Back to school lunch choices

This post is a bit out of the norm for me but I really wanted to share this. 
I saw this post for a really great idea for back to school lunch prep that allowed kids to choose their own lunch and snacks each day for school. 
I remember from the days when my own boys were still in school how frustrating  it was when their lunch boxes came home half eaten because they weren't happy that day with the choices I had made for them.  I also remember how hard it was to get them to eat healthy from a packed lunch. 
This post is about a way to let your kids pick their own lunch and snack items and still know they are getting a healthy balance of food items.  It also means they might actually eat their lunch because they picked it themselves. 
I know a few well organized moms who do up a ton of food choices on the weekend to make lunch making easier through the week, but why not take it one step further and actually let the kids pack their own lunches.  This method lets them do that while still maintaining the control over their diet that you need to keep them eating healthy.
An added benefit of this idea..... it helps develop good decision making skills. 
 
I recommend this post to anyone with kids.  Just click on the highlighted words above to read the complete post with the instructions.


Bye for now ... and have a good day everyone.

Red Clover Tea

Drinking tea, Hmmm. Coffee is actually my passion, but  I always feel a little guilty while I enjoy a cup now because I think I should be putting something into my body that at least has a few health benefits.  

I'm trying to replace at least a couple cups of coffee a day with tea.  Now that the warm weather is here it's a good time to experiment with a few flavours of ice tea.

This one really isn't too bad,  kind of nice really. 
While the kettle is boiling I run hot tap water into my tea pot to pre warm it.  I'm not even sure why I do this, just that I remember someone , maybe my grandmother, doing this when I was young.

I cut a square of cheese cloth for a DIY  tea bag, put about a quarter cup of dried red clover flowers  onto the cheese cloth, fold up the corners and tie with a piece of cotton string.

Once the kettle is boiling for a few minutes turn it off, empty out the tea pot and add 2 regular tea bags and the red clover one.

Pour 6 to 8 cups of   hot water into the pot. Cover and let steep for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Sweeten and flavour the tea with honey  to taste. To this pot I added just a tiny drop of peppermint extract as well.

I like my first cup hot, and then remove the tea bags and store the remainder in the fridge to sip on throughout the day.

 Red clover is supposed to be good for a number of things including  hot flashes and lowering cholesterol.  Check the link red clover benefits for a great list of its uses and maybe you'll find a reason to use it too.


Bye for now and have a good day everyone.

Baked Oatmeal Cereal

I love cereal for breakfast but haven't been eating it as much lately. There are a few reasons for this. One is the ridiculous price it has skyrocketed to.  The ones that have a nice mix of grains and fruits are of course the most expensive, and they're the ones I like.   Another is the preservatives in most of it.  I know most of the additives  are to prolong shelf life  but cereal doesn't last long here so why do we need them.  And they  make me kind of nervous.
However;  
I do like oatmeal.  It's a staple here.   I make it most of the winter,   but its just too hot right now to eat a hot cereal for breakfast. 

I have been making this baked oatmeal recipe for snacks and love  the taste of it but it crumbles to easily.  It just falls apart and you end up eating the bits  from a bowl.   Originally I was looking for a replacement for a store bought cereal bar ( I was still looking for the convenience) and this wasn't it. In spite of that everyone still loves it.  Every once in a while I will even put some milk on it  and have it for a bedtime snack, but it's a little soft and mushy that way. 

That got me thinking, why couldn't I deliberately make it as a morning cereal with a bit more crunch. HMMMM.   It wasn't too hard   to make some changes  that would  make this our go to breakfast.  The first time my husband tried it his  comment was "I can't see why we ever have to buy cereal from  the store again". :)

Here's the recipe for the original baked oatmeal and the alterations to make it  Baked Oatmeal Cereal.



Original Recipe
1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 eggs
l cup sugar
mix into a large bowl and add
1 c. milk
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
3 cups of oatmeal

 

mix all ingredients well and pour into a buttered 8x10 cake pan and bake at 350 deg. for 45 minutes

My changes.
-since the  purpose of the original recipe was to use the instant oatmeal packets her family didn't use, and I was using just whole oats,  I assumed there was some flavour needed.
So I added

1 tsp. nutmeg
1-2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup of brown sugar,  we always put brown sugar on our oatmeal
and 2 apples, peeled and diced

 - this made the recipe much tastier and all my kidlets in daycare just loved it,  even if it was a bit messy.



The next step was to make it crunchier for  cereal.  All I do is bake the oatmeal recipe in a cake pan and take it out of the oven at the  45 minute  mark.  Don't turn the oven off yet.

Empty  the cake pan onto a large bar pan or cookie sheet,   it will fall apart and crumble  on its own as you spread it out. 

Put it back in the oven and continue baking for another 15 to 20 minutes, then turn off the heat, but leave it in the oven while it cools down.  This lets the mixture dry out a bit.

When I remove the final mixture from the oven I have a little fun with it.   I add all or some of the following items.  About 1/2 to 1 cup of each adds some interesting texture and flavour to the cereal.

raisins
dried cranberries ...or any dried fruit
chopped nuts.. any your family likes is fine
all bran buds ... good if you need more fibre

Store in a reusable cereal container with lid.

Top with  your favorite fresh fruit and I'm sure your family will love it as much as mine. 



Have a good day everyone and bye for now.