Kids Food / Sweet Treats

The Comfort of a Peanut Butter Pie

There are moments in life when the realization of how fragile we are shifts everything into perspective.  This past week, special friends of the family, Laura, Collene & Courtney Gaugh lost their loving husband/father, Bill Gaugh, a man not quite 49 years old.  Two days later I read that food writer, Jennifer Perillo, whose blog I follow, lost her young husband.  It is times like these that remind us to gather our loved ones close, and remember how important it is to cherish every second. (more…)

2 Comments
08/12/2011
Kids Food / Lunch Box / On the Go / Snacks

In a pickle – Sun Pickles to Make with the Kids

Pickles are a fun food.  They make our lips pucker, are delicious served icy cold and can even be found on a stick!  But when I looked into what’s in many of the jarred pickles, my lips puckered for another reason entirely…artificial colors & high fructose corn syrup – in the DILL pickles.  That’s right.  Many of our go-to brands are in need of a ingredient check. (more…)

7 Comments
08/07/2011
Kids Food / Snacks / Sweet Treats

Real Strawberry Lemonade

What is Strawberry Lemonade?  If we asked the restaurant where we had lunch last weekend, they would tell us it’s lemonade with three pumps of artificially flavored strawberry syrup.  Ugh.  After watching my son slurp down this horrible concoction, I knew I couldn’t let that be his lasting memory of Strawberry Lemonade.  I needed to give him a fresh alternative.

When we got home, I got to work with my kids in the kitchen.  We pulled a basket of strawberries from the fridge, picked some lemons from the tree in the backyard and started mixing.  This is not your average pump-of-strawberry-syrup Strawberry Lemonade.  This thirst quenching treat is chock full of organic strawberries and fresh squeezed lemonade. (more…)

2 Comments
08/03/2011
Fresh Squeezed Lemonade – Just a Pinch of Sugar
Kids Food / Snacks / Sweet Treats

Fresh Squeezed Lemonade – Just a Pinch of Sugar

With summer comes childhood memories of long afternoons running through sprinklers, playing quietly in secret forts underneath the thick shady branches of trees, and hours of endless planning  and construction of the perfect lemonade stand.  Do you also have memories of sitting at the end of a driveway, collecting dimes and the occasional quarter as you poured Dixie cups full of cool lemonade for neighbors and passers by?  I’m not sure how many times I actually followed through, but I certainly remember the planning and thought while underneath the shade of a tree – and I definitely remember drinking most of the profits.

Now that I have my own kids, I know those hours of lemonade stand planning are just around the corner.  But I don’t want to turn to the old frozen-lemonade-from-concentrate standby.  I want to make it fresh and natural.  For the cost of a half dozen lemons and a bit of sugar, you can make fresh squeezed lemonade with your children which will be a healthy part of a fun activity and memory with you. (more…)

2 Comments
07/31/2011
Sweet Treats

Orange Creamsicle

                              Out of the Box FoodSM Orange Creamsicle Serves: Varies depending on size of popsicle molds…

1 Comment
07/29/2011
Kids Food / Sweet Treats

Pie Party – Blueberry-Apricot with Whole Wheat & Flax Crust

It’s a Pie Party!  A few weeks ago a fellow blogger, Shauna Ahern at the wonderful site Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef and some of her friends, decided to get other bloggers, home cooks & chefs together for an internet wide Pie Party on July 5th.  Well, I didn’t need much more than the suggestion to bake up my families favorite, Blueberry-Apricot Pie.  But to give it the Out of the Box Food Health Boost, I made it with very little added sugar and baked it in a whole wheat and flax crust.  My family sends out a big, giant “thank you” through a mouthful of Blueberry Apricot Pie to all who created “Pie Party”.  They can’t wait until the next one!

(more…)

5 Comments
07/05/2011
Breakfast Table / Snacks / Sweet Treats

Red, White & Blue – And Chocolate Too

Happy 4th of July!  Though we are still in the process of updating our site in the redesign, I wanted to share a fun, kid friendly breakfast/dessert (yes, you read this correctly) that my son created in an attempt to convince my husband and I that he needed dessert the other night.  His creation was so delicious and nutritious, that it earned proud placement as this week’s post.  Enjoy! (more…)

2 Comments
07/03/2011
Homemade Oven Baked French Fries – Skip the Frozen
Dinner Table / Kids Food

Homemade Oven Baked French Fries – Skip the Frozen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rather than succumb to the drive-thru to satisfy our cravings for crisp, salty potatoes last week, we talked about how to make our own Restaurant Style French Fries.  Crisp on the outside, light and fluffy on the inside, these fries made even our youngest critics happy.  But for many of us, week night dinners do not include two quarts of oil and a fry thermometer (heard your comment, Susie!).  So let’s slim down the fry in both calories and time by baking them – they will certainly make an easy, fresh and delicious accompaniment to any BBQ or Sandwich night. (more…)

13 Comments
06/30/2011