New Year's Resolutions

Love them or hate them, it's that time of year again. If you aren't a Resolver then you spend a lot of time over the holidays telling people how you don't need them. If you are a Resolver you spend that same time plotting, planning or feeling guilty about past resolutions.

Before I had kids, I set three resolutions ever year, one each in three categories - (1) Learn to cook X, (2) Some physical accomplishment, such as walk three days a week, be able to do the splits again or try a new exercise class and (3) Some sort of brain activity - take a class, learn to speak French, take up chess. Some stuck, some didn't but the beauty to me is the time spent reflecting on yourself - past, present and proposed.

Now, I have three kids, two dogs and a somewhat picky eating, unathletic (but with other redeeming qualities) and my resolutions seem to be (1) Learn to cook what they will actually eat (2) Get everyone outside for an hour a day and (3) learn to speak Toddlerese.

Okay, not really but that would be the easier route!

I resolve this year to learn to make one new freezable make-ahead food item each month
I resolve this year to walk in two formal half-marathons
I resolve this year to take at least six college credits worth of new classes

Phew, that was actually not as hard as it looked.

Anniversary of Little Lunches

Two years ago, I had the idea to create a community for moms to help them with the tedious (at times) task of packing lunches. Technically it began as a class project for an extension course I was taking at UCLA. Through all the interations, two years later, Little Lunches is a great fan page on Facebook, has a growing following on Twitter and many visitors to the blog. I am glad to be a part of this group of moms (and a few dads) and hope that the tips and ideas I share help you out.

Thank you!!!

Fostering a Healthy Relationship with Food

Okay, I do try to give my kids healthier food more often than not. There are the occasional trips through the drive thru, nights of take out pizza and in a pinch yes, frozen chicken nuggets or mac 'n cheese. I know there are true food purists who balk at such things and there are those who think it's just too much work to worry about nutrition all the time. I fall somewhere in the middle. I think what is most important for my kids is that they get a balance of foods, a lot of good nutritious choices and the fun of occasional "junk."

My number one goal as far as food is concerned is that my kids have a healthy relationship with food. I want them to appreciate good food, to have a wide range of foods that they enjoy (I know this comes further down the road than age four), that certain foods evoke positive memories and traditions, etc.

I  have been taking them to the farmers market from day one and my older daughter's preschool has a garden, so I feel pretty comfortable that they are learning where food actually comes from. I also am slowly introducing them to cooking. It's fun to let them share in the process when and where it's appropriate. They love to play "kitchen" and have a few real but kid sized kitchen gadgets.

What are you doing to foster a healthy relationship with food for your children?

NOTE: Let me know, I'd love your ideas and I have a prize to give away!!! Little Lunches is giving away our first Thank You gift! It's this charming Limoneira Master Chef Kit : " These delicious little Master Chef Kits ensure that your child gets a jump start as the next celebrity chef. Little chef hats and aprons provide the professional career touch. Miniature rolling pin, wisk, wood spoon, spatula and scraper –the necessities that got Wolfgang Puck and Alice Waters off and running are also here. Limoneira Kids recipes are included for preparation for the next nutritious fun family feast."  Limoneira lemons, oranges, specialty citrus and avocados are shipped to restaurants around the world. 

To enter, please post your answer/comment here and/or refer friends to our Facebook page. A random drawing from these entries will be done on November 12. Good luck!!

Taking Lunch on the Road

The last month has been very action packed. Speaking of packed, each day brings a different challenge of lunch packing. Some days the smaller kids stay home with a sitter and don't need a lunch packed, other days they head off to daycare and I need to pack lunches for them as well as their big sister. All of this is good preparation for our upcoming holiday train trip.

We are going from Southern California to Oregon on the train.

It's a 27 hour journey...that means two lunches, one dinner, one breakfast and several snacks (times five people that is 35 "meals"). The train does have a dining car but the logistics and expense of going to the snack car or dining car all together for each meal are daunting. So, I am planning on packing 12 Easylunchboxes of meals, several free-standing snack bags and bringing lots of these Horizon milks in the aeseptic packaging.

Clearly the things I pack need to require little to no refrigeration and will be supplemented by the occasional onboard meal or snack. Bringing a cooler is a logical option except...we have three kids who are four and under which means we are already bringing a lot of gear. As I begin the journey to this journey, I am looking for ideas, tips and suggestions from others who have done this before.

Many of my friends said take the plane as their suggestion...we will do that another time...this is a chance for our little family to bond and learn to travel together without as much restriction as a plane or car. It's a beautiful ride that I last took with my brother 20 years ago!

"This legendary train now features enhanced Coaches and Sleeping Cars, along with exclusive new amenities. The Dining Car offers fresh cuisine served on real china and table linens, while the Arcade Room will entertain kids of all ages with a great selection of arcade-style video games. Coach passengers enjoy big, comfortable seats, plenty of legroom and new, larger pillows, plus available at-seat meal service." (We know where the biggest kid - aka my husband - will be!)

Would love to hear your tips!

Instead of a PB & J...stick it to them...

One of my favorite books as a kid was Bread and Jam for Frances, the story of a little badger who was very picky about her food and was forced (when her parents granted her wish...) to eat bread and jam every meal. Frances soon tired of her favorite snack and tucked into a proper meal with her family.

I think I liked it so much because I was a very picky eater and wished that my parents would let me just eat one thing that was something I really enjoyed...like oatmeal raisin cookies. Why am I telling you this? Well, some of us have picky kids who only like a very select group of foods, others have kids who really thrive on routine and don't want any surprises in their lunch and a few of us have grown-up lunchers in our house with special dietary restrictions or just plain favorite meals.

My oldest Little Luncher is on a kick where she (despite my best intentions) wants to have the same lunch over and over and over and over.........so what can I do? For one, I give myself a break and make "that" lunch for her at least two days of the week, makes my morning easier honestly. Secondly, I look for small changes to make - vanilla yogurt with sprinkles instead of strawberry yogurt, Baby Bel cheese instead of cubed cheddar, carrot sticks instead of pretzels. The sticking point has become her PB & J. She flatly refuses to eat any other traditional looking sandwich (I know in another two months this will change) so out come the pita & hummus, the cheese & fruit skewers, quesadillas and even the occasional bagel and cream cheese.

Magically...she will eat any of these things so, I asked people to share on the Little Lunches Facebook Page, their skewer tips here are a few great ones:

Mama Kamola - I use swizzle sticks and mostly skewer fruit. Sometimes I stick a few mini marshmallows in as a treat. I will have to give Turkey meatballs a try though.

Muffin Tin Mama - Fruit is a favorite, sometimes meat and cheese, occasionally veggies, but their faves aren't soft enough to skewer. I usually use regular plastic skewers/picks or drink stirrers.

Another Lunch Mama - I've used pretzel sticks for cheese occasionally - that reminds me, LOL, back when I had only one child (and obviously a LOT more free time!) I used to very gently work Cheerios onto pretzel sticks. It was slow and tedious to get the the Cheerios on there without breaking, but my son loved it. These days I'll skewer just about anything on little food picks and swizzle sticks.

What is your "panic" lunch?

Last week was a little crazy around our house - the shorter week, a couple of unplanned but non-emergency doctor's visits, two after work meetings...and somehow the grocery store just didn't figure into the mix. Since it is early in the school year there were a whole lot of back-ups on hand...our Little Luncher did get her lunch on Thursday but it was not the lunch I had planned...so I was wondering...what do you do in that situation? Her school doesn't offer a hot lunch option and so I found myself at the grocery store at 6:15 am before everyone else was awake.

I grabbed two of those Horizon Organic single serving milks, a yogurt, packaged baby carrots, a couple of prepackaged slices of cheddar, a bag of those tiny boxes of raisins and a carton of strawberries. Those items and a nice PB & H(oney) and she was set for the day. Granted, I didn't feel great about all that packaging but I did feel good about what was inside.

Little Lunch Notes

Show your kids you are thinking of them during the day by including a note in their lunch. Write a few ahead of time, buy some prepackaged ones or look for any of a myriad of printable ones online. Make it easy on yourself though and have a few on hand for days when you don't have time to cut out cute sandwich shapes or do a themed lunch, just grab one of these (Little Lunches Mama hides them in a mug in the cupboard) and toss it in their lunch to show you are thinking of them. Here are some you can print onto Avery Labels #5371. If you need the original PDF file please just shoot me an email.

Happy Packing!