Today was a wonderful, lazy family Sunday. We did have to get out and run a few errands, and get the grocery shopping done, but that's it. The plan for dinner was chicken, but keeping in the spirit of laziness, I failed to read the recipe ahead of time. The chicken needed to marinade for 8 hours to overnight...oops. I know that you can technically marinade something for 30 minutes and things will be just fine, but I like to marinade longer. That meant I had to take a meal off next week's menu and switch it with the chicken. Someone requested meatball subs when we made the menu way back when. I got out some sauce, and put the meatballs in. I've already shared with you the recipe I use for meatballs. Today, I can share a recipe for sauce, or I can share with you how I get my kids to plan, pack, and eat healthy lunches everyday at school.
I used to pack the kids lunches everyday, and over half of it would come back home. My kids never caught on to the whole "throwing it away so mom doesn't find out" but everyday I would pick two very hungry kids up from school, and they would have a pretty full lunch box. Enter the planet box lunch box. www.planetbox.com Now I have the kids plan their weekly menus on Saturday or Sunday, and I add the items we need to my grocery list, so they understand that it is important to plan ahead, or I won't buy it, and they won't have it for lunch. I've set rules that they have to have a fruit and a vegetable in 2 of the compartments, then a healthy, balanced "entree" in the main compartment, and they get a small treat. My daughter always packs edemame in the veggie spot, and my son always packs cherry tomatoes. I've put down a rule that 1 day a week, they need to pack a different veggie, that usually turns out to be steamed broccoli. The fruit is usually always the same as well, my son's go to is grapes, and my daughter chooses apple slices. If I have cantaloupe in the morning, I will slice up some extra for them for a little variety. I've also purchased a fruit shape maker thingy, to encourage them to not only get creative, but to venture out and eat different fruits. I will say that now they pack pretty good and healthy lunches, AND they eat all of their lunch. Occasionally, I will need to pack their lunch when they request brunch for lunch. In that situation, I will fix it the night before. I/we LOVE our planet boxes. The only "complaint" we have is that the kids in their classes who have the responsibility of carrying the lunch basket say that the planet box it too heavy. I can attest that it is not heavy. I would imagine that a laundry basket full of 25+ lunch boxes would be heavy, and to pick one out might help, so why not pick the one that looks different.
Here is another favorite breakfast recipe, I will make this one on a Sunday, and have two days worth of breakfast during the week. Total life saver when we have to be somewhere early, or things get rushed.
Pumpkin Pie Quinoa Breakfast Casserole
1 C water
2 Tbsp pumpkin puree
1/4 C raw quinoa - red or white would work
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp coconut oil
1/4 tsp gluten free pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch ground nutmeg
pinch ground ginger
Topping
1 Tbsp coconut oil melted
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1.5 Tbsp finely ground almond flour
1/4 C pecans, chopped
1. Preheat the oven to 350F, and lightly oil a 4 cup casserole dish.
2. In a small bowl, combine all ingredients, minus the topping. Stir until fully mixed, then pour into prepared casserole dish. Cover with a tight lid, and cook for 45-50 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, combine all topping ingredients. After the 50 minutes are up, remove casserole from the oven and sprinkle topping the top of the casserole. Return to the oven and cook uncovered for another 10-15 minutes, or until golden.
*When you place the topping over the top, there should still be some liquid left in the dish. Baking it uncovered for the remaining of the cooking time will evaporate the liquid
I found this recipe on Pinterest, and the pin took me to http://www.healthfulpursuit.com/2011/02/pumpkin-pie-quinoa-bake/
Hope you like it.
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