I heart lunch!

Posted by: bentoriffic on: January 30, 2012

In: bento | Foods | Holidays | kids | Valentine | Vegan | Vegitarian | winter
2 Comments

I disappeared again for a bit, I know. I had to leave town for a week or so, but I’m back again and back at the lunches too. Our family is 30 days in today to our new vegan/plant-based diet. It has taken a lot of new learning, information and recipes to get informed. I still have plenty to learn, but we feel a lot healthier already. The biggest change at home for the girls has been getting rid of cow’s milk. After taste testing many alternatives, they decided that they like almond milk the best. It has more calcium than cow’s milk and less calories which makes it an easy decision for the parents too. One in every 6 children today in the U.S. is obese, and that does not include the children who are in the overweight category. I am rededicating myself to make better choices for my family, and I hope that I can help to pass on the information to other families at the same time.

If you haven’t yet checked the brand of bread you buy, it’s an important thing to do for you and your family. Make sure that the first ingredient has the word WHOLE followed by the grain. If it says wheat, oat, enriched, unbleached, etc. it is NOT a whole grain product and has been processed and refined first. Many of the breads that I have found on sale at my local store ARE whole grain breads and affordable. Just be sure to read the label before you buy.

The girls had heart themed sandwiches and fruits today. Miss G had a heart shaped sandwich on whole wheat bread with almond butter and jam. The heart on top of the sandwich is cut out of a piece of organic raspberry fruit leather. Above the sandwich are 2 picks of blueberries, and to the bottom left of the sandwich is a “snow ball” cookie made of raw dates, almonds, raisins, walnuts and rolled in dried coconut. On the left side from top to bottom are heart shaped strawberries, heart shaped apples and a kiwi sliced in a LunchBots stainless container.

Miss A had a smaller version of the same lunch. She had a double heart sandwich on whole wheat bread with small raspberry fruit leather hearts on top.

In a separate container, she had leftover macaroni shells on the right and on the left were heart shaped strawberries and heart shaped kiwi slices. Both girls had ice water with their lunches.