorites. The mister and I think they are pretty tasty, too. They contain mostly organic ingredients, no GMOs, and are free many common allergens. There isn't a ton of protein in a serving, but it's a yummy healthy way to add some variety to our menu. They are also really good crumbled on to a salad!

I've never been a fan of dyeing cotton, and have avoided it for many years. I generally prefer working with wool or silk. However, this batch of adorable, teeny tiny shirts has almost changed my mind. They are awaiting the arrival of the newest member of a dear friend's family, and we are all excited to meet him!

Back to school we go!

-Tuna with Mindful Mayo (we use Wild Planet tuna, sustainably caught and in a BPA-free can)
-Rice crackers
-Trail mix (organic peanuts, raisins, & cranberries)
-Honest Kids apple juice

The girl has been eating sparingly for the past few days, so I decided to go mega-protein for the first day back to school. They'll need the extra energy after all the staying up late and sleeping in of the past two weeks. The boy has been doing amazingly well with eating recently. He's trying more foods, and even liking some of them. He even had part of a green smoothie with the grandparents!

Chocolate covered Christmas bean balls

The kids wanted to make Christmas cookies. I've made gluten and dairy free sugar cookies that looked good, but am not thrilled with the way they taste. I decided to do some poking around on the internets and see if I could find another treat that we had ingredients for. A large pot of garbanzo beans had just finished cooking when I came across this recipe for vegan chocolate chip cookie dough truffles. They are grain-free, full of protein, and covered in chocolate. Three things that make them worth a try in my opinion. They were really quick to make in the food processor, and not a lot of mess. After scooping the dough onto a cookie sheet, they did need to firm up in the fridge for about 15 minutes to be able to handle them enough for dipping into the melted chocolate. If we make them again, I'll definitely make them smaller so the dough-to-chocolate ratio is better, and they are more bite sized. The taste is pretty good, possibly a bit "healthy" tasting, but if you didn't know there were beans in there, you'd never know there were beans in there. The girl gave a big thumbs up, but the boy is on the fence (however, he's not feeling well enough to want to eat chocolate, so his vote won't count here.)

Flexibility!

-Rice & beans
-Sliced apple
-Glutino pretzles
-Sunbutter for dipping

At a loss for lunch, I suggested we try packing rice and beans and the kids agreed. I know that they tend to dry out and aren't as tasty when cold, but thought it would be a good thing to try anyway. They would have been better if I'd been able to leave the beans a bit wetter, but they were leftovers and had already been drained. The kids did say that they weren't that yummy when they aren't warm, and the boy thought that it makes a better dinner than lunch. I was really proud of him for being willing to experiment with a meal that he's not used to eating in his lunch, and eating it even though it didn't taste the way he expected. Yay for new found flexibility!!

Nutty and Noggy

-Half sunbutter and strawberry on Rudi's gf bread
-Raw nut & fruit bar
-Enjoy Life chocolate chip cookies
-Noggy smoothie (So Delicious coconut milk nog, organic cashews, frozen banana)

Feeling good

-Wellshire turkey ham and Earth Balance mayo on Rudi's gf bread
-Favorite smoothie in the sili (again!)
-Honest kids apple juice

I wanted the kids to keep hydrated since they had been sick for a couple of days, and they don't tend to drink a lot of water at school. I had a request for a second day of their favorite smoothie, which is great since it has protein and fruit, as well as some extra hydration. I tossed the juice pouch in there for good measure. This is the first substantial lunch since catching this nasty little bug, and I'm happy to see my littles eating well again.

Sick day cuddles

 -Favorite smoothie (in the sili)
-Half sunbutter & strawberry on Rudi's gf bread
-Apple pie millet, based on an oatmeal recipe I found on pinterest (we can't eat oats)

-Homemade trail mix with cashews, golden raisins, goji berries, & a few mini vegan chocolate chips

This ended up being a home lunchbox since the kids didn't feel well and stayed home from school. The girl loved the apple pie millet, and I'm thrilled to be able to add a new grain to our menu. The boy still isn't sure about it, but tried it twice. I'm so proud of all his tasting! He also didn't want the sb&j, but his belly was bothering him. We ended up making a huge nest on the living room floor with pillows, blankets, and the crash pad, and hanging out in front of a couple of movies all day (we did some reading too). They got some much needed rest, and I got my fill of hugs and cuddles.

Ready for fancy lunches again

This one is actually from early last week. The boy had been asking for pizza with a spider made of olives, so I did an extra fancy version for him. I made the web by meticulously placing individual strands of daiya shreds, and the spider is a halved olive with miniscule slivers of olive for the legs. I made sure to remind them that spiders have 8 legs,but it's too hard to get 8 legs out of an olive half.
The sili has their favorite smoothie, strawberry cashew, and up in the corner is a half of a peanut butter bar.

The week of eating less, and eating more

Day after thanksgiving lunch

-Mashed potatoes
-Pumpkin muffin
-Grain-free bread (so good!)
-Boiled egg
-Turkey

-Honest Kids lemonade
-Dried cherries and coconut macaroon
-Baked pumpkin french toast
-Bell&Evans organic frank

Only one lunch, since the boy stayed home sick

-Dried apple chips
-Pumpkin muffin
-Dried cherries and coconut macaroon (left over from the day before)
-Baked pumpkin french toast (also left over)

-Glutino pretzels
-Clemintine halves
-Sunbutter and strawberry jam sandwich on Rudi's gf multigrain bread

Only 3 lunches last week since we had some sort of bug that passed from one of us to the other. Both kids had a few days of very light eating, and stayed home from school. By Friday, we were all back to normal, and ready to tackle the weekend. The boy has been on a trying new foods kick. Since thanksgiving, he's tasted fresh cranberries, brussels sprouts, french toast, mashed potatoes, black pepper (on eggs and potato), hot cereal, polenta, clementines, corn, and shrimp. The most amazing thing? All of those have moved to the "yes list" except for the fresh cranberries and brussels sprouts. These are all things that he's liked in the past, but hasn't been able to eat recently. Though he's had a self-limited diet for years, within the past 8 months or so, he's been loosing foods pretty dramatically, and was down to about 9 foods that he'd consistently be able to eat. However, during the past 2 weeks, he's made a major turnaround and is willingly tasting, and even requesting new foods. I'm crediting the yeast protocol we've been doing for the past month. The first two weeks were really rough, with lots of behavior issues, poor sleep, and a constant desire for sugary foods. It was fairly consistent with what we expected to see during the yeast die-off period. After that, we started to see an increase in his patience, fewer outbursts of frustration and anger, and much more flexibility (of routine) then is usual. He's been making lots of progress, and I'm very excited to see where we'll be able to go from here.

Last week

The school week was only 2 days long last week, and we spent lots of time preparing for our holiday feast and visit with family. Since I didn't get a chance to write about lunches then, I thought I'd put together a quick post to start this week. Thanksgiving meal highlights are coming soon!

 -Half bagel with sunbutter & jelly
-Kit's Organic fruit & nut bar
-Bare Fruit cinnamon apple chips
-Sili Squeeze with favorite smoothie

-Wellshire turkey ham & Earth Balance Mindful Mayo sandwich on Rudi's gf multigrain bread
-Sili Squeeze with favorite smoothie

Ravenous

-Honest Kids apple juice
-Kit's Organic fruit and nut bar
-Glutino apple breakfast bar
-Organic cranberry fruit strip
-Andean Dream quinoa cookie
-Glutino crackers and Wellshire turkey ham cut into circles

Yesterday was a Professional Development day at school, so the kids had the day off. We asked one of their friends (E) from school if she wanted to spend the day with us. Both kids adore her, and she's the first person that the boy has ever identified (on his own) as a friend. It is so very sweet to watch the three of them play together so well. We planned to share one of the kids' favorite places to play with her, so I packed up a bunch of lunches in preparation for our little adventure.
The idea was to have a bunch of easy to grab items so that they could eat for a bit, then run off and play, and then come back to the table as desired. These would have been perfect lunches for that, if all had gone according to plan. In reality, the second they got their shoes off, they ran to play for a solid 4 minutes, then the boy sauntered over and declared his need to eat. I handed him his lunch box, and he proceeded to devour the entire contents (except the quinoa cookie, which he gave to E!) within about 15 minutes. The girl had a similar reaction to the suggestion of lunch, but did pace herself a bit more. They blasted through their lunch so quickly and early, that we ended up having to cut our playtime short so that we could come home to refuel. Once at home, they went through 3 or 4 different snacks, and then ate a fairly substantial dinner. I'm not sure if entertaining E was using up a lot of energy, or if her presence somehow instigated a growth spurt, but I'm not sure I've seen either one of them eat like this before.

The easy way

 -Bare Fruit cinnamon apple chips
-Honest Kids organic apple juice
-Organic chicken breast (in the lidded container)
-Half sunbutter & strawberry on Rudi's gf bread

This was packed on an especially difficult evening. The day was full of tantrums and tears, and by the time it came to packing lunches, I was exhausted. The kids wouldn't touch the chicken, but happily ate everything else. The next day, the boy complained that I should stop packing such small lunches, but later went on to refuse his breakfast and most of his dinner.

-Wellshire turkey ham with Earth Balance soy-free mayo on Rudi's gf bread
-Carrot sticks
-Sunbutter for dipping

They loved the sandwiches, even with the mayo! I usually ask if they want mayo, since the bread can be pretty dry on it's own. Usually, the girl wants some, but the boy declines. This time I didn't ask, but both kids were pretty happy with it. It probably helped that they were quartered and in little cups. The girl had about half of her carrots, but ran out of time to finish, the boy didn't want his. Neither one wanted the sunbutter, which is usually one of the first things to be eaten.

Planning to be thankful

Yikes, terrible pic!
-Gluten-free pizza with daiya cheese on Kinnickinnick crust and turkey ham shapes on top
-small container of trail mix
-Banana/blueberry/honey/apple juice smoothie

This one was pretty neutral. Not a favorite, but didn't make it onto the "no" list either. They did like the turkey ham shapes that I put on their pizza, but said that I should put them on after baking it next time so that it doesn't curl.

-Half sunbutter and strawberry sandwich on Udi's gf raisin bread
-Wellshire turkey sausage with a cocktail fork
-Tiny container of dried pinapple
-Sweet potato bites

Neither one of them liked the sweet potato bites, but they both liked everything else. The boy is in the beginning stages of a yeast protocol. We're hoping that he comes out the other side with less cravings for carbs and sugar, and more willingness to try different foods. Worth a shot.

With just over a week until Thanksgiving, and family visiting this year, I'm just starting to seriously plan our gf/df holiday menu. I have some favorites from past years that will make an appearance, and a few new dishes that I'm excited to try. I have a feeling I'll be visting the Gluten Free Goddess for some recipe ideas,  since she hasn't failed me yet. It should be extra interesting since this year is our first without soy and with poultry. We'll be getting an organic pasture-raised turkey from Tea Hills Farm, and I'm planning on hitting the winter farmer's market for our thanksgiving produce. It will be nice to have a family thanksgiving where we can all eat and not worry about getting accidental allergens.

Election Day Lunch

Election day lunch:
-WayBetter sweet potato chips (and guacamole for the girl)
-Sections of pomelo
-Bell&Evans organic uncured turkey hotdog and small dipper of organic ketchup

Somehow the kids' lunchboxes got switched and he ended up with her guacamole. The boy said that he didn't even see it, lol. The veggie-ness of it probably overwhelmed him just enough to block it from his reality. He was excited about the pomelo pieces, he loves the texture. He takes so long to eat them that he was only able to get a few tiny bits in, but at least he'd eaten the other food first so he wasn't hungry all day. The girl ate everything in her lunchbox, and thanked me for putting the pomelo in there. If you haven't tried one before, and enjoy citrus, pick one up the next time you see one at the grocery. They taste like a grapefruit and tangerine cross, with fairly firm sections (the kids call them juice packs). They are usually a little pricy, but can be easily shared by 3 people, so it evens out.

Day after election day lunch:
-Homemade organic cornbread with sunbutter and strawberry jam
-Favorite smoothie
-Kit's Organic peanut butter bar

A little bit of a cheat in my no-sandwich week, but since it's made with homemade cornbread (with banana!), I'll let it slide. It would have been fun to have had an Ohio-themed lunch planned, but I didn't think about it until I was packing this up while watching the election results roll in. This lunch wasn't interesting enough to justify it's own post, but the kids enjoy having a visual representation of the lunches they've had, so it can hang out here with yesterday's lunch.