No brain science on this one: slice up small chunks of fruit and put on toothpicks or small skewers. Feel free to add a little container of yogurt for dipping. (If it is an after school snack, melt a little chocolate for your fruit-dipping).
Fruits for skewers:
I think eggs are a great idea.
My boys love eggs: scrambled, poached, over-easy. Having hard-boiled eggs at lunch with a dash of salt and pepper is a treat.
But if you want to take it to yet another level, one that you can serve at a party or tuck into a lunch box, you can also make deviled eggs.
I can vaguely remember the first time I tried them. I was four. It was Thanksgiving. Relatives were mulling all about, conversing, standing around in cocktail-style. I was underfoot, a little kid where out of sight and out of mind came in handy. Usually, when it came to Thanksgiving thievery, I would find myself an accomplice. My nearest grabs were my cousin or my brother. And when it came to deviled eggs, no other thief was more perfect than my brother Kerry.
Adults wouldn't notice until almost no eggs were left. Maybe they caught us, maybe they didn't. Either way, it was too late. We had enjoyed these eggy jewels that belonged to holiday tables. Why not make your little thief's day? Add some deviled eggs to his/her lunch.
This is a great resource: All Recipes has a section dedicated to lunch box recipes:
One idea is to give peanut butter and jelly sandwiches a makeover. How about Peanut Butter and Apples? Here are more tips they---and I---suggest:
I am back!
I am learning so much about blogging and online communities and I could not resist reinstating Brown Bag Blues. I think it has so much to offer, and is an important niche in the vortex of food-kids-parents. So many rich resources are out there, studded with lunch ideas, health updates, new snack ideas and products. Newsletters are flying all over the web, bloggers are multiplying, and companies keep trying their hand at filling our kids' lunches with the best of the best.
And ever is my goal to fill your brain---and mine---with good ideas for better lunches. To arm us with a marching food band: a regular, ticking supply of variety and honesty and interest to our kids' palates.
So here I am, ready to nab ideas from the web, share with you the lunch-rich blogs and sites that are ever popular, and of course extract recipes and inspiration from my own brown-bag-blues-beating brain. If ever there is a chance to educate our kids about quality versus quantity, about making good choices and about being open to novel flavors and textures: brown bags are the best.
And what a treat to be in Italy, exploring a whole new realm of snacks and seasonal foods. [In case you find me on this blog, you should know I blog at familyfrolics about living abroad for a year in Florence, Italy. And in case that isn't enough: I blog on talkoftomatoes about the other meal: dinner. Well, more than that. But you get the idea].
My boys are now 13 and 14, and hungry all the time. They are growing like crazy, their palates are evolving (they are growing out of the 'limited palate syndrome' that I think exists from around age 4 - 10), and snacks are of the utmost. School schedules here a bit different: they come home for lunch 3x a week, and eat lunch at school 2x a week. At home lunches are frequently focaccia sliced and filled with meat and cheese. And every day I send them to school with a snack; last week I sent them with slices of Panettone---a classic Italian dried-fruit studded bread (by the way, Panettone is fabulous toasted with butter and heavenly as french toast...).
Now, don't be sad.
I am not; authoring this blog has been a lovely endeavor, and has kept me on my toes.
The only problem is, my toes are tired. Instead of maintaining two blogs, I have decided to focus on just one, my original blog: www.talkoftomatoes.com.
Another reason to downsize my blogging commitments: there is a good chance I will be starting culinary school in the next few months. Something I will no doubt talk and talk about on my blog Talk of Tomatoes.
I still love the idea of Brown Bag Blues. I had a blast coming up with the idea and filling up this humble little blog with tiny size solutions for the lunch hour. All is not lost. If you enjoy this blog, note that:
Green may very well be my favorite shade of brown.
Green is a special word, by itself touting all things healthy, farmed and critical to our fate. Walking through a farmer's market or produce section in a grocery store, you will be welcomed with long, green arms. Green is an important part of our diet, offsetting brown and offering essential contrast to all the other colors.
Green should probably be the color of our blood.
So, insert some healthy goodness, some greenified godliness into the lunch of your little ones. Their bodies will thank you. And don't make green out to be the bad guy, green can be just as playful and fun and tasty as the next color:
My 10 year old adores salami. He would happily eat the same sandwich every day: salami, mustard and [sometimes] cheese, preferably shredded.
Just to push the variety button, I sometimes just stick a pile of salami and maybe some tiny chunks of cheese in his lunch.
We have had salami slices in our lives for YEARS. Recently, we upped the caliber a notch and started supplementing our salami stash with Salumi Salami (cool photo here).
Salumi Salami is famous; it is made in Seattle (nice article here), by Mario Batali's father. You can stand in line for sandwiches at his shop, but get there early because the lines are long. We lucked out; our nearby grocer started stocking Salumi, so we only have to travel a few blocks and no lines out in the rain!
I don't actually call my sons my little muffins; though when they were quite a bit smaller, I did occasionally call one of them peanut and perhaps even 'my little pumpkin.'
Now that they are a bit bigger I call them sweetheart, doll and darling. No more 'how is my cutey-cute?' Or my 'sweet little munchkin.'
Name-calling aside, even bigger kids like mini muffins; it just takes fewer bites to inhale a mini muffin than it used to.
I am a big fan of mini muffins; they are easy to eat when in a hurry, less messy than a large muffin and a nice way to tuck in some fruits, nuts, bran, oat, etc., into lunch. Sometimes I use muffins as a replacement for sandwiches---just to keep the whole brown bag experience interesting. After all, the goal here is to keep the brown bag blues at bay.
These mini muffins were from a mix, so use your favorite recipe or mix and pull out the mini muffin tin to bake off a lunch time treat.
These cookies generally show up at our house during holidays, an impulse that coincides with various colored M 'n' Ms. When I go to the store and there are black and orange M 'n' Ms, I just cannot resist. Same goes for red and green around Christmas and all the pale blues and pinks and yellows around Easter.
I think I am a sucker for a touch of holiday, a wink at the season and a smile from my kids who are tickled to find these cookies in their lunch box, again...
M 'n' M Cookies
2 sticks butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
2 cups m n ms
3/4 cup roughly chopped pecans
Oven to 350. Cream butter and sugars. Add egg, vanilla and mix. Add flour, salt and soda and stir to blend. Mix in M 'n' Ms and pecans. Place in spoonfuls on tray and bake 10-13 minutes. Happy Holidays!
Yes, eggs. Put them in your kids' lunches! Hard boiled eggs are a great idea for a brown bag snack.
It might be wise to peel them in advance---though if the lunch break is long enough---leave the cracking up to the kids. It is a rewarding, fun event to peel an egg at noon.
I put in an egg or two, then slide a tiny container into their lunch with a mixture of salt and pepper for dipping.
Nothing says you are special like a special beverage. Don't get me wrong: I think milk and water and boxed juices are great. But for my boys, those are pretty standard brown bag fare. So once in awhile, I like to tuck in a treat---of the drinkable kind.
I am amused by all the packaging of lunchable, easy-to-grab, pre-sliced and diced items. The carrots come in small packs with ranch dip, microwave popcorn comes in single servings, craisins are packaged in tiny boxes and apples are pre-sliced and sealed in small bags: all ready to drop into a nearby lunch.
In some instances, I don't mind the quick grabs, especially when I am out of time to cut, slice or sandwich things myself. I especially applaud when these prepared snacks serve to increase the number of healthy options for brown bags.
Coffee shops are even getting into the groove, offering non-pastry options for the mid-morning snack or quick lunch. One such coffee shop offers a small container of fruit, cheese and bread. More precisely fruit/nut bread, with a few slices of apple, some red grapes, a wedge of brie, and small 1/2 inch squares of cheddar and dill havarti. I confess to grabbing this snack, and now my 12 year old asks for it as well.
Sometimes, instead of grabbing the quick fix at the coffee shop, I DO take the time to assemble this healthy snack combination. Into my son's lunch I will put this exact fruit, fruit/nut bread and cheese chunk snack. The flavors together pack a punch, the dill havarti with the fruit/nut bread is our favorite pairing in the pack.
...In fact I sometimes serve dill havarti and fruit and nut studded bread toasts as an appetizer for guests! The good news is this: there are more healthy snack options appearing everywhere, all the time. AND even if you don' t grab them on the go, the snackable packs can simply serve as a bagful of ideas for brown bag lunch making!
A fellow blogger, Michelle, over at What's Cooking, has an impressive site full of information for dinners and snacks and above all: cooking with kids.
She asked me to review a SIGG bottle, the stylish new icon to the water bottle world. We bought one and I gave it to my kids, in passing, to see what feedback they would provide.
One of my sons didn't prefer the metal with water experience. My other son liked it, especially that it could be thrown on its side in the back of a goalie box, where he might steal a drink between saving goals (he is a keeper in soccer, and takes his role very seriously). The one thing my goalie son didn't prefer is that the top was a bit small to fit in normal sized ice cubes. Once the ice is in, though, it DOES keep the water colder for longer than other, non-thermos water bottles.
Mom's take? I like that it keeps the water cold, but prefer wares that can be popped into the dishwasher. Sigg bottles are hand wash only. I DO like the idea of reusable water bottles, instead of buying crate after crate of plastic bottles (though a hard habit to break, I am working on it!). Just reusing a water bottle feels environmentally responsible, if just in the tiniest way.
And did I mention cool? Put these bottles in your kids lunches, to keep them hydrated and hip at the same time. You can pick out a SIGG bottle with a surfer guy, astronaut, hello kitty, numerous pets and bugs or designs, you name it. If you are going to carry around a water bottle, why not have it be a fashion statement? If you want to buy a SIGG bottle, go visit Michelle and check out her supply. (You can also find Sigg bottles at REI, Whole Foods, and online at MySigg).
Other reviews:
I get a hankering for chocolate after most meals.
It used to just be after dinner, but my daily temptation for a morsel of chocolate has started showing up for lunch as well. In fact, I have been known to tuck a single chocolate, truffle, chocolate covered mint or chocolate covered pretzels into my children's brown bags.
Well... chocolate is good for you... just in moderation and the darker it is the easier to justify its health benefits. Here are a number of links---no doubt there are many more---that give a nice overview of the health benefits of chocolate:
When my kids put up the hand like the school traffic patrol, denying passage of certain foods, I remain unconvinced.
I can hear one son say: "I don't like soup," as an umbrella response to any and all soups, regardless of color, texture, ingredients and the like. Certainly, I would agree, you don't like SOME soups; but I bet you like SOME soups? No soup at all? Are you sure?
If my child says "I don't like this food"; my response is "we'll see." I view blanket denials of food as a challenge to find an exception to their full-out denial.
You don' t like green beans? Well, you don't like them boiled or canned. But how about steamed or sauteed with bits of bacon? You don't like brussel sprouts? Me neither, but then I roasted them until crisp and sprinkled them with salt and now I love them... that way anyway. You don' t like tomatoes? But you like ketchup. Ketchup has tomatoes. You don't like soup? How about pureed carrot curry or tortilla soup? Lentil, sausage, clam chowder or simple macaroni soup? They are all so different, certainly you like SOME soups?
If your child, like mine, decides they don't like a food: congratulate their intuitive palate and move onto other variations of that said food. Broccoli can be raw or cooked, cheeses are flavored from mild to sweet to sharp; lettuce can be mild or spicy, crunchy or tangy. I tell my boys: think of it as a taste test, a treasure hunt to find your favorite---or acceptable---version(s) of a food.
And from me to you: good luck with the soup!
Is it really that time of year? The leaves are turning and the lunch bags cross my counter every morning. The kids' backpacks are strewn throughout the house and school projects are the talk of the day.
I am tickled to be back in the brown bag lunch season, where I dig deeper for new ideas and recipes, and try to rally my boys to try new snacks, dips and sandwiches.
One recipe that I reach for each fall is our pumpkin cookies; though the irony is that they are made with cooked carrots: not pumpkin. Don't be fooled, though, even though carrots are front and center for these cookies, the kids will scarf them down. They are called pumpkin cookies for two reasons: 1. they are orange, and 2. you can decorate the tops of them to look like jack-o-lanterns.
With mini chocolate chips and ideally some kids to help decorate, these cookies look like small reminders of Halloween. Though I must confess, the last time I baked these I only made a few pumpkin faces; the rest of the cookies were adorned with mini-chocolate chips in a happy clump on top. Pumpkin faces or not: the kids gobbled them up in true goblin style.
Carrot Jack-o-lantern Cookies, or
Iced Carrot Cookies, or
Wannabe Pumpkin Cookies... what to call these?
1/2 cup butter (room temp)
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup mashed cooked carrots
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp lemon extract
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
topping: mini chocolate chips
icing
2 T orange juice
1 cup confectioners sugar
Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter and sugar; mix in egg, carrots, extracts. Blend flour, baking powder and salt; mix just until blended. Drop onto cookie sheet, bake 12-15 minutes (makes 15-18 ping pong ball size cookies). Meanwhile, whisk together orange juice and sugar to make icing. Let cookies cool, then ice and adorn with chocolate chips.
Welcome back to school! I look forward to this fall and a new year, of finding new foods, fast favorites and revamped standbys to tuck into my children's brown bag lunches. To kick off a new year, I posited this question to the Editor, Silvana Nardone, at Every Day with Rachael Ray
1. Is there anything special you will pack in your son's lunch on the first day of school?
I packed Isaiah plenty of variety, knowing that he’d be distracted by all the excitement of the first day of school: a ham and cheddar sandwich on whole wheat bread, a fruit-and-nut granola bar, cheese crackers, dried pineapple slices and a tropical blend 100% juice drink. Of course, I also packed him a note wishing him a fun, great day!
Thanks, Silvana. I will have to have my boys try those pineapple slices!
My boys had their favorite sandwiches, some yogurt covered pretzels, apple slices and a special orange drink: Orangina. What did you put in your child's lunch on the first day?
I love inserting a deliberate punch of protein into my boys' stomachs in the middle of their school day. And because school is just around the corner, I find myself seeking for and stocking up on protein-packed, bagable snacks.
Nuts, in general, are a great way to insert protein and good fat into kids' diets. Nune's nuts come from Nune's farms, and these nuts are perfect for noon-time munching!
Years ago, I worked a short stint at a company where I helped them determine what specialty food items would prance on their shelves from one season to the next. It was fun: we tried all sorts of sauces, dips and chutneys, mustards and chocolates, chocolate covered sunflower seeds and hot chocolates. When it came to nuts, this particular brand/maker made a notable impression on me: to this day when I see it in a store, I have to buy it.
Nune's nuts aren't as easy to find in a store as their flavors merit; but if you are curious and a bit ambitious, consider purchasing these online. Nune's farm provides small packets of nuts, just the right size to pack in a noon-time brown bag (I buy the 1.5 ounce packs of whole, seasoned almonds).
Our brown bag vote? Nune's nuts are Absolutely Bagable.**
**Rated on a Bagable Scale: Not---Possibly---Probably---Easily---Absolutely
I really wanted to say good things about these nuggets, but alas reviews are not always raves, nor are raves always reviews.
I will not give up. We will keep trying different Ian's products, hoping for the best. Ian's has the right idea: all natural, no artificial anything, hormone and hydrogenated fat free. Ian captures the heart of eating healthy; my hope is that the flavors will eventually capture our heart, too.
If you DO love Ian's food, you can order their products right online; hey, at least they are aiming to replace the bad version of frozen food.
Sorry, Ian, we tried! Wish they would've been more of a hit, but for our family they didn't make the grade. These nuggets will never again see the inside of my freezer. Not bagable.**
I think next time we will try the fish sticks.
**Rated on a Bagable Scale: Not---Possibly---Probably---Easily---Absolutely
I am a huge fan of bite-size bagables: easy to eat, fuss-free finger food. I sometimes pack muffins instead of a sandwich, to keep the boys' brown bags interesting. As long as they keep guessing, and new foods appear in their lunches, the interest and curiosity should stay on an elevated level (or so I tell myself).
Mini muffins are a favorite way for me to bake---and pack---muffins: they are less messy than large, crumbly muffins and easy to eat mid-conversation.
And I think my boys get more excited about mini-muffins than they do 'regular size' muffins. This is probably the mini-muffin they see most often:
banana chocolate chip muffins
1 stick (1/2 cup) room temp. butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup mashed banana
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1 cup mini or regular size chocolate chips
Oven to 350; cream butter and sugar in mixer. Add eggs, beat well. Sift together dry ingredients, then add to mixer. Blend. Add bananas, sour cream, vanilla and blend. Add nuts and chocolate chips; mix in. Butter or spray mini muffin pan; bake 18-20 minutes or until just golden on top.
