Chicken Broth: What’s in a Can?
Dinner Table / Kids Food / Lunch Box

Chicken Broth: What’s in a Can?

I can’t tell you how many of the recipes I make call for chicken stock or broth.  It’s an ingredient I use more often than I can keep track of, yet I was unaware what I was actually adding to my dishes every time I cracked open a can or poured generously from a carton.  Sodium.  And lots of it. The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends that individuals consume less than 1500mg of sodium per day (that is just over 1/2 tsp of salt).  Yet some varieties of packaged chicken stock and broth contain more than 850mg sodium per serving! (more…)

5 Comments
03/06/2011
Healthy School Lunch: A Hard Sell to Kids?
Dinner Table / Kids Food / Lunch Box

Healthy School Lunch: A Hard Sell to Kids?

An article came out this week in the Chicago Tribune telling the story of drastic changes made to the Chicago Public Schools’ hot lunch program and the less than stellar response to the changes.  The article entitled, “You can lead kids to broccoli, but you can’t make them eat“, reaffirmed the importance of what we do at Out of the Box Food:  make fresh food palatable to kids.   Now, I am a believer of kids eating real food, not just kid food like macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets (even if they are made from scratch or without added chemicals).  But realistically, as this Chicago Tribune article states, we need a middle ground.  A transition.  We have to reach those kids who think they only like macaroni and cheese or chicken nuggets.  Since the goal is to get them to actually learn to like fresh, I’d rather see a child tuck into a bowl of fresh macaroni and cheese made with fiber-full macaroni, fresh cheese and milk then have them stare blankly into a bowl of Quinoa and Kale.  At least to begin with.  Let them first learn to like fresh. (more…)

0 Comments
02/27/2011
A Healthy Homemade Lunchable Your Kids Will Love…Plus a Bento Lunch Box Give-Away For You!
Kids Food / Lunch Box

A Healthy Homemade Lunchable Your Kids Will Love…Plus a Bento Lunch Box Give-Away For You!

 

My kids have ALWAYS wanted Lunchables.  They have no idea what they taste like, but they think the little compartmentalized container with the little squares of processed food product are enticing…I’m sure that’s what the company was hoping for.  I’ll admit, I have tried to create homemade versions of the Lunchable by cutting deli meats and cheeses into little squares, buying individual containers and organizing the bite size morsels into their lunch boxes.  But I have yet to get approval from the under seven set.  They’re just “not cool, mom”.  So therein lay my dilemma.  I couldn’t possibly make a cool homemade Lunchable, and I sure wasn’t going to buy the prepackaged Lunchables.  So there we were, my kids and I in a Lunchable stare down.  Who’d blink first? (more…)

54 Comments
02/20/2011
Ahoy Mateys! The Healthy Cookie Conundrum.
Kids Food / On the Go / Sweet Treats

Ahoy Mateys! The Healthy Cookie Conundrum.

Cookies are such an easy treat.  They can be packed in a lunch box, stuffed in a mouth or held in even the tiniest of hands.  But why fill those little hands and mouths with hydrogenated oil and high fructose corn syrup when you can bake an easy, fresh, and delicious treat which, by the way, tastes even better warm with a tall glass of milk!

Packaged cookies are a convenience that I’d guess most (if not all) of us have purchased at one time or another.  They must be a viable money maker based on the number of brands and varieties that fill nearly an entire supermarket aisle.  Yet, when I compared the ingredients on packaged cookies to those we can make fresh…well, there is no comparison. (more…)

2 Comments
02/13/2011
Granola Bars: Grab-and-Go Chemicals or Nourishment?
Kids Food / Lunch Box / On the Go / Snacks

Granola Bars: Grab-and-Go Chemicals or Nourishment?

Granola bars stir up quite the controversy at our house.  My kids want to bring them to school for snack, but a nut-free school means no granola bars with nuts of any sort.  That rules out a lot of the granola bars on the market.  Then when we look at what’s left and examine what ingredients are actually in the remaining granola bars things really start to get interesting.  Let’s just say we’re left with…well, not much. (more…)

11 Comments
01/16/2011
Granola: The “Sometimes” Healthy Snack
Breakfast Table / Kids Food / Snacks

Granola: The “Sometimes” Healthy Snack

homemade granola for kids

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Granola.  What image does the word “Granola” evoke for you?  I’ve always felt the word “Granola” was synonymous with “health”.  For me growing up, the word Granola evoked images of health food markets where you could barely fit down the aisle but you could find things like Wheat Grass and Hemp seed.  But now Granola is common, good food and chances are you can find a healthy, minimally processed granola at the average supermarket.  But not all Granola is the same and this is a perfect opportunity to discuss the importance (and ease) of reading labels.

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6 Comments
01/09/2011
New Years Resolution Number One: Eat Apple Pie for Dinner
Dinner Table / Kids Food / Sweet Treats

New Years Resolution Number One: Eat Apple Pie for Dinner

Well, 2011 is officially here and we are now faced with endless possibilities for the upcoming year.  In previous years my New Year’s resolutions had been pretty consistent, but this year they have finally changed.  They used to include, “lose five pounds”, “exercise more” and “fit into those old jeans again”. This year, though I’ll keep my “exercise more” resolution, the purpose and direction of the rest of my resolutions directly follow the path I’ve been taking on this Out of the Box Food journey.  These resolutions won’t necessarily get me to my old “lose five pounds” goal, but they will provide my family and I a healthier way of treating our bodies. (more…)

1 Comment
01/02/2011
Kids Food / Snacks / Sweet Treats

The Holidays and Marshmallows – The Final Chapter “Hot Cocoa”

A few nights ago we took our boys to see the holiday light displays on “Candy Cane Lane”.  As we rolled our minivan slowly through the streets behind the rest of Los Angeles, we spotted a neighbor selling hot cocoa to benefit the Eagle Scouts.  What’s more festive than a cup of hot cocoa, brightly colored light displays and holiday music on the radio, right?  We bought each of the boys a cup and as they sat cozy in the back, sipping the warm drink and slurping the marshmallows out one-by-one, I realized that it was probably time to take a deconstructed look at instant hot cocoa.  I was pretty sure those drink packets weren’t as innocent and idyllic as they seemed.  Turns out I was right.
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1 Comment
12/26/2010
Kids Food / Sweet Treats

The Holidays and Marshmallows – Part 2 “Rice Crispy Treats”

Last week I mentioned that we’d delve into a couple of well-known holiday marshmallow traditions.  Rice Crispy Treats are definitely up there on the list of the go-to recipes for cookie exchanges, school holiday parties, and as a treat for Santa after he’s made it down a few chimneys.  But I’d bet that if Santa knew those treats contained a chemical banned in eleven countries and an additive suspected to cause abnormalities in the brain, hyperactivity in children and cancer, he’d probably pass.  Just a hunch. (more…)

2 Comments
12/19/2010
Kids Food / Sweet Treats

The Holidays and Marshmallows – Part 1

A couple weeks ago my son pulled an old bag of marshmallows from the pantry.  With a look of pleading on his face, he asked if he could “Puhleeez have one” of the stale puffs of corn syrup.  I found myself staring at that bag I’d had in the pantry since the first summer campfire more than eight months ago and realized that in addition to being an integral ingredient in summertime s’mores, marshmallows also play a big role during the holidays.  They top sweet potato casseroles on Thanksgiving, are mixed into holiday fudge and cookie recipes and make a fun dreidel craft/dessert when pierced with a pretzel and dipped in chocolate.  They also top our cups of hot cocoa as we wait for Santa to come, and are an important ingredient in the ever-present rice crispy treats that grace our school bake sales and holiday parties. (more…)

6 Comments
12/12/2010