Unprocessed October: Productive weekend

Cinnamon-roasted almonds, maple-almond-vanilla granola, whole wheat butterscotch blondies (this recipe with all white whole wheat flour, the lesser amount of sugar, and only a cup of chips), homemade chocolate sauce (based off of this recipe), toast bread (made with white whole wheat flour), and whole wheat hot dog buns for a backyard pretend camp-out. (The almonds and blondies were for a house-warming gifts...not that we didn't enjoy the leftovers. :-) And I added a jar of granola to the gift, too.)

Gave these applesauce-carrot whole wheat muffins a try. And discovered a bonus of my new Vitamix. The recipe called for unsweetened applesauce; I cored a large apple, cut it into a few chunks, and pureed it. Then I needed grated carrots, so I peeled a couple, cut them into chunks, and ran the blender on a lower speed. Sweet!

I finally got the little guy his own Planetbox, and we debuted it at the zoo today. The Planetboxes make packing lunches so much fun, and they make eating so much fun, too. The kids love opening them up and evaluating each compartment. Normally I don't get to see their response to their lunches (of course, since they're at school), so it was neat for me to get to see what they choose to eat first and how they go about tackling their lunches.

His: whole wheat pumpkin muffin (from the freezer), apple slices, pickle, pb & j on whole wheat toast bread, and a tiny piece of blondie bar

Hers: pistachios, cashews, apples and peanut butter, pickle, almond crackers, and a tiny piece of blondie bar

I posted this on the wonderfully supportive Unprocessed October 2013 Facebook group, about an unprocessed parenting win this weekend: I have been trying to be moderate in my expectations for my little ones (ages 5 & 6) following October Unprocessed. All of their packed lunches and dinners at home are unprocessed, but when grandparents give them a store-bought cookie or muffin or something, I haven't been freaking out. We talk a lot about food, but I don't want to be so hard core that they rebel whenever possible. I was rewarded today when we went to the zoo and they each received a package of fun-sized skittles. They were so excited! And then after eating a few, they decided they were done and threw away the rest. :-)