If I could have even a tiny bit of the talent as Pikko has, I would be so happy!  What child wouldn’t want to eat the creations of this lovely lady!

Her blog is all bento making, called Adventures in Bento Making (Photo posted with permission) Check out her Hello Kitty Bento and Miss Octopus. I just can’t get enough of it!

In my nutrition class we talked about a typical school lunch in Japan for their younger grades.  They had (the day my speaker was there) a plum, rice with soy beans, a piece of fish, and milk.   How would it be, huh?

I also wanted to share this sign at the Hollywood in American Fork, UT. I laugh every time I drive by it!  Looking for some kids?  They are free at Hollywood! There are no other signs next to it, indicating… Free Kids movies, games, etc…. Just Free Kids! Cracks me up!  And if you’re curious.. all the fine print says is “see inside for details”

Other Bento Posts:

• A bento revolution
• Teenagers

I think Cathy may be right. Spending $100 a week on groceries may prove to not be enough.  So instead, $125 per week, with the $25 going to food storage.  This closet:

used to be full! When I was paying attention to store ads, It was filled to the brim.  I would stock up on the sale items, and I always had the pantry staples I needed for everything I made.  And slowly, I stopped shopping intentionally, used up all the food, and now there is oats, oil, and lot’s of dried beans left.  

I didn’t see any terrific sales before I got groceries today, but they did have canned peaches (in it’s own juice) for 0.99 per can. Which I consider a good price.  I bought 12 of those, and 12 can’s of dark red Kidney beans (for 0.89 per can).  So, slowly I will start to build the pantry back up again.  My husband especially feels strongly we need a years supply of food, just in case of job loss or other disasters.

Yesterday I whipped up some Carrot-Craisin salad. My mom used to make carrot-raisin salad growing up, and I used to really like it.  I still do, and my kids gave it a try and liked it too.

I used

• 3 carrots
• 4 TBL mayo ( I used Veggie nayonnaise, you can also use light may)
• 1/2 TBL vinegar
• 1/2 cup craisins (or raisins)

Peel and shred three carrots 

Add the craisins

Add the light mayo or veggie mayo

Chill in fridge!

Making some bread today.  That will help the grocery bill a bit.

Sick of sandwiches?  Your kids won’t eat soup?  Our plan C is pasta for lunch!   Generally a kid favorite: Mac and Cheese.  But there are other pasta dishes that also take 8 minutes (or less), yet allow your kids to develop taste buds for something other than fake cheese.  And pasta is good both cold and hot!

Start with whole wheat pasta.  It’s not that big of a stretch.  You may be surprised that your kids won’t notice.  Generally I get most resistance from the parents in making this switch.

And then its as simple as adding a sauce or binder:

• White sauce
• Tomato sauce
• butter (small amount- to keep it healthy of course)
• Any salad dressing.  I actually lost a bunch of weight one year, and it sounds gross, but I ate noodles with fat free ranch dressing every single day!

Then, if your kids are willing, vegetables!!

• Broccoli
• cauliflower
• peas
• corn
• mushrooms
• carrots
• onions

Pasta posts:

• Quick and Healthy White Sauce recipe on Whole Wheat pasta
• Making the Switch to whole wheat pasta
• Whole Wheat pasta

AD:  BUY MAKEUP

More lunch ideas:

After sandwiches and other finger food, an A+ lunch idea is soup.  I only recently have started loving soup. (I mean in the past 5 years).  There is so many to choose from!

One thing about canned soups:  I can’t remember a time when I’ve eaten soup from a can.  I think it’s overpriced, and most brands pack too much sodium.   My husband however keeps his locker at work stocked with canned soups.  And if you check labels, I’m sure you can find some healthy soups.  If you have a good, healthy one, they are shelf stable, and quick in a pinch.  I’m just not willing to pay $2-3 for a fifty cents worth of food.  And most soups aren’t that tough to make.

Dr. Fuhrman, my favorite nutrition doctor, makes a huge pot of vegetable soup every weekend, and his family eats it all week.  He doesn’t chop some vegetables; like onions, zucchini and leeks so he can pull them out easily to puree. He calls it his Anti-Cancer Soup!  Its definitely a winner.

Because of my love for creamy things, I usually puree a few vegetables to make the broth creamier.

PS, For the recipes, my pictures are links!  Share your links to your favorite soups.

As I mentioned in the comments in my last post, we don’t generally prepare the lunches on the menu I post each week.  My kids almost always have a sandwich for lunch, unless they are home.  Those lunches are ideas only.  I do however stick with my dinner plan, and I always have the snacks available.

So, in honor of the plan, we did have Chicken noodle soup last night.  I used this recipe, because she put spinach in it.  It was soo, sooo, soo good!!! 
The kids had seconds.  This blog is dangerous!  I try to not visit, but I can’t stay away.  She always has gorgeous food pictures, with delicious, not healthy, but delicious looking food.

But back to lunch.  I considered a few things that sets lunch apart from dinner.  Lunches are generally more portable than dinner.   And many lunches can be eaten without utensils.  This could be why sandwiches are a favorite.  Probably one reason fast food is so popular too.  So, here I suggest some finger food for your little ones, no forks necessary.

Veggie cheese toast!

In less than 5 minutes, I shredded some carrots, shredded the stem of some broccoli, and sprinkled a tiny bit of colby jack cheese on some whole wheat bread.  Put it under broil in the oven for a minute or two, and ate!  It was great!  You can also try it with parmesan cheese, and I think it would be good too.  This is what I ate for lunch. I did not send this to school with the kids.

Other finger food appropriate for lunch:

• Homemade chicken nuggets with homemade fries.
• Mini pizza’s on English muffin
• Hard Boiled eggs
• Skewered fruit and cheese, or lean meat and cheese… or olives and cheese.
• A healthier version of Lunchables!  Let them assemble their own circle of pita bread, circle of lean meat, and a circle of a tomato.
• Vegetable Pinwheels.
• Burritos.

Any finger foods your kids will eat for lunch?

Head over to the giveaways if you want to win these cute Shirts!!  ( There are a bunch to choose from, but this picture is one of them: it has 4 berries across the top, and says, “Berry Good”!!

Just curious if your kids prefer to buy school lunch, or they prefer to bring a lunch.  I’ve heard many kids that actually prefer to bring a lunch.  Unfortunately, mine wish they could buy lunch. They always want what they can’t have, right??   They aren’t totally deprived. They actually purchase a school lunch once a week.  But, sending lunch to school gets boring.   I know I could send soup in a thermos, or pasta salad in a container, but my kids do not bring home containers!  They end up in the elementary schools Bermuda Triangle.  Never to be seen again.   I’ve never tried it, but you could send disposable containers, like a cleaned out yogurt cup, or a cleaned out butter thingy.

BUT, instead, we get creative with the sandwich.  And here is what I sent to school today:

OK, the thermos didn’t go.  They usually either buy milk at school for $0.25, or bring a Juice pouch (always no sugar added).    There are some carrots, and a small handful of almonds with craisins.  I always cut up the orange, to make it easier to eat.

The sandwich package:

• Today I used a whole wheat pita pocket.   But I rotate that with
• Whole wheat mini bagels
• Whole wheat wraps
• tortilla’s
• Whole wheat bread
• Whole wheat dinner rolls
• We’ve never tried panini bread, but that is an option.
• A hoagie roll
• A whole wheat english muffin
• French bread

Then we get creative with the spreads:

• Hummus (usually chickpeas)
• avocado (that was on today’s)
• veggie mayo, or light mayo
• Refried beans (pinto beans puréed)
• Light cream cheese (My personal favorite!!)
• Nut butters
• honey
• All fruit jams

Then the fillings.  Here is where parents can lose the kids!  Don’t pack too much stuff in the sandwich.  When you get a little ambitious and pack it with sprouts and lettuce so full they can’t wrap their little mouths around it, it likely will end up in the school cafeteria garbage!

• Today:  A SMALL sliver of lettuce and a small slice of mozarella cheese
• tomatoes
• sprouts
• In the case of the nut butters, add sliced bananas, apples or raisins.
• Cheeses
• olives
• peppers
• salsa
• shredded lettuce
• shredded carrots
• sliced lean meats.  (I’ve never sent meat sandwiches, but many kids like these)

Just remember, keep the sandwich thin!

And when you have no bread for sandwiches, and still don’t want to lose your Glad ware… I’ve sent a sandwich bag full of cereal, I’ve sent muffins, I’ve sent trail mix.  The sandwich doesn’t have to be the center of the lunch.

Here is the most important thing!  Talk with your kids.  Ask what food they are throwing away or trading.  They should be part of packing their own lunch, because they will put in there what they are willing to eat.

Any other sandwich ideas???  Share in the comments.

Other posts on sack lunches:

• Pack a Healthy School lunch.
• Why aren’t they eating their carrots?
• A Bento Revolution
• Teenagers
• Lunch Crunch
• Sack Lunches (this is one of my very first posts on this blog… over two years ago. With three of the four comments by my own husband.. the third comment had to be deleted by me, because it was not appropriate for a family blog… if you know what I mean

I just can’t stop playing with the camera, and wanted to share what we ate today.

These delicious noodles for lunch. You can’t see it well, but it also included broccoli and cauliflower.  It was a huge portion.  The kids gobbled it up when I made it for dinner (this is leftovers).

Then of course I haven’t started cleaning Erica’s room yet, because I wanted to make some cookies.

Then Erica wanted to take some pictures.

Although this may look nasty, according to my kids, it was actually delicious!   There was no raisin-y flavor to it. It tasted almost like orange jam.  But unlike regular jam, no refined sugars!  Brilliant! It made a perfect companion to some peanut butter on a peanut butter sandwich.  I ate it on a breakfast flat, but since my kids refused, they got it on their sandwiches I sent with lunch.

The only ingredients were:

• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup dates
• 3/4 cup orange juice.

I soaked the dried fruit in the OJ overnight, and then threw it in a blender this morning.

I still don’t have my new laptop! It doesn’t even look like its shipped yet.  Hopefully it will go out today and I can have it before the weekend.

Come back tomorrow for a SUPER AWESOME giveaway!  It rhymes with book-dare. Can you guess what it is?

Last year I stopped sending lunch boxes to school (like the adorable Bento box pictured). After getting a lunch box with moldy bread and a rotting apple, two weeks (or longer) after it was sent to school, we started using brown bags only! The new problem: with literally 10 minutes to eat their lunch before they are herded out to recesses, the majority of the lunch, bag included, ends up in the garbage. 

Problem number 2:  My son has traded an entire bag of carrots for ONE measly M&M. Trading is big business at the elementary school.

My solution: They pack their own lunches.  Do not underestimate your children.  From Kindergarten up, they can pack their own lunch.  The earlier they learn this skill, the easier your own life is going to be. And for the record: I had all my kids doing this even before they entered school.  Last year, with a kindergartner who did not eat lunch at school, he would pack his lunch with the rest of the kids so I wouldn’t have to get the lunch stuff out twice.

The kids must pick one item from each category.  We have a list inside the pantry that looks like this:

Fruit or Fruit Juice:   Apple, applesauce, orange, 100% fruit leather, fruit cup, 100% fruit juice boxes, grapes, strawberries, etc.

Vegetables: Bag of carrots, sliced celery, peppers, cucumbers, fresh peas or beans.

High Fiber Grains: Whole wheat bread for sandwich, granola bar, cereal, cold pasta, cold rice, soup.

High protein food:Nuts, hard-boiled egg, meat for your sandwich, peanut butter for your sandwich (or dipping).

Non-fat dairy: Yogurt, string cheese, milk.

You can either just put these lists up with pictures, or words and let them pack their own… OR you could separate all the appropriate food into baskets once a week for them to portion out each day on their own for lunch.  BUT give the kids ownership. When they pack their own lunch, they are less likely to trade away their food, and more likely to eat it.

Other school lunch ideas including Bento Posts:

Teenagers

A Bento Revolution

A lesson in Bento

And I’m not talking about produce.  I’m talking about local meat.  As opposed to purchasing meat at your grocery store, knowing the meat your family is getting, where it came from, and what the animals ate is extremely important in ensuring the health of your family.   We buy local because:

We recently purchased some pork from Christensens Hog Farm.  If you live in Utah, I highly recommend getting on their list for some pork.  Their pigs are

• grass fed,
• antibiotic and hormone free,
• cheaper, and
• tastes WAY BETTER than factory farm ham.

After years of processed, crappy lunch meat, I was so releived to find these guys.  Ever wondered what all the fuss is about considering hormones and anti-biotics that your factory farmed meats contains?  There is a big problem!

• Antibiotics: Antibiotics are given to cattle and other HEALTHY farm animals to prevent disease and infection.  The fact they are given to the healthy animals when they don’t need it contributes to our resistance to antibiotics.  They are already overprescribed in humans, and when we eat animals treated with antibiotics, new strains of bacteria that RESIST antibiotics are created and spread.  This is BAD NEWS for our children who constantly get ear infections and other things that current antibiotics are not helping.
• HORMONES: Need I say more! Do you really want your 8 year old daughter (or younger) taking hormone supplements?   No dietary hormone levels are safe for children.  When children consume animal flesh that has been treated with hormones, hormone levels rise.  Children naturally have low levels of hormones, why mess with that?

It took me a while to find some beef and pork that was locally raised and grass fed.  But I’m glad I did. Hopefully the meat will last us a long time considering we are ”less meatatarians now!”

TUESDAY: Lunch Idea

Forget about processed, pressed, and gross deli meat.  Do your family a favor and make ham sandwiches with local, tasty, inexpensive, REAL ham!

Looking for some meat?

• Go to your local farmers market and ask around, or the farmers may be there themselves.
• Ask friends or let them know you are looking for some local meat.
• Make a comment if you have contact information for local meat for SHK readers from other states (or even Utah). 

Lets share our resources!  Do you think local meat is important?  I know I have a lot of vegetarian readers, so this may not even apply.