Lunch Revolution

It's a PARTY......a blog party that is!  The Lunch Revolution Blog Party is a roundup of wonderful blog posts focusing on how to take back our children's lunch!

In the last few years I'm sure you've heard LOADS about improving what we feed our kids for lunch.  I watched episode after episode of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution shaking my head.  Yes, the food the adults were eating was bad but the food being fed to the kids at school was even WORSE!  Thankfully, we live in Canada where kids pretty much have to bring their lunches b/c most schools don't have cafeterias.

Now it's up to me to figure out how to pack a lunch that is:

• Nutritious
• Delicious
• and most importantly FUN!

Evan starts preschool in September two days a week.  I need to send him a nut free, chocolate free snack from at least 2 food groups whenever he attends.  He is not a big eater so it needs to be small, appetizing to his palate & easy to eat.  

Here are a few snacks ideas I threw together.

Mini cranberry zucchini muffins, 1/2 a string cheese, mini tomatoes & a baby bell pepper

Pita chips, a string cheese octopus & baby tomatoes

Cinnamon raisin mini bagel & string cheese

Some other ideas that could easily be sent with preschoolers for snack are:

• Mini blueberry pancakes
• Waffle sandwiches (filled with fruity cream cheese or apple butter)
• Mini blueberry muffins
• Cheese Puffs
• Cranberry banana bread
• Mini Morning Glory Muffins 
• Homemade Pretzels
• English Muffin Pizzas
• Pinwheel sandwiches (tortilla, ham, cream cheese)
• Whole Wheat Noodles

I've stuck to preschool snacks because it's what I know (having a 3 yr old & all).  I also think that preschool years are when we build the foundation of their food habits for years to come.  

Jump over to Notes from the Cookie Jar to see all the Lunch Revolution blog posts.  Definitely check them out for lots of great ideas, recipes & pictures of ways to take back our kids' lunch!  Want to participate?  Write your own post & link up at the Mr. Linky on Notes from the Cookie Jar.....did I mention that there are prizes????  Yep!

Do you pack your kid's lunch?  If so what are your kids' favorite foods?

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Food Revolution Fridays - An Update

The last few weeks have taught me one thing....being busy makes eating healthy much, much harder!  I am still trying to cook more often than not but the last couple of weeks have been hard.  Work has been really busy and I've had to work a few nights.  Thankfully when Dewey & I have to work Evan stays home with our nanny & eats food from home.

I have been keeping cut up vegetables around the house with dip for all of us to eat.  I really fills in the gaps at meal times and ups our intake of veggies.  I think it is one of the THE easiest ways to eat healthier.  Storing your vegetables already washed & cut up is definitely a must.

Sunday night I needed a quick and healthy meal to fix for supper with the kids.  I flipped open my copy of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution to see what I could find.  Spaghetti & meatballs?  Perfect!

Spaghetti & Meatballs
Adapted from Jaimie Oliver

4 sprigs fresh rosemary
12 cream or plain crackers such as Jacobs
2 heaping teaspoons dijon mustard
1 pound ground beef or pork (or a mixture of both)
1 heaped tablespoon dried oregano
1 egg
salt & pepper
olive oil
small bunch of fresh basil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, diced
1/2 of a fresh or dried chili
2 X 14 oz cans of diced tomatoes
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 pound dried spaghetti
Parmesan for grating

Strip rosemary from the stems and finely chop (throw stems away).  Crush crackers.  Mix ground meat, rosemary, cracker crumbs, mustard, oregano, egg and salt and pepper.  Mold meat mixture into a ball.  Divide in quarters.  Divide each quarter into 6 pieces and roll into meatballs.   This will give you 24 meatballs.

Heat a skillet over medium high heat with a glug of olive oil in it.  Put a large pot of salted water on to boil to cook pasta.  Add meatballs to the hot skillet and cook.  Make sure to check the interior of the meatballs to make sure they are cooked through.

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Heat another skillet over medium heat with olive oil in it.  Add onions and cook until soft and translucent.  Add garlic & cook for another minute.  Strip large leaves from basil and add to skillet.  Add diced tomatoes and vinegar.  Bring to a boil.  Turn to a simmer.  Add the meatballs to this sauce once they are cooked.

Drain past but reserve some of the pasta water.  Add a bit of the pasta sauce to the pasta & a bit of the pasta water.  Serve this pasta with the meatballs & sauce on top.

Recipe Note:  I used Jacobs crackers but I think you could use plain saltines.  I did not use the chili because Evan doesn't like things that are too spicy.  Everyone liked this.  Next time I might try to blend the sauce as Will & Nicole REALLY don't like chunks of onion.

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Wordless Wednesday - Veggie Love

I've tried to up our veggie consumption lately & who knew that cut up raw veggies would be the way to do it.  Evan has eaten his body weight in veggies & dip.  Yum!

This post has been linked up over at 5 Minutes for Mom and A Lot of Loves.

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Food Revolution Fridays - Week 4

My schedule this week has been really, really hellish.  Very little cooking was done and no meal planning. I didn't make any new recipes though I did order & receive this:

I opened it right away and looked through all the recipes.  I can't wait to try some of them....especially the curry recipes.  I love a good curry!  Even though this week has been a bit of a right off, we didn't eat too horribly.  One night we had grilled steaks, roasted potatoes and grilled broccoli "tenders" (they look like a cross between broccoli and asparagus) and tonight I made Evan a peanut butter & agave nectar tortilla roll up served with a side of steamed carrots.  I ate frozen leftovers from a meal I made a few months ago.  I really wanted to wimp out and heat up a can of soup but I was able to resist.

I had a bit of writers block thinking about this post.  I decided to write about some things that I personally feel are important when thinking about food & your family. 

• It is important for families to eat together as much as possible.  Turn off the TV, come in from outside, put down the computer & sit at the table to eat.  We make an effort to do this as often as possible.  Normally it is at least 5 days our of the 7 day week.  We also always eat breakfast together on the weekends.  My stepkids have mentioned that they love our tradition of eating breakfast together.
• Don't make food the focus of your life.  I mean this in two ways....don't eat everything in sight but also don't deprive yourself to the extent that food is all you think about.  Yes, food is wonderful & I love to eat BUT I also make sure to keep everything in balance.  I would love to be thinner but I know that would take a focus that would lead to an obsession around food for me.  It's just not worth it to me.
• Remember that everything is okay in moderation.  Sugar is not evil and neither is fat.  Making cookies for your kids is not a bad thing & it won't make them fat!  I make treats for my family all the time.  I try to make them healthier by using whole wheat flour, agave nectar, etc but I still make them.  I don't want Evan growing up without sweets so that the first time he goes to a friend's house he eats everything in sight!
• Invite friends over for dinner instead of always going out to eat.  Nothing is more satisfying (to me at least) than having friends over to share a meal.  It doesn't have to be fancy....we often barbeque steaks, burgers, etc.  It is much more intimate and usually much less expensive.  Plus you can bring the kids & everyone can spend time together as a family.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this.  I know that everyone will not agree with me but I think the "social" aspects around food are just as important as the food itself. 

Please hop on over to Notes from the Cookie Jar to check out other Food Revolution Friday posts!  You can also check out the lovely interview that Karen (aka ScatteredMom) did with the Globe and Mail.

Also just in....One of my favorite blogs, Sweetnicks, has a recipe posted for homemade fruit rollups.  Yum!

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Food Revolution Fridays - Week 3

Everyone had a different idea of what Food Revolution means to them.  To me it means making an effort to make healthful meals most nights for my family.  Unfortunately there are a few pesky little details that make that difficult....one is that I don't get home until 5:30 or 6:00 and Evan likes to eat at around 6:15.  So speedy meals are a definite plus.  I have found that meal planning really helps keep me on track.  Otherwise I am driving home (late as always) trying to come up with something to throw together for dinner.  Those days are prime "Just order takeout!" days.  I love takeout as much as the next person but it isn't that healthy and it is expensive!

One quick and healthy meal that I love to make is stirfry.  The main reason I like it so much is because it is so flexible.  You can use it to clean out your veggie drawer or if you plan, you can make it as exotic as you like.  This week I decided to have some kind of beef stirfry after seeing last week's episode of Food Revolution.  I flipped through a few recipe books but eventually though "I'll just wing it!"

Beef Stirfry (amounts are approximate b/c I didn't really measure)

1 large sirloin steak (around 1 lb)
1 medium onion, sliced
1 bell pepper, cut in large chunks
1 handful snow peas
1 handful bean sprouts
10 or 12 mushrooms, sliced
6 or 7 broccoli "tenders" chopped or 1 small head broccoli cut into small-ish pieces
2 or 3 Tbsp soy sauce
1/3 cup teriyaki sauce
1 or 2 Tbsp fish sauce

Tip - It is easier to cut the steak into thin slices if it is partially frozen.  Slice the steak into thin slices across the grain.  Season both sides with Montreal Steak Seasoning or salt & pepper.

Add a couple of glugs of oil to a large frying pan or wok and heat over high heat.  Once the pan is hot, add the steak to the pan.  Cook to the level of doneness you want.  I like mine to start to get brown and crisp on the outside.  Remove meat to a bowl and keep warm.

Add a bit of additional oil to your pan.  Add vegetables to the pan.  Cook until the vegetables are tender crisp.  Add soy sauce, fish sauce and teriyaki sauce to taste.  Add meat back to the pan and mix well.


Serve with rice.

This dish is so flexible and packs quite a veggie punch!  Remember, you don't necessarily have to have a recipe to make an awesome dinner.  Just look in your pantry & refrigerator and see what you come up with.  The more you do it, the more comfortable you will become and you will find yourself reaching for the take out menu less and less.

Don't forget to visit Notes From the Cookie Jar to see everyone else's Food Revolution Friday posts!

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Food Revolution Fridays - Week 2

I'm back with another post for Food Revolution Fridays hosted by the lovely Scattered Mom!  This week I decided that I wanted to actually cook some of Jaimie Oliver's recipes since I've never tried any (shhhhh....don't tell him).  It was beginning to look like it wouldn't happen after dinner out on Monday and a disappearing husband on Tuesday (hockey game).  Finally on Wednesday there was someone to cook for & I got out of class early.  I decided to go all out and make a few different recipes (all new to me) from Jaimie and Scattered Mom herself.  



For my first recipe, I decided to make the Broccoli Salad recipe that Scattered Mom had raved about.  It was all that she had promised.  So yummy!  I have been a long time fan of broccoli salad but many recipes rely heavily on mayonnaise and sugar to make them taste good.  Not this one!  I used turkey bacon so it was healthy too.  You can find the recipe here!

Since I was home early I thought....."Hmmm....what have I been wanting to make that I never have time for?  I know....bread!"  Out came the recipe for focaccia bread that I've been drooling over at, you guessed it, Scattered Mom's blog.  I decided to sub half of the all purpose flour with whole wheat flour.  It turned out good but I think with that substitution it needs some additional salt.  You can find this recipe here.

At this point I thought....what the heck am I doing.  I have worked my butt off and I don't have a main dish to serve to the fam.  Eeep.  I briefly considered scratching the rest of the menu and throwing something together with *ahem* packets but I decided to keep going.  Next on my list of things to make was Jaimie's Classic Tomato Spaghetti (though I used corkscrew pasta) for a side dish instead of a main course.  It was a very simple and easy recipe though I must admit that I prefer my pasta a bit saucier.  I might play withe pasta/sauce ratio when I make it again.  The leftovers were even better the next day.

Our meal was completed by a grilled turkey Italian sausage.   I know this sounds like tons of food but everyone got small portions of everything.  Dewey kept saying how impressed he was that I made a complete dinner from scratch (everything but the pasta).  It did take longer than it normally takes me to make dinner but I think the reason was because of the bread & because I made so many new things.  I definitely think that cooking from scratch on a daily basis is doable most of the time.

Head on over to Notes from the Cookie Jar to see other Food Revolution Friday posts!

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Food Revolution Fridays with Scattered Mom

So have you been watching Jaimie Oliver's new Food Revolution show?  He's already taken on the school lunches in Britain and now he's landed in the US to do the same.  If you haven't been watching it, you should.  It will open your eyes to just how much CRAP is being fed to school children in the US.  It makes me happy that I'm living in Canada now.  Having said that, I can remember the lunches I ate in school as a kid and they weren't much better than the ones served now.  Too much pizza and chicken nuggets!  The demise of real food is the key to the obesity epidemic in my opinion!

Now having said that....I must admit that I use the occasional packaged food or processed food.  I use jarred spaghetti sauce but I add tons of vegetables to it and meat to make sauce.  Is that so wrong?  Being a full time mom and working full time means that I am seriously pressed for time to prepare meals.  So I will sometimes use the occasional "packet" (in Jaimie Oliver speak) but more often that not my meals are from scratch.  Click on over to Jaimie's website to find some quick and easy recipes to try.  I plan to start giving them a try next week.


One of my favorite bloggers, Scattered Mom, decided to start Food Revolution Fridays.  Her challenge to bloggers is to write about healthier eating, trying one of Jaimie's recipes, etc.  You can read more about her blog challenge here.  Oh, and did I mention that there's even a giveaway?

This week I thought I would share a couple of ways that I am trying to sneak "better" nutrition into my life & my family's life.

First - We have switched all our bread to whole grain.  I buy sprouted grain bread for Dewey and I and whole wheat for Evan (the sprouted is too coarse for him).  We also use whole wheat pasta often (though Dewey complains).  If we use non-whole wheat, I buy the high fiber white pasta.

Second - I have started to tweak my recipes to include more whole wheat flour and more fruits and nuts. I've also started experimenting with using different oils.  I am a firm believer that butter is better for you than margarine, though, so that is one substitution I won't make.  An example of this is that the other day I made granola bars using olive oil instead of butter.

Third - I try to use less refined sugars when possible.  I've found that agave nectar is very yummy and can be used when recipes call for corn syrup.  I think I could substitute it more but there are some baking issues when switching out a liquid for granulated sugar.

Fourth - I'm trying to get Evan more involved in cooking.  Last week he helped me bake cookies and tonight he helped me prepare asparagus.

We will never be 100% perfect but I'm hoping that some of the changes we're making will help Evan be a healthier eater long term.  What are some of the things you & your family do to be healthier?  I would also love to hear your thoughts on Jaimie Oliver's Food Revolution.

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