I love the idea of no-waste lunches. If you pack your child’s lunch, there are so many cool reusable lunch box ideas out there. I am looking for a good system that incorporates at least some glass containers for microwave-ability. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know!
Here’s some great reusable containers.
Of course there’s Laptop Lunches. They are a great size and you can fit a lot in, but the containers don’t all have lids, which is a problem for a lot of food choices. Also, if you need to heat something up, a glass option would be nice so you are not nuking the plastic container.
As far as food containment devices go, Ikea has a ton of choices, but I think you’d have to make sure they were user friendly enough for your child or their teacher. Again, no great glass choices.
Mr. Bento by Zojirushi is one of my brother in law’s faves. Cylindrical and stainless, it holds four containers. All have covers, no glass.
Continuing the “no waste” approach, don’t forget to throw in some Fabkins. Fabkins cloth napkins come in six different themes that reflect kids’ interests and are sold in packs of five individually designed napkins. Check out their no waste tips here.
If you are looking for some food idea inspiration, you can check out our link to some great nearly waste-free lunch blogs.
Even though the new arrival won’t be eating solid food for another six months, cookbooks are great gifts to give to a new parent. One of my favorites is First Meals by Annabel Karmel. She’s a Cordon Bleu trained chef who has come up with some rather inventive kid food. Karmel’s recipes show her training. I rarely have shallots or parsnips in the pantry, but who cares? I am not going to run out and get them because I think it’s totally acceptable to swap those out for onions and some carrots, don’t you?
When Sy was a beginning eater she insisted we eat with the book by her high chair because she loved the picture of the baby on the cover so much. So yeah, I guess we love the book from cover to cover, literally. At three years old, I still come up with some creative ways to do pasta and vegetables for Sy using Karmel’s recipes.
You could add in a book for the wee one too. Dim Sum for Everyone is a favorite in our house. Sy is a big fan of dim sum in general. Lots of egg-less dishes and cart after cart of food rolling past you. What’s not to love?
As we all know, having a newborn in your house changes the dynamic, uh, dramatically. It’s hard enough to get your teeth brushed, let alone dinner on the table. One of the best gifts ever to new parents? FOOD! If you are close by, obviously you can whip up a four course, five star dinner for them while your toddler naps, right? Don’t forget a salad and some dessert. I swooned every time anyone brought me brownies when I had Sy.
If you live afar, check out our two favorite sources:
Artikochef.com, (see Jenny’s review here).
Impromptu Gourmet - They have some off the hook brownies, by the way.
When you bring food, you’ll make a new parent’s day. Plain and simple. My grandfather’s recipe for Plakki, a vegetarian stew, after the jump.
My friend Kate wrote a review of her favorite pump for us. Thanks, Kate!
I am a pumping queen. I pump every three hours, day and night. My pumping odyssey began in February when my son was born prematurely. Due to his premature birth and the calories it takes to suck, I was only allowed to breastfeed him twice a day for ten minutes each time during his stay in the NICU. I was struggling with my milk supply and so, during this time, I started pumping every two to three hours to establish my supply and produce enough to keep up with his feeds. After he was discharged, we never successfully transitioned from the bottle to the breast and so I continued pumping and bottle feeding.
I’ve used EVERY SINGLE Medela double-electric pump on the market. I’ve even burned through the motor on a hospital grade Medela Symphony pump. The Medela Freestyle is, hands down, the best Medela pump on the market. Originally, I had purchased the Medela Pump-in-Style Advanced, which was a great pump but it is in a large black tote, and was just not super portable. At nights, I used the Medela Symphony, which isn’t portable at all. Then the Freestyle was released. The Freestyle touts itself as Medela’s first hands-free, double-electric pump. It fits in the palm of your hand and is completely portable. All of this is true, and more. As it stands, I am writing this while pumping both breasts.
My friend Micky makes this totally rad quinoa dish as a potluck staple. The great thing about quinoa is it takes on every flavor, fills you up and stretches a loooong way. Micky adds fresh corn and avocado to the Epicurious recipe, which makes it even better. I just made it for dinner and felt very smug at my health conscious behavior. But then I had a cookie. Does it even count after all those vegetables and grains?
My friend Maureen makes quinoa for her boys (3 and 5) and adds pesto to aid in the gobbling up factor. My niece’s ultimate comfort food dish is quinoa and carrots. She’s six and when she’s really tired and hungry, that’s what she requests. For real.
Does anyone else have a quinoa fave?
I am terrible at taking a vacation, so I’ll make this quick and then go back to lazing about with my family.
I saw these yesterday and they made me giggle.
If you have a prince or princess at home, check out these princess cookie cutters from Williams-Sonoma. Packaged in a diary-shaped box with its own magnetic “lock,” the set includes a princess, prince, castle, crown, magic wand, slipper, horse and carriage.
And for your sports enthusiast, they also have a set of All Star cookie cutters. The set includes everything you need to bring your favorite team to life: ball, bat, helmet, football, pennant, baseball player, football player and basketball player.
While a little over the top, they’d be fun for a thematic birthday party. I’m partial to the bug cakelet pan. My cakes would never come out looking like the ones in the picture, but we can all dare to dream.
Did you know that Victoria’s Secret carries a line of nursing bras these days? Me neither, so thanks for the tip, Danielle!
I checked out the line in the store the other day and they are all pretty dang cute. Only one in the collection had an underwire, which is great to avoid while establishing your milk supply. I’m also a big fan of the nursing cami, since it covers up your tummy if you are nursing in public. The bra sizes range from 34B to 40DD, depending on the style and prices range from $38.00 to $47.00.
I haven’t tried them, but Danielle has a few and likes them quite a bit. She said that they were just as comfortable as her other nursing bras. Fashionable post-maternity options, what a concept.
Just checking in from the ongoing struggle to find a good, safe sippy cup. I recently ditched our old favorite, the SIGG, because of the “aluminum just might cause dementia” argument and opted for all stainless or BPA free products. (Sidenote: my friend Laurie, a fastidious cleaner, found mold in her son’s SIGG the other day. Eeeyuw!)
Sy’s favorite on-the-go water bottle is the Foogo Straw Bottle by Thermos. Way back in 2007, Thermos launched their kid’s line, Foogo. I think it was a smart move. A lot of people trust the line and have good memories of their products from childhood. Turns out it’s safe, too. Bonus.
My niece’s kindergarten has a zero waste trash policy for lunch. No plastic baggies, no paper napkins, no nothin. All very “leave no trace.”
My brother-in-law, the parent in charge of packing lunch, has become obsessed with acquiring the perfect non-bad-plastic, no waste nourishment containment device. He’s currently completely for enamored with bento boxes of all shapes and sizes. Today he sent me a link to the Zojirushi Mr. Bento stainless-steel lined lunch jar extravaganza. He was speechless in his admiration of the design. If he gets one, I’ll have him review it.
Roger sent me this article the other day about Similac organic formula and how it is the “only major brand of organic formula that is sweetened with cane sugar, or sucrose, which is much sweeter than sugars used in other formulas.”
No wonder kids like it so much!
Historically, I’ve completely sucked as a baker. When Jenny and I were in about sixth grade we made cupcakes once and forgot the oil. My mom came into the kitchen as we were stirring drops of oil into the individual cups of batter. I won’t go into how that turned out, but suffice to say, the downturn began around there. My cakes are dry, my pie crusts crumble. I’ve gotten better as time passes, it helps to read the directions, but I still hold my breath until everyone takes their first bite. Ever since we figured out Sy was allergic to eggs, I figured I’d better try to master a couple of baked good items so that we could send her to parties with her very own special treat. She can lick the frosting off the cupcake, but that’s not terribly exciting when everyone else is mashing a two layer cake into their mouths.
So I started tinkering with this banana bread recipe I’ve always loved from the Food Network recipe archive. Whether you use eggs or not, this is seriously some off the hook banana bread. See my tweaks to the recipe after the jump.
Wow. Toys R Us has decided to phase out all feeding products containing BPA by year’s end. Check out the article.
You can also read more on the FAQ section of the Toys R Us site, questions 21 through 26.
Excellent news!
I was visiting my Mom the other day and doing some grocery shopping. Since it’s not my usual store, I was taking my time trolling through the aisles, searching out the ever elusive package of tortillas. During my hunt, I noticed an item in the yogurt aisle I haven’t seen at home (it’s probably there, but I know where the tortillas are in my store). Anyway, Stonyfield has a yogurt called Yo Mommy, “for pregnancy, nursing and beyond”. Catchy. The newest addition to the Yo Baby line, Yo Mommy has added ingredients such as folic acid, vitamin D and even DHA for all that great mental and visual development.
Am I the only one who’s never noticed this before?
Where’s the Yo Daddy? What special ingredients would they give to him?
At Sy’s pre-school we have to label everything; shoes, jackets, cups, bags, you name it. I end up just taking a sharpie to most items because let’s face it, the clothes I send her to school in are certainly not the poshest of combos. And as usual, I’m lazy. But my friend Micky got one of the Mabel’s Labels combo packs for all of her daughter’s gear. She’s had them for a while (over six months) and the labels still look great. They are dishwasher and microwave safe, although Micky usually hand washes her daughter’s cups. They even have stickers for allergy alerts, which I like since my girl is allergic to eggs. Although I must admit, I was boggled by the statement that said the stickers were made in a “nut-free facility for your safety.” Are there a lot of sticker factories that have sideline businesses making peanut butter cups?
And for those of you complete neat freaks (oh, how I wish I were in that category), they even have a cord-management pack! Mompreneurs after my own heart.
So writing the post about the pizza pies reminded me of when I had just gotten married and had all this great new kitchen gear and very few kitchen skills. I found this email I sent to my friends after I had attempted my very first Food TV recipe.
“How to Bake a Strawberry Cake From Scratch for the First Time Before Guests Arrive in a Few Hours”
by Missy W
First, watch the cake being made by a celebrity chef on the Food Network. Assume your baking skills are just as good or better as chef on TV.
Do not read the recipe thoroughly before going to the store. Buy main ingredient 5 days before baking, to ensure maximum moldiness of strawberries on bottom of container.
