Corn Syrup Roll-up – Where’s the Fruit?
Kids Food / Lunch Box / On the Go / Snacks / Sweet Treats

Corn Syrup Roll-up – Where’s the Fruit?

You know ’em, those long, sticky, peel-and-eat rolls of sweet chemicals your kids love?  I just can’t bring myself to call them what they do on the package; “fruit” is just too far off what they actually are.  Corn Syrup Roll-up could work.  Or how about Artificial Color roll-up?  To make matters worse, my kids don’t even want regular roll-ups in their lunch boxes anymore, they want the ones that stretch to nearly a foot long!  So is it possible to make foot long real fruit roll-ups?  You bet. (more…)

55 Comments
09/12/2010
Kids Food

Join the Lunch Box Loop

With school starting, I’ve been having a lot of conversations about what to put in our kid’s lunch boxes.  This is a very popular topic at the moment.  In fact, last week I participated in something called the Lunch Revolution Blog Party hosted on Notes From the Cookie Jar. The Lunch Revolution Blog Party was an opportunity for Food Bloggers to come together from far and wide, offering up their best Lunch Box ideas and recipes.  Take a minute to go to Notes From the Cookie Jar and see some of the great ideas for yourself.  Believe it or not, there are actually lots of delicious, fresh and EASY lunches out there that don’t involve peeling the top off a compartmentalized box of processed meat.  It’s true. (more…)

2 Comments
09/05/2010
Kids Food

The Conversation Challenge

Conversation.  That’s the goal of Out of the Box Food.  It really is that simple.  I’m not trying to change the world (yet), or make people eat a particular way.  I’m not here to judge or critique.  I’m certainly not perfect about feeding my kids wholesome, unprocessed food one hundred percent of the time.  I’m a mom, I’m flawed, and I want to encourage as many people as possible to start a conversation about the dangers of processed food.

(more…)

2 Comments
08/21/2010
Popsicle Perfection
Kids Food / Snacks / Sweet Treats

Popsicle Perfection

It’s August and it’s hot.  For me, August weekends are traditionally days for sprinklers and popsicles, sparkling pools and chilled watermelon.  In fact, life feels pretty close to perfect from the perspective of a shady chaise lounge in August; watching my children play and  listening as their laughter echo’s the joy of summer.  Ahhh, the sweet month of August. (more…)

6 Comments
08/08/2010
On the Road Again…Healthy Road Trip Snacks
Kids Food / On the Go / Snacks

On the Road Again…Healthy Road Trip Snacks

As I was preparing for a summer road trip this past week I caught myself humming the old Willie Nelson classic, “On the Road Again” and realized that before my family starting thinking Out of the Box about our food, “on the road” meant stops at fast food restaurants and mini marts for meals and snacks.  But now that we’ve turned a “nu”tritious-leaf, I knew I needed to give some thought to what I would provide for my kids who would inevitably mark the hours with shouts of “Are we there yet?” and “I’m hungry.”  Hmmm…gotta be prepared.  Snacks.

(more…)

3 Comments
08/01/2010
Chocolate: 72% Love
Kids Food / Sweet Treats

Chocolate: 72% Love

Chocolate has been making a statement in my life a lot lately.  No, it’s not by way of Rocky Road in front of The Bachelorette on Monday nights or through Fudge Pops out by the pool in the July heat.  Chocolate is continuing to come up both in conversation and in articles I have come across about it’s many health benefits.  I have added some articles of interest to the Relevant Reads page which I encourage you to check out.  Chocolate in it’s purest form has loads of nutritional benefits.  It’s bad rap has been handed to it by impersonators offering hints of chocolate flavor wrapped in corn syrup and sugar.

(more…)

6 Comments
07/25/2010
“Maple” Syrup: Fact or Fiction?
Breakfast Table / Kids Food

“Maple” Syrup: Fact or Fiction?

Last week at Out of the Box Food we discussed easy alternatives to frozen waffles and pancakes.  So what can we do this week to top those healthy, delicious waffles and pancakes?  Syrup of course!  Okay, this is a tricky one.  Real, honest-to-goodness maple syrup is great.  It’s single ingredient is natural, sweet and even better warm.  But if the amount of sugar in maple syrup makes your kids go a bit wacky like it does mine, then what can we top pancakes and waffles with on busy school mornings?  How about warm, thick blueberry syrup?  Sweet, rich strawberry syrup?  We getting somewhere?

(more…)

5 Comments
07/18/2010
Leggo o’ the Eggo
Breakfast Table / Kids Food

Leggo o’ the Eggo

Sunday mornings are waffle mornings at our house. Wholesome, whole wheat, buttermilk waffles. In six minutes the batter is made, then I ask the kids: “waffles or pancakes…or both?  Yup, the kids get to choose but I don’t have to be the short-order cook.  In fact, for the rest of the week, even on busy school mornings, the kids can choose to make it a  pancake or waffle morning.  How?  In six minute we’ve got a  pancake and waffle batter for that special Sunday morning plus extras to freeze for the busy weekday mornings.  No more store-bought frozen toaster waffles or pancakes.  Oh, and did I mention no need for maple syrup?  The next post will cover that…stay tuned.

(more…)

10 Comments
07/06/2010
Stickin’ with Chicken
Dinner Table / Kids Food / Lunch Box

Stickin’ with Chicken

First, let me begin by thanking you all for the incredible support!  Since our launch less than a week ago we have had over 1600 hits on Out of the Box Food!  What a fabulous testament to the subject matter.  It has been made clear to me how important it is to simply begin the conversation.  Talking about the dangers of processed food is bound to lead us to question ingredients and ultimately pull us out of the processed food rut.

This week I took a reader suggestion and went in search of “better” boxed alternatives for chicken nuggets.  I hit Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s which would inevitably carry better boxed versions, should they exist.  One  hour, two full pages of ingredients and a cramped hand later, I confirmed that in the case of chicken nuggets it is far more economical and healthy to prepare your own; though the Applegate Farms chicken nugget did have fewer ingredients than the others.  See for yourself:

(more…)

0 Comments
07/04/2010
Chicken Nuggets: Us vs. Them
Dinner Table / Lunch Box

Chicken Nuggets: Us vs. Them

I have yet to meet a child who doesn’t require chicken nuggets as a part of their diet.  That being said, I opted to make chicken nuggets the flagship recipe for Out of the Box Food.  As a mom, I’ve fallen prey to claims of “all white-meat chicken” and “whole grain” on boxes of cute dinosaur or mouse shaped chicken nuggets.  But it’s what lies beneath those items on the ingredient list that are harmful to our children. In a very short amount of time you can prepare comparable nuggets both in taste and consistency.  After baking them, they can then be easily frozen for those quick weeknight dinner or school lunch box needs.

(more…)

23 Comments
05/21/2010