Stringing Up String Cheese?

When my kids were small and in the first stages of first foods, I bought string cheese because it was soft and easy to throw into the diaper bag.  As my kids got older, their cheese preferences  changed and they began to prefer regular block cheese.  Since block cheese is easier on the grocery budget, I was all for it!

When my oldest started was going to head off to school, I started to wrap my head around the whole lunch idea and what I would serve, what would he eat, etc.  I perused some parenting magazines for back-to-school lunch ideas and some ideas were great and other ideas were, well, NOT!  I mean seriously, who would pack their kids a shish kabob skewered tomato basil salad with mozzarella?  First off all, do kids really eat that and do you really want to send your kid to school with what could be potentially be a weapon!?

I can't remember where I got this idea or if by some miracle my brain was creative to come up with it on my own, but I thought that cutting my kids cheese into fun shapes would be a great idea.  So how does one do that?  Easy!  All you need is cheese, a cheese slicer (or be really good at cutting thin slices of cheese) and some cookie cutters.  It is a pretty self explanatory tutorial but here are the steps to make it clear.  I only do one type of cheese and one shape but for the blog, I will show some extra ideas.

1)  I went to one of my local stores that sell cookie cutters and I looked at some fun shapes to use.  They were inexpensive and there were lots to choose from.  Here are some of the ones I use.

2)  Get your desired flavour of cheese, cookie cutters, cutting board and cheese slicer.

3)  Next slice your cheese with the cheese slicer.  My cheese slicer has two thicknesses to choose from but I usually choose the thicker option. 

4)  Next use your cookie cutters to cut out shapes!

5)  And lastly, put in your child's lunch!

 Honestly, it does take more time and effort to do this, by just a few minutes, but I love when my son asks, "Mommy, can I have some high-five cheese in my lunch tomorrow?"  It is a little fun thing and something for them to look forward to in their lunch.  Or better yet, make it a surprise!

Joanna
 

The Proof Is In The Pudding!

The pudding cup.........oh how I love it!  I have been known to not even separate the connecting cups and just peel off the lids and eat more than one at a time.  And the flavours!  Yummy!  Especially those ones that are layered.  They hit my palate just right making me want more!  And of course, that is the point!

But.............it isn't litterless:(  

However, with our new and improved recycling program here in HRM, it now includes ALL plastic and not just #1 and #2!  You know the rhyme, "1 and 2 go in the blue!" it is now obsolete!  So that is great news to help in making a lunch as litterless as possible.  The box board that the pudding is packaged in goes into compost or recycling (depending on where you live) and the plastic cups can go into recycling.  That just leaves the peal away lid!  So very good in terms of waste management.

But if you wanted to make even less waste, you could make your own.  Take a jaunt down the baking aisle at your grocery store and see that there all sorts of flavours - chocolate, vanilla, banana, butterscotch, pistachio.......something to please every little palate!  And they are easy to make - just some milk and a quick shake, shake, shake!

But you can even go one step further and make your own homemade pudding!  It is is really quick, less then 10 minutes, and they are ingredients that I always have in my pantry.  I have two yummy recipes, one that is more like a dark chocolate and one that is sweeter.  My little guy loves both!

Homemade Chocolate Pudding - Dark Chocolate

Combine in a saucepan:
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
3 TBSP cornstartch
1/8 tsp salt

Slowly add and stir until completely mixed:
2 cups of milk

Stirring constantly, cook on a medium heat until mixture begins to bubble.  Continue stirring and cooking for 2 additional minutes. 

Remove from heat and add:
1 tsp vanilla


Pour into dishes or containers and cool in fridge.

The next recipe is just as easy and just as tasty!  It yields half the amount of the first recipe but you can easily double it if needed.

Homemade Chocolate Pudding - Semi Sweet Flavour

In a saucepan combine:
2 TBSP sugar
1 TBSP cornstartch

Slowly add and stir until completely mixed:
1 cup milk


Stirring constantly, cook on a medium heat until mixture begins to bubble.  Continue stirring and cooking for 2 additional minutes.

Remove from heat and add, stirring until completely melted:
1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or milk chocolate if you prefer)

Then add and mix well:
1/2 tsp vanilla

Spoon into dishes or containers.  Serve warm or chilled.

 
To send to school,  just put into a container that has a good seal.  I have found the Rubbermaid, Tupperware and Lock & Lock containers really good to keep semi-solid type food items from leaking.

An added bonus to making your own is that you know exactly what ingredients are in your child's food.  This can be very important if your child has food allergies or sensitivities.  None of my children have food allergies so I haven't the need to make it with a milk alternative, but if someone wants to experiment with soy, lactose-free, or rice milk, let me know how it turns out.  Remember if you are making it for school, you may need to avoid using almond milk.


This is a great alternative to purchasing prepackaged puddings and healthier for our children.  And really, THE PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING!

Joanna

The First Of A Bazillion Lunches!

So the chaos of first day of school has come and gone.  Maybe you sent off your first child or perhaps school is old hat to you.  Maybe there were a few tears, either your kids or your own!  Maybe you forgot to pack something like that $25 for school fees and school agenda or perhaps you checked, rechecked and then rechecked again to ensure that every crayon and eraser had your child's name on it.  Maybe your child got in the same class as their best friend or perhaps their heart was broken because now they would only see their best friend at recess and lunch.  Maybe they came home from school with tales saying that their teacher smells funny, or they have a new best friend but can't remember their name, or that they are no longer going to wear anything red because only kids with cooties wear red!  

Whatever the accounts of the day were, the questions that I want to know the answers to are......... Did you make lunch this morning or were you a planner, like myself, and got it all ready the night before?  What was in your kids lunchbox today?  Did you ask them what they wanted or did you put in whatever you thought best?  Did they eat it all?  Were you able to make it litterless?  


My own personal answers are - As usual, I made lunch the night before according to Jacob's request.  He asked for cheese and crackers for lunch along with carrots, a homemade granola bar and juice.  His lunchbox was completely empty and said that it was enough food!  And yes, it was litterless!

The sun has now set on the first of many school days and one solitary lunch had been packed and eaten.  For some, the chore of making a school lunch is one of the most hated jobs of parenthood and the thought of making lunch after lunch is a cruel prison of monotony!  For others it is an easier task, especially of your kid likes the monotony of the same lunch day after day after day!  But regardless of how you feel about making school lunches, time is fleeting and someday, in what seems like the very distant future, you will wish that you could rewind the master clock of time and wish that you could once again pack a lunch.  And when that realization occurs, it is then that we mail off a care package full of homemade goodies that we once packed for them in their little (maybe littlerless!) lunchbox!  

Joanna

A Mom's Love Affair With The Granola Bar

Ah…..the granola bar.  A staple in the pantry and in the lunch box, BUT, it has a *shudder* WRAPPER!  What do you do?  Every kids lunch box has had a granola bar in it at one time or another.  And frankly, what mom doesn’t have granola bars stashed in their diaper bag, mega over-sized purse, pocket, beehive hair do, nightstand, and glove compartment!  They are like magic!  Like rabbits, they produce themselves at an alarming rate and when you think that the box is empty, there are still more in it!  And they calm a kid whose hunger is to the point where they enunciate every syllable with a staccato in the in their voice, accompanied by a small body convulsion, “But I am SO hungry.  I can’t wait until lunch!”  Ah…….yes.  The granola bar.  Sometimes a mom’s best friend and weapon all in one!

But it isn’t litterless.

Over the past couple of years, I have tried to teach my kids that stuff does come from somewhere and it just doesn’t magically appear on store shelves.  That someone, somewhere, at some point used to make all this stuff from scratch.  WHAT!  Yes, it did, including the granola bar!  And guess what……I have a ooey gooey, super yummy recipe for those wonderful granola bars!

My resourceful and lovely friend Kelly shared a granola bar recipe with me and I made them and they were so delicious and we gobbled them up at an ungodly rate!  And the great thing about them is that you can customize them to your family’s liking and even hide a few extras in there!

Before I share the recipe, I will let you know that the recipe does call for peanut butter, and here in Nova Scotia (and many other places too), schools are peanut free, if not completely nut free environments.  RELAX, you can substitute the peanut butter for other butters.  There are MANY products on the market that be substituted for peanut butter including sunflower seed butter, soy butter and my FAVORITE substitution, Safe 4 Schools WOWBUTTER!  If you are looking for a substitution that most closely resembles peanut butter, I recommend WOWBUTTER!  It really does taste almost exactly like peanut butter.

Where do I get these peanut butter substitutions?  Take a look in your local grocery stores natural and organic section.  They have a variety there.  They are a bit more expensive, but in our home, we only use them for school lunches and use regular peanut butter at home.  You could also check out your local natural food store, small independent grocers, and farmers markets. 

The recipe is really quick and easy and here it is!

 In a medium sized saucepan, combine:

1 cup of peanut butter (use your substitution here.  You may prefer to use unsweetened  as they can be pretty sweet but it is a personal preference.)

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup maple syrup

2-3 TBSP coconut oil

I have never used coconut oil before and when I went to purchase it, I found it in the natural/organic section of my grocery store.  It doesn't look like oil, but rather is in a semi-solid state, sort of like petroleum jelly.

Cook over medium/medium low heat to melt together.

Next add in dry ingredients.

2 cups oats

2 cups of any combination of yummy stuff (chocolate chips, sunflower seeds, coconut flakes, raisins, dry fruit, etc.)  Anything your kids like and anything you can hide in there!

Press into a 9" x 13" pan and chill in fridge until well set.

After it is well set, cut into bars of your choice size.

To store, you can either wrap individually, or place into a larger container taking one out as you need them.  You can freeze these bars as well!

Now you say, “Ok, I have made them and Joanna was right, they are super delicious.  Now how do I get them into my kids lunch box?”  Easy, you can either put them into a re-usable container, put them into a re-usable homemade sandwich bag (AHEM – shameless plug for a previous post!), or you can wrap them in a piece of parchment paper.  YES!  Parchment paper is completely biodegradable and fully compostable.  (And yes, I did check with HRM Waste Management to be sure before posting this!)

So go out and get the ingredients and make them!  Like right now!  Really, GO!  Stop reading this blog and scoot!

Joanna

Taking The "Zip" Out Of The Sandwich Bag!

A while ago, I was perusing a web page by a SHAM/WHAM (Stay/Work At Home Mom) and one of the products that she was selling was these re-usable sandwich bags.  I thought, AWESOME idea!  I can make that no problem.  So after taking some time to figure out measurements, I made several of these bags and the kids LOVE them!  I made them different materials so the kids always knew whose bag was whose.  I made them over a year ago and they have stayed strong and I haven't lost one yet!  

You may think, "Oh gosh!  I don't have time for that!"  Or, "That is too hard.  I can't do it."  Or even you may hear yourself say, "That is too expensive!"  Well, I made this new re-usable sandwich bag in 50 minutes, but that did include my time to take pictures along the way, running upstairs to put a soother back into a sleeping baby's mouth, defusing an argument with the two older ones, getting stickers and a sticker book, and then having to talk one kid  down from a serious meltdown! 

As far as sewing projects go, this is fairly simple.  Just cut a couple rectangles, iron, a few pins and then some straight stitching.   So I am confident even a novice could put this together with some patience!

The cost is inexpensive, especially if you make more than one.  I bought some supplies at the local dollar store - self-adhesive hook and loop fastener (velcro) and a clear plastic table cloth.  I bought remnant material from my local material store.  If you already sew, you may have some leftover material or perhaps you are throwing something out like an old pillow case so you could salvage that and use it.  I have made 7 or 8, including test ones, and the total cost for supplies was less than $10 and I still have lots left to make some more.

So I decided to make another one, documenting how I did it so I can share the wealth!

1)  Remember to write down the directions so you can blog about it!

2)  Cut material 40cm x 25cm . 

3)  With a hot iron, press over a 1 cm seam along the long edges first.  Then press over another 1 cm seam so that you don't get any fraying of the material.

  

4)  Now press a 1 cm seam along the short side and then press another 1 cm seam over.  It will now look like a neat rectangle.

5)  Next measure your now pressed material and cut out a piece of plastic that is the same size.  Fit in inside and under your pressed seams and secure with some straight pins.

6)  I prefer to use 1 cm wide hook and loop but my dollar store sells 2 cm so I just cut in in half lengthwise.  

7)  Measure the hook and loop according to distance measured from inside seam to inside seam on the short ends, overlapping just a bit.

8)  Sew hook and loop along top and bottom.

9)  Next fold bag in half, WRONG SIDE OUT, matching up short end to short end and pin in place.  Sew along sides from hook and loop end to bottom.  Repeat on other side.

10)  Unfold bag to right side out and VOILA!  You have a re-usable bag!  Note that it is the approximate size of a store bought, disposable sandwich size bag!

I have always washed my re-usable bages by hand and have never washed one in a washing machine so I am unsure how it would hold up if you did put it through one.

A super easy ECO-FRIENDLY project that will have people asking, "Where did you get that!  And then you can proudly respond, "I made it!"

***For the record, it took me longer to blog about this project than it took me to make it!  

Joanna

What Is Litterless?

What I define as litterless:

1) Nothing goes into the garbage
2) Food waste, napkins and compostable utensils that can go into the compost and actually make it there, either at home or at school!
3) An item that is recyclable is put into a recycling bin either at home or a school.  This would include a milk carton that a student would get if they are a part of the schools milk program, pudding/fruit cups, plastic wrap, etc.
4)  What can be reused, is reused.  Such items may include utensils, drink containers, food containers, etc.

Check out this put out by HRM!
http://halifax.ca/recycle/

Joanna

The Journey Begins

The look on my husbands face when I told him that I wanted to start a blog was priceless!  He was encouraging and supportive but I think he was a little shocked!  I am not one for too much computer stuff.  Sure I like to email and to Facebook to keep in touch with my friends, but I am not one for too much clicking around on the computer.  So wanting to start a blog was probably a little surprising to him.  He probably thinks that I am being converted to be a computer geek like himself!

Over the past few years, I have been inspired to make some lifestyle changes.  After our oldest son was diagnosed with a serious health issue, I wanted to do all I could to make his life, and ours, as healthy as I could.  I wanted to make more of our food from scratch, buy foods whole and not processed, throw out less waste, and so on.  Now I am not perfect, but when I see the changes that I have made, I am pretty pleased with my efforts and I hope to keep up the changes in our family.

One change that I have been working on the past couple of years is trying to make my oldest sons lunch for school "litterless."  This means having no waste to go into the garbage after he is finished his lunch.  Living in Nova Scotia means that we have a pretty great waste management program - we compost, recycle cans, bottles, plastic, paper and cardboard.  At the end of of two week garbage cycle, our family of five throws out less than 2 fulls bags of garbage!  We are fortunate that a lot of our schools also participate in composting and recycling programs and , therefore, make my quest for a litterless lunch possible.

I hope to be active in my blog posts but bare with me because as I mentioned above, I am not one for clicking too much on the computer!  And the truth is, I have no idea how to design a blog - it's amazing that I have actually made a post at all!   I hope to share with you some of my ideas, find some web links to help inspire, and don't forget to share your ideas too!

Joanna