Breakfast Table / Kids Food / On the Go / Snacks

Breakfast Bars – Amp Up or Fuel Up?

Last week a friend suggested we take a deconstructed look at breakfast bars.  As a working mother of two under four, her mornings are busy and rushed yet she wants to provide a healthy start to her kids’ day.  One day in a pinch, she picked up a nationally recognized brand bar for the following morning’s breakfast.  Ten minutes after eating the bar, her son was bouncing off the walls.  That little self-proclaimed “health” bar, had turned a quiet morning into a wild, stress-filled kickoff to the day.

Aren’t school mornings challenging enough? (more…)

20 Comments
09/26/2010
Pudding Cups – Cup of what?
Kids Food / Lunch Box / Snacks / Sweet Treats

Pudding Cups – Cup of what?

It’s the third week of first grade at our house, and already my children are coming home with processed food requests from their friends lunch boxes.  Yesterday it was for “those cups of white and brown pudding that everyone has”.  Okay, guess we’re going to push pudding cups up on the list of Out of the Box Food explorations. (more…)

6 Comments
09/19/2010
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
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.

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3 Comments
08/01/2010