Eating more veggies. Intentionally.

Summer break is upon us. Girls are home with a shared nanny. And it seems, they are always in the fridge. Starving and searching for food. My oldest has a huge aversion to green things. My battle has begun. She does like cucumbers and celery. So I bought a celery stalk and cut it up in "ready to eat" bites. And she loves chocolate. Nutella and peanut butter with cucumbers or celery? Yup. Now it all sits in the fridge ready to grab for a car ride or quick snack. 

Jiffy cornbread waffles

Here's the scene...8am on Saturday morning and there's no pancake/waffle mix! Not cool. Here's what I did...grabbed a box of Jiffy cornbread mix, added an egg, lil sugar, some milk and oil.  Poured onto a hot waffle iron and 3 minutes later had tasty cornbread waffles. Make organic cornbread waffles with the Arrowhead mix. 

bento lunches

Bento boxes are a fun way to pack and organize your kiddie's lunches. I bought my BPA-free Sistema lunch boxes at TJ Maxx for $3.99. The built-in compartments separate your food and eliminate the need to use one-use plastic baggies. They also have to go mugs which I have seen at Safeway for about $5. Bonus - My girls actually like packing their lunches now!

bulk baby

I had a duh moment the other day...why buy expensive, yet oh so convenient, cute containers of yogurt, when I can buy larger containers of the same thing for less and then place them in small Tupperware containers for lunches.  And why cook five servings of spaghetti sauce when I can cook 10 servings so we have leftovers?

Soooo....now I'm buying the following in large-in-charge quantities:  applesauce, spaghetti sauce, almonds, trail mix, cold cereal, graham crackers, baked fish crackers and yogurt.  What do you buy in bulk or in large quantities?

food buckets

I first ate some sand pudding last week (vanilla pudding, crumbled cookies in a bucket with a shovel as a spoon).  So when I began organizing the girl's summer splash party, I just had to use a plastic beach bucket for food.  I bought four at Walmart for a buck each. I threw apple sauce cups and spoons in one, graham crackers in another and cheeze-its in the third. The fourth one was used for minute to win-it games.  Next time I'm buying a small one for salsa and using a large one for chips. Ahhhh-dorable. View eco-friendly sand buckets by Zoe B here.  Been busy but I am back blogging!

Freeze it baby

/freezertips

The freezer is your friend.  Repeat this again.  Before your left-overs go sour, FREEZE them puppies.  Use a plastic freezer bag or Tupperware.  Don’t forget to write it’s contents on the container and the date.  Nothing like defrosting some marinara sauce only to find it’s…surprise…chili.  I made a very healthy     easy meal of boxed macaroni and cheese, kosher beef hot dogs (from the freezer) and peas for the girls the other day.  Efficiencies – Save money by freezing your scraps. Save time by boiling your hot dogs with the pasta.  View eco-friendly freeze containers here.

sausage efficiency

2012 is all about efficiency.  This year, I will provide tips on increasing efficiency in your meals, parenting, shopping and living.  As you know, I enjoy quick tips so some of these blog will be well…short, simple and EFFICIENT.  

Home made sausage from Healthy Green Kitchen

Sausage.  The girls love love breakfast sausage and probably feast on this twice a week.  But I abhor the greasy sticky hands after forming refrigerated sausage rounds. Keep it frozen and then take a really sharp knife and cut slices. My other tip is to cook it on my knock-off George Foreman indoor grill.  Efficiencies - Less mess, way easier to clean, the grease drips off into a nice cess pool.  And your sausage have these cute grill marks.  View organic breakfast sausage and indoor grills here.  Here's a recipe to make your own sausage.

Ice cream cone cupcakes

Betty Crocker Ice Cream Cone Cakes

They love ice cream.  They love cake batter.  Slap them together and they will fall over with joy.  I'm making these tasty treats for Belle's upcoming 5th birthday.  Here's what you do:  Mix your cake batter according to your recipe, place cupcake liners into  muffin tins, pour in the batter, place ice-cream cones on top and bake 15-22 minutes.  Cool, remove liner, frost and sprinkle with love. Here are some organic cake recipes. Send me your pics and comments when you make this one!  

Jam on it

Making strawberry freezer jam is pretty darn easy.  I made eight jars for the girls in oh....30 minutes.  Here's what you do:  mash strawberries, mix in sugar, add pectin (thickens), pour into containers, let sit for 1 day and then place in freezer.  The girls love jam on their pancakes, almond meal waffles, biscuits, peek a boo eggs, in smoothies, and on PBJ's.  The best thing it tastes like fresh fruit.  Makes great presents too!  Get on it. 

Picture from For the love of cooking

disneyland food tippies

We are in the magical land of happiness.  Our first family vacation.  Here are my seven cost saving foodie tips for eating at Disneyland.  1.  Bring snacks. They don't mind, meals are expensive and your kids are too excited to eat full meals anyways.  2.  Bring water. Or you can buy it at the park for $3-5 a bottle.  We bought a case at the mini mart near our hotel.  3.  Find the hotel buffet breakfasts that let kids eat for free.  4.  Pack cereal, paper bowls, spoons in your luggage and buy the milk and bananas at the mini mart.  Great afternoon snack and/or cheap breakfast option.  5. Eat dinner at Ihop.  Kids eat free@ Ihop after 4pm when an adult buys a meal.  What kid doesn't want pancakes and strawberries for dinner?  6.  Avoid the park food courts and opt for the restaurants.  You get more bang for your buck$. 7.  Do the character dinning (see pic).  Great memory.  Just realize that's what your paying for.  It's $35 per adult and $19 per kid.  We had a tasty breakfast at Ariel's Grotto while the princesses strolled around. The girls loved it.  Bring your camera and keep snappin' and bring your appetite, because they will keep the food flowin'. 

earth friendly snack bags on sale

In honor of Earth Day, Mama Luvs is having a sale!  Get 30% off your entire purchase with free shipping on all orders through the month of April!  Use code "SMDF Earth Day" to nab this exclusive savings.  Mama Luvs snack bags have new springtime fabrics. These are perfect for summer camps and packing meals for daytime adventures at the parks and beaches this spring and summer! - Taken from http://www.seattlemomsdealfinder.com

dirty candy

I forgot Valentine's day is like Halloween.  All that darn candy.  I have a friend who lets her kids eat as much as they can stand on the first day and then the bag disappears.  Our bag is still around and the girls have it on their mind as soon as their tired eyes pop open.  Here's an eco-friendly trick to get rid of the love day treats - compost them!  If you don't have a compost bin, you could just place them deep in your house plants or outdoor plant soil.  Or you could take them to work and let your co-workers gobble them up.  Here's some more tips from my eco-buddy over at Green Halloween http://greenhalloween.org/blog/?tag=how-to-compost-candy

cold mice

Ice cream good.  Mice bad.  An ice cream mouse...tasty.  We made these the other night at pre-school family night.  Here's what you do - place a scoop of ice-cream or frozen yogurt into a cupcake liner and then let the kiddies decorate it to make a mouse.  Use vanilla wafers or mini cookies for the ears, craisins or jelly beans for the mouth and eyes and a pretzel stick for the tail.  Make it organic by using - Julie's Organic Ice Cream and Newman's Own baked pretzels.

Feeding the Reindeer

Santa is almost here.  While he delivers presents and chows down on the treats you and the kids baked, his reindeer are outside starving.  Hello. Ok, well they're hungry, so here's a recipe to fuel em- Mix 1 cup of oatmeal with 1 tablespoon colored sugar crystals or substitute the crystals with colored glitter for the bling effect.  You can even add birdseed to the mix but not with the glitter recipe.  Take the kiddies out and sprinkle on the lawn the night before santa makes his annual round so he can find your casa.  Make the dust with the kids, bag it, and hand it out to the neighbor kids or you could buy reindeer dust on Etsy.

poppie tarts

Confession.  I haven't made these yet but I will tomorrow. You ate them, your kids some how have tasted them either because you bought them or someone gave 'em one.  I blame my girls' pop tart intro on daycare.  They love them.  I refuse to take a nibble.  So I googled a "healthier" version minus the trans fat, artificial flavors and high fructose corn syrup:  2 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tblspn sugar, 1 stick cold unsalted butter, 1 egg, 1/3 cup ice cold water,
jam or preserves (such as Smucker’s Simply Fruit or Polaner All Fruit), and 1 cup confectioner’s sugar. Heat oven to 375 and check the rest of the recipe and frosting out here,  Let me know how yours tastes!

Organically Yummy

Ever have your little one eat a whole carrot and say "Thanks mom!"  Every other Tuesday I get a box of organic veggies and fruit from Full Circle Farm for $30. Delivered to my office.  There's something about receiving these boxes that makes my girls go bananas.  And I can customize my box to our favorites or let Full Circle surprise me.  I also get two new recipes featuring items from my box.  Organic costs more of course, but it really tastes better, ask my little carrot eater, and it's better for your fam.  Give it a peek.

pumpkin eater

So you bought a pumpkin for your kiddies, you carved it using a template, it's on display...now what? Eat the inside. Simmer the pumpkin seeds for 10 minutes with salt then bake them for 20 minutes on 350. Seeds are a fab source of zinc and amino acids. Then take the slimy orange guts which are loaded with the good stuff - potassium, fiber, and vitamin E and make pumpkin bars or 36 of these tasty pumpkin recipes. Of course you can compost the carved pumpkin after Halloween. Your dogs can even eat the pumpkin innards, just be careful, it can act as a laxative. Here's other stuff you can do with your orange ball.

Flying Fruit - Kid Tips

"Mommie, I'm hungry. I want a snack please." I hear this alot. Like, everyday. More and more, the choices are fruit and veggies. Do you want a banana, peach, cantaloupe or some celery with peanut butter? I ask. I rarely buy fruit roll ups, fish crackers and other easy, processed, cheap options. And with the delicious, nutritional, expensive fruit (sometimes organic), comes the fruit flies. I hate it. Here's how you kill em. Pour 3 parts apple cider vinegar and 1 part dish detergent into a shallow flat dish. Talk about building it and they will come! They love the sweet scent, dive in and die. To mask the scent of the vinegar and to memorialize their quick passing, I usually light a soy candle. Nectarine, anyone?

Nanana boo boo - kid tips

My dear mommie made these for us back in the day. We eat them with syrup and lately my kiddies love jam on theirs. Peek a boo eggs. Think french toast without the cinnamon. You take a piece of 100% whole wheat toast or sprouted grain bread and make a whole in the middle. Belle likes when I use the star cookie cutter for the shape in the middle. Place bread in a hot pan with a little melted butter and crack an egg in the hole. The girls like their eggs cooked through so I flip it after the bread browns and begin to poke it so the yolk cooks. Serve with syrup, jam (I love love Smuckers Simply Fruit) or butter. This is a good one for car rides to school or daycare!

Play Station - Kid Tips

In the past two months, we have had a pizza station, burrito station, fruit station, and pancake station. What are these you ask? Food stations are a fun way for your kiddies to create their own meal. Takes an itsy bit more time BUT the kids will love it! Here's my version of a burrito station. It's not complicated. Really. In little bowls or plates set out in a row (organic where you can): taco shells or tortillas, ground beef or cut up chicken, pinto beans, lettuce, tomatoes, shredded cheese, olives, and anything else you can think of. Then ring the bell to start the fiesta. The kiddies will love making their own meal and will more than likely eat what's on their plate. Plus it's never too early to start family style eating and allowing them to help clean up.