Zucchini has 36 calories per cup, yet 10% of your DV for nutrients such as; manganese, vitamin C, A, and fiber.  However, it is so much more beneficial than a vitamin supplement because squash has the ability to help you absorb other nutrients

Whether your garden is overflowing with zucchini, or picked some up at the grocery store, have your kids try these Stuffed zucchini pizza boats.

The process was simple, and the kids can help!

• We sliced a zucchini down the center, and scooped the seeds out of the middle to create a well for the toppings.
• We then placed the zucchini in a microwave safe dish.
• Filled it with a mixture containing

1. 1/3 cup cooked rice
2. 1/3 cup spaghetti sauce
3. (add any other vegetables you choose)
4. Topped with mozzarella cheese.

Then, we added a touch of water to the bottom of the dish and covered it with plastic wrap.  (like 1-2 TBL)

Then we microwaved on high for 8 minutes (or until zucchini is tender).  You can also choose to bake at 400 for about 15 minutes.

  This pizza is a great alternative to pizza for those kids sensitive to gluten!  Overall, it’s great for all kids.

Here are some other zucchini posts from the past:

• Fried Worm Sandwiches
• Chocolate zucchini cake
• Zucchini Bread
• Crookneck
• Breaded zucchini

Inspired by iCarly (which I’ve only seen once… OK, Maybe twice) where T-Bo puts all his food on sticks, we skewered our lunch today.

I’ve actually never liked the classic peanut butter and jelly together.  But My kids love it! This sandwich is so easy to make a health superstar, or a dietary disaster!

According to Wikipidia, the average North American child will consume 1500 PB&J’s before graduating high school! LOL  This makes it even more important to healthify the classic sandwich!

• Replacing sugar infused, commercially prepared peanut butter with homemade nut butters may have the biggest impact on the overall nutrient density of this sandwich. So, how do you healthify this fave?
• Replace sugar added jam, with jam prepared with only fruit.
• Use whole wheat bread, or homemade bread.

And if you want to go beyond the normal.  Here are some other variations on the sandwich kids might like!

• Peanut Butter swirl sandwiches (made with whole wheat cinnamon bread, peanut butter and jelly)
• Peanut butter and sliced apples on whole wheat bread (Meal Makeover Mom’s)
• Peanut butter, raisins and banana on whole wheat pita (MMM)
• Peanut butter and honey (or agave). We eat these often!
• PB&J on a whole wheat waffle
• Nut butter and applesauce
• Grilled or toasted peanut butter and jelly
• Peanut butter and Jelly Truffles
• Peanut butter and Nutella
• Soy nut butter with berries
• A triple decker PB&J- Crust cut off, sliced into squares and skewered!
• And the weirdest way- My husband eats his Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in a bowl of milk, with a fork!

And for heaven sakes parents,  if the kids will only eat it with the crust cut off, just do it!  They grow out of it, I promise!

Do your kids like a “Beyond ordinary” Peanut butter and jelly?

School is starting on Wednesday for us (hooray), and we will be back to brown bagging our lunches.  Choosing lunch meat for sandwiches should be done with as much care as all your other groceries.

Promise me you won’t purchase lunch meat just because the word “Healthy” is splattered on the packaging!  Promise? 

So, what should you look for?

• Fewest ingredients rules! This is always the best rule of thumb.  Some lunch meat packages contain more than 20 ingredients with the majority of them things you cannot pronounce.  Always check your labels!  
• Purchase organic or hormone free where available.  But don’t be fooled. Sometimes, although the animals may be organic, this is no guarantee they haven’t added loads of ingredients to the lunch meat.
• “Sectioned and formed” vs. Whole cuts:  Whole cuts are seasoned with salts and sugars, while sectioned and formed are various pieces of animal products, bound with artificial ingredients.  Obviously choose- Whole Cuts
• Avoid Nitrates!  These are carcinogens.  Your children do not need nitrates.
• Best bet- Cook up whole turkey’s and slice your own.  Or custom order slices from your local farmers.

Here is another thing we learned when Anna was making our Bento lunch.  The lunch meat flower:

• Simply fold slice of meat in half
• Score the edge of the sliced side
• Roll into flower.
• Secure with a toothpick.

As soon as the photography session was over with these pieces of ham, the kids ran over to eat them! They love lunch meat!

Anyone have healthy lunch meat brands they want to recommend to the readers?

This is my final wrap up to some Japanese children food culture.  I promise to be back next week with some healthy things that may be a little more appealing to your little American darlings!

SNACKS:

• I wanted to write a whole post about what Japanese children snack on, but they said they don’t do much snacking.  After school they are either in clubs, or if they go home after school they are helping with meal preparation or doing homework.
• They said, “I guess if kids snack, they would eat the packaged food”.   And normally it wouldn’t be a sweet snack, just salty.  While not super healthy, we could probably compare the size of their packaged foods with ours.  I don’t know if you can tell from the photo, but these chips are super duper mini versions of pringles.

• And then, while at our house, I found the girls snacking on this.   They had a bowl of rice that they were spooning into seaweed paper and folding over and munching on.  For the record, none of us tried it.  We aren’t Sushi eaters over here.

BREAKFAST

• As I mentioned before, they aren’t accustomed to sweet things for breakfast.  Although they admit that children today are starting to eat more sweet things, my girls grew up with grandparents close by and more traditional customs. 
• They would eat rice and miso soup (always soup at breakfast) with grilled fish… for breakfast!  They’ve never tried oatmeal!
• While with us however, they made this little breakfast sandwich pictured below.  They “bread” for it was rice pressed into a bun.  Great gluten free idea for those kids who can’t,  or shouldn’t eat bread.  They put in the center a cooked egg and sliced sausage.

They also had rice balls with tuna in the middle for breakfast (they did prepare their tuna with mayo)

And one morning they had fried rice by adding a little soy sauce to their egg before cooking. And then adding those tiny chopped carrots and rice.

One more observation: Eating local, and in season.  Fumiko said she didn’t like fish, and I commented that I thought everyone in Japan liked fish.  She said matter of factly, that it was because she lived in the mountains, not by the sea!   I’ve been thinking about this since Morgan noted in her comment the other day how interesting it is that we are so different considering it seems everyone has access to everything.  I’m sure Fumiko can get fish, just as fast as we could, yet she is still eating local!

Well, that’s it for Japan! We love you Anna and Fumiko and miss you! Thanks for sharing your culture with our family!!

I hope you bear with me this week, as I share more Japanese food culture!  All the food information I am getting is from two Japanese girls, and I should add that the details here may not be true for all of Japan!

I think it’s fun to see what people eat for lunch in other countries though.  I know my kids get bored bringing the same old peanut butter and jelly sandwich to school everyday… and these girls had never tried a PB&J in their life!  Instead lunch in Japan goes like this:

• Elementary school- Always school provided lunch!  Pre-school and High school, they bring a lunch, usually in a bento box as pictured above.
• They eat soup at every single meal! EVERY SINGLE MEAL!  Breakfast, lunch, and dinner!
• School lunch for elementary school is soup, a piece of meat, rice or bread, and fruit for dessert.  They could not believe my kids when my kids said there was a cookie at school lunch every single day!
• In Elementary school, they are given milk to drink, every day.
• The above Bento lunch is typical if they brought lunch to school in high school, or went on a picnic. It included a hard boiled egg, rice, broccoli, and ham.

To make the Rice Bear Ball, Anna made small balls with warm rice, wrapped in saran wrap.  Three balls for the face and two ears were tinted with soy sauce in the rice.  The fourth ball (the mouth of the bear) she used plain rice.

Then, the facial features were made by cutting seaweed paper.  Which they were snacking on afterwards. lol

I think this is a fabulous, healthy, and delicious alternative to a sandwich for lunch! Nathan (my 11 year old) actually thinks rice and hard boiled eggs are the two greatest foods ever made (not including things with sugar)

明日は夕食についてブログを書くよ！

For some super cute Bento characters, visit Pikko’s blog!

Raisins- some kids love them, some hate them.  My daughter has crossed over. She used to be a hater, but started to like raisins when she got addicted to trail mix!  I’ve always been a lover.

Raisins are the original fruit snack! Remember when we were kids?  Fruit snacks didn’t come in brightly colored baggies, full of corn syrup.  They were tiny single serving boxes with the SunMaid Lady on the front.

Why should our kids eat raisins?

• Potassium!  Raisins and dried apricots are one of our best potassium sources.  In fact, last night we were trying to find potassium rich foods for this Trek I keep talking about.  My husband is going to be one of two medical people there, and he’s concerned about dehydration.  Potassium and sodium balance is essential.
• They are shelf stable without the use of chemicals! Stock up parents, these babies can last a long time stored properly.
• They are the top US source of Boron (a mineral for bone health)
• Raisins are high in phenols (an antioxidant that protects against oxidative damage)
• Protects against macular degeneration (important for my kids- my father in law is blind from it!)

Bottom line, share the raisins!!!  Sunmaid sent me a link to this recipe, and we loved it.  So, I’m posting it here with permission.  I’m always looking for salad recipes, beyond lettuce based boring salad.

BAJA COLESLAW

• 1/2 small head cabbage, washed and finely shredded (about 4 cups)
• 2 small carrots, peeled and shredded
• 3 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 small sweet bell pepper, diced 1/4"
• 3/4 cup Sun-Maid Natural Raisins or Sun-Maid Golden Raisins, divided
• 1/2 cup cubed fresh or frozen, thawed mango
• 1/2 cup cubed fresh or frozen, thawed papaya
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• Chopped cilantro leaves for garnish

COMBINE cabbage, carrots, onions, bell pepper, ½ cup of the raisins, mango and papaya in large bowl.
MIX sugar, olive oil and lime juice in small bowl. Add to vegetables and fruit and mix thoroughly.
TURN into a serving bowl and garnish with cilantro and remaining ¼ cup raisins.
Makes 6 to 8 servings.
Nutrients per Serving: Calories 180; Protein 2.2g; Fat 7g (Sat. Fat 1g); Carbohydrate 29g; Dietary Fiber 4.7g; Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 35mg
Daily Values: Vitamin C 93%      Vitamin A 70%       Dietary Fiber 19%

Great lunch idea: Baja coleslaw, rolled tortilla, rolled deli meat, all on a Healthy Habits Plate.

So that’s it- We’re off to the desert. I’ll be offline for THREE DAYS!!! AHHHH!!!  I’ll miss you~ But be back Monday with another giveaway!

You don’t have to have issue’s with gluten to love these pizza’s! My kids that were home loved them. The neighbor girl loved them, and all three were asking me to make them some more.

I got this recipe from a friend, Mindy, who is on a weight loss journey, that’s working! She’s lost 10-11 lbs so far. Good Job Mindy!  Then she posted a Low-carb pizza recipe (without flour) on her blog (that she got from her friend Maria), right at the time we decided to go gluten free for the week. Great timing.  I wanted to try it for sure.

The simple ingredients were:

• 3 Eggs, seperated
• 1/2 tsp cream of tarter
• 3 oz room temperature light cream cheese
• 3 TBL parmesan cheese

First separate the eggs and whip the whites with cream of tarter until VERY fluffy. Second, stir the cream cheese with the egg yolks till blended, and fold into the egg whites.  Also fold in the parmesan cheese.

Spread in a greased 13X9 pan.

Bake at 375 for 15-18 minutes.

Top the “pizza crust” with whatever vegetables your kids like.

I cut these out of the pan with a circle cookie cutter.  I added a SMALL amount of tomato sauce, a few shreds of mozzarella, and my broccoli slaw!

Head over to the giveaway page to win a $60 gift card to the CSN Stores.

What child doesn’t like chips? Right?  I tried making sweet potato chips THREE times!  First time, they turned black almost immediately (cooked at 425). Second time, not cooked long enough.. too chewy (at 250).  Third time was a charm (except for the part where I grated my finger prepping the potatoes).  Other than that..wink.. these couldn’t be easier.

Procedure:

• Take a sweet potato
• Grate or cut thin slices
• Place on baking sheet and slightly salt
• Bake at 250 for 1 hour (moving the potato slices around every 15 minutes.
• There is a fine line between not cooked enough and burned.  If you can land at that crispy- still orangish brown stage… They are delicious. 
• If you don’t cook them long enough, they are chewy, and my kids didn’t like them.  The crispier for us the better!!  And at crispy… MMMMM..MMMM

These sweet potato chips make a delicious lunch side or snack.  You can make ahead and store in an airtight container or baggies.

Sweet potatoes are terrific because they are

• They contain Vitamin A!!  262% of the Daily Value in ONE small sweet potato!!
• High in Vitamin C.  29% of the Daily Value in ONE small sweet potato!!
• Beta – carotene 23,018 mcg!!  (I don’t think there is a Daily value for beta carotene, but 23 thousand mcg seems like plenty!
• 
  

  Twice as high in fiber as regular potatoes

Other things to do with your sweet potatoes:

• Sweet Potato Crescent Rolls
• Mashed Sweet potatoes
• Sweet potato Fries

Healthy Tip- We still pack lunches, even though it’s summer!  Why?

• We like picnics at the park
• We don’t mess up the kitchen during the day
• On busy days we don’t want to be stuck somewhere starving (and heaven forbid, pick up fast food!
• It helps us plan for getting 5- fruits and vegetables a Day. Planning pays off!.

So, this Italian Delight, is our Antipasto plate (box)  We used:

• sliced ham
• cheeses
• olives
• tomatoes
• cucumbers
• Whole wheat buns
• Sprinkled with zesty Italian just before eating time
• And strawberries for dessert.
• 

So, there you go. Packing a lunch for us although we aren’t going to school has saved us money, time, mess, and headaches! I know my kids are going to eat SOMETHING during the day, and I don’t have to help them get it.

Even when I had only two kids in school, I would still pack a lunch for TJ, while I was helping the other two kids pack.  He loved that he also had a lunch box, even though he wasn’t in school yet.  But I figured, while I had everything out anyway- It only made sense. 

And, how about it for the awesome Lunch containers?? Those were sent to us by Easy Lunch Boxes.  It’s great to keep foods separate for kids.  I’m loving it for summer picnics, because I know it will come home (unlike the lunch boxes that have sunk into the Bermuda Triangle at the school cafeteria.

Do you want to win a lunch container??? Leave a comment  on the giveaway page to win a Container set and a lunch bag.  Deadline is Wednesday night (June 23rd)

I have every intention to make fruits and vegetables MORE appealing to your little ones, but instead this idea is likely to gross them out!  But hey, maybe someone’s having a “Gross things” party, or need some edible, yet ugly Halloween party food, or just read the book, “How to Eat Fried Worms” and wanted a little object lesson lunch.. whatever your reasons, here is our WORM SANDWICHES!

We Julienned zucchini and yellow squash. (fancy for cutting into long strips)

Then, we put in our cast iron skillet with 1/4 cup water mixed with some brown food coloring.

And sautéed in the water until soft and tender.

And there is our crazy, gross looking lunch, that we actually like

Other Healthy gross party food:

• Carrot Fingers
• Pear Skull
• Halloween Menu
• Finger Food