School Lunch Idea - Food Jars

I don't know how many of you out there have a real concern in regards to school lunch menus. I do. Especially after watching Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution this past year. The food-like-stubstances, sugary and artifically flavored milks, high-carb lunches served to our children are not healthly. Many schools are trying to make-over their school lunches - but, they've got a long way to go.

This year, my children are going to German kindergarten. Lunch is not served there. So, USDA lunches are not a concern of mine - for now.

However, I'd be packing a lunch for my children this year whether they were going to the American school or German school. Therfore, I was racking my brain as to how I would send my child to school with a warm, healthy lunch. Cold lunch day after day could get a bit boring for my two budding real food foodies! Enter the food jars shown above (or any thermos-type food jar).

You can pack yogurt, pasta, stews, soups, rice dishes, and more in these things. Warm them up by adding hot water to them while you prep a warm lunch or leave them in the fridge overnight for a cold lunch. Not only that, these are great for road trips! Warm up last night's left-overs, throw them in food jars and you'll have a warm lunch ready to eat - saves your family a trip to a fast food joint!

My girls love the designs on these. I almost got them Thermos characture-themed jars. However, I decided to go with something more neutral/non-character based instead. The girls love of specific Disney characters changes daily.

You can find these Crocodile Creek food jars at Amazon for about $15.

Biokleen Automatic Dish Powder

I have been searching high and low for a good dishwasher detergent that doesn't have bleach, phosphates, is generally eco-friendly and actually works!

I've tried Seventh Generation products and found that they leave build-up on my dishes. I have found versions that have no phosphates but have bleach. Bleach isn't a good idea because it'll eventually wear down the color of your dishware and it's harmful to the environment.

When I stumbled upon this review here, I decided to give it a try and now I have new detergent. It's not quite as good as a product I've used with bleach in it, but, it's comes in very close behind it. Since I don't feel comfortable using products with bleach anyway, this is what you'll find me using from now on. The review linked above is more detailed than mine, so double click if you're still unsure.

One More Reason to Avoid CAFO Meat

You have all probably heard of the swine flu outbreak by now. I came across a blog post today at Food Renegade. Scary and gross!

For those of you still buying CAFO meat (Confined Animal Feeding Operations) because you can't fathom spending the higher prices of CAFO-free meat, this news may scare you into making the switch.

If we all stopped buying CAFO meat, maybe the powers that be would get the message, make some much needed changes, and things like this wouldn't happen (swine flu is spread person to person - but appears to have started with CAFO pigs)...

What do I think about the higher price of CAFO-free meat? Spend the same amount as you usually do but buy less of it. Most of us could probably easily cut back on our meat consumption anyway. Not only will you feel better, you'll be helping to save our environment. CAFO animals are sprayed down regularly with antibiotics (that get into our environment) to help prevent the diseases they are extremely susceptible to because of the inhumane, dirty living conditions they are in!

Here's the link:

Deadly Swine Flue Outbreak Linked to Smithfield CAFO's

Health Benefits of Grass-Fed Meats

Recently, I began following Food Renegade. As most of you know, I've been slowly making changes to our diet. That includes purging most (not all) pre-packaged foods and making wholesome foods from scratch. A little bit more time-consuming in the beginning - but, now that I'm getting into the grove, I am finding it so much fun and worth the health benefits! Food Renegade is a great blog I've begun to use as a valuable resource for tips, recipes and information. Which brings me to the topic of today's post (mostly, I'm going to provide links):

Most of the meat we find in grocery stores is CAFO meat (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation). Read Food Renegade has a great article about CAFO meat here. It is my opinion that everyone should know what they are eating and where it comes from...

After you read the article, you may decide to switch to grass-fed meat. Food Renegade has an informative post explaining the health benefits of grass-fed meats. The post also has embedded links to where you can find it. You can read the post here.

This is a bit of a sensitive subject because grass-fed meat is pricey. We don't eat a lot of meat, therefore, I don't mind paying extra money for good quality, healthier meat (I get mostly organic, free-grazing meat here).

After you read the articles, I'd love to know what you all think on this subject.

Cupcake Courier Review

I love this handy cupcake/small tiered cake/muffin carrier/mini-cheesecake carrier. I don't know how many times I've wanted to bring muffins or cupcakes to a playgroup in the recent past and couldn't find a good way to transport them. I had seen this on the Rachael Ray show a while back. I knew I needed a carrier for 20+ cupcakes. Many of the holders out there only hold a dozen. This carrier holds 36!

The Cupcake Courier latches snugly and the handle is low-profile, so you can, if need be, store in the fridge. The trays easily stack together and there is enough room in between each tray for generous frosting.

There downsides:

• It is a bit heavy. However, how often do we have to walk very far with baked goods? It is not so heavy that it would ever be an issue for me.
• It's large. However, it serves more than one purpose, so I can justify the room it takes up.
• If your cupcakes don't rise very high, they can be hard to get out of the cups without touching the frosting. The solution: add flat marbles to the bottom of the cups (the kind you get at craft stores. Some have also used pie marbles (most of the reviews for all other cupcake holders had this issue).

A teacher friend of mine saw this the other day and jumped for joy when seeing this product. She said it would be perfect for bake sales too.

You can find these at Amazon.com, Target.com and The Cupcake Courier website (currently out of stock on the CC website) from $24 on up (Target is the lesser priced). Comes in several colors.

Discussion: Being a Good Guest When Eating Healthier

Cathy, over at A Life Less Sweet recently posted a blog entry entitled, Being a good guest when eating healthier.

In the post she quoted Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food. He's quoted saying,

I really care where my food comes from, but I also care about being a good guest. So I eat whatever is put in front of me and don't make special requests.

As a mother who does not allow trans fats and HFCS in my home (heck, I don't even allow juice in my house unless it's a special occasion or we make it ourselves with our juicer. My kids eats eat so much fruit a day, I'm surprised the don't smell fruity!), I'll blog about what I allow and don't allow and my reasons behind it. I've recently seen the wonderful and drastic health benefits of eating healthier (my weight loss, specifically) and I'm proud of the way my family eats and blog about it, like many other parents do.

I do not, however, make a fuss when I am visiting well-meaning friends or family members (I even try to hide disappointing facial expressions - something not easy for an opinionated, outspoken person like myself). Some people haven't caught on to a healthier way of eating, some people are in the process and haven't quite got to where I am, and there are people who eat above and beyond better than we do (we're still a work-in-progress when it comes to healthier eating).

Unless someone asks me, specifically, about how I cook and buy food for my family, I try my darnedest to keep my mouth shut when we're guests in someone else's home. I think it's rude for people to bring their kids over to a playgroup and then make a fuss about what is or isn't being served (allergy issues aside). I try to urge my kids to eat the healthier options at guests, and I'll limit how much juice or cookies they are given. I draw the line right about there.

That doesn't mean I'm not concerned or feel a sense of alarm when some parents serve food I would never allow, but, I made it a point, months ago, to worry about what we eat in our home. Since our family eats about 80% of our weekly meals at home, and I am (I hope) teaching our girls life-long healthy eating habits, I don't think it's necessary to be overbearing and rude about it outside of the home.

What do you all think? Do you say something? Should we say something? Thoughts in general?

Healthy Eating Blogs

Here's some links to a couple of blogs I'm now following that I thought I'd share with all of you who are trying to cook healthier for you family and would appreciate some recipes, tips and healthy eating information (click on links for the jump). I'll also add them to my sidebar for easy reference.

Super Healthy Kids
Check out her Master Muffin Mix recipe (she also has a pancake one) and browse through her recipes. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised and inspired to spend some time in your kitchen.

A Life Less Sweet
"One Family - No High Frutose Corn Syrup - Eating Healthier"