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. :-)

Unprocessed October: Week one meals

Well, we've just about survived week one of October Unprocessed. I survived dinner at conferences (brought cheese and crackers that passed the kitchen test, and ate the family's stew when I got home), survived my first debate dinner (brought plain yogurt and homemade granola, an apple, and peanut butter), we survived a play intermission (brought our own snacks: fruit sticks and smoothie pouch that passed the kitchen test), and resisted a very tempting restaurant dinner invitation. Here's what we managed to eat during this busier-than-usual week:

Her: leftover whole wheat waffle, maple syrup, pistachios, apple slices, banana-chocolate-pb-kefir smoothie

Him: leftover whole wheat waffle, apple slices, homemade blueberry syrup,fruit-yogurt-kefir smoothie

Same thing

Her: pistachios, whole wheat banana chocolate chip muffin (without the added flavor, cinnamon chips, or walnuts; using all white whole wheat flour), apple slices, turkey roll-ups, banana-chocolate-pb-kefir smoothie

Him: whole wheat apple muffin (using all white whole wheat flour), apple slices, turkey roll-ups, fruit-yogurt-kefir smoothie

Her: banana-pb-chocolate-kefir smoothie, turkey roll-ups, energy bite (dates, chocolate chips, peanut butter, oats, and a little honey), apple slices, whole wheat banana chocolate chip muffin

Him: fruit-yogurt-kefir smoothie, whole wheat apple muffin, apple slices, turkey roll-ups

Hubby and I took leftovers from dinner for our lunches each day, along with a kefir smoothie and a piece of fruit. I didn't get a picture of Thursday's dinner because the kids ate early with Nana and hubby and I ate as we walked in the door from conferences; I made beef stew from ATK's slow cooker cookbook.

Cilantro-lime grilled chicken, mini bell peppers with cilantro-lime-sour-cream filling, broccoli slaw from the new SK cookbook

Grilled chicken, veggie hobo packets (potatoes, onions, mushrooms, zucchini, bell pepper), pear slices

Homemade whole wheat fettuccini with broccoli, leftover grilled chicken, and mushrooms in a homemade alfredo sauce

Homemade chicken noodle soup with whole wheat noodles, grilled cheese sandwiches on homemade whole wheat bread, apple slices, and organic yogurt

First week of school lunches

Not super impressive, but it's a start, and hey, we made it through the first week! :-)




Him: mixed berry-kefir smoothie, turkey roll ups, whole wheat blue berry muffin, fresh picked strawberries

Her: whole wheat chocolate chip muffin, turkey roll ups, pistachios, avocado

Leftover: avocado




Her: ww chocolate chip muffin, apple-pb sandwich, strawberries and a raspberry, pistachios

Him: mixed berry-kefir smoothie, apple-pb sandwich, ww blueberry muffin, strawberries

Leftover: her apple-pb sandwich (which she ate as an after-school snack) and a strawberry




Her: turkey roll ups, pistachios, strawberries, leftover chocolate chip pancakes

Him: mixed-berry-kefir smoothie, strawberries, leftover blueberry pancakes, apple-pb sandwich

Leftover: her berries




Her: turkey roll ups, grapes and strawberries, ww chocolate chip muffin (from freezer), almond crackers, pistachios

Him: mixed berry-kefir smoothie, turkey roll ups, ww blueberry muffin (from freezer), strawberries




Her: almond crackers, apple slices, pistachios, homemade uncrustable (from freezer)

Him: ww blueberry muffin (from freezer), homemade uncrustable (from freezer), apple slices, mixed berry-kefir smoothie

Leftover: two of her apple slices

Note: The repeating smoothies and pistachios are requirements for each kid...not lack of creativity from me. ;-) And the little girl is very fruit-resistant, thus the almost daily fruit leftovers. Still, we keep trying! One thing I really like about our lunch system is that the kids return everything to their lunch bags/boxes so I can see what they ate each day. It took the little guy about half the year last year to figure out how to eat in their short lunch period, but now he finishes everything almost every day...especially because they don't have snack time in first grade.

100% whole wheat lunches!

On Monday, I begin making four school lunches each morning because somehow (don't ask me how), my little one heads off to kindergarten this week.

I think the biggest change is going to be preparation... I can occasionally fly by the seat of my pants when making lunch for hubby and myself... And I was able to punt with the little guy's lunch a couple of times last year. But she doesn't eat the pre-prepared organic snacks (jammy sammies, smoothie pouches, applesauce pouches) that I used as emergency back-ups for him. And they prefer such different foods. And then I have to take into account time: I need to put in easy-to-eat foods that they can get through in their super short lunch period. And the little guy is much hungrier these days.

Anyway, I need to prepare. Today, I spent four hours of the afternoon making some 100% whole wheat lunch box goodies: Hamelman's toast bread, KAF's whole wheat blueberry muffins (for him), KAF's whole wheat chocolate chip muffins (for her, made with a little less sugar and less than half of the called-for chocolate chips), and KAF's whole wheat chocolate chip cookies (for all of us, made with half the called-for chips, in tablespoon sized for this weekend and teaspoon sized for lunches).

I've started making a lunch schedule, too, which hangs next to our weekly dinner plan. Wish me luck!