Lunchboxes

Trying to pack a healthy lunch for a 7 year old can be hard.  I've found it to be well worth it though when I see what other kids are eating.  She helps pick out her food and I always include a treat (of course, she has no idea they are organic and corn-syrup free).  In addition, I pack her lunch in a stainless steel container from PlanetBox.  I totally recommend it!  It can be decorated with magnets of your choice and it's toxin free and good for the environment (no plastic waste).  Can't beat it!  Here are her favorite lunches from the first week of school.

The PlanetBox - it's AWESOME!

Pizza - Ezekiel Sprouted Grain English muffin with organic pizza sauce and shredded mozzerella

.  She loves it cold!

Sandwiches - sliced chicken breast with cheddar cheese between spinach

A few dinners from this week

So, it's been a long break, but I'm attempting to be back.  Here are few dinners we had this week:


Cinnamon Coconut Chicken
We baked the chicken at 350 in coconut milk and lime juice.  I added cinnamon and coconut on top.   It was juicy and yummy!  Baked potato chips, broccoli, and a salad rounded out a yummy meal.

Another meal was hamburger patties with sauteed peppers and onions with steamed carrots.  The grass fed beef was grilled.  Carrots were steamed with Spike seasoning and the peppers and onions were done in olive oil.  No buns allowed, but the kids think anything that looks like a burger, is a burger, even without a bun :)

No pictures from our other night, but it was ground turkey and organic marinara sauce.  We had salads with it and spinach noodles.  The kids loved it!  With these 3 meals, we made it 6 nights with leftovers

Mango Chicken and Pear Salad

So, this week we got mangoes, pears, romaine, zucchini, sunburst squash, apples, oranges, blueberries, peas, garlic, and green onion in our co-op box.  I made our first meal with it tonight.  We grilled kabobs of pears, chicken, zucchini and squash.  We at the squashes as a side.  I made a mango/garlic topping to go with the chicken, and we put grilled pears on the romaine with chopped walnuts.  Fabulously fresh and very kid-friendly! 





Here's the link to the mango/garlic topping.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Broiled-Chicken-with-Mango-Ginger-and-Cilantro-1263
She broiled the chicken in her recipe.

Food Co-op

So, I've recently joined an organic food co-op.  Every other week, a member places a large order that is divided among 10 of us.  The final price is always around $30 and from what I figure, I get about $60+ worth of produce.  Here's what we got last time.  It lasted us 2 weeks and we were able to plan fresh, seasonable meals around it.  Fabulous!

Banana Pancakes

Made pancakes that are as good for you as pancakes can be - whole wheat flour, bananas, honey - no sugar.  Only thing that would make it better would be grain instead of flour.  For the kids though, it was good enough and they loved them!  Much better than the store-bought mixes I've found :)

Here's the link:
http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2010/04/21/recipe-whole-wheat-banana-pancakes-freeze-the-leftovers/



I've also decided that I will try these oat ones next.  I'll let you know how they go!  http://cookieandkate.com/2012/banana-oat-pancakes/

Chicken Wraps

So, I'm on Spring Break by the way, which is why there are more posts than usual.  Tonight's experiment came from the fact that I wanted to use up the lettuce we had leftover from the turkey burgers.  I decided to do chicken lettuce wraps.  These are not an attempt to "makeover" PF Changs' recipe.  However, I like the idea of the wraps, so I wanted to make something similar, but healthy and organic.

I took 3/4 lb. chicken tenderloins and cut them up into tiny pieces.  Then I marinated the pieces overnight in 2 tbsp. soy sauce and 1 tbsp. brown sugar.  Tonight, the hubby chopped up 1/4 onion and sauteed it.  Then added the chicken and cooked it through.  The end result was even better than I expected!  Plus, depending on how much you put in a wrap (we made 6 servings), they were 60 calories each!

Just wanted to share :)

Chicken Spaghetti

Before I do anything else, I have to thank Grandma for the recipe.  It's one we've enjoyed as a family for years, and I know she would be proud that I am passing it down.  I'm doubtful that she would have liked it as much my way, but it's healthier and much lower in calories and organic.  So...sorry Grandma :)

First change, the recipe calls for cream of mushroom soup.  I can't find that in organic form, so I found a way to make a substitute here.  For the 1 1/4 cup liquid, I used chicken broth.  I probably could have added mushrooms, but I didn't think about that until I was in the cooking process.  I probably would next time.

Second change, I used spaghetti squash.  This time, I cut it up into pieces, put it on a rack on the cookie sheet (to get more air to it), and baked it at 375 degrees for an hour.   It was still moist, but much more spaghetti like and less mushy.

So, the recipe:
3 chicken breasts cooked and cubed
1 spaghetti squash or 1/2 lb cooked spaghetti noodles
1 cream of soup substitute or 1 can of cream of mushroom soup (if you can find organic)
1 cup chicken broth
1 green pepper chopped
2 stalks celery chopped
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese + sprinkle of Parmesan cheese

1. Cook celery and pepper in broth
2. Add cream of soup mixture to broth
3. Mix together
4. Stir together the squash (or noodles) and chicken pieces
5. Mix in the broth/soup mixture until wet (may not need it all if using squash because already moist)
6. Salt and pepper to taste
7. Place in a 9x12 baking dish
8. Bake at 350 covered for 45 minutes
9. Remove, top with cheeses, return to oven for about 2 minutes until cheese is melted

I figure it makes 6-8 servings (depending on the ages of your kids and how much you typically eat).  At 8 servings, I figured the calories to be about 145 and at 6 servings at about 190.  Again, these are unscientific and I get them by adding all the calories off all the ingredients I put in there.  It's my best guess.  Enjoy...we sure did!

Turkey Burgers

In an attempt to find a healthy organic burger, I experimented, and I'm pleased to say the results were fabulous!  My kids love a burger, but the calories and overall grossness steer me away from a traditional red meat burger most of the time.  I don't really like burgers made out of other meat because they tend to be dry.  Not these!  I added some homemade honey mustard, zucchini, and onion and it made all the difference.  Plus, by my rough, non-scientific calculations, they are only 113 calories each!  We paired it with my favorite roasted sweet potatoes (http://www.fortheloveofcooking.net/2009/03/roasted-sweet-potatoes.html) and we had a new family favorite.



Ingredients:
1/4 sweet onion chopped fine
1/2 large zucchini grated (can be chopped but grated makes it more kid friendly)
1 lb. extra lean ground turkey (99% fat free)
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp spicy brown mustard (used Publix Greenwise)
(mix honey and mustard prior to adding to rest of mixture)




1. Using your hands, blend the ingredients until well mixed.
2. Form the meat mixture into 6 patties.
3. Spray a skillet with nonstick spray (again, this can be found in organic form as well).
4. Heat the skillet over medium low heat (too hot and the honey chars).  My stove has settings from Lo-10; I set mine on 4.
5. Once the skillet is hot, drop the patties and cook 5-7 minutes per side (until it reaches at least 165 degrees according to my book, though I like to overcook poultry to be sure.  They were still juicy at 175).
6. Serve the burgers between lettuce leaves.



You can mix more honey mustard to put on top for a sauce, add cheese for kids, etc.  The options are endless!

Meat and Two

So, I rarely make a traditional "meat and 2 veggie" meal.  I just prefer meals that can be all thrown in a pot and then cooked all together.  With the nice weather lately, I decided to put the hubby to work on the grill and I made the veggies inside.  We ended up with pork chops, green beans, and potatoes...all organic and all yummy! 

Just a note, we portion control by using salad plates and that was my chop after sharing some with my daughter.



Pork chops: http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=59689

Potatoes: http://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/2012/03/parmesan-baked-potato-halves.html
The recipe calls for butter.  I made half the potatoes with butter and the other half with cooking spray (also organic).  I think you could also use a thin layer of oil.  It wasn't as "tasty" but it was pretty good considering how buttery the originals were.

Green Beans:  I just steamed fresh beans with a heavy dose of Spike seasoning.

Sweet Bean Salsa

I found this recipe by searching online and it has become a family favorite.  I took it to Steeplechase this weekend and it was gone in 2 hours!  It's a hit and can be made totally organic!  My kids don't really care for it, but sometimes it's nice to have something just for us :).  Here's the link:
http://melissafallistestkitchen.blogspot.com/2012/02/sweet-bean-salsa.html