Yummy Popcorn

June 3, 2013 By Leave a Comment

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Get Ready to Make Yummy Popcorn:  Two Quick and Easy Snacks!

Are you a busy mother without a lot of time for cooking, baking and preparing detailed meals for your children? Would you like for your children to eat as healthy as possible, but also enjoy their food and look forward to eating your meals and treats? Are you looking for a way to save money and time while still producing delicious, homemade snacks that are good for your children? If you are, then try these two yummy popcorn treats. You can use microwave popcorn or your own air popper and corn. They are easy to make, and diverse enough that you can give them to your children on different days for a completely new tasting experience!

Chocolate-Popcorn Medley

Pop one bag of regular popcorn in your microwave. While it still is hot, carefully open the bag, making sure to let out the steam slowly to avoid burning your hands. Empty the bag into a large mixing bowl. Set up a double boiler and slowly melt a handful of carmels in the double boiler. Repeat the process with a handful of semi sweet chocolate.  While the chocolate and caramel still are hot, dip a spoon in the melted candies and then wave the spoon back and forth over the bowl of popcorn. Continue doing this and toss the popcorn around until the popcorn is fully coated. Top off this sweet and salty confection by lightly sprinkling coconut shavings on top. The coconut will stick to the chocolate and carmel, so that each time you eat the pop corn you get a little sweet and a little salty flavor.

Healthy Pop Corn Trail Mix

Pop one bag of healthy or low salt popcorn. Allow the corn to cool before dumping it into a mixing bowl. Make sure the kernels do not get into the bowl. Add one cup of your favorite dried fruit, such as cranberries or raisins. Follow with one cup of your favorite nuts, such as low salt cashews or peanuts. Add one cup of pretzels and one cup of karob (or chocolate) chips. You can purchase karob chips at a health foods store. They taste a little like chocolate, but are vegan-friendly. Mix these items together by lightly tossing, and then bag them, making sure that you get some of every ingredient in the bags. You can easily adapt this to your preferences with a variety of dried fruit and nuts.

These snacks are easy to make, and your children can make them with you!  If your child is old enough, write their name on a few bags just for them and let them customize their snacks themselves.

 

Filed Under: Easy Entertaining, Kid Friendly Meals, School Lunches Tagged With: ,

Happy Halloween! Slow Cooker Dessert

October 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment

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Kids are back in school and our lives are busier than ever. I found making slow cooker desserts is a time-saving way to give my kids a healthy homemade snack choice during busy times. Apples and oranges are popular and healthy autumn fruit that always cook perfectly in a slow cooker. Choose autumn fruit for your slow cooker dessert recipes that you know your kids will eat. My kids love apples, so I try to create healthy slow cooker desserts that incorporate them. One of my favorites is apple raisin crumble because it is affordable, yummy and healthy.

Apple and Raisin Crumble

Ingredients:

5-6 apples, peeled and sliced
1 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup raisins
3 Tbsp. butter, softened
1 tsp. cinnamon

Directions:

1. Lightly butter the inside of the slow cooker. You can also use cooking spray.
2. Spread out the apples evenly at the bottom of your crock pot
3. Mix together the sugar, flour, oats, raisins, cinnamon and butter
4. Sprinkle the crumb mixture evenly over the apples
5. Cook on low for approximately 3 to 5 hours

This is a dessert that can be enhanced with a multitude of toppings. Sprinkle a little cinnamon over the apple crumble, then top it with crushed walnuts. Walnuts are healthy and add a wonderful burst of flavor to the apple crumble. Put some whipped cream on top of the apple crumble, then drizzle a little caramel sauce over it for an extra heavenly flavor.

I love this dessert because the leftovers can be frozen to be eaten at a later time. I put individual servings of the apple crumble in airtight plastic containers. These individual desserts are perfect taken out of the freezer the night before a school day and used as a snack for my kids' lunch. If you have unexpected company, pop the desserts in the microwave for a few seconds to thaw, then add your favorite topping and serve.

Filed Under: Easy Crockpot / Slow Cooker Recipes, Freezer Cooking / OAMC, Freezer Cooking: Dessert, Kid Friendly Meals, Meal Planning, School Lunches Tagged With: ,

Free from 30DayCafe.com – Printable Lunch Box “Love” Notes

March 1, 2012 By 1 Comment

Since the day my kids started Kindergarten, I've been sending them to school with "love notes" placed in their lunch boxes.  These are just simple notes letting them know that I am thinking about them during their long day at school.

Sometimes I write a personal note with a simple post-it, and other times I include a little joke or card.

If you want to send your child to school with a little mid-day "pick me up" here are some printable notes that I designed for 30DayCafe readers and fans.

30 Day Cafe Lunch Box Notes

 

Share and enjoy!  Your kids certainly will!

 

Filed Under: Featured Content, Meal Planning, School Lunches

Fed Up With Lunch? If you aren’t…you should be.

February 5, 2012 By 1 Comment

I recently discovered this eye-opening blog "Fed Up With Lunch - The School Lunch Project" where a brave Midwestern mom journals her commitment to eat school lunches every day in 2010.

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k Out Day 56 - Chicken Patty

The blog also includes photos of the daily meals she is eating in the school cafeteria which are not always for the faint of heart.

Are you fed up with school lunches as well?  Check out the following links for ways that you can get involved in advocating for healthier school lunches.

Filed Under: School Lunches

7 Back-to-School Lunch Tips

August 31, 2008 By Leave a Comment

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Don't look now, but school's here! Are you ready for one of the biggest challenges for Moms of school-age kids - preparing school lunches day after day?

There's hope and help for you yet. Here are 7 back-to-school lunch tips. Hey, I can't come over and make your kids' lunches for you, but these tips will surely make it much easier:

1. Make dinner do double-duty

You're already in the kitchen preparing your family's dinner, why not use that time to get a head-start on the next day's brown bag lunches?

Make a double batch of meals that taste just as good "the morning after," you know, like fried chicken. Or cook dishes that can be transformed into something "new", such as pasta sauce that's just as yummy as pizza topping (on ready-made crust of course).

To make meal planning easier, take a look at Dine Without Whine. It's a monthly service for planning your family's meals and grocery shopping.

2. Include lunches when meal planning

To do tip #1, you need to be more organized. This means including  your kids' lunches when planning your family dinners.

3. Let the kids participate

Lighten your load and teach your children some important life skills at the same time. Even small children can help  prepare their lunches.

If morning is too stressful, then make this an after-dinner activity - which brings us to...

4. Make advance preparations

Do whatever you can do ahead of time. For example, cook in batches on the weekend, or put leftovers in packable containers the night before.

5. DIY fast food

Commercial packed lunches are attractive but unhealthy. But who says you can't make your own? Buy your own colorful and attractive lunch boxes, such as a bento-style lunchbox.

Fill it up with a variety of healthy food. Think of mixing up foods with different textures and colors. And cut them up into small pieces so they're easy and fast to eat.

6. Soup it Up

Soup makes a quick and healthy lunch. You can cook a large pot in the weekend and pack it in a thermos for a warm and satisfying lunch. Serve with whole wheat bread and some fresh fruit and you've got a complete meal!

7. Sprinkle in some fun

Sneak a little surprise into your child's lunchbox once in a while. It could be a little chocolate treat, stickers, or a sweet note from you. Getting something unexpected makes lunch fun.

With planning and creativity, your children can have healthy, delicious lunches without too much work for you.

For meal planning help, go to Dine Without Whine. It makes meal planning a breeze, while helping you save time and money.

Then you'll have time and energy for those school lunches.

Filed Under: Kid Friendly Meals, Meal Planning, Meal Planning Articles, School Lunches