Life, Gluten Free

Allergy-Friendly Lunch Series Pt 2

2013-05-09T17:08:54-06:00

I last posted about some of the allergy-friendly lunches that I send my husband with during the work week. But Sophie also has her own snack containers for when we go out. We pack a snack when we go to tennis, gymnastics, when we are gardening, going on a bike ride -- and so on.

Leaving the house? Pack a snack! That's pretty much how it goes.

Above is Sophie's pink LunchBots duo. I packed pear, banana and apricot fig bars.

Every week Sophie helps me make dried fruit bars, or balls. We make so many different variations I couldn't post them all. Sometimes we use coconut flour to make it more like cake.

This particular batch below didn't have coconut flour, but instead we put dried fruit in the food processor with some coconut oil. We rolled them in shredded coconut sprinkles that we make (we dye them pink with beet juice)

On activity days I pack a larger snack in the Goodbyn container.

Sophie helped me pack her Goodbyn for tennis & gymnastics class. She cut the carrot sticks and cucumber slices. We also put in dried fruit balls, apple chunks and beans.

Sophie uses kid-safe knives. We like the wavy chopper and the vegetable chopper.

More to come! We love packing snacks :)

Allergy-Friendly Lunch Series

2013-02-20T13:49:26-07:00

One question I get asked a lot is

"what kind of snacks and lunches do you pack on the go?"

So to answer those questions, I'm starting a snack & lunches series to share with you. To kick it off, I am going to share some lunches that I pack my husband during the week.

We use LunchBots because they are durable, easily cleaned and convient to pack for on the go.

I bought my husband a LunchBots Uno and a LunchBots Trio.

For the Uno, I pack a salad with various toppings. Below is a photo of a salad with beans, olives and homemade kimchi.

The Trio is devoted to dessert.

This one has chocolate chips, raisins, tangelos and apple slices.

On the weekends, I put the LunchBots containers in the dishwasher for a thorough clean.

During the week, I wash them by hand.

Next up!

Uno: Salad with homemade coleslaw, avocado, diced scallions and dressing

Trio: Kiwi slices, banana slices, tangerines

I love to get creative and I think the LunchBots lets you do that!

For utensils, I pack him the Light My Fire Spork

I bought the fun food picks (pictured above) at Bento USA.

*Please note: this is not a paid promotional post for LunchBots. We are just huge fans, and love their products!

My daughter is homeschooled, but we go on a lot of hikes, bike rides, play dates and homechool outings so next up I will share some of the snacks and lunches that I pack her.

Do you pack lunches and snacks? What are some of your favorites?

Sweet Potato Raisin Cookie Bars

2013-01-31T17:35:23-07:00

We made these the other week and really loved them. I am a huge fan of sweet potato and raisins.... and coconut! Put them all together and its a great flavor.

These bars do not contain any added sugar, just the natural sweetness of sweet potato and raisins.

They are filling and make a great snack to take on the go!

Sweet Potato Raisin Cookie Bars

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups raisins

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup coconut flour

1 cup sweet potato

2/3 cup fresh-squeezed orange juice

1/4 cup coconut water

3 tablespoons coconut oil [melted]

Directions:

Add the raisins to your food processor and pulse until they are blended into a chunky paste. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until all the ingredients are mixed together.

Before adding the mixture to a rectangular dish, sprinkle a light layer of shredded coconut on the bottom of the dish.

Use a spatula to scrape the mixture into the rectangular dish and add some extra shredded coconut to the top. Cover and refridgerate for a few hours until firm.

Merry Christmas 2012

2012-12-21T10:12:52-07:00

Merry Christmas from my family to yours! I hope you all have a blessed and joyful Christmas. I wasn't able to post to my blog in November - it was a busy month! but I am still here. I also had a kitchen incident and had to have 6 stitches in my thumb. It's a lot better now and I will post a fun recipe soon!

"Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas." - Calvin Coolidge

Roll a Pumpkin Game

2012-10-29T15:28:53-06:00

Halloween is almost here and I wanted to share wih you a fun game that we've been playing.

It's fun for all ages, and we've even played it long-distance with family on Skype!

All you need is:

1) a pair of dice

2) paper

3) markers

4) the instructions which you can print here, which is courtesy of Julie at Happy Home Fairy.

Plus this game helps kids hone their counting skills!

One of our favorite parts of this game is when someone rolls a 10, which means you get to pick a person and draw a part that is missing from their pumpkin.

Like the picture above where my husband is drawing eyes on Sophie's pumpkin...

and this one below, where she drew a bunch of teeth on his pumpkin :)

Here's one of my pumpkins:

If you roll a 7, you have to draw a fun accessory on your pumpkin. We decided it could be anything-- a hat, scarf, earrings, hair, eyebrows, arms, etc.

It's a game with lots of laughs :)