The “Corn Dog” Days of Summer
Dinner Table / Kids Food / Lunch Box / On the Go

The “Corn Dog” Days of Summer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s summer!  Across the country, state and county fairs are offering loads of delicious processed foods on sticks.  Foods that kids love (and I hate to admit, some of us adults too).  Today as my boys and I strolled through the brightly colored booths at the Ventura County Fair, we inhaled the decadence of fried fair treats, creating memories of summer.  These are the memories we will eventually go back to on cold November afternoons, encouraging us to take out a box of frozen corn dogs in order to recapture the experience.  Hey, why not?   Frozen corn dogs are easy, inexpensive, delicious, and some brands are even made with healthy turkey dogs, right?  But it’s what lies within the box, underneath the list of thirty seven, no thirty eight ingredients that should snap us back from our sweet memories of summer and encourage us to look for food outside of the box.

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81 Comments
06/30/2011
“Secret” Ingredient Guacamole for Cinco de Mayo
Dinner Table / Kids Food / Lunch Box / Snacks

“Secret” Ingredient Guacamole for Cinco de Mayo

I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that a a lot of kids out there like avocados.  They are a healthy, nutrient rich fruit (yes they are a fruit) that are often passed off as a vegetable in sandwiches, salads, and of course, guacamole.  Seeing as Cinco de Mayo is right around the corner, I realized those easy prepackaged containers of guacamole would soon be flying off the supermarket shelf.  (more…)

3 Comments
05/01/2011
A “Peep” into Artificial Colors and Corn Syrup
Kids Food / Sweet Treats

A “Peep” into Artificial Colors and Corn Syrup

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spring is here, and with it comes one of the most recognizable candy confections to grace the supermarket shelves…Marshmallow Peeps.  Those little pastel colored puffs of artificial flavor fill many Easter baskets and young tummies each year.  But perhaps it’s time to consider what those little bunnies and chicks are actually made of.  As we discussed last week, it’s also important to recognize artificial colors and their suspected effect on children.  The pink Marshmallow Peeps are colored with Red 3, which according to Ruth Winter, M.S. in her book A Consumer’s Dictionary of Food Additives, “in 1996…was found to be a cancer-causing additive and may contribute to breast cancer.”   Apparently, according to the same book, the FDA has considered removing Red 3 as an optional food colorant, but has yet to do so. What are they waiting for? (more…)

2 Comments
04/17/2011
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
Pigs in a Blanket: Fun Kid Food The Healthier Way
Kids Food / Lunch Box / Snacks

Pigs in a Blanket: Fun Kid Food The Healthier Way

I’m not suggesting that what your about to read is about health food.  It doesn’t follow a raw diet, vegetarian or vegan diet, or even a fresh-fruit-and-veggie diet.  But we all know kids like fun food and I’m a believer that “Fun Food” does not have to be synonymous with “Junk Food”.   If we make smart choices about the ingredients we use, we can make fun “kid food” without all the chemicals, food dyes, refined sugars and well…junk. (more…)

3 Comments
01/22/2011
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