Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Homemade Seaweed Snacks


Have you ever tried those salty seaweed snacks you buy at places like Trader Joe's? I know, they're addicting, we've tried them before and my children loved them! I won't buy them because they have so much packaging and because canola oil is listed as one of the ingredients (which is often genetically engineered). My 10 year old daughter has been thinking about a way to make them for months and she finally decided to figure it out last week. I asked her to write a "guest post" for me but she didn't want to. She did, however, write the recipe below but wanted me to "introduce" it. 

When she makes these, the other children hover over the pans as they come out of the oven and devour them ALL in one sitting. She will then proceed to make another batch and quickly hide some of them for her lunch. Seaweed, with the addition of unrefined sea salt, is a very nutritious trace-mineral snack! 

Here is Lily's recipe. I was amazed that she knew how to organize and write a recipe....must be from using my cookbook and cooking on her own. She asked me quite a few times what she should say next and I would reply: "what was your next step?" Then she would realize that she already knew the answer and proceed to type it up.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Ideas for Packing a Healthy School Lunch!



Well, September is here, school is beginning and it is time for packing
lunches once again! The above lunch was made by my 8 year old daughter. It is composed of a quesadilla made with refried beans and two brown rice tortillas, blackberries and sliced nectarines, sliced carrots and cucumbers, raw cashews, almonds, and chocolate chips. As you can see, very simple and nutritious, full of key nutrients for a growing and developing brain.


This month I am hosting a wonderful monthly blogging event called Go Ahead Honey, It's Gluten Free! This event was created by the lovely Naomi Devlin of Straight into Bed Cakefree and Dried. And my theme, of course, is: Ideas for Packing a Healthy School Lunch! This is a way for you, a reader or blogger, to submit a link and photo of your recipe and/or ideas to me by the end of this month (please, no later than September 27th) and I will post them all to my blog on the 30th of this month. If you don't have a blog, please feel free to submit a short recipe or list of ideas with a photo and I will post it along with the links from other bloggers. Please email me your post attached with a digital photo to ali@nourishingmeals (dot) com.


In the meantime, (while we are waiting for all of your lovely ideas) I have a few ideas myself to share. First off, if you haven't read the post I did last year on Packing a Healthy School Lunch you might want to check it out. I have a colorful chart with pictures of foods in each food group that you can download, print, and post on your refrigerator for a quick reminder of what to pack. This way your child can choose a food from each category to create a healthy, balanced lunch.


Main Dish/Protein Ideas:
Summer Black Bean Salad (made without the spicy peppers)
Rice, Garbanzo Bean, and Kale Salad (my kids love this one!)
Spring Herb Quinoa Salad (my 5yr old daughter's favorite!)
Garlic Rosemary White Bean Dip on sliced bread with cucumbers
Slices of Roasted Chicken
Moroccan Chickpea and Potato Soup (an absolute favorite of my kids)
Quesadilla slices made with brown rice tortillas, refried black beans, and spinach


Vegetables/Fruits:
Green Smoothie (poured into a small glass jar with a tight-fitting lid)
Mixed greens with a small container of Salad Dressing on the side
Slices of cucumbers, carrots, and celery (my kids like simple best)
Celery sticks with almond butter spread into them
Any in-season whole or sliced fruit


Grains:
Sticky Brown Rice in nori rolls (all-time favorite of my kids)
Whole Grain Flatbread (yeast-free)
Carrot Raisin Buckwheat Muffin (my kids beg me to make these!)


Treats:
We don't always have treats around but when we do it would be some of the following (fruit is sometimes the best and easiest treat of all):

I am really looking forward to sharing your post on Ideas for packing a Healthy School Lunch. Please remember to submit it with an attached photo by September 27th, 2010! Thanks! :)